Submitted Photo Carrie Babcock, Brian Beckwith and Kevin Smith were busy Wednesday in Dunkirk Harbor aboard the DEC vessel ARGO.

Hurricane season has the local fishing program all stirred up, with favorite fish haunts going cold and old standby presentations in need of fine tuning. Several fishing buddies reported that Wednesday was a slow go, with deeper waters in the 90+ zone going flat, but in 85-foot depths the screen showed some promise. As the temperature continues to cool, anglers may need to move shallower for walleye. Numerous fishing articles announce that as the fall season approaches, the walleye will return to their springtime spawning haunts to put on the feed bag.

Rick Miller in Irving reports that anglers have been hooking up with a few trout in Cattaraugus Creek. Trolling or casting spoons at the mouths of area feeder streams early in the morning may provide additional trout action. Walleye anglers continue to concentrate their efforts offshore in that area and yellow perch have been reportedly taken in 64 feet up to 75 feet west of the “Cat.” A timely visit to the City of Dunkirk Pier provided some information from Captain Doug Zeller from the Department of Environmental Conservation research vessel ARGO and the crew. On Wednesday the team was conducting warm water assessment and noted a lot of fishing activity in 70 feet of water off the Center Road focal point. Lots of boats and lots of bird activity, which indicates a lot of small fish being released. The DEC crew did find yellow perch during their research with fish ranging from small to decent sized with the majority in the 3-to-4 inch range. If you do go and find yourself in that scenario, consider moving to locate larger fish. Perch brought up from that depth will not survive and become seagull food. Zeller did comment that they located a good size school seven miles out of Dunkirk in 80 feet of water, further east of Center Road. Local walleye seekers also noted promising pictures of schools of potential fish laying on the bottom off Van Buren in 65 to 80 feet of water. If you have a probe try to find fish marks on the bottom in 60 degree water.

Skip Bianco from Hogan’s Hut/Stow reports that walleye activity continues on Chautauqua Lake near deeper water, and muskies have become very active. Yellow perch catches in a variety of sizes have also increased.

Calendar:

Monday night FREE fly tying courses will resume on Monday, Sept. 11 at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Tying vises, instruction and materials are all provided for free. No registration is necessary. The Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club is located on Mullet Street Dunkirk. Turn towards the lake at the Country Fair store located on Lakeshore Drive West (Route 5).

There will be a free trapping course at the “Con Club” on Saturday, Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Preparation work must be completed before the event. For more information contact Gary Dudek at 366-3397.

There will be a pistol course also at the Con Club on Sept. 27 from 5:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. There is a mandatory fee of $75 for taking this course. Call Dudek at 366-3397 for more information.

The Children of the Stream Youth Fly Fishing Program will be starting its 18th year of providing weekly free fly tying and fly fishing classes to both youths and adults in our area. Classes will be on Tuesday evenings starting on Aug. 29 from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the Costello Community Room (P84) in the new addition to the Rockefeller Arts Center at SUNY Fredonia. You do not need any prior experience to attend these classes and the course is geared towards ages 10 and older. For more information contact Alberto Rey at 410-7003 or alberto@albertorey.com.

The Bear Lake Rod & Gun Club will host a .22 caliber pistol or rifle “spinner target” course on Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Cost is $10 per person and includes a hot dog or hamburger, chips and a non-alcoholic beverage. Open to the public. Contact Rudy Abersold at 397-9717 for information. All shoots are open to the public contact Rob at 485-3773, Tom at 680-0209. The Bear Lake Club is located at 4391 Cassadaga-Stockton Road, Stockton 14784.

If your club or organization is holding a hunter safety training/trapping course or a turkey shoot or any other outdoors event, and would like to see it posted in the calendar, send information to the OBSERVER, 10 East Second Street, Dunkirk, NY 14048, or call the sports department at 366-3000 ext. 5 after 6 p.m.

Note: If you have a big-game fishing or trapping success story you would like to share, call 366-1772, or 467-2079 and leave a name, phone number and a time you can be reached. You can also call 366-3000, ext. 5, after 6 p.m.

photo 1) Carrie Babcock, Brian Beckwith and Kevin Smith were busy Wednesday aboard the DEC vessel ARGO .