OBSERVER Photo by Gene Pauszek The Dunkirk Harbor is iced in as of Wednesday morning. No information on the ice condition.

That frigid cold this weekend brought a lot of ice and snow to the region, but the Wednesday thaw made ice conditions slick and questionable.

The Dunkirk Harbor was iced in over the weekend, with smooth ice on the west side of the city pier and rough terrain on the east (Argo) side. No information on anyone trying their luck in this area yet. There is a lot of open water on Lake Erie as you travel east, with a halo of shove ice along the entire shoreline.

Canadaway Creek was frozen over for the most part, as were most of the other area streams, prior to the rainfall on Wednesday. Skip Bianco at Hogan’s Hut reports there is ice cover on Chautauqua Lake, but reports that there were at least two incidents of people breaking through over the weekend.

Pressure cracks in the ice cover were surmised to be the blame. As of Wednesday, after a quick tour of Chautauqua Lake, Bianco advised that anyone heading out on the lake should utilize a spud (metal bar) to check the ice thickness, while going onto and off the lake.

In regards to pressure cracks, if you see the lake water pushing up and onto the ice, avoid that area. Most of the walleye action was coming from around Long Point and anglers were finding some fish at Allegheny.

Mayville also had a lot of pan fish activity. Rick Miller commented that Bear Lake was busy also over the weekend with a couple notable crappie caught, but most of the crappie action was undersize. Lee Weber in Derby reports that there is ice cover at the Buffalo Small Boat harbor, but most of the action involves smaller sized yellow perch.

Calendar: The City of Dunkirk presents Winterfest, which will be a number of outdoor activities, including a Cold Water/Ice Fishing contest on Saturday, Feb. 9. For more information go to dunkirktoday.com or call the Youth and Recreation Department at 366-9885. The ice fishing contest will be $20 per angler and will have two divisions: a big game (trout, pike and Walleye ) and small game (yellow Perch, crappie and panfish). Look for more information on Sunday.

The Friends of the NRA fundraiser/banquet will be held on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at the Samuel Derby American Legion Post 556, located at 9 Meadow Lane, Frewsburg, 14738. Cash bar and silent auction is from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., with the prime rib and live auction from 6 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Early bird tickets must be in by Feb. 16. For information, call Jennifer Schmitt at (716) 487-2487.

The next gun show will be on March 2 and 3 at the Hickory Post VFW located at 5550 East State Street, US route 62, East of PA 18, West of Mercer on 62, Hermitage PA. Saturday show times are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while Sunday will be from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. There will be another show on March 16-17 at the Harborcreek Fire Dept. Social Hall located at 7275 Buffalo Road, US Rt 20 (located between North East, PA and Harbor Creek, PA.) Harborcreek, PA. Show times are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

On April 13-14 there will be a gun show at Ashtabula County Fairgrounds (Ashtabula,County Expo Center Building), 127 North Elm Street, Jefferson, Ohio. Show hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Call Larry at 792-9972 for information or go to LRsportingEvents.com

Free Monday night fly tying instruction has resumed at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club, located at Mullet Street in Dunkirk. Classes are for all levels of fly tying, but especially for beginners. No equipment is necessary. All participants get to keep their productions. Classes are from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The classes are open to the public. Sometimes they even have homemade cookies! Note that The Children of the Stream Youth Fly Fishing Program have changed the dates to their program to Mondays from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Costello Community Room (P84) in the new addition to the Rockefeller Arts Center at SUNY Fredonia. This program is in its 18th year of providing weekly free fly tying and fly fishing classes to both youths and adults in our area. 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.

There will be a pistol permit class at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club this Sunday, Jan. 27, from 2:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. There is an $85 fee for this course. To register or for more information contact Gary Dudek at 366-3397.

The annual Con Club Sportsmans party will be Feb. 2. Anyone who signed up for the year long fishing contest, or the deer hunting contest, is welcome free of charge. Guests may come for a fee of $10, Attendees are encouraged to bring a dish to pass. This is a good time, and a great way to re-live the past years memories.

The Northern Chautauqua Ducks Unlimited Annual banquet and Live Auction will take place on Saturday, March 9 at Blessed Mary Angela Parish Social Center located at 324 Townsend Street, Dunkirk. The doors open at 5 p.m. To purchase tickets on line go to NY.ducks.org or call Ron Romance at 969-5166.

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. or email sports@observertoday.com.