Local Sports

Success stories from 2021 Youth Turkey Hunt

Hooray, hooray, the first of May.

Outdoor stuff starts today.

I wrote my first column for the OBSERVER the first week of May back in 1989. That's over 30 years of memories. I'm looking forward to many more years to come.

Last weekend was Youth Turkey Hunt weekend and there were at least two success stories reported.

The first story was from Barney Kuzara, who reported that his grandson, 13-year-old Anthony Piede, shot a 22-pound gobbler sporting a 9¢-inch beard with 1-inch spurs in Sheridan. The duo were out in a field utilizing three decoys when they had three toms respond to the seductive mouth calling of grandpa Barney. Two came in on the right and one on the left. The birds took their time coming into range but Anthony set the sights of his 20-gauge shotgun loaded with 3¢-inch mags on the single bird and sealed the deal. The hunting duo were silent and dressed in full camo with their backs against a log waiting for the birds to get into range. Once the gobbler was down, Anthony let loose with a lot of pent-up emotion, celebrating his success. This was only the second time he has ever been turkey hunting. Congratulations.

Andy Joy sent in the second success story of the day. He was hunting with Garrett Lesch on Saturday. The guys had a lot of excitement reporting the day started with lots of gobbles from the trees followed by several toms putting on a strut, fan and gobble show. These birds were lured away with the appearance of six hens, but a lone gobbler showed up at the opposite end of the field and came in to challenge the lone jake decoy complete with spitting,drumming and gobbles the entire way. Garrett got a nice clean shot with his 20 gauge SBE3 loaded with Super X Turkey loads No. 5 shot. The gobbler weighed 18¢ pounds and sported a 9-inch beard and §-inch spurs. After the shot Garrett went into celebration mode with his success, which was the very first time he ever went turkey hunting. Great job. By the way, I can remember back when Andy won the Lake Shore Longbeards, NWTF scholarship when he was a teenager. Again, congratulations.

The statewide opener for turkey and walleye is today. Send stories and photos to 785-3659 or 366-1772.

Perch fishing slowed down recently with many anglers reporting that the yellow perch are starting to spawn. Strong winds and precipitation have shut down most of the offshore fishing. Anglers did get some nice perch out of Dunkirk last Saturday in about 53 feet of water. Heading out of the Cattaraugus Creek try 55 to 62 feet.

Captain Larry Jones reports that most of the salmonid action has moved to the mouth of the Niagara River and a few kings have been taken off the bar.

Crappie action has been slow at Chautauqua Lake but yellow perch and bass action has been decent.

Crappie action on Silver Lake has been decent at the north end in 10 to 15 feet to water using trout magnets.

Captain Jones also reported that there was a nice brown trout bite where Elton Creek comes into the "Catt." The stocker-sized fish took a liking to Mepps spinners. Jones also commented anglers plan on attending the Town of Evans meeting scheduled for May 5 at 6 p.m. The agenda is what is going to be done with the dredging at Sturgeon Point.

Docks were reportedly put in at the City of Dunkirk launch on Thursday in time for the walleye opener. Rick Miller reports that bass, trout and catfish are active in "Catt" creek. Enjoy.