Dunkirk walleye bite is on fire
Submitted Photo One happy youth angler is pictured with a nice walleye caught while fishing with Captain Jason Kenyon, left, on Lake Erie, 3 to 4 miles out from Dunkirk Harbor.
Photo courtesy of Jason Kenyon The Dunkirk fish cleaning station was getting a serious workout with a line of happy anglers waiting their turn at the stainless steel tables.
Submitted Photo One happy youth angler is pictured with a nice walleye caught while fishing with Captain Jason Kenyon, left, on Lake Erie, 3 to 4 miles out from Dunkirk Harbor.
Photo courtesy of Jason Kenyon The Dunkirk fish cleaning station was getting a serious workout with a line of happy anglers waiting their turn at the stainless steel tables.
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There are good days on Lake Erie, and then there are the days when the walleye seem to have forgotten they are supposed to make anglers work for them.
This past Saturday was one of those days near Dunkirk.
Recreational anglers and charter captains enjoyed a spectacular walleye bite on the eastern basin of Lake Erie, with trolling programs putting plenty of fish in the boat. For Captain Jason Kenyon of Fishaholic Sport Fishing Charters, the bite was good enough to turn Saturday into something of a walleye marathon: three charter trips, three limits of 18 walleyes on each trip, and 54 fish in total kept for the dinner table for his clients.
Meanwhile, the Dunkirk fish cleaning station was getting a serious workout with a line of happy anglers waiting their turn at the stainless steel tables.
Kenyon has refined his program around a simple philosophy: put the right bait in the right depth zone and troll it at the right speed. On Saturday, that formula was nearly automatic.
He targeted 75 to 80 feet of water about 3 to 4 miles offshore -- the old power plant in view, finding the best action while trolling west to east with a slight west-southwest wind.
"It was a solid bite all day today," Kenyon reported.
The hot ticket was his Dreamweaver Dipsy program, running 30-pound Power-Pro main line with a 6-foot, 30-pound fluorocarbon leader and Storm ThunderStick Juniors in green and purple.
On each side, using Dreamweaver Dipsy's, was adjusted at Setting 0 with 125 feet of line out, targeting approximately 65 feet down at 2.3 mph. The second was on Setting 2 with 130 feet out, targeting about 60 feet.
"Both Dipsy rods stayed busy all day," Kenyon said.
The leadcore program produced, too. Two rods were rigged with 10-color leadcore and Rapala Scatter minnows in brown, working roughly 60 feet down in that same 75- to 80-foot zone.
That kind of consistency is what makes a Lake Erie walleye fishery so special. The eastern basin offers an enormous expanse of productive water, and when schools of walleye stack up, anglers can find themselves surrounded by fish -- and trying to decide which rod to check first -- the fish let you know..
New York DEC data underscore just how important walleye are to the Lake Erie fishery: in 2024, walleye accounted for 69% of targeted boat-angling effort in New York waters.
Dunkirk alone accounted for more than 52,000 estimated angler-hours of boat fishing that year.
For Kenyon, Saturday was proof of what happens when good fish numbers meet a dialed-in program. Apparently, when the walleye are stacked up like this, you don’t need to tell Captain Kenyon twice.
Fishaholic Sport Fishing Charters offers trips at $250 for one person, $350 for two, and $450 for a three-person party -- making this Lake Erie fishery an awfully attractive place to spend a day chasing golden sides and bending fishing rods. Just give him a call at 716-258-0653, or look him up on Facebook for other details.
When one dialed-in walleye charter captain can run three trips in one day, it means two things: one -- the fishing is really good, and two -- trolling still works (FFS can be pretty good too).
Remember that when the Dunkirk fish cleaning station is busy, you might want to get in line early.
Gotta love the outdoors.
CALENDAR
Sept. 1: Knox Farm State Park, deer hunting management session, 5:30 p.m., preregistration required to attend. Visit www.parks.ny.gov/recreation/hunting.
Sept. 1-30: NYS Early Nuisance Canada Goose, Upstate New York only, see syllabus, www.dec.ny.gov.
Sept. 2: 3-D Archery, Evans Rod & Gun Club, 4 p.m. start, $10 fee, 15 targets, free instruction 4-6 p.m.; Info-call Jerry Gorski, 716-698-3008.
Sept. 3: 3-D Archery & Spaghetti Dinner, 4-7 p.m., members $5, nonmembers $8, dinner $8; West Falls Conservation, 55 Bridge St., West Falls; Info: 716-652-4650.
Sept. 3: 3-D Archery, 20 targets Bear Lake Rod & Gun Club, 4 p.m. start, $10 fee, open to public, 4391 Stockton-Cassadaga Road, Stockton; 716-397-9717.
Sept. 5: NYSDEC Hunter Ed, Harmony Conservation Club, Panama, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., taught by Charles W. Dole, register: https://decals.events.east.licensing.app/em/events/389/registrations/new, or call 585-226-5463.