GREAT OUTDOORS: New York wants share of Erie's fishing business

I arrived in Dunkirk, N.Y., on August 4, five hours after leaving my house just west of Bowling Green. I was invited by the Eastern Lake Erie Charter Boat Association and Chautauqua County, New York's Convention and Visitors Bureau to get acquainted with fishing opportunities on their "deep end" of Lake Erie. The following morning, we landed 13 chunky walleyes and an 11-pound steelhead trout while I took note of the similarities and differences between my well-acquainted western and less-familiar eastern portions of the lake. Similarities The walleye population has surged there from Barcelona to Buffalo, but on a much smaller magnitude than here. Yet, the summer population and average size draws tournaments about every weekend, including the National Walleye Trail last week, according to Dave Barus, Chautauqua County CVB Outdoor Media Promotions Associate. As was happening here, there were numerous dead freshwater drum (sheepshead) floating on the surface that were unwittingly trapped in oxygen-poor cold water pushed from below the thermocline shoreward during a recent upwelling, a common mid-summer occurrence called a "flip" by anglers there. Differences After stocking hatchery-raised fish since 1982, the Eastern Basin now supports a fishable population of lake trout, with many over 10 pounds and some in excess of 20 pounds landed each year. The first naturally spawned lake trout fry were documented in 2021 near spawning reefs just west of Barcelona, N.Y. With the cooler summer water temperatures, steelhead, brown trout and various salmon species are landed there all year. They have an abundance of jumbo perch that can be caught in the spring and fall, with a daily limit of 50 fish, compared to our more numerous but smaller perch. With the New York walleye fishing season closed until May 1 each year, yellow perch are the sport fish of choice by default during the early part of the spring after the slush goes over Niagara Falls. From my conversations with the captains, most anglers turn a blind eye to the perch after the walleye and smallmouth bass become legal targets. During April, I had the opportunity to land perch in the 9-to-14-inch range for the second year in a row in Sunset Bay, between Dunkirk and Buffalo. In 2024, with a Total Allowable Catch of 145,000 pounds of perch allocated for New York, anglers only caught an estimated 31,709 pounds, likely due to their enthusiasm for walleye fishing after season opens. I admitted to them on a number of occasions that I have no reason to ever drive five hours to go walleye fishing because they are readily available here 12 months a year in historic numbers. Even though the New York fisheries biologists feel that it is necessary to protect walleyes during their spawning period there, studies in the Western Basin have concluded that there is little connection between having more spawning fish (brood stock) and greater year classes of fish produced. In fact, some of the smallest walleye hatches have occurred with considerably lower populations of brood stock, and conversely, poor hatches have been produced in many instances while walleye numbers were at very high levels. Several of the captains that I spoke with are frustrated with how soon the staff pulls the docks at the various government-run marinas, leaving no place to tie their 6-pack size vessels after mid-October. As anyone who follows the Fall Brawl and Walleye Slam knows, there is a lot of prime trophy walleye fishing left right up until the lake freezes and they do not quit biting in October.