May 7 is opening day of NYS fishing seasons for many popular warm and coldwater gamefish species. walleye, northern pike, pickerel, tiger muskellunge and Lake Erie bass will all open.
The general statewide regulation minimum size limit for the popular walleye is 15 inches with a daily limit of five fish; many waters have special regulations where length and daily creel can be slightly different, so be sure the check the NYS Fishing Regulations Guide for the waterway you plan to fish.
While Lake Erie provides some of the finest walleye fishing opportunities in New York state and country, water temperatures this year are a bit behind last year, so walleye fishing will be slow. Lake Erie walleye action usually heats up by the second to third week of May, with hot fishing action in the shallows along shore and especially near warm water outflows. The sand and gravel bottom from Woodlawn Bar east along the Lake Erie Blasdell to Hamburg shoreline attracts schooled walleye first, with floating minnow-type stickbaits the usual angler lure of choice.
Lake Erie offers an abundant walleye population and many true trophy-class fish can be hooked in spring. The strong 2003 walleye year class in Lake Erie will reach seven to 10 pounds this year, but most anglers try to catch smaller fish in the three- to- four-pound class for the table. While there are some 45 to 47-degree warm water pockets shown via satellite lake temperature tracking, most of our end of Lake Erie is still in the 30s. To check your favorite Lake Erie spot before you trailer to a cold “no-fish are present” lake area, check the Web at www.coastwatch.msu.edu/erie/e3.html.
Walleye spawn when water temperatures reach 40 to 50 degrees, with 44-45 probably the hot focus point. The fish are vulnerable to anglers fishing for them at this point, so the truth is, I personally don’t fish for them until the water hits 50 in Lake Erie. I’d like to see the fish we have complete their spawn first, so I fish Chautauqua Lake until that time, where the spawning activity has been over for a few weeks.
Walleye can spawn over a fairly wide temperature range: good thing, because Lake Erie temperatures can rise and fall overnight. The rapid change can seriously affect any spawn that occurs, wiping out entire populations of new hatch fry by thermal shock.
The Lake Erie walleye population from Great Lakes Fishery Commission study is about 21,000,000 fish, up from the 19,000,000 last year. During the heyday hot walleye fishing in the mid-80s, the walleye population was 110,000,000.
One of my favorite rigs can be tied by my 9-year-old grandson in about three minutes. Use some 20-pound test monofilament and snell up a single, size-one, bait-keeper hook. Add three or four six-millimeter glass-faceted beads of your favorite perch colors (green, pink, orange), then add a brass bead between the glass beads and clevis. Add a small No. 3 Colorado or Indiana spinner blade with one side nickel, the other side copper (Water Wizard in Hamburg, Rainbow Sports in Tonawanda, Dave’s Bait in Evans and Bill’s Hooks in Dunkirk all have these), and finally, tie a tiny size 12 ball bearing swivel to the end of this hand-tied lure leader. Finish the fishing rig by adding a size-one Duo-Lock snap to the end of the six-pound test from your spinning rod and you are set for some serious walleye fun.
The Colorado blade will allow for a slower retrieve, while the Indiana blade takes a little more speed to rotate. The Willow leaf blades take even more speed, but there is a time and place for those (summer). In any case, add a six-inch Berkley Power Bait® nightcrawler (in your favorite color) to the hook and toss your lure out about 40 to 50 feet. Turn the reel handle and feel the blade vibrate through the rod tip. Slow down the retrieve speed until the blade just flips over without losing rotation. That is “killer walleye lure speed” when the water temps are chilly.
The first time a post-spawn savage walleye wacks this easy-to-tie homemade lure on that light line and your drag screams a chirpy moan, you’ll remember why you love to fish for spring walleye. Casting works well on Lake Erie too.
You’ll spook far fewer fish and enjoy the incredible peaceful silence of the night darkness and fresh air. This lure is really effective as soon as sunset completes and that first hour of darkness rolls in. My old fishing mentor Russ Johnson, an Elma resident, worked out a chart using data he collected over the years to show that walleye hit start their primary night forage at 22 minutes after sunset. Check the sunset time and the time when you hook your first one.
Look behind you before you cast and keep your fishin’ buddy’s earlobes intact. Good luck and good fishing out there this weekend; stay safe!
State of Lake Erie meeting
The 2011 annual State of Lake Erie meeting will feature NYSDEC presentations regarding the Lake Erie coldwater and warmwater fisheries, including an update on Round Goby research, DEC’s fishing outreach programs and current fishery status and trends. Presentors will include Don Einhouse (NYSDEC Lake Erie unit leader), Jim Markham (NYSDEC senior fisheries biologist), Dr. Chris Pennuto (Buffalo State College), Mike Todd (NYSDEC biologist) and others. The cordial event is facilitated by Helen Domske of the NY Sea Grant Great Lakes Program in conjunction with NYS Assemblyman Kevin Smardtz and the Southtowns Walleye Association at Armor Fire Hall, 4932 Clark St., Hamburg, starting at 7 p.m. For further information contact Domske at 645-3610 or email hmd4@cornell.edu.
NYS deer harvest numbers
The NYS deer harvest for 2010 included 123,100 antlerless deer (adult females and fawns) and just under 107,000 adult bucks. Deer harvests in the Adirondack Northern Zone were comparable to 2009, with adult buck take (16,100) essentially unchanged and antlerless take (12,500) only increasing about 3 percent. In the Southern Zone (includes WNY), excluding Long Island, the adult buck take (89,900) increased nearly 6 percent while antlerless take (108,600) increased only about 2 percent.
WNY continues to lead the state in total deer-harvest densities. The top five counties for 2010 were Yates, Wyoming, Genesee (with 11.0 deer per square mile), Cayuga and Orange counties. Total harvest is strongly impacted by the number of Deer Management Permits available in an area, which directly affects the harvest of antlerless deer. A more accurate picture of relative deer population densities is revealed by the density of buck harvest. The top counties for buck harvest density were: Wyoming, Yates, Allegany, Schuyler and Cayuga counties.
DEC reported that across the state hunters took a slightly higher proportion of 2.5-year old and older bucks than in previous years, continuing a trend that has developed over the past decade. This past year, about 45 percent of harvested bucks were 2.5 years or older, compared to only 33 percent in 2000. It was a good for many hunters!