Dunkirk, NY Fishing

[Char_Master]

Anyone been doing good out of Dunkirk recently? Weather permitting, I'm hoping to head offshore there for the next two Saturdays. We've been crushing Walleye and Drum out of Erie, PA the past few weekends but now it's time for a shot at Summer Lakers! The plan as of now is to head northwest of the harbor and troll the bottom in 120-130 FOW for hungry Char. Running cowbells, dodgers, and spoons at low speed or switching to spoons and flashers at high speed if we need to search more water at a faster pace.

 

Thanks again for any updates or tips!

[jigstick]

You got it figured out pretty good man.  I launch out of Barcelona and head east into 100-130fow.  I troll slow with cowbells + Spin-n-glows and Moonshine glow spoons close to the bottom and hammer them.  If you want to get crazy you can run some magnum dipsys as well and get those suckers down deep with a Pro Troll + spoon or Pro Troll and spin-n-glow.  Seeing a big laker smack a wire dipsy down deep with get your heart racing.

[Char_Master]

19 minutes ago, jigstick said:

You got it figured out pretty good man.  I launch out of Barcelona and head east into 100-130fow.  I troll slow with cowbells + Spin-n-glows and Moonshine glow spoons close to the bottom and hammer them.  If you want to get crazy you can run some magnum dipsys as well and get those suckers down deep with a Pro Troll + spoon or Pro Troll and spin-n-glow.  Seeing a big laker smack a wire dipsy down deep with get your heart racing.

Thanks for the info! Probably going to stick a classic green/chart/silver cowbell & spin'n'glow combo down 1-3' off the bottom and a moonshine spoon up above that at 3-5' from bottom. Then spoons or flashers on size 1 or mag wire dipsies a bit higher than those. Pretty pumped just hoping the lake cooperates and there's no 3-5 footers like we've had in PA the past few weeks!

[jigstick]

My go to spoon for lakers fishing between Barcelona and Dunkirk is the Moonshine Oscar spoon.  By the end of the year they are so beat up I have to toss them and get new ones.

 

My go to cowbell is the Green / Silver /  Black cowbells with a purple / yellow spin-n-glow.  

 

And Im fishing them the same way you are.  Down riggers along the bottom, and my dipsys a little above.  

 

[Char_Master]

Thats a good problem man! I'll have to add a couple of them to a lure order this week to have for the weekend.

[jigstick]

Are you going out this weekend?  Let us know how you do

[Char_Master]

20 minutes ago, jigstick said:

Are you going out this weekend?  Let us know how you do

Yessir. Heading north now to get our boat in PA then driving over to Dunkirk early in the morning. Hoping to have lines in by 7:00-7:30. Winds looking like 4-8 mph from the South so fingers crossed we make it out to deepwater and the low pressure front moving in tomorrow gets the Trout hungry!

 

Edited July 21, 2017 by Char_Master

[jigstick]

South wind will be perfect. Start at 90 and troll north into deeper water. Drop Oscar down 5-10ft off the bottom and hang on

[Char_Master]

Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately I ordered a couple of those Oscar spoons but they aren't being delivered until tomorrow haha. Hoping to hit Dunkirk again next weekend though so I'll have them for then. For tomorrow I've got a few spoons that look similar. Moonshine "Super Shadow" and MI Stinger NBK both have that glowing fish-spine down the middle of the spoon.

[Char_Master]

Had a great day out there yesterday! Went 17/18 Lakers in 6 hours with a 1-2 rod spread. Had dipsies in for the first hour along the bottom but they weren't getting touched so we took them out and just fished one or two riggers all day so we could stop the boat and revive the fish. Four doubles over the course of the morning as well! Had spoons down there on and off all day but not one fish would eat them. Morning slow trolled and got 9 fish all on cowbells along the bottom and afternoon/late morning speed trolled and got 8 fish on flasher-flies 10-20 feet off the bottom. Fishing 105-130 FOW all day. Smallest fish was 26" and I even broke my PB twice today first with a 37" 23# then later with a 38" 24#! Three fish over 21 pounds, loads of 14-18 pounders, and only one fish under 12 pounds. Don't believe I've ever had to hug so many fish because they're too large to hold any other way! Conditions were perfect, a slight breeze and chop with .5-1 foot waves and swells no larger than 2 feet. Hoping to get back there again next Saturday but first we need the lake to cooperate again. Thanks for all the info, jigstick!

 

All fish were caught and released

Edited July 23, 2017 by Char_Master

[Gill-T]

Some serious bellies on display!  Well done. What were they coughing up?

[Char_Master]

19 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

Some serious bellies on display!  Well done. What were they coughing up?

Thanks! Actually not a single fish puked up an earlier meal. In Erie though, 99% of their summer diet is going to consist of Rainbow Smelt and Round Gobies. In the spring and fall they usually key in more on Emerald Shiners instead of Smelt but there's very few Emeralds in the lake this year overall.

[lineman49]

  Great job, congrats!   Nice fish by the way!

Edited July 24, 2017 by lineman49

[Char_Master]

3 hours ago, lineman49 said:

  Great job, congrats!

Thank you!

[Char_Master]

Hoping to fish out of Dunkirk one final time this Summer before the lake turns over in September. Thinking the same program I ran last time should produce fish. But, for those of you who fish here often, any recommendations for nice marinas that offer transient slips with power? I'd like to fish both days this coming weekend and it'd be easiest if I could just stay on the boat right on the water overnight. Thanks in advance!

[lineman49]

 I believe you can get a slip at Chadwicks marina right across from the Dunkirk launch.

[Gill-T]

Go to Barcelona.  Warm water has come in.  Trout can't handle 74 degree water.

[Char_Master]

3 hours ago, Gill-T said:

Go to Barcelona.  Warm water has come in.  Trout can't handle 74 degree water.

Do you mean it's come closer to shore at Dunkirk? Unless the lake flipped the Laker fishing should be fine, it should still be 39° under the thermocline out deep.

[Char_Master]

11 hours ago, lineman49 said:

 I believe you can get a slip at Chadwicks marina right across from the Dunkirk launch.

Thanks!

[Gill-T]

I trolled to Canadian border Sunday from Dunkirk.....74 degree water temp top to bottom. NO Thermocline. You will be able to access cold water out of Barcelona most likely. 

[Char_Master]

9 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

I trolled to Canadian border Sunday from Dunkirk.....74 degree water temp top to bottom. NO Thermocline. You will be able to access cold water out of Barcelona most likely. 

Seriously!? Wow, I would have never thought. Thanks for letting me know, I would've wasted a whole weekend trying to find Lakers out there! Heck, hopefully it's still cold off Barcelona. I'm tempted just to stay at my home port and head east to fish deep off North East, PA.

[Char_Master]

At this point in the year I'm probably pushing my luck looking for reports, but I'll ask anyway. Anyone been fishing out of Dunkirk for Salmonids lately? Looks like the water temps are creeping down into the upper 50's and I've read a few things that claim the Lakers are pretty active in 10-40 FOW November-December once the water drops below 58°. I'll have a three day window this coming weekend to get on the water one more day this season before winterizing my boat. Assuming there aren't 18' waves like they're calling for today (or even 4' for that matter), does anyone have experience with Fall Lakers on Erie? If not, I'm considering some Steelhead/Brown fishing around the harbor as a backup fishery. Thanks in advance!

[RD9]

last few years I have done it a few times.  West from habor to point has lakers, browns and steel. I'd stay in 20 to 30 ft. Last year I fished late October and caught all sorts of different species. 

 

Let it me know how it goes. 

[Char_Master]

1 hour ago, RD9 said:

last few years I have done it a few times.  West from habor to point has lakers, browns and steel. I'd stay in 20 to 30 ft. Last year I fished late October and caught all sorts of different species. 

 

Let it me know how it goes. 

Thank you for the info! Any particular presentations that produce well this time of year? I'm a bit concerned with snagging balls with how rocky it is in shallow but hopefully it'll be fine as long as I stay a few feet off bottom. 

[RD9]

I ran spoons off riggers and cores