Dunkirk, NY Fishing

[Char_Master]

Thanks! I'll post a report after this weekend as long as the Lake is nice enough to let us get out one last time.

[Char_Master]

Anyone know if Dunkirk (or Barcelona) still have the docks in at their boat launches?

[Fishmaster 196]

Dunkirk' s docks are in year round.  I'm not sure about barcelona.

[Char_Master]

Awesome, thanks!

[MCF]

For those that don't know, the power plant is currently mothballed.   The harbor now freezes so if you haven't fished it in winter for a couple years, save yourself a surprise. 

[Char_Master]

Fished hard for 5.5 hours today but unfortunately didn't have any action. Trolled spoons, plugs, cowbells, dodgers, and flashers in 10-50 FOW plus cast plugs and jigged spoons in the harbor, not a hit all day. Marked very few fish overall in the lake. Water temps outside the harbor ranged from 54-58°F. Not the best day to end our season but we'll be back in the spring!

[Char_Master]

Anyone been out of Dunkirk for Lakers (or any fish) in the past week or so? Winds are looking decent enough so I think we may trailer our boat up there for this coming weekend. Pull some cowbells and spoons in deep water. Any recent reports, tips, etc.?

 

I also just found out that there was apparently a fairly large sewage spill (almost a million gallons), you guys think it’ll hurt the offshore fishing at all by the weekend?

 

Thanks in advance.

[jigstick]

I was out of Barcelona on Sunday. Lake rolled over. I had 52 degree water 25ft down in 70 fow. Surface temps in the mid 60s. I was landing Lakers while walleye fishing inside.  Fish seem all scattered around. 

[Char_Master]

16 minutes ago, jigstick said:

I was out of Barcelona on Sunday. Lake rolled over. I had 52 degree water 25ft down in 70 fow. Surface temps in the mid 60s. I was landing Lakers while walleye fishing inside.  Fish seem all scattered around. 

Thanks for the report. Hopefully it’ll set back up for this weekend and they pod up again. I just need to bite the bullet and get a probe for next season to avoid all this guesswork on temps.

[jigstick]

Yeah man. It helps a lot for the suspended lakers. Most of my lakers are taken within 10ft off the bottom

[Fishmaster 196]

We fished for eyes this evening.  The water was 72degrees  at the surface and 54 degrees or so at 50 ft. The temp break was at 45 ft.  We caught a big laker off rigger set at 40ft.  Never caught one that high before.

Edited July 26, 2018 by Fishmaster 196

[jigstick]

I was catching lakers in 60fow 25ft down on Sunday out of Barcelona. 

[Char_Master]

Well last weekend was a blowout for us. Ended up getting stuck at home thanks to some medical issues. Looking like this weekend should be prime conditions though! Anyone else heading out there? I’ll be sure to make a report once we finish up Saturday.

[Fishnut]

We caught 2 lakers last weekend out of Northeast ( 13+ and a 14+ lbs) we’ll be up there again this weekend. Good luck.


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[Char_Master]

Nice! I haven’t heard of any Lakers out of NE all summer so it’s good to know that there’s still a few around. Good luck to you as well.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Char_Master

[Char_Master]

Well I certainly picked a good weekend to make a Dunkirk trip! 

 

Saturday we went 12/18 on Lakers in 7 hours. Smallest fish was 27” 12# and our lunker was a FAT 31” 26#! Also boated two fish right at the 20# mark and a 21#. Fishing 105-120 FOW with Cowbells/Gamblers and Dodgers.

 

Sunday we went 8/9 in 4 hours. The two largest fish were 20# and 22#! Covered 100-130 FOW and caught fish with Spoons, Dodgers, and Flashers. Didn’t do any cowbell fishing Sunday since many fish were eating them pretty deep on  Saturday and we were C&R fishing (minus one gill-hooked fish).

 

2-3’ waves weren’t fun in a 22’ boat, but the fish were definitely cooperative! I’d love to make it back to Dunkirk soon but unfortunately I think that’ll have to wait for next Summer with the way things are looking. 

[Gill-T]

Great looking fish. I would be interested to know stomach contents of the one you kept. They look well fed. 

[lineman49]

   Nice fish,  Congrats !

[Char_Master]

40 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

Great looking fish. I would be interested to know stomach contents of the one you kept. They look well fed. 

Thanks! The 18# fish I kept actually had an empty stomach. Might’ve been why she ate so aggressively and ended up gill-hooked. In general though, Erie Lakers eat almost exclusively Smelt and Gobies in the summer. However, with the recently declining Smelt population, I’ll bet they’re eating damn near nothing but Gobies these days.

 

26 minutes ago, lineman49 said:

   Nice fish,  Congrats !

Thanks!

[Fishnut]

Great looking fish. I would be interested to know stomach contents of the one you kept. They look well fed. 

We caught a couple out of Northeast marina and they wouldn’t go back down so there getting smoked tomorrow. They were full of perch nothing but perch. The ones we kept were 17 lbs and a small 8 pounder.


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[Gill-T]

That is what I am seeing in walleyes, perch and gobies. 

[Char_Master]

Interesting that they’re eating Perch this time of year. A 23# I kept this spring had a few Perch in its stomach, among other things, but I didn’t think their depth ranges would overlap during the summer. How deep did you catch those Lakers, fishnut?

[NymphO]

Fished the walleye tourney out of Dunkirk fri-sunday. We picked up a handful of Lakers. Took one just east of the piers in 75fow on the rigger. Big fatty. Prob in the 20# range.

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[Crestliner1850]

12 hours ago, Char_Master said:

Well I certainly picked a good weekend to make a Dunkirk trip! 

Well Char_Master, looks like Erie is as good as lake O for laker fishing!

[Char_Master]

11 hours ago, Crestliner1850 said:

Well Char_Master, looks like Erie is as good as lake O for laker fishing!

 

I’d say so! Maybe even a bit better in the size department, though Lake O certainly has more of them lake-wide than Erie does.