fishing

It was a beautiful evening for fishing on the Tonawanda Creek behind the courthouse in Batavia.

Press release:

Join the Genesee County Parks along with the Oakfield-Alabama Lions Club and try out fishing at DeWitt Recreation Area from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 29th.

Kids up to age 16 can join the fun and get the chance to win a prize with the Kendra Haacke Memorial Fishing Derby, sponsored by the Oakfield-Alabama Lions Club. Prize includes fishing gear donated by Cabela’s of Cheektowaga.

No fishing license required, this is part of the NYSDEC’s Free Fishing Weekend. Perfect for beginners!

Program meets at Pavilion 3. Friendly guides will be on hand to assist you.

Fishing gear provided or bring your own. Bait provided through a generous donation by Walmart of Batavia.

Call 585-344-1122 register or walk-ins also welcome.

For more information visit the parks' website here, or contact Shannon Lyaski at Shannon.Lyaski@co.genesee.ny.us or (585) 344-1122.

Press release:

East Bethany – Join the Genesee County Parks along with the Oakfield-Alabama Lions Club and try out fishing at DeWitt Recreation Area from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 29th.

Kids up to age 16 can join the fun and get the chance to win a prize with the Kendra Haacke Memorial Fishing Derby, sponsored by the Oakfield-Alabama Lions Club. Prize includes fishing gear donated by Cabela’s of Cheektowaga.

No fishing license required, this is part of the NYSDEC’s Free Fishing Weekend. Perfect for beginners!

Program meets at Pavilion 3. Friendly guides will be on hand to assist you.

Fishing gear provided or bring your own. Bait provided through a generous donation by Walmart of Batavia.

Call 585-344-1122 register or walk-ins also welcome.

For more information visit the parks' website here, or contact Shannon Lyaski at Shannon.Lyaski@co.genesee.ny.us or (585) 344-1122.

Press release:

Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is hosting the 27^th annual Youth Fishing Derby on Saturday, June 2, from 9 to 11 a.m.

The derby is held during National Fishing and Boating Week at Ringneck Marsh on Iroquois NWR. Planned activities will begin at 8 a.m. and include a casting contest, migration maze game, and a fish dissection demonstration. Rods and reels will be available for children to borrow if needed.

The event is sponsored by the Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Inc. who will be providing door prizes and trophies for the anglers with the three biggest fish in each age group (7 and under, 8-12, and 13-17).

Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, but no matter what Mother Nature delivers, it’s sure to be a fun fishy day! The fishing derby and all activities are free to the public.

Please contact Refuge staff at 948-5445, ext. 7037, or visit the website at here for further information.

Iroquois NWR is located midway between Buffalo and Rochester, NY, and is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. To get to Ringneck Marsh, take Highway 63 and turn east onto Oak Orchard Ridge Road. In less than 0.5 miles, you may park in the Ringneck Marsh Overlook Parking Lot.

Individuals with disabilities and any other person who may need special assistance to participate in this program should contact the Refuge at 948-5445 or at the Federal Relay No. 1-800-877-8339.

A couple dozen young anglers turned out this morning for the 26th annual Youth Fishing Derby at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.

Among the young fishermen were Henry and Darel Matthies, of Newstead, with father Ken.

Harry Gugino, of Buffalo.

Every year about this time of year it seems, Kyle Kendall hauls in a giant fish. Here he is with a 35-inch, 11-pound pike caught at a location in Genesee County.

Kyle Kendall's favorite sport is baseball, but he seems to have a knack for catching trophy pike.

Last summer, he caught a big one at the sand wash, which his parents had mounted. This weekend, he landed a 35.5-inch, 10-pound pike.

Photo and info submitted by Dave Kendall.

Photos and information submitted by Mark Knowles.

Mark Knowles says his son, Cameron, 12, caught "Walter" this year and last year while fishing the pond at Lei-Ti Campground in Bethany. 

"This bass is called Walter by many who tried to catch him," Mark said.

Top photo is from this year and bottom photo is from last year, Mark said.

Photo and info submitted by Rob Stefani.

Rob Stefani caught this bass late this afternoon at the sandwash (Dewitt Recreation Area). He said he guessed it weighed 5 lbs. "It's definitely one of the better bass I've ever caught there," he said.  He used a night crawler and it's the first bass he's seen caught there this year. He's seen lots of trout and pike so far, he said. He did release the fish.

It was last Friday morning and despite the early hour the air temperature was climbing rapidly and the humidity was killer; couple that with the fact I was running on not much more than an hour of sleep and it seemed like I was going to be in for a long day. Doug Harloff, on the other hand, was his usual self -- chipper, upbeat, and eager to get down to the business at hand. I didn't know it then, but my disposition would soon match his and my lack of sleep quickly forgotten.

Our original plan called for a trip to Lake Erie to see about putting a dent in the walleye population, but at the last minute Doug suggested we play the waters of Lake Ontario, "steelhead fishin's been good" he said. As tired as I was, I figured it a good idea to be as close to home as possible. I readily agreed and moments later we were on our way to Point Breeze. 

Doug was still setting out lines when the first fish struck, a feisty steelhead rainbow that quickly got the adrenaline flowing. That said, any sleep deprivation dissipated immediately. The sight of a steelhead leaping clear of the water then tailwalking across the surface or the powerful run of a king salmon has a way of rejuvenating even the most bleary-eyed angler. And on this day we would be accommodated by both species. The king salmon pictured above made several line-sizzling runs, taking out nearly 370 feet of line!

Initially, Doug rigged up two downriggers, a planer board and a flat-line rig with lead core line, the latter being run some 300 feet behind the boat. Each rig produced at least one fish, most of which came from the 60 foot level in waters ranging from 150 - 250 feet deep. Northern King spoons were the hot bait, notably Dream Weaver 42nd's and black NK spoons with silver tape.

The further out on the lake we went the more we felt the breeze and the air temperature cooled somewhat. For the time being we had left some of the heat and humidity behind. From our position about two miles offshore it was difficult to make out the shoreline shrouded in haze. By the time we were ready to call it a day we had four steelheads and two kings in the hold.   

Because Doug lets nothing go to waste whether it be fish, waterfowl, upland game or venison, his recipes for fish and game are vast and varied. And because I would be bringing home an ample supply of fillets, I asked his opinion. Everything he suggested sounded great, the only trouble being, I could only try one recipe at a time. The following evening my wife and I dined on blackened Cajun salmon fillets cooked on the grill. The meal was delicious and the hum of the air conditioner made it all the more enjoyable.

Thanks Doug - it was a great day!

When I was in ninth grade, science teacher Ron Warren, having posed a question to the class, said, "Mr. Nigro, would you please stand up and give us the wrong answer." 

I didn't do too bad scholastically during my junior high school years -- but I should have done better. The reason being, I seldom paid attention. A good deal of my classroom time was spent daydreaming about catching fish. Later, as my high school years were drawing to a close, instructor and fellow angler Don Andrews told me that, if I were ever to fall down and crack my head open, northern pike would spill out all over the floor. 

My early pike fishing fantasies were limited to the Tonawanda Creek, occurring anywhere from Parker Grinnell's pasture to the entire stretch of creek downstream from Whiskey Run.

Sometime in my 20s the wilderness waters of the Far North beckoned, and those imagined scenarios began to take place in a land of muskeg and jack pines, places only accessible by float plane. But regardless of the location, those daydreams never involved catching a lot of pike, just one big tackle-smashing brawler that would inhale a wobbling spoon and peel line from my reel like a runaway freight train.

Before those dreams became reality, there was a short stint where I tried my hand at ice fishing. Back then I wasn't so bothered by the cold and pulling pike through the ice helped the winter months pass quickly.

Whether fishing in remote locations or close to home, the pursuit of northern pike provides a volume of memories. Yet after float-plane rides into the wilderness of Manitoba, the far north of Ontario, the barrens of the Northwest Territories, and along the way discovering the tenacity of wilderness lake trout, by the late '80s my zeal for pursuing the toothy northern had diminished a great deal. Thus, the stage was set for a most unexpected and exciting encounter with old esox lucious................stay tuned!

A few people seemed to find this afternoon a good time to fish the Tonawanda Creek.

Above is Kyle Kendall, 7, and a student at John Kennedy School, who had just caught a northern pike when I happened by, which his father, Dave, displays for him.

The above photo of the Canadea bridge was taken by Amy Joyner. The bridge spans the Genesee River near one of her husband Jim's favored locales for fishing smallmouth bass. He's taken countless smallmouths from this stretch, including what may have been his largest bronzeback, a smallie weighing close to seven pounds. Winding back and forth between large gravel bars, rocky bottomed pools and a backdrop of rolling hills, this stretch of the Genesee was a favorite for Jim.

And Jim never fished the river alone. He was always accompanied by at least one, sometimes two, friends. For years, even if Amy remained at their cabin, he was always joined by his other favorite girl and faithful companion, Candy. If Jim was wading the river, the 14-year-old chocolate lab was right by his side. No doubt, she knew this stretch of the river as well as Jim. Now, after so many years of enjoying each other's company, the time all dog lovers dread has arrived.

Candy, may your eternity be filled with winding shallow streams, gravel bars and rolling hillsides.   

Boats are moored to their slips and the first tints of autumn are seen along the banks of Oak Orchard Creek. It was a great day to be outdoors. However, before we motored upstream, we began the morning on Lake Ontario.

John Lawrence, in back, Mike Ficarella in foreground, enjoying a balmy day. We're about two miles west of Point Breeze, off Lakeside Beach State Park.

That's the Somerset smokestack...... its actually located a short distance offshore, located around the point to the right and down the shoreline a few miles. Back in May I posted a photo of the smokestack as seen from Wheeler's horse farm on top of Molasses Hill in Wyoming County.

A gobi decided to make a meal of Mike's wobbling spoon.

A non-native species, this is a closeup of the gobi.

Out on the lake the wind began to pick up so John opted to motor up the creek.

John removing the weeds from his flatfish.

Heron scanning the creek while perched high in a tree.

Mute swan preening.

Turkey vulture swoops in for a closer look.

A bend in the river.

Another heron, this one doing its hunting closer to the water.

Soon it was time to head back downstream and lunch at the Black North Inn. Thanks John, for a great day!

The sun had yet to rise and the 15-year-old angler was already at the water's edge. Standing on a large flat rock beneath a railroad trestle, he cast the surface plug far as he could downstream. The plug landed near the top of the pool. Then, instead of allowing the plug to remain motionless until all the ripples disappeared, the young fisherman began to reel in his line as soon as the lure hit the water. And rather than retrieve it slowly, alternately popping and twitching the plug, he reeled steadily, creating a tiny wake.

Within moments the young man noticed another wake, this one smaller, v-shaped and moving rapidly toward his incoming lure. While the wake may have been small, the fish about to intercept his surface plug was not. The water erupted and the young angler at once had his hands full, realizing he was into a mighty good fish. The fish on the end of his line was a jumbo smallmouth and it wasted no time tearing up the surface of that pool, jumping, somersaulting, bulldogging and ending the early morning calm. And just like that it was gone.

As the bewildered young angler stood with his mouth agape, a voice emanated from within a sleeping bag on the bank.

"Youdidn'tplayitlongenough." The voice belonged to Joe Mazzarella Sr. who could sometimes turn a sentence into a single word. That scenario took place 45 years ago this month on the banks of Oatka Creek where it flows near the Le Roy-Pavilion border. The young angler was yours truly. The action began the previous evening. What began as a simple overnight on the banks of the Oatka, turned into an introduction to smallmouths, aka the feisty bronzeback.

After setting up our camp, Joe Jr. and I helped his father with the crab scoop, seining soft shells from a thick weed bed. After nightfall crayfish began to emerge from their daytime lairs beneath rocks. By lantern light we could easily see them in the clear water, dozens of them on the creek bottom. Soon afterward the bullheads began to bite. Not long after that, a school of jumbo smallmouths invaded the pool.

Thus began my introduction into the world of the smallmouth bass, pound-for-pound one of the gamest fish that swims. Once the action slowed we crawled into our sleeping bags and fell asleep under the stars. My education continued just after dawn the next morning, when the aforementioned big smallmouth put on quite an aerial display before spitting the plug back in my direction. A few minutes later Mr. Mazzarella started a fire and I was able to temporarily forget losing the fish when the aroma of bacon and eggs filled the air.

I've lost numerous fish in my time, but none comes to mind like that Oatka smallmouth all those years ago. And too, whenever I think of that fighting smallmouth, wondering just how big it might have been, I can't help but think of Joe Mazzarella Sr.

A few years afterward, while working on the construction of the GCC Batavia campus, I saw "Joe Mazz" quite often. Whenever our paths crossed, he'd ask, "beenfishin?" or "doinanyhuntin?"

It was in the winter of '71 when Joe Sr. was heading to Silver Lake for a day of ice fishing. Weather conditions weren't good, but that wasn't about to stop him. En route to the lake, he happened upon an accident and, being the person he was, Joe Mazz stopped to help. A snow squall had enveloped the area and in near-whiteout conditions the driver of a truck failed to see Joe Sr. assisting at the scene.

That smallmouth was quite a fish and Joe Mazzarella Sr. was quite a guy.