Local Sports

So many fish, so little time

When our Lake Erie walleye turn into arguments at the fish-cleaning station, you know the fishing must be a bit better than ordinary.

It goes something like this: "Worms catch more walleye." "No way. Give me a good crankbait." "Yeah, but look at the mess those nightcrawlers make." "Yeah, but look at the price of those lures."

And so it goes.

Meanwhile, somewhere 70 or 80 feet below the boat, the walleye are probably wondering what all the fuss is about.

This has become one of the more amusing debates along New York’s Lake Erie shoreline as summer begins to wane. With walleye schools showing up on sonar in astonishing numbers -- from Sturgeon Point west toward Dunkirk, Barcelona and Ripley -- anglers are enjoying the kind of fishing that can make a person forget about arguing over tackle altogether.

Just go catch them.

That is the remarkable story of Lake Erie right now.

For many anglers, 2026 has been the season when they suddenly realized they could catch more walleye in a few hours than they once caught in an entire summer.

Charter captains are finding fish. Recreational anglers are finding fish. Trollers, casters and drifters are finding fish, and they’re doing it with just about everything imaginable.

The worm-harness crowd keeps things wonderfully simple. A trolling rod, line-counter reel, appropriate weight or diver, a leader and a spinner harness tipped with a nightcrawler to put fish in the boat.

A typical starting point is trolling a worm harness at around 0.8 to 2 mph, adjusting weight and leader length until the bait reaches the depth where fish are showing on the sonar. Lead core, downriggers, Dipsy Divers, Jet Divers and planer boards all offer ways to get a presentation into the strike zone. So does the old 3-way rig with an 8-oz weight. Right to the bottom, lift up until you find fish. Bang.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has an excellent, very helpful, Lake Erie walleye guide explaining these setups and techniques. It’s worth bookmarking for anglers who want to refine their trolling game.

The artificial-bait crowd has its own arsenal: deep-diving crankbaits, stickbaits and other hard or soft presentations pulled behind divers, downriggers or planer boards. The advantage is obvious -- no worms, no worm dirt and no replacing bait every time a walleye decides lunch is on the house.

Of course, there is one downside to a walleye boat loaded with hard baits.Have you priced them lately?

At roughly $8 to $13 apiece, filling a tackle box with dozens of colors, sizes and diving depths can become an expensive hobby. Then there’s the small matter of a thrashing walleye attached to a lure equipped with multiple treble hooks. Hooks don’t care whether you’re holding a $12 crankbait or a worm harness. Neither do hungry fish. Get that line back in the water.

Anyone who has ever had a treble hook buried in their hand knows the lesson: a lively walleye deserves respect. Keep the fish under control, use pliers, and take your time removing hooks. If you're a bit over-cautious, get a pair of grade 5 Milwaukee work gloves. Even shark teeth seem impervious. Good protection for $15 or so.

As for scent, it’s hardly essential when a nightcrawler is doing the work. Artificial-bait anglers sometimes add scent for confidence, but when hungry walleye are stacked in the water column, presentation, depth and speed are generally far more important than making an artificial bait smell like something from the fish market.

That’s really the point.

When sonar shows schools of walleye 15 to 25 feet thick in 70 to 95 feet of water, does it really matter whether you’re pulling a crawler behind a spinner or a carefully selected artificial minnow?

We know that the walleye don’t care.

They just keep biting.

New York’s Lake Erie walleye limit is six fish per day, with a 15-inch minimum, under the current regulations. For anglers who have never experienced a Lake Erie walleye bite like this, the sheer number of fish available is something to appreciate.

It is safe to say that we can let the tackle-box debate continue.

Let one guy fish worms and another guy pull crankbaits.

Let the charter captain run a spread of divers and boards while somebody else quietly drifts along with a 3-way rig or just randomly casting a heavy jig.

There is room for everybody in this fishery.

For right now, there may never have been a better time to enjoy "fish-catching."

Worms or lures? Pick your side.

Just don’t spend so much time arguing that you forget to set the hook. Lake Erie is waiting.

Gotta love the outdoors.

Outdoor Calendar

Sept. 9: Fly Tying Class, 6-8 p.m., free, Falconer Rod & Gun Club, 329 Falconer St., Jamestown; info: 716-467-0782.

Sept. 10: Erie County Federation of Sportsmen, monthly meeting, 6:30-9 p.m., Springville Field & Stream, Chaise Road, Springville, Info: 716-592-7941.

Sept. 10: 3-D Archery, 20 targets Bear Lake Rod & Gun Club, 4 p.m. start, $10 fee, open to public, 4391 Stockton-Cassadaga Road, Stockton; 716-397-9717.

Sept. 12: NYSDEC Hunter Ed, Erie County Cornell Cooperative Extension, 21 South Grove St., East Aurora, taught by Robert J Avery, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., register at: https://decals.events.east.licensing.app/em/events/190, or call 585-226-5463.

Sept. 12: Combined Trap/Skeet Tournament, benefit for Great Falls Council Scouting America (Buffalo office); 8:30 a.m. registration, 9 a.m. shooting starts; team, adult and youth categories; East Aurora Fish/Game, 1018 Luther Road, East Aurora; Info: 716-876-7735.