As part of a work assignment, I will travel to western New York later this month for a couple of days of fishing the Erie Canal. Not the entire canal, of course. That would take all summer, and I’m too fond of fishing Bluegrass waters for that.
When the Erie Canal was dug two centuries ago (1817-1825), it was 363 miles long and an engineering marvel. Today, the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor swallows 524 miles; includes the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego and Champlain canals; and is something of a marketing marvel. If it could somehow be transferred to Kentucky, the canalway would stretch from Columbus to Pikeville and beyond.
I plan to fish a stretch of the canal west of Lockport, New York, where, hopefully, the current will be gentle, neighboring boat traffic light, and the fish friendly. I’ll let you know.
I have been advised that the best way to access the canal for fishing is by kayak. For prowling the canal, I have decided on my Old Town Topwater PDL. This is one of Old Town’s boats with a pedal drive system. It is a 10.5-foot, 36-inch-beam, sure-footed fishing platform. It’s also a manageable weight (about 80 pounds, not counting the removable drive system), which is important when one is car topping one’s boat.
I will fish the canal at the invitation of Capt. Frank Campbell, owner/operator of the Niagara Region Charter Service and the outdoor promotions director for Niagara Falls USA. Capt. Frank is a fine fisherman and generally plies his angling trade on the Niagara River both above the falls (Lake Erie) and below the falls downriver to Lake Ontario. It is superb fishing, with a species variety that surpasses even our own splendid Kentucky waters. If you need a fishing road trip to help wash COVID out of your system, this fish-rich region is about 560 miles from Louisville and worth the trip. Go if you can. Capt. Frank will put you on fish.
Speaking of being on fish, congratulations to Wolfgang Kratzenberg of Verona. While crappie fishing on Grant County’s Bullock Pen Lake on March 21 with his son, Geoffrey, Kratzenberg hooked a heavy fish. He first thought it was a catfish or carp, but when he got a glimpse of the marking on the critter’s back, he knew that a big saugeye had hit his red and chartreuse tube jig. He just didn’t know how big.
The men didn’t have a net but eventually wrestled the brute into their boat. Thinking it might be a state record, they headed to shore to find a scale. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources requires that state record fish be weighed on a scale certified for trade. Kratzenberg finally found one at Costco in Florence. The fish, which was 27 inches long with a girth of 17.5 inches, pulled the scale to 9.05 pounds, besting the existing state record saugeye by a little more than a half-pound.
Saugeye are a fast-growing hybrid cross between a walleye and sauger and have been stocked in Kentucky waters since 2013. Bullock Pen Lake is one of the original saugeye stocking sites. Eight waters are currently stocked with saugeye.
A 938-acre tract near Lock and Dam No. 13 on the Kentucky River in Estill and Lee counties has undergone more than a year of restoration work and is now open to the public as the Ross Creek Wildlife Management Area. The property, a former cattle farm, is owned by the state game agency and was restored through the Kentucky Wetland and Stream Mitigation Program. The work included restoring the natural contours of Ross Creek and planting more than 15,000 trees and shrubs, according to project manager Jessie Boles.
“It had been a cattle farm, with cattle grazing near the stream and wading in the water,” Boles said via the KDFWR. “It was not in good shape.”
It’s in better shape now. The management area, which includes walk-in fishing access to the Kentucky River, is located off Ky. Route 851. For more information, including a map, click here.
May generally is considered the unofficial start of bluegill season, although bluegill can be, and are, caught year-round. The tasty panfish are terrific sport on light tackle and great fun on a fly rod. Bluegill spawn throughout the summer, but May is a peak time. When water temperatures approach 70 degrees, look for spawning areas in shallow water over a firm bottom. Bluegill action often seems to peak around the full moon (May 26 this year), but go when you can. When fly fishing for bluegill, I often use a small (1/125 ounce) marabou jig (they also work for trout). They are available in a rainbow of colors, and nearly any color will catch bluegill, but black, dark brown and olive are tried-and-true producers. I typically get mine from P.J.’s Tackle, mostly because they are well made but partly because a purchase supports the company’s mission work. Details at pjstackleco.com.
Be safe. Be cautious. Wear a mask. And social distance. (It’s OK to be close to the fish, though.)