Fishermen here in Western New York should wake-up tap dancing that we have all this great multiple species fishing right here in our backyard. One of the most treasured of these species is the walleye pike and we have fantastic walleye fishing just a couple hours’ drive away.
As a matter of fact, you can drive either east or west to catch trophy walleye. Drive west to Lake Erie and its world-renowned walleye fishing, or east to the eastern shores of Lake Ontario and possibly catch a wall hanger. Either way, the Great Lakes and their tributaries harbor some great walleye action.
For example, right now in Chaumont Bay in the northeast corner of Lake Ontario, the walleye bite is on fire and every charter boat from Henderson Harbor to Cape Vincent has converged on Chaumont to get in on the fantastic fishing that is happening there now.
I recently contacted Jody Button, a veteran walleye angler from Fairport, about his recent trip to Chaumont Bay. Jody is an expert on fishing the Eastern Basin of Lake Ontario. Jody reported that the walleye fishing was a little slow this past weekend compared to recent weeks.
On Saturday, May 20, Button landed a 31 inch 10 pound walleye in Chaumont Bay. He divulged that he had been trolling a purple Rapala deep diver lure in 20 feet of water in the deeper trough running just west of Johnson Shoals. While there he noticed the local charter boats were in the Bay trolling as well – a good indicator that’s where the hot walleye bite is right now.
Jody says the charter captains will often share information. Button suggests launching at the free boat launch in Chaumont and motoring west towards the mouth of Lake Ontario until you reach 15 to 20 feet of water to start trolling. These post spawn marble eyes are scattered, so it isn’t necessary to be in an exact spot. Try to keep your trolling speeds under 2.5 MPH.
Most any stick bait will work, but Jody says you will need a lure that has a deep lip on it to take the lure down to at least 10 to 15 feet. Once the lure is in the water, he lets out 100 feet of line of the reel then snaps on an inline planer board to that line. This will take the lure outside the wake of the boat and allow you to put more lures in the water without getting them tangled.
Then he lets out another 50 feet of line before closing the bail on the reel and putting the rod in a rod holder. He will do the same on the other side of the boat.
New York regulations permit a boat to troll two rods per person fishing, so these inline planer boards will help spread the lures out behind the boat, allowing you to cover more water with each trolling pass.
There will be other walleye fishermen in the Bay, many doing the same. The first rule of trolling is to give wide berth to any other boat trolling and never motor behind that boat. Remember that boat will have long lines out behind them and if you drive too close you will cut them off.
Button stresses that these post spawn walleyes are very dispersed in Chaumont Bay, so there is never a reason to fish close to anyone else. Jody stays at least 500 yards away from any other boat that is trolling, but admits he does keep an eye on the other boats, observing their trolling patterns and whether they have the net out, an obvious indicator they are boating a fish.
Walleye are one of the best eating fish that swims but these large fish that you tend to catch this time of year in Chaumont Bay are usually big females. These are the mature spawners and, in my opinion, should be released for the good of future fishing. For example, a 10 pound walleye will be 20 to 25-years-old and a sin to take out of the spawning cycle. Keep the small fish but if you catch a 6 pound fish or larger, take a picture and put that big old fish back.
If you interested in booking a walleye charter in the area, Bill Saiff Outdoors (www.billsaiffoutdoors.com) would probably be your best bet, but Jody emphasizes this is the type of fishing anyone with a boat can do. All you need is a couple rods, a few minnow style deep diving stink baits and a good attitude.
So get some ethanol free gas into old Bessy and head to Chaumont Bay. If you put in the hours on the water, you will reward with a big eye; maybe even a wall hanger.
