Sports, Ink

WNY Fishing . . . Is there better bang for the buck?

Monday's story on the diversity of fishing in WNY has me wondering if there are any places in the country with comparable quality and quantity, along with the ability to deliver both at a palatable price. Certainly the fishing in the Florida Keys is plentiful and diverse, but charters down that way aren't cheap, and the price can hit four figures if deep-sea expeditions are your thing.

In WNY we can fish for smallmouth bass, walleye, lake-run steelhead, lake-run salmon and inland trout without need of a boat. Access to a boat lengthens the season, and considerably in some cases, but The Frugal Fisherman still has a pretty large windown of opportunity, particularly when it comes to steelhead.

I'm also thinking, is there a WNY fishing Hall of Fame? If so, where is it and what are the qualifications? If not, why not?

Let me hear your thoughts on the diversity of fishing here compared to other places? And, if one doesn't already exist, send in your ideas on potential parameters on a WNY Fishing Hall of Fame.

-- Bob DiCesare

Bassmasters tournament is on

Wind posed a threat to the Bassmasters Lake Erie Challenge but event organizer Dave Konsek said Friday afternoon weather is cooperating and the tournament will go as planned Saturday.

The event is a fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. It is in its ninth season and it annually draws about 100 entrants to the Small Boat Harbor off Fuhrmann Boulevard. The highest number of boats was 137.

Konsek said registration will begin at around 5 a.m. and be cut off when the meeting to go over rules begins at 6:45. The first flight will leave at about 7. Weigh-in is at 3 p.m.

 There are 40 to 50 boats preregistered but Konsek said there are a lot of trailers from Virginia and the Carolinas and other states and he expects that owners of those boats will be signing up in the morning.

-- Fletcher Doyle