The NYSDEC fisheries unit, during summer 2024, announced the adoption of a new regulation to take effect starting in 2025, that will impact bass fishing tournaments statewide.  Starting January 1, 2025, organizations, clubs, charities and just some guys getting together for a little fun competition, will now be required to secure a permit to hold any type of black bass tournament in NYS, where the tournament field is at least 10 competitors or teams, or more.  The permit is free, for now, and tournament organizers must apply for this permit at least 45 days in advance of the event. 

Justification for this new requirement appears to be the desire to understand what tournament fishing pressure does to a local bass fishery and it’s expected quality, despite the vast majority of fish caught during these events being released to fight another day.  Collecting tournament statistics seems to be the goal, and understanding the number of tournaments held each season in NY may help better understand the impacts tournament angling may bring, while collecting insight into the water body’s quality of fish being caught. 

On the surface, this seems to make sense.  What doesn’t make sense to me, is the 10 participants/ competitors.  Nor does the 45-day minimum application date from event, especially in the face of modern web technologies.  The DEC can turn around a web application for senior crossbow usage and issue a permit within a few days for a physically compromised senior hunter to use a crossbow throughout early archery, but they cannot figure out how to host a similar application for bass tournaments?  But it’s the 10 participants/ teams, and the fact that this would include the new Fish Donkey app powered contests, which includes kayak fishing, and these Fish Donkey tournaments could encompass multiple state waters, not just one. 

Although it is valuable information to quantify a specific water’s bass fishing quality, these small tournaments are the essence of recreational angling.  A group of friends throwing together a “king of the lake” tourney grows camaraderie, helps promote fishing, and offers the chance to improve at the sport through friendly competition, pitting your knowledge and skill against others in a friendly competitive fashion.  Many local bass fishing clubs hold fund-raising open tournaments to support scholarship opportunities, or help raise funds for medical research, such as the BassEye events raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Some clubs may even hold weekly afternoon contests during the summer months, with participation in these opportunities varying from a half dozen to maybe 20 anglers, and you never know which week will bring out more members to participate. 

This is part of why we buy a recreational sport fishing license.  

Make no mistake, I do believe a big difference exists between local club events and professional tournaments.  I also believe these big tournaments secure a permit already to hold these events, which often bring over 300 competitors to the host waters.  But waters capable of handling these large events are limited by launch facility and parking capacity.  And with the majority of tournaments practicing catch and release, direct population impacts – the focus of management efforts to begin with – show as negligible.  The fact these small clubs return to various waters to hold tournaments is informative to the fishery quality, as no club wants to hold a tournament on a water that will produce few keepers to weigh.  We can use common sense to understand impacts to the fisheries.  Besides, fishing pressure is a function of people buying fishing licenses and actually fishing.  The DEC is not to manage the fishermen.  They are to manage the fisheries. 

This effort will bear very little fruit, and with the scattergun approach, become a costly thing to try to incorporate, but to what end?  What’s next?  Fishermen have to provide catch reports to the department after every outing?  That’s what the survey efforts accomplish.  What value is there in collecting data from 30 kayakers fishing 20 different waters during their competition, and immediately releasing each catch after measurement and photograph? 

Wisdom should inform us all that, with limited resources, focusing efforts on larger tournaments where competition is a profession for many, is a vastly more efficient use of conservation funds than wasting valuable resources to chase the impacts of 20 fish being caught, and released.

 Small tournaments are the essence of recreational angling, and has been since man began fishing.  Recreational angling is what we buy our fishing license to pursue.  Anglers do not purchase fishing licenses to fund the DEC’s efforts to manage fishermen, the funds are to manage, protect and restore fisheries.

 The ECFSC is working to correct this apparent injustice.  We already hold the permit.  It’s called a fishing license.  Focus efforts on professional tournament impacts, as this is where the pressure may create some negative perceptions of a lake’s fishery quality.  Apply common sense everywhere else.

Another recent event, that may not have gotten much attention, occurred on the morning of April 26, 2025, at Freedom Park, located at the foot of Ferry Street, Buffalo, NY.  This area is located just downstream of the Peace Bridge, and is the site of the old ferry crossing to Canada before the Peace Bridge was built.  This very popular park offers tremendous shore fishing, but also is along one of the most dangerous stretches of the Upper Niagara River.  In fact, this area is where the Buffalo PD family lost Officer Craig Lehner during a dive training exercise.  Following a tragic death of a youth who fell into the fast waters, and another rescue that had first responders searching for drift wood to use to help bring the victim to shore, Erie County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs member Southtowns Walleye Association (SWA), began an initiative to solicit donations to secure state-of-the-art secure life ring/ life saver stations, for installation in our area parks along our waterways.  Working with the Buffalo Common Council and the local East Side Anglers Club, Buffalo United Front, and the Friends of Broderick Park (now Freedom Park), the commitment was made to install several of these stations at Freedom Park, with the Buffalo City Parks providing the installation services.  Three life ring stations were installed before the union stepped in and objected to the installation work being done at no cost, suspending the installation of the planned number of stations.  

Well, as the politicians continue to fight over making these public places safer for the community to enjoy – which is the point of the park to begin with – community enjoyment and enrichment, an individual went into the river and was caught in the frigid fast waters dangerous reach.  Fortunately, and luckily, a station was installed in close proximity to where the victim went into the water, and the City of Good Angling Neighbors leapt into action, successfully pulling this young man from the waters with that safety ring provided by SWA!  This area needs more life ring stations, as it is a much larger waterfront than 3 stations can effectively cover.  In fast waters, regardless of temperature, you have literally seconds to get that life ring to the struggling victim before currents wash them away.    Some safety ladders wouldn’t hurt, either! 

Rest assured all parties involved in this effort continue to fight to make our public parks along our incredible waterfront safer for the whole community, not just the anglers.  And with many other places in other states having such stations installed, with the proper amount of them to cover the length of waterfront, it leaves many in the Federation wondering why our area doesn’t exercise the same due diligence?  The Erie County Fisheries Advisory Board got word to Erie County, resulting in county parks, like Black Rock Park, Isleview Park and even Sprague Brook Park receiving a station near the highest traffic areas, some stretches could certainly use a few more units, too.  The sportsmen and women of Erie County saved a life.  Help us today to improve the safety of our areas.  Contact us at the Federation to learn more about how you can help today!

Photo credit- courtesy of George Johnson

On Thursday, April 24, 2025, when after a long, largely behind-the-scenes battle, the Erie County Legislature brought a resolution sponsored by Legislator John Mills, to oppose the construction of offshore wind turbines in Lake Erie.  This was actually the second such resolution the Erie County Legislature adopted – the first being in 2010, when NYPA was pursuing their Great Lakes Offshore Wind ideas, or GLOW, for short.  Back then, the legislature was a 15-member body.  Members of the Federation fought this idea then, and the result was a vote of 13-2 to oppose the folly of wind turbines in our drinking water and world-class fisheries.  This latest battle began in earnest in 2019, after receiving word from the Town of Evans that another wind developer was sniffing around.  The sporting community was immediately mobilized. 

Federation members involved in the first round rejoined with others from across the community in defense of our treasures.  This collection of concerned citizens formed a specific group to defend the lake from this mystifying effort – called CAWTILE, or Citizens Against Wind Turbines In Lake Erie.  The first hearing on the reaffirming resolution authored by Mills occurred in 2019, and despite overwhelming evidence brought before the legislature, the resolution was tabled in committee.

Fast forward 5 years and a few months, the Environment and Energy Committee moved the resolution to the floor, and after careful consideration of all the information presented, voted to reaffirm the opposition to a wind factory in our drinking water by a vote of 10-1!  Although the fight to protect Lake Erie, and the other Great Lakes, from this terrible and damaging idea, is not over, garnering the overwhelming desire to protect our fisheries and drinking water takes us to the next fight, which is truly where the water is protected – to the EPA and Federal Government.  We invite everyone to join us to assure our drinking water and most incredible fishery in the Nation is protected.

To find out how, reach out to the Federation, or visit https://www.CAWTILE.com and become a defender of the greatest freshwater resource in the world!  The lakes need us all.

Salutations, fellow anglers, hunters, trappers; sportsmen and women across Erie County, NY.  As I’ve begun my 20th year of service to the sporting community and conservation heritage with the Erie County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, a common question I often hear is, “what does the Federation do for the local sportsmen and women?” 

Although predominantly organized as an education and outreach non-profit for public benefit, hosting and sponsoring many family-oriented teach me to fish programs, involvement in Hunter’s Education, special youth hunts and the like, the organization also stands in defense of wildlife and fisheries conservation, waterways and natural habitat protections and assuring ample opportunity exists for community members to embrace the great outdoors and sporting traditions safely and responsibly.  Being the representative umbrella for over 40 conservation-related clubs and organizations within Erie County, the Federation is the largest such organization in NY State.  But what do we do?  And, are we effective?

In the next several days I will look at recent events that hit close to home and illustrate examples of the effectiveness and dedication to the mission of this all-volunteer organization.