Dunkirk GLOS buoy is aid to anglers/boaters (2024)

Some professional anglers have demonstrated that FFS can also be effectively used on the Great Lakes. FFS is less practical for most local folks who fish nearby Lake Erie for walleye. Anglers with a long heritage of trolling have made significant investments in their gear with special rods, reels, lines, and lures. These anglers are more interested in finding the fish in a waterway that is 241 miles long and 57 miles across, with just under 10,000 square miles of surface. That’s a lot of water to search to find fish.

Enter the Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS), which provides end-to-end data services that support science, policy, management, and industry in the Great Lakes. AND data to help fishermen, boaters, and so many others. GLOS provides critical data such as weather information, water characteristics, wind, wave and water patterns, and biological and chemical parameters that inform vital business policy and public health decisions in the Great Lakes. We are all especially interested in the last part of that sentence — water quality. However, for fishermen, one of the most important things to know is water temperature, wind, and waves.

GLOS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group that aims to enable easy access to the real-time, historical, and predictive lake data that the people of the Great Lakes region need in the U.S. and Canada. GLOS has taken a user-oriented approach to organizing the technologies, people, and processes involved in monitoring the Great Lakes. They are building a system where data is sharable and interoperable so that everyone can better manage valuable freshwater resources and more fully understand them. GLOS is one of 11 Regional Associations that are part of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). IOOS works to enhance the ability to collect, deliver, and use ocean and Great Lakes information. IOOS is a partnership among federal, regional, academic and private sector parties that work to provide data for tools and forecasts to improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment. So, how can anglers benefit? There is a brand-new GLOS buoy about six miles out from Dunkirk Harbor and it is identified as BSC1, Dunkirk Buoy BSU designated with SUNY Buffalo State University.

Accessing this valuable information is as easy as using your cell phone or laptop. Simply visit https://glos.org, click on maps, then zoom in on the eastern basin of Lake Erie and click on the offshore buoy near Dunkirk. You’ll instantly have access to data on water quality, water temperature, air temperature at the buoy, wind direction and velocity, wave heights, and wave data. This convenience puts you in the driver’s seat of your fishing experience, giving you the power to make informed decisions.

For anglers, a primary objective is to find the thermocline. Coldwater fish (trout, steelhead, salmon) live below it and the cool water and warm-water species (walleye, bass, perch, etc.) live above the thermocline. Walleyes are usually located just above the thermocline. The buoy data on Friday (Aug. 30) at mid-day, for example, provided information on water temperature for every 6-feet of depth from the top to the bottom. The surface temp was 73.2 degrees, 71.8 at 39 feet, 70.7 at 65 feet, 68.5 at 72 feet, 52. 4 at 79 feet and 51.1 degrees at 81 feet – on the bottom. Anglers looking at their sonar will find forage and walleye just above 70 feet. They already know where to start fishing before ever looking at the Fish Hawk probe on their downrigger line. They know they need diving planes and about 10 colors of lead core line to reach the fish at that level. Half of their work to catch fish is done by the buoy, simplifying the fishing process and relieving the stress of the unknown.

Above that, the wind direction was 3.2 knots and from the South. The wave height was 0.45 feet (negligible) with a 16-second wave period (very calm). The air temp was 72.3 degrees and the air pressure was 29.55 inches of mercury. If you click on water quality, the information provided includes dissolved oxygen, allowing anglers to know if fish can live at whatever depth you gather the information. This comprehensive data not only aids in catching fish, but also enhances safety, giving you the confidence to enjoy your boating activities without worry.

The buoy is a weather station for everyone to use. There’s more. This buoy is one of hundreds on the Great Lakes via the GLOS system. Check the Dunkirk buoy, the Port Colbourne buoy and the Erie, Pennsylvania buoy. You can see the weather pattern, wave heights, and all the rest.

Now if we could just get one of these buoys to measure the water quality and related data in the Chautauqua Lake south basin, we might be able to help many other local folks that have noticed a change there.

Gotta love the NY outdoors.

The walleye and forage are suspended just above the thermocline in this sonar image from last week. It correlates closely with the fish “Should Be” with the data provided by the GLOS Buffalo State University buoy near Dunkirk. Photo by Forrest Fisher

OUTDOOR CALENDAR

Aug. 31: Labor Day Sporting Clay Shoot, NSCA registered event by choice, Hanover Fish & Game, 780 Overhiser Road, Forestville. Registration starts 8 a.m., shooting begins 9 a.m. Info: https://hanovercalys.com.

Sept. 1: Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club family picnic, members only. 1 N. Mullet St., Dunkirk.

Sep. 1: NYS squirrel season opens in WNY (gray, black, fox).

Sept. 2: Hawkeye Bowmen 3D Archery Shoot, 3 courses, $12 entry, 7 a.m.-2 p.m.; Open to public; 13300 Clinton St., Alden, NY.

Sept. 6-7: WNY Walleye Association Lake Erie Walleye Tournament, Contact Ron Kucinski: 716-545-5925, or email: kucinski1293@gmail.com.

Sept. 7-8: NYS Hunter-Safety course for Bowhunting (Sep. 7) and Firearms (Sep. 8), West Falls Conservation, 55 Bridge St., West Falls; Register online: https://register-ed.com. Must register separately for bowhunter and/or hunter education (firearms).

Sept. 14-22: NYS early antlerless 2024 deer season (firearms allowed), check specific Wildlife Management Units (WMUs).

Sept. 14: Fourth annual Chautauqua Lake Falleye Classic, Prendergast Point Boat Launch, 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Open to all. Register on site.

Sept. 15: Deadline for waterfowl hunting applications to Oak Orchard/Tonawanda WMAs. Visit NYSDEC online.