That’s how it has been for Bob Kubiak and his son and friends this winter. Starting way back on Feb. 15, the 57-year-old Kubiak from Buffalo, New York, was among the first to travel with his ice machines from shore to drill holes in the ice from Hamburg to Dunkirk to find the fish. Between then and this past Monday, Kubiak followed the yellow perch schools to where they are now: about three to four miles west of Sunset Bay in 57 feet of water on the mud flats out there. It’s been such a cold winter that Kubiak has been parking in the New York State Sunset Beach Marina parking lot and traveling right down the boat ramp to the solid, safe ice surface covering Cattaraugus Creek. That may change in the next few days with the expected warming and fresh runoffs.

Using a Snow Dog, sled and two ATVs, the Kubiak team of Marty Schenk, Bill Leszczynski and guest, Lake Ontario Charter Captain Vic Thibault, headed out on the creek. The buddy system is a must when fishing Lake Erie on the ice, and they took every precaution to ensure their safety. After passing the end of the breakwall, they turned to the west, toward Dunkirk. About 45 minutes later, they reached their destination at 50 feet depth. Kubiak says, “We crossed over one break, an area of separation in the ice cover cracked by the wind and refrozen. We got out to check and confirm that the ice there was 6-inches thick and went on.” Then they crossed over several jutting ice dams and vertically oriented ice-push mountains to finally reach 57 feet, where they found fish. Their commitment to safety was complete, allowing them to fully enjoy their ice fishing experience.

Using 2-3/4-inch Rapala jig baits tipped with a half-golden shiner minnow, the fish were hungry. Kubiak said, “It didn’t matter what color we used; the fish were slamming them for about an hour. Many of the fish were 14-inchers. Then, as the action slowed, we switched to two and three hook crappie rigs with the live goldies and nearly got our 4-man limit in the next hour or two.” The final tally was 163 fish (yellow perch). Kubiak uses a simple light-action ice fishing rod, open-face spinning reel, and 4-pound Berkley ice fishing line to the terminal end, where he attaches a lure or a crappie rig.

The Kubiak team marked the trail out (and back) with markers along the ice for others to follow to get safely out there. The Kubiak Ice Road. Kubiak added, “We saw several walleyes down there too, but they weren’t hungry, though we do catch them sometimes.” At 5/8-ounce weight, the 2-3/4-inch jigging Rapala’s are heavy enough to sink quickly in the deep water. The lures feature a single hook point on each end and a treble hook on the underside at the midpoint of the lure, so they are effective at hooking up interested fish. With every lift of the rod, the jigging Rap’s swim a tantalizing half-circle, provoking instinctive strikes from hungry fish. Kubiak shared, “Ricky Miller (bait shop) didn’t have emerald minnows, so we used the goldies he did have. Nobody has emeralds right now, and the foot of West Ferry, where most folks get them, is socked in with slush ice. It was so nice out there on Monday that we never even set up the ice huts, there was hardly any wind.” Kubiak has been winter ice fishing Lake Erie since he was 12 – when the lake freezes. In the old days, it froze every year.

Bob Kubiak has been enjoying great success ice fishing Lake Erie this winter using simple jigging lures and minnows in 50 to 57 feet of water between Dunkirk and Sunset Bay. Submitted photo

Gotta love the outdoors.

CALENDAR

March 6: WNY Walleye Association, monthly meeting, 630 p.m., Curly’s Grill, 647 Ridge Road, Lackawanna, guest speaker, Capt. Dave Adrian.

March 9: WNY 3-D Archery, league shoot, open to the public, this week at Collins Conservation, 2636 Conger Road, Collins, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., $15, kids 12 and under are free. Info: 716-863-7342.

March 10-14: Special People Fishing Day, Southtowns Walleye Assoc., 5895 Southwestern Blvd., Hamburg, reservations required, indoor pond fishing, call Elain Weigland, 716-783-2903.

After crossing the ice breaks and pushed-ice mountains a few miles offshore, the fish are hungry and eager to bite when you can find them. Photo courtesy of Robert Kubiak

March 22: NWTF Chautauqua Lake Chapter, ANNUAL BANQUET, American Legion Post 556, 9 Meadow Lane, Frewsberg, 5 p.m. start, Info: 716-499-2726, tickets: https://events.nwtf.org/320070-2025/tickets.

April 1: Opening Day for NYS Inland Trout Season

NOTE: Send Calendar info or related outdoor news to forrestfisher35@yahoo.com.