wolc123

Damn, I may have released the state record bowfin (12 pounds 14 oz). The record burbot is over 16. This bowfin was certainly less than that but may have been 13.

I guess they were bowfin. I get those two mixed up because they look similar. Is the bowfin the same as a dogfish ?

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I have caught two smaller ones in bays connected to lake Ontario (one at Wilson harbor and the other in the pond at Fairhaven) in the summer while bass fishing. I think one was on a spinnerbait and the other on a plastic worm. The big one earlier this week, up on Goose bay, hit a 3/8 oz blue and black weedless jig with a purple rubber craw trailer. Based on its shape, I thought maybe it was a big walleye at first. It certainly had much more pull than the "water filled pillow case" of a walleye though. I bet they are similar to bullhead in that they taste a lot better when caught in cold water. I would try a smaller one if I caught it thru the ice. Does the meat have the consistency of mush then like it apparently does in the summer ? I tried a mushy summer bullhead once and I would not do that again.

I never tried one. I think they are too ugly for me to even think about that. One of our neighbors at the campground up there said that he tried one once and it was horrible. He said that it made him puke. It does look like some folks eat them, especially over in England, based on some stuff I read online. They are very hard fighters though.

It was slow on the St Lawrence this morning, with just one "keeper" 12-1/4" largemouth, two 11" largemouth, and two pike. They all got to go free today. Had I not destroyed my good graphite rod, I would have probably done better because I couldn't feel anything with the POS ugly stick. I difmt feel the strikes the 4 fish I landed with it this morning so there is no telling how many I missed. I still did better than my brother in law who only got one 11" bass on his wacky worm.

We didnt catch much yesterday, up on the St Lawrence, just one 14-1/2" bass and four pike, all 20 - 24" long. I made the mistake of "hoisting" the bass onboard (which I later released because one fish ain't worth getting the knife dirty). That further damaged by repaired rod. I will try and epoxy it and wrap it with some strong thread this winter. Hopefully, I can save it because that old Fenwick eagle graphite MH 8.5 footer (now 8 ft) was one of my favorites. It was a rough day on equipment yesterday. Besides the busted rod, my wife fell down at the dock while getting out of the boat and busted the bracket on my front depth finder. That is currently held together with black electric tape and will need a little job weld when I get home. She complained a little about a sore thigh at the campfire last night, but I think she is will be ok. The broken bracket absorbed the energy of her fall. I also lost a corner cover piece from the back of the boat when it popped off after striking a steel dock post. For our last morning up here today, I am borrowing an ugly-stick rod that my nephew snagged on the bottom after it had been submerged on the bay a season or two. The reel on it was seized up pretty good but the rod looks ok. Hopefully, I can test it our on a few more bass today.

We are camping about an hour north of my hunting spot this week, up on the St Lawrence river. It is all bass fishing now up here, but seeing a couple deer (spotted fawn and 3 point buck) while driving into camp the last couple days has me thinking more about hunting. That, and we are down to just one deer left in the freezer at home. The camper is only big enough for my wife and our two girls, I am stuck out in the tent. I cant wait for hunting at her folks place an hour south of here, where I will have the whole 1st floor of thier lake house to myself.

We took the morning off from fishing because it was supposed to rain and for my daughters birthday party. After that, we went out on the bay for a couple hours and got a few short largemouth, (2) 12-1/16" keepers, and a 14", and 16". This 11 pound puppy also tried to break my rod again without success:

I am just thankful that bass and deer dont seem to be affected by the covid virus or the vaccine, and that the masks are optional when pursuing them. Hopefully, I can help get a bunch of them into Heaven before it gets me. We are doing pretty well this week on the bass. If I can hang on until mid October, I will see what I can do about the deer.

I have been fishing up here for about 40 years and that was likely my heaviest bass. Two years ago, I got a thinner one of about the same length, on a grass frog in about a foot of water next to the neighbor's dock. That one was maybe 1/4 as strong and didn't do much fight other than wallow around a bit in a big ball of weeds. Several 20 inch smallies, the last few years up here, were not quite as thick. They have been much thicker than they used to be since the arival of the round gobies and the incredible forage base that they provide (the same goes for lake Erie and the Upper Niagara). I was lucky this one didnt break my line because my drag was set real tight and it has been a few years since I had replaced the 10 pound test mono on that reel. Fortunately, I got a bad backlash on my first cast with it and had to strip off and discard the last 50 feet or so. That worn section of line would have broken for sure on this bass. It's raining this morning so I am taking some time off from fishing. We will try and get out after lunch if it stops. I would like to try some drop shotting for smallies out on some deep water.

The switch was off in the lower photo. The wind picked up enough in the afternoon, so that the stealth of the invisible hat was not necessary. The surface chop was about 2 ft on the bay with a 30 mph NW wind. The bite was still slow and there was not a lot of fish for us. Just 2 northerns (one about 24" and a shorter "hammer handle") on my spinnerbait , and an 11-7/8 " largemouth on my brother in laws senko, up until 7:45 pm. At that time, the wind had died down a bit and I switched back to a 3/8 oz weedless jig and rubber craw on the rod that I had broken and repaired with electric tape in the morning. It felt good on quite a few casts earlier, but I really wanted to see how it did on a fish. This stout, 19-1/2" 6 pounder nailed that jig right below the boat in 6 ft of water, really testing the backbone of the repaired rod. My drag was tightened up pretty good, to help get the fish up out of the weeds. From the way that Hawg tore it out, I though thought it must have been a big northern pike. I couldn't hardly believe that a largemouth could muster that much pull. The rod repair held up very well. Other than loosing about 6" of length, there was no loss on performance.

The weather was a lot more pleasant this morning, sunny with 5 mph west wind. The largemouth action on the bay was slower, as is typical in post cold front conditions. We only managed 3 keepers this morning, then tried out in the main river for smallies a little bit with no action there. Using my secret weapon "invisible hat", we were able to sneak in on a couple largemouth , in the shallow water, that just broke the 16" mark. Unfortunately, I snapped my rod while hoisting one of those 3 pounders into the boat. Now it is six inches shorter and held together with black electric tape. I will see how it holds up when we go back out after dinner and try for 7 more.

The timing of RBG's passing, while tragic to the pro-choicers on the far left, may help save the lives of many of the unborn. The fact that she was not a Christian, no doubt contributed to her pro-abortion stance. I see a glimmer of hope for you Lefty, based on your pro-life leaning at this time. Maybe you can work on your buddy VH a bit, who still seems to be far off on the deep left end. Will you not admit that DJT did at least three things right with his seating of those Christian SCOTUS justices who all have strong records of pro-life leanings ? I also see a glimmer of hope for Biden, based on his Catholic faith and his strong support for Israel, over the Muslim terrorists, in the recent conflict. Maybe it is a good thing that religion and politics are now welcome here in the general section. That helps provide a wider platform, for those of us in the middle, to help take back some sanity from the loons on the far left and right.

What is 150 gr 30/30 down to now ? I will probably wait until Labor day to stock up and try to catch it at the low.

Was Dolly Parton treated with this ?

It took me about about an hour and a half to get a limit of 12.5 - 15 inch largemouths on Goose bay on the St Lawrence river this morning. The 30 mph NE wind and cold front didnt make it too comfortable out there but at least they were hitting good. They were in less than 8 ft of water this morning. Hopefully, the wind let's up or changes direction tomorrow, when I run over deep water to dump the guts, and maybe find some smallmouth.

That's good, maybe they will hold off the coons because I have sweetcorn that is almost ready to pick. That reminds me, I got to get out there and check the traps. If you hear a .22 rimfire crack or two, I may have some. A shotgun blast will be a skunk. I released a rabbit yesterday and all possums will now be released, to help out with the ticks.

Are crossbows welcome now ?

Very interesting. Well, since it appears that the general section has gone all-in on politics, I may as well join the party. This might be the first half-sensible thing that I have seen you post, indicating that there is hope for your salvation thru the acceptance of Jesus Christ, just as there is for all people. Is it religion or science that causes you to believe that new life begins at conception, and that Roe vs Wade needs to be struck down ? Science actually proves religion if you understand it well enough (something cant be made from nothing). You must be ecstatic that the ultra liberal Judge RBG kicked the Bucket just in the nick of time, such that "orange man" was able to seat a third anti abortion SCJ, or am I wrong ? Even if you dont like anything else that he did in those four years, you got to give him credit for that. If not, then I have to wonder if you meant what you said in the quote posted here, or if you truly are a 100 % bs troll as I have long suspected. Congratulations, you have been WOLC'd.

That looks pretty cool. I got a little taste for how much fun it is with a couple caught while jigging myself. The first was up on the Niagara bar maybe 25 years ago in April. We had been getting a few assorted browns, coho, and rainbows trolling stickbaits in shallow. I didnt see why they wouldn't go for a jig, so I went out a little deeper and drifted over the bar with a black and white 5/16 oz bucktail jig, on 10 lb mono, tipped with a perch minnow. A big laker hit that and it took around 15 minutes to land on the light line. That was one of those unforgettable fights and I always wanted to try it again some day but havent had the chance. The other one was about 5 years ago while I was ice fishing on a small, deep Adirondack lake where my in-laws built their retirement home. It was last stocked with Lakers about 10 years prior and very few remained but they were big. A nieghbor had hooked several the winter before but none would fit thru the hole and he lost them trying. I had been catching the usual dozen or so smallmouth bass and perch or two that morning on tip ups and a hand line with a jigging Rapala. All of those were very docile in the cold water barely putting up a tussle. I knew I had something big when the heavy laker started peeling out the drag on my little ultralight ice fishing outfit, after hitting a small jigging Rapala tipped with a perch minnow head on the center hook. It took me at least 20 minutes to subdue it enough to try and squeeze it thru that little hole with a little ultralight and 6 pound test. It had fought so much and undergone so much trauma on the squeeze, that I didnt think it would survive the return. I gutted it and found someone's Senko in the stomach. I dont remember the fish tasting very good when we cooked it, sometime later. I had tried for years to hook one of those on the open water there without so much as a bite. Apparently, that one had broken off on some bass fisherman, based on the plastic bait I found in its belly. I think the last of them is likely passed on now, because I haven't heard of anyone hooking one in several years.

I sold my Johnson 15 last year. It had real low hours and I gave the guy a good deal on it. It hadn't been starting real good the last year or so, and probably needed a good carburetor cleaning. I thought about the cowl/sticker swap a time or two with that one. The Adirondack lake, where my in-laws live, also has a 10 hp max limit. We get by now with my father in law's new 10 hp Honda, and 1965 Johnson 5.5, and my 1956 Evinrude 5.5 and and 1950ish Mercury 5. If I can find the time to get my new rowboat registered I may give Hemlock lake a try. If I do I will most likely run the 5.5 Evinrude. I haven't run it yet this year but it will be on kicker duty over the next week up on the St Lawrence. I hope to fire it up a time or two, if I can find some walleyes on a deeper drift. Unlike bass, they are dumb enough to hit a jig right under the prop of a gas outboard. Sometimes, it almost seems like that below water exhaust noise attracts them to the bait. The last time I used my 15 Johnson was after I caught a walleye up there at about a 40 ft depth on a drift. I fired up the 15 (with some difficulty) and used it in reverse to hold that depth. I soon got another walleye, on bottom, directly below the spinning prop. Reeling in those big "water filled pillow cases" ain't all that fun so I shut it off and went back to drifting shallower for "spooky" bass. My wife was happy with the walleyes because she likes eating them better than bass (I dont).

Why is this BS posted in the "general" section. If it is not political then what is ?

Lazy-style stuffed peppers made with vacuum sealed ground doe from 2019. It was so good that I had to have a second bowl.

I am not sure of the brand and I bought it about 7 years ago. I see that Amazon has a similar or possibly even the same one right now for $ 29. That one is Heyeasy brand.