wolc123

I am hoping for (3) average-sized deer this year. We are down to our last one in the freezer now, so it should be completely tapped out by early ML season up north. A big buck, button buck, or bear would be a nice bonus, but I would be very thankfully for just the three average-sized deer. That would give our family enough meat to survive for another year.

I saw a blue Ford 1/2 ton with a for sale sign on it, parked on Tonawanda creek road in Amherst just east of Orbit, on the drive to work this morning.

My Adirondack hunting accommodations are a lot more comfortable these days:

Prior to my in-laws building thier Adirondack retirement home, they used to rent a small , "off the grid" cottage on a remote lake for a couple long weekends each fall. One always fell on opening weekend of rifle or ML season. I had the camper to my self back then, while everyone else was in the cottage. The first one I had did not have a thermostat on the furnas so I was always too hot or too cold in the mornings unless I guessed right on what setting to adjust the heater to. My wife didnt care for that old beat up camper (besides the furnas issue, few of the windows worked, and the interior was rough). That prompted me to upgrade to my current one which is a little rough on the outside but like new inside. All the windows work well and it has a thermostat on the heater. It is real nice when I have it all to myself, and better yet when it is just me and my wife. It dont work so well with our two teenage daughters added to the mix, hense the tent for me now. That was much better last week, since I sprung for a big cot.

I have one but hardly ever use it.

How many psi is your pressure washer? I can skip the pot and simmer with the 3100 psi one that I use. I have done about a dozen with it and they all came out pretty good. None has any detectable smell but I do leave them out in the barn a while after I finish just in case one ever does. I usually skin the head first with a sharp knife, then put on a rain suit (it is messy) and pressure wash on a concrete pad. That takes about a half hour to do a thorough job. Birds and vermin always have all the mess cleaned up by the following day.

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 ?

Duplicate

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.