greybeard

I took the kayak out this morning hoping for bluefish, but brought porgy gear too. Adult bunker were all over and being hit , at times, by blues. I snagged bunker and live lined them and had my line cut a couple of times by the teeth of the blues..I had a 50lb. mono leader, but shoulda used wire. The bluefish activity was sporadic so I paddled off to another spot. The tide turned slack so I figured that I'd bide my time catching porgies. I caught and released over 15 nice ones when the tide started moving and in came the bluefish charging bait and coming out of the water. As they swam along the top I could see their fins and tails out of the water so it would be sight fishing, which I love. I switched to my bluefish setup and chased them around the harbor. I threw poppers at them, but they would crash into them and knocked them out of the water, but wouldn't take them.. I then switched to plastic shads and thin plastics that look similar to sand eels. I got some nice blues to over 9 lbs., and kept 2...They fought so hard that one of them broke the tip of my rod off (I carry 2 rods so it was ok). Hopefully the bigger blues will follow as fall progresses (The porgies were nice sizes, but not like the New Zealand one that was posted )

I'd never question a fish caught in New Zealand because I don't have a clue about their fish. However, in New York I'd say that if you got one like that it'd be amazing. I'm no expert on porgies, but have a lot of experience fishing for them on L.I. Except for this season I fish most weekdays and sometimes weekends. I primarily fish for stripers and bluefish, but quite often when those predators aren't around I fish for porgies in my kayak. I fished for them so often for a couple of years that my friends jokingly called me "Porgy Bob" I don't weigh them but know that they do get 3lb. fish. My best was 19 inches. They are easy to catch so we get tons of them. In fact I'm heading out now for blues, but have porgy bait with me.

Congrats.. great bear

My friend lives in Oyster Bay and told me that he had turkeys there too. They had a flock south of Sunrise Hwy. on Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh some years ago. It was strange to see them there. They eventually moved them out east. I don't recall how they trapped them.

I bring a cooler in my car. If it's warm I get back to the car after a short while and start my prep. I carry a scissors and cut off the feet and head, then I skin it using a scalpel with the guts intact, After it's skinned I gut it , quarter it and put it on ice. I wash them when I get home ton remove blood and hair that stuck to the skin. I stick a wire in the tail when I get home and salt, and borax the inside and hang the tail for flies/lures. I used to tan , and soften the skins to make pouches etc. because the skin is strong and it was fun to do , but I haven't done that in years. I still have a pouch that's about 30 years old and still good.

Jala Rut, Whatta beauty !! Congrats.. A pike like that is my dream freshwater fish. I've caught them, but not like that one.. I fish in a kayak also,(mostly saltwater), so I really recognize your skill..I get dragged a lot also...lotsa fun

Good Luck..

Great story !!!!! Congrats on your success.

OUTSTANDING !!! Congrats. Glad you got your 'gator...

I'm glad that you guys had a great time. My wife and I loved your video..Watching and listening to your son was priceless .

I agree

Yes. For as long as I remember I have used a 12 gauge with 2 3/4 inch #6, or #4 predominantly for them. I find it to be the most effective for me. I also use an airgun when the mood strikes and have taken quite a few with .177 and .22 pellets(brain shots only). (When I used to hunt upstate I sometimes used a .22 LR,)

a crocodile looking for Capt. Hook

I agree Doc... I have traveled in as well as outside the U.S. In my travels I have worked with many people, and have friends who live in many of those areas. While I was working and in my 19 years of retirement I have even researched living in many places. My conclusion is that many places are great to visit, but New York is where I want to be. I know MANY people who have left New York and are very happy and that's good for them, but not for me.

Sethf11... I have read a number of interesting articles regarding separation of NYC, or L.I. from upstate. Some think that we should be 3 different States....There are groups on both sides of the issues... As I recall NYC reported that they spend 11 billion dollars more to the State than they get back. I believe that I had read that Wall Street contributes something like 19% to the State's budget..So upstate and Long Island would lose financially. There are interesting articles on issues of separation. I can't verify which reports are accurate, but the reports do bring up some questions that would need to be answered. My opinion is that upstate and downstate have a lot to offer each other and we are better off staying as one. Well, anyway, it'll NEVER happen...

tommyc50.. I hunted the Putnam County coop quite a bit...I THINK that I still have a map of it. I remember having the info on the Duchess Co. coop, but don't remember if I hunted there. Did you hunt there too ? The Long Island coop was just called "RIDGE" as I recall. I coon hunted, on Long Island, in many areas that are now neighborhoods, but I'm pretty sure that there are some "hound" guys around still coon hunting on the Island. I can drive 20 minutes north to striper/bluefish/etc. fish in my kayak in very productive waters . I can drive 20 minutes south and fish, or hang out on the south shore beaches... Waterfowling has more restrictions these days, but is available within 1/2 hr. of my home. (I've had law enforcement called about me waterfowling on more than one occasion ) Oh yeah, almost forgot.. I have stocked trout streams and and lakes close to my house, and found a Largemouth bass/pickerel lake in recent years that produces some really nice fish, and almost no one knows about it... There are , of course, MANY upstate areas to hunt/fish/ etc. which are too numerous to mention. Also, there is almost nothing as beautiful as our Adirondacks

I haven't seen the whales yet this year, but the dolphins have been around quite a bit. I went to West End, at Jones Beach for the last 2 days, but saw nothing..I missed the whales last year because in the early fall the kayak fishing for blues/bass was so good on the North Shore that I didn't fish the south shore surf. Then I left New York and when I got back there were no fish on the south shore. The year before the whales gave a great show !! I spend a lot of time on the south shore so I did get to see the snowy owls at the beach , and a saw whet owl in the pines on the bay side. One of my favorite things on L.I. is being in my kayak when the seals are here in the fall. Kayaking(fishing) when the seals are close by makes me feel like Nanuk of the North. The fishing dies down when the seals are close, but I'm good with that. It's just a little competition. It would be hard for me to move from New York because, for me, it has about everything that I want. As far as high taxes, I figure that you get what you pay for. Like everyone I'd like to pay less, but it's the life I choose to live .

This post made me think of some crow hunts so I looked at my "crow file" and I found this photo of a crow hunt sometime ago. I think that I was using an Olt regular crow call as well as the Olt perfect crow call..I still use the same decoys

I enjoy hunting them and carry crow calls with me when I go to certain areas just to call them and tick them off... I don't hunt as much any more, but do manage a couple of days to hunt crows and squirrels.( I also still enjoy calling red foxes) I bought my first crow call in 1965 and I think that I have about 25 mouth calls now. I have my favorites, but frankly, from what I've seen they don't care as much as I do. I carry 3 to 5 calls whenever I go. I also use predator calls for them when they don't respond to the crow calls.. I don't waterfowl anymore, but when I did I preferred crows also. I've gone in Sept., but the ticks can be annoying, so I wait until later. I do call them ALOT when I fish in my kayak . Have you been on the Crow Busters website ? Some years ago I got a tape from Bob Ahronson, who is an amazing crow hunter, and a member of crow busters. My numbers increased after his tape taught me their language. Until that time I just made greeting and fighting calls.... Do you use mouth calls ?? Have you tried predator distress calling ? Good luck, I hope that you post photos and a story when you go.

I thought that the Bronx was upstate ...

REALLY nice mount..

I'm going to be in Hawaii in the spring and do another hunt, but got impatient the other day and we booked another trip for this fall. I'm going to hunt for a Black Hawaiian ram again on this hunt, and not sure yet for the spring. I'll probably hunt for rams on both trips. My wife wants to go to Kauai in the spring before we go back to the Big Island. She thinks that I ought to fly to Niihau from Kauai and do the ram/boar hunt, but I think I'll stick to the Big Island hunts. Niihau is intriguing, but I really like hunting with the outfitter that I've been going with on the Big Island, so I'll probably stick to that.

That's something to be proud of !!

I can feel your excitement in your post....I'd be the same... Good luck and enjoy the wedding. If I don't respond to your post after the hunt then I just didn't see it, so, if you don't mind, I would appreciate a pm so I don't miss it..

This morning, on my car....