Syracuse.com - Oneida Lake bass fishery now on DEC Commish's radar screen thanks to successful outing

[HuntingNY-News]

He fished the lake Friday afternoon with Clay bass angler Michael Cusano and myself and had good luck.

It started with a playful challenge issued earlier this year when I was interviewing Joe Martens, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

"By the way, do you fish?" I asked.

"I'm not much of a trout fisherman," he said. "But I do like to fish for bass."

With that, I suggested he travel to Oneida Lake and take advantage of the lake's great bass fishing, I told him that Oneida was recognized by Bassmaster Magazine being as one of the best bass lakes in the country.

I pointed out he and Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemed to be ever-present in the Adirondacks. Why not get around and see what else this state has to offer?

Martens caught some nice-sized bass. I snapped a picture of this one with my iPhone. Mike Cusano is in the background.Mike Greenlar | [email protected] 

Martens agreed to the outing. We set tentative dates four times, and four times Martens cancelled citing various reasons.

He came through Last Friday, following the graduation ceremony of the DEC's graduation ceremonies of new conservation officers and forest rangers up in Pulaski. Martens showed up in the afternoon with his aide, Michael Bopp and Ken Lynch, the DEC's Region 7 director, at the Oneida Shores boat launch in Brewerton.

I had arranged beforehand for veteran bass anglers Michael Cusano, of Clay, and Brian Eisch, of Watertown, president of the Salt City, to take us out. They were waiting for us at the launch. I got on Cusano's boat with Martens.

Martens hoists a nice Oneida Lake smallmouth he caught.David Figura | [email protected] 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. It was a little breezy and cold that day. What if we got skunked?

Cusano, who had been practice fishing throughout the day on the lake in preparation for a weekend tournament, was confident. He motored to spot on the western end of the lake and set the commissioner up with one of his spinning rods and a Kitech swimbait. Three casts later, Cusano had his first fish on. It was about a 17-inch smallmouth bass. Then he caught another.

Shortly after, Martens hooked a nice, fat smallmouth that looked to be about 18 inches long.

"Could you get a picture of this? My son will be so jealous," he said, smiling, holding the fish up by its lower lip.

We didn't measure or weigh any of the nearly 20 fish we caught and released during the 2 ý hours we fished. We chatted briefly about such things as the DEC gag order on department staff talking to the media ("Things have gotten better or late, but there's still problems," I told him) and a controversial Lake George boat launch proposal to deal with invasive plant species.

Apart from that, it was just three guys enjoying the day. We talked about our kids and the weather -- while catching what seemed like bass after bass. Martens made a point of saying that with the heavy demands of his job, he rarely gets out fishing.

He did say he plans to participate in the Governor's Challenge Bass Tournament, pitting all levels of government officials and others against each other in a friendly competition. The tournament was announced by Cuomo earlier this year and has been tentatively scheduled for next summer during an Elite Series bass tournament at a still unnamed Finger Lake.

Back on shore afterward at Oneida Shores, I pulled out my tape recorder and interviewed Martens on several topics, ranging from hydrofracking to the Onondaga Lake cleanup.

During the interview, a small boy, Donovan Kelly, 9, of Liverpool walked up to us on the dock, carrying a 5-gallon bucket.

From left, myself, Martens and Donovan Kelly, of Liverpool, with a nice sized rock bass the boy had caught with a worm from the dock at Oneida Shores boat launch.Michael Bopp 

"Wanna see a nice rock bass?' he said.

My interview time with Martens was limited because he had a 5:30 conference call with the governor scheduled. I told the boy to wait a minute. He patiently stood.

When we finished with the interview, Martens and I directed our attention to the boy. We quickly posed for a picture with him and his fish. Martens then excused himself, and heading back to his car for the conference call.

At that point, a man who was with the boy, pointed to me and said he knew who Martens and I were. I told the boy that Martens was the DEC commissioner, whose agency writes all the rules and regulations about fishing.

The boy seemed confused. "What's he got ... a lot of money or something?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, he's just a very important person," I responded.

As a result of the outing, Oneida Lake is now on Martens' radar. Bopp, his aide, sent me an email Monday confirming that.

"Joe has been telling everyone he had the best fishing outing ever, and gained a ton of appreciation for the Oneida fishery," he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog