quality time

We caught 14 today. All released but a few for supper. Early was better for sure but we had a steady pick. Lots of bait and I had 3 fish hit when I tripped the lines to check for weeds on the lures. Got me thinking they wanted it faster so I kept bumping my speed up. I got them up to 3.5 mph. Had 1 laker hit my rigger then slammed my deep dipsy. Even mix of spoon and flasher fly. Nothing on the spin-n-glo today which is normally good. Wes

Any time you can go fishing is a good time! You should be able to catch lakers all day long. Wes

The salmon we got on big fish Friday had 4 smelt in it's gut! Wes

Thanks Nick! Hope we can do it next year. I missed the rainbow getting weighed but that is an awesome catch. Congratulations! Wes

I think we are all trying to make a buck when we fish a derby. I saw many people endure bad weather and tough fishing but they were still smiling. Lots of good stories between campers. I always have a good time in a derby even when the fish are making it tough. Seneca will come back. It was not that many years ago on Cayuga when the lampreys almost wiped out the lake I thought the lake was done, but the lake came back. Hope to see everyone next year! Wes

Great to see everybody at weigh- in. Lots of smiling faces even after a tough two days of fishing. Our highlight was keeping our fish alive until the weigh-in and then returning it to the lake. Thanks to the guys that helped us get the cooler down from the boat. My new crew did a great job this weekend. All the mishaps were 100% my fault. I went to the back of the boat to net a fish and when I looked up we were in 24' of water. That was a mess! Wes

Good luck this weekend. I will be on channel 68. Wes

Quality Time is in! Wes

Bald Eagle

Yep! It is amazing that a product has lasted since 1869 unchanged. Those lures are often copied but never replicated! I find it funny that others even use the Sutton numbers for the size. With all the lures I have in my box I will slow down and put the Suttons down when fishing is tough. I would run them more but I like the fast troll to find the fish. Wes

Had the day off today so I decided to make a pilgrimage with a couple of my good fishing buddies to Naples , New York, Home of the Sutton Spoon Company. What great people. I have fished with Sutton spoons for many years. They said that they had some production issues but they have them resolved and will be ramping up production. They still have many spoons in stock with more to come. It just seemed great to see a part of history. Those spoons have been catching fish for over 100 years. I remember years ago I used Sutton 44 for walleyes on Oneida through the ice. We caught many limits with those tipped with a minnow. I've restocked my tackle box and can not wait to get my slow troll laker program going again. Wes

Many of the so called "black panther" sightings over the years were fisher I admit the first time I saw a fisher I was not sure what I was looking at.

All I can tell you is that when I started deer hunting in the mid 70's you were lucky to see half a dozen deer a season. A turkey sighting would make the papers and coyotes were not heard of. Now with fishers and coyotes I see more deer and turkeys in a day then you would see in a whole season back in 70's. All animal populations go up and down in cycles. Did we have more turkeys and deer 20 years ago? Without question. were they so over populated that they were eating themselves out of house and home? You bet .When a farmer loses over 20% of the crops they plant you might have to many deer and turkeys because that same over population causes damage to the forest as well and that takes a long time to correct. You should enjoy the challenge of a moderate population of the game you hunt. If you want to kill game every time you step in the woods go to a game farm. I see the best balanced eco system of predator and prey in my near 60 years on this earth. Does anyone think about the facts of all the modern things that are allowed to hunt and how that has affected the populations of our game animals. 40 years ago a hunter walked to his stand and did not ride a 4 wheeler 3 miles to the top of the hill. We used recurve bows not cross bows, we used flint locks with no scope not inlines with high power scopes and we used smooth bore shotguns not 300 win, mags On top of that the seasons are longer.Did you ever think this might have an affect on our game populations. It's easy to blame natural predators but maybe we should look in the mirror. I'm not sure why everyone thinks everything is so grim. I saw more trophy bucks taken this year than ever. I hear turkeys on every ridge in the spring. Sure we had more turkeys 15 years ago but is it really fun when you call and you are not sure which way to face because you have birds coming in from 4 directions This year I've seen fisher ,bobcat fox. coyote and I didn't see a bear this year but I did last year. As I see it, things have never been better.

I've heard much about fisher killing turkeys. I have never seen that but I have seen birds of prey take out turkey poults. These animals are native to the area and serve a place in the eco system. I do not doubt that a fisher might take a turkey once in a while but I can tell you last year we saw fisher almost every weekend and they were hunting mice in the field. A much bigger issue with turkey population is the destruction of eggs and nest by things like skunks, raccoons and opossum . I have been a trapper for over 40 years and have watched the fur prices go to almost nothing but I still get out and do it. I set some traps for fisher this fall during the very short season but was not successful. I have heard people brag about shooting fisher during turkey season. Since they do not have a hunting season for fisher I'm sure the fines would be high. Is it worth losing your outdoor privilege to kill a member of the weasel family. The muskrat population is almost zero near my house because of all the bald eagles. Does that mean I should shoot the eagles to improve my muskrat trapping! I think not! All things have a place in nature. This is not an exotic. Our ecosystem is always changing and we all must learn to deal with it. Its not always up to humans to control the critters that run in our back yards. If you want to lower the fisher population in your area and you live in the newly opened trapping area try your hand at trapping them and take a kid with you if you can find one that will put his or her phone down long enough to do so. Wes

I posted this picture a few years ago. I would like to wish all a safe and happy holiday. This is a great time of year to spend time with friends and family and remember the ones that are no longer with us. Wes