quality time

Thanks for the kind words. Although it hurts very much that he is gone it is great that his life impacted others in a positive way. We can only hope that we can live our lives so that we can help others like Ben helped so many. It was to soon last year to do a derby in memory of Ben,maybe this year. The one thing he wanted me to do was keep fishing and teaching others. That was the thing he loved to do more than catching fish himself. We often get caught up in catching the most or biggest fish but the greatest  memories are just the time we spend with  family and friends while in the outdoors. We will see all you soon!   Wes

That is an eastern coyote.  I saw a show on pbs and they talked about how the coyotes vary from west to the east. The eastern coyote is 10 lbs heavier than it's western counter part. Dna test found that most eastern coyotes have wolf genetics and the further north you go the more wolf. The scientist was out of Toronto. Other than dna test , The skulls from different regions showed how they differ. The western coyote compared to the wolf had very different skulls. The coyote had a narrow skull with a short nose. The wolf had a wider skull with long nose. The eastern was between the two. With that being said does that mean we have first generation  hybrids? The answer is no. This has been going on for thousands of years. The study showed with dna test on the eastern coyotes  the further north you go the more wolf genetics. We got a black one few years back and I just saw another one when I was checking my traps the other day. Hope you get to see him in person. He's a good looking animal !  Wes

You better start building a new trophy room. You a have a  few more working through the ranks. That was a beautiful animal but the real prize is the time you spent getting ready for the hunt. The pic of the practice shooting tells the whole story. Many hours of training to take a perfect shot. Many adults go into the field with no idea how to shoot the weapon. Was she involved with loading the ammo as well? I never regretted any time or money I spent with Ben teaching him to be a great outdoorsman. The time we spent in the outdoors will never be forgotten. Sean , enjoy the many years ahead with your kids on the water or the field. What is next a moose or bear?    Wes

Sierra, You should be very proud. Enjoy as much time with your dad as you can.

It is unlawful to:

• Take big game while the deer or bear is in water.
• Possess a firearm of any description when bowhunting or when accompanying a person bowhunting during special archery seasons.
• Make, set or use a salt lick on land inhabited by deer or bear.

• You should not lobby for the right to carry a gun while bow hunting. The thing you should fear most in the woods is a tick. We have to much poaching as it is. If you are afraid to be in the woods because coyotes and bears you should take up another sport. I have a camp in 7M and we set by the fire and listen to the yotes all the time. Often they are very close and never we fear for our lives. When you have an encounter like this one look at it as an exciting part of nature. A story to tell for years to come. Not a reason to enter the woods in fear. I had a bear pass under my stand a few years ago and everyone asked if I was scared. Even though the bear passed within a few feet of my ladder stand I never even picked up my bow. To me it was a great pleasure to see such a regal animal at close range.

 Can I get a 20' boat in Oneida shores boat launch? Not sure if the docks are pulled in or the water is down!   Wes 

The browns and bass love them on Lake "O"  Most of the fish in our lakes are not native. The impact on our fisheries will be minimal. The biggest impact will be the competition between invasive species and native fish like sculphins . The impact  from Gobies will be pale in comparison to the Asian carp. They have captured at least 3 Asian carp on Lake Ontario. We will be putting on football helmets to run down the lake within a few years. I can deal with that as long as we can train them to eat some of the weed matts

Hit the water early before the pleasure boaters are out. I have done some trolling with my kayak and done well. I did one trip on Cayuga in the middle of the winter and had a blast with browns and landlocks. I used leadcore on one pole and 4lb mono flatline on the other. Both took fish but the ultralight was a blast when I got a brown around 7lbs. Not sure on the weight because I released them. The guides at the turn of the century used row boats and I am sure those methods would still work today. Stealth is key in shallow water.

Try using lighter leaders on the riggers.  Also planer boards might help to get the lure away from the boat!  Wes

As for the currents I've seen 78 deg 140 feet down after an extended 3 day north blow.I thought the probe was broken until I felt how warm the downrigger ball was after bringing it up. The next day the wind came out of the South hard and the cold water came slamming back. Measured over 3mph difference from ball to the surface. The water was moving so fast that between T-falls and the cove just to the north there were whirlpools. Crazy stuff. On Lake "O" a few weeks ago we thought we had the downrigger ball crossed because the cables were making a v behind the boat. Brought the ball up and they were fine. The balls were 15 feet apart so the current had to be going in two directions only 15 feet apart. Lots of things will make the fish closed lipped just remember if the fishing is slow for a week the bite will be on soon. They have to eat at some point. If you had big currents the fish might just be in another spot. Some people Spend a lot of time watching marks on the fish finder which often works but I pay less attention to that and more to the rods. When rods are firing you  are in active fish and that is were I would rather be.  Wes

Check for water in gas. I've had it a few times. Put a sample in glass jar. If it looks cloudy or you have droplets in the bottom of the jar you my have water. I'm lucky that I have a drain on my carb bowl. I always catch it in a jar to see if that is the issue. Wes 

I'm not happy unless I have a bunch of lines in the water! I felt out of place with so few lines.

That is great news. I had someone try to get my Honda in my driveway. I came home and the motor was turned to one side so they could get in between the big motor and the kicker. Lucky for me I had a heavy wire rope and padlock on the motor. That wire is hard to cut without special tools. They didn't get my motor but they still got a gas can full of gas! Lazy jackholes is a nice as I can put it!  Wes

My Mom was up from Florida and wanted to catch  a walleye. So we headed for Oneida. I did my normal trout thing. I started slow trolling sticks on the riggers and small spoons on the high dipsy's  and a leadcore down the chute with a worm rig. First fish was a walleye on #5 Rapala. second fish was walleye again #9 Rapala switched the dipsys to stick baits and spent the next 2 hours cleaning weeds and perch off the rigs. Changed some Rapals to #11 and still caught perch. My worm rig with a big fat night crawler never took a hit. I even added a bottom bouncer rig to make contact with the bottom. Most fish were 5 to 10 feet off bottom. I started catching fish at 36' and latter moved to 40' and was able to shake those damn perch. I started at 1.8 mph and ended the day at 2.5 to 2.8.  Fish stopped at around 10:30 with the high bright sun. Ended up with 4 walleye a bunch of perch and a couple white bas. After fishing the fingers the water seemed very dirty but we marked fish over the whole lake. Off to Lake "O" next week!   Wes 

Sean,

 No problem with early launch. They just have you pay on the way out. Wes

My vote is Zero turn if you do not have any steep hills. I mow 2 acres at my house and 3 at my camp. I also use it to mow my trails in the woods as well as hauling firewood out of the woods I replaced my turf tires with utv tires. The lawn looks like a golf coarse yet it can still cut through waste deep grass. A small farm tractor is always handy if you have have enough land to justify. My dad owns 125 acres and has a compact tractor with belly mower. He also has brush hog and sickle bar mower. He recently bought a Zero turn like mine and although he did not like the Zero turn at first, it is his go to for his lawn ,trail, and Christmas tree plantation mowing . There is a learning curve to driving one.   As stated before brush hog would be first choice in large rocky conditions.  Mine is 27hp Bad Boy ZT,Wes

Thanks!  Wes

I just got on the Big Weenie site to buy grease traps and the page will not load. I hope we can still get them. My old standby is on the bottom of Cayuga Lake along with 600' of copper. If anyone gets snagged in it ,sorry but you might still get the laker that was hooked to the other end. Dang thing broke on the copper 2" up from the inline swivel that the backer is attached to. I thought that was an odd place for the copper to get kinked or damaged. Wes

On the finger lakes I fish spin-n-glo's. It is not that peanuts do not work they do. The problem is that the peanuts will spin out if you go to fast. At faster speeds we can still catch other species as well with spoons and flasher fly combo's. Our normal trolling speed is 2.2 to 3 mph. We catch plenty of lakers at those speeds. We found that spin dr. do not produce well below 2.2. Wes

I agree. He might have had a twist off due to fleas.

I use the clinch knot and have never had one slip. Are you wetting the knot before you pull it tight? The other thing could be if you trim the tag end to short. If the knot pulls tighter than you pulled it a short tag end could pull out. Practice with some line tied off to a tree or something. I've used spring scales to check things like release tension, knot strength , line strength. If you do not have a spring scale tie a bucket to the line and add weight until it breaks. You can see which type of knot or line works best. Not all terminal tackle is created equal. I was shocked when I had a split ring fail on 8 lb test. The line should have broke long before the split ring failed. I use nothing but swivels with welded rings after that. Lots of crap out of china. The small c in china is not a typo! The guys on the site can help with the best fluro. Knot strength varies. Science can be your friend    Wes   

Are you running dipsy on mono? If you are running wire, fish doctor had some videos on wire knots. Very simple half hitch and overhand knot. It does not look like it should hold but it does. I even use it on my cannon ball. Not sure if you lost the rig before or after the dipsy. When the fleas are real bad we would double up on swivels so if one got bound up with fleas the second swivel would take over. Also to long of a lead to the dipsy can cause the line to twist to the point of breaking the line. We never had this problem with dipsy flasher fly combo but did when we ran a long lead off the rigger to the dipsy .  

 I took a Grandfather, Son and Grandson out on Sunday, Day started with the kicker not running. Put the boat back on the trailer to work on it and found carb full of water. Drained the water and it started right up. Headed  for the west side from Long Point and headed south. The plan was to get the 8 year old grandson his first laker. It was no fish for some time when the dipsy took off . Turned out to be 5 lb landlock that thought he was a rocket ship. I have been doing this for some time and that fish put on one of the best shows I've seen in many years. The kid handled  the rod like a pro. Only 1 laker on the south troll. When we turned and headed back we had two doubles and a triple. Highlight was the kid wanting to prove to his grandfather that he could real a fish in on the 600 copper. I pulled the big cooler out for him to sit on and told him he would be some time. He got the fish about hallway in, about when they hit the warmer water and the fish took off and the kid started sliding off the cooler. His dad grabbed his belt loop just in case. A short while later He landed the 6lb laker. We ended up with 6 or 8 lakers, 1 landlock, and 1 short rainbow in about 3 hours fishing. 600,300 copper, 12 color leadcore, dipsys and riggers all took fish.

Very nice! I will be on the lake in the morning. Wes

_{Quality time will be in slip 31 !  Wes}