Gator

The LL was around 3 1/2 lbs, not too big. Because it took right next to the boat, first jump and he never hit the water...Bill had the net underneath him. Next time out may not be until mid-May. We'll be at the Niagara with the Nothin' but Net for the spring LOC. Hope it improves for the lakers. Several other reports by phone from friends who fished mirrored our results. Gator

The water up at the PennYan end is still too cold to have brought any bait in, so we ended up jigging deep. To our suprise, not a single laker, and we fished hard, from 6am to 6pm. Actually checked inside of 30' to outside 90' and trolled the surface with in-lines for an hour, too. Jigs, Deadly Dicks, we threw it all at them. "Them" being the fish that we never marked on the screen, of course. I guess it's all about finding the fish. The only salmonid we caught, though, made up for it: saw the fish breaking on bait, cast an X-Rap, no take...but wait, the fish followed...so, even though the motor is running , I swing a figure eight with the lure and HOOKED UP. One landlock, nothin' but net. We stupid'd into a large school of perch down from the Bluff Marina, but they weren't anything to write home about. Couple of them were over a pound. Casting oak leaf grubs for the perch, we also caught three smallmouths--promptly released, of course. One of them was 5.7 lbs. Nice fish. Gator

Two years ago jigging the Niagara in the Spring, first year for the new "Nothin' but Net", K2 hooked up with what we thought was the granddaddy of them all. Had the engine on and ready to race to the weigh-in before the net was out of the water. Now, since he'd already landed an 18 and a 23 earlier that day (the latter won the division that year), and he said that this fish was "significantly bigger", we figured we might have a shot at winning the whole thing. It was a sturgeon. Maybe 45 lbs. He got his picture in the Derby Gazette last spring, at least. Nice fish, exhilarating but a letdown at the same time. Coolest thing though...last year it was my turn. Same thing, but this time we had some idea of what might be on the end of the line. Prehistoric looking beasts. I guess DEC recommends that you don't even bring them in the boat, trying to establish a breeding stock. Anyway, it's a new year. Anybody want to go jigging? Gator

Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester. I run a lab that studies molecular genetics and integrative physiology. And that's probably enough geek-talk to get me hit up side the head next time I'm out... Gator (Nothin' but Net)