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Grady95

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  1. Had a Musky smash my plug when I was trolling for eyes same time last year. Was able to coax him close enough to the boat to see him. Problem was, he saw me too. Looked at me for a second, gave one giant shake of his head and snapped me off like a toothpick. They definitely seem to turn on around this time of year. You don't have the fish but you'll always have this story to tell which is just as good! Grady
  2. Have to agree about the number of smaller bass. I generally do not target them either but what I have noticed is those bass I pick up in the areas where I am trolling sticks for walleyes have been so big it's almost comical. I can't get my hands around some of these fish. They seem healthy enough, just gigantic.
  3. 1) Be on the water to see the sunrise 2) Bring some way to run lures away from the boat. In-Line planers work really well if you don't have a mast and big boards 3) Be willing to run in tight to shore early in the day. Some of my best luck comes from running in-lines up in just a couple feet of water depth 4) Try flatlining behind the boat about 125-150 back 5) Run at 2.0-2.5 MPH 6) Sticks are great. Yo-Zuri, Rapalas, Long-A, Thundersticks. You get the idea. Red, white silver, blue, purple 7) Move out as the day gets on. Fish the outer edges of any mud bonnets you see outflowing from streams Hope this helps. Don't be surprised if you hit some small kings.
  4. As a group of fishermen, we camped there a few years ago. We had three sights all next to each other and spent a week from hell there. I hope they fired this clown that was working there because we were harassed endlessly by this cop wannabe. On our first day, this guy rolled up, got out of his truck and said "Oh, there's definitely something wrong here." We were doing nothing but finalizing our setups. He took out a notepad and walked around writing down everyone's license plate numbers, for what, I have no idea. We were not being loud or rude to anyone. For the week, he continuously hovered around us, making us move vehicles that were parked just like everyone else's as well as numerous other unnecessary and very invasive things. As a group, we have done this trip for over 20 years. We have always gone up to The River and stayed at Wellesley Island but the guys wanted to try someplace different for trout and salmon. No one has ever complained about us, hassled us or badgered us like this guy did. In fact, several of the employees of the park up there enjoy joining us for dinner! We are a pretty tame bunch and absolutely did not deserve to be treated like this. I don't know what kind of little "community" this campground has evolved into, but it's clear that they consider this place a private enclave, outsiders definitely not welcome. I have camped for all of my 65 years. I'm no rookie! I'll never set foot in this place again.
  5. Sage advice to be sure. You can add my favorite one: "Never munch on a hunch!" Mushrooms have been around a lot longer than grocery stores. Are they safe? Yes. Are they dangerous? Yes. Should we be crippled by a fear of them? Absolutely not. Knowledge is power. And mushrooms aren't the only thing. There's lots of food out there if you know what to look for.
  6. My point exactly. We would never have known what a futile effort this was unless it was at least attempted. OK, so, they tried this and it failed completely. Meanwhile, as you point out, these birds are carrying fish off in unsustainable numbers and absolutely deforesting the island trees on The River. Cormorants have the ability to dive a full 30 feet down (1 atmosphere for you divers) and decimate fish populations. When's the last time you found perch on The River like we always have in the past? These birds are more than just destructive. They are an unchecked menace to the ecosystem. They have no known predators, yet they feed with complete abandon. I grew up on this river. We have survived poachers, gill netters, viral hemorrhagic disease, mirex, PCBs, zebra mussels, "pro"bass fishermen and now gobies, but there is no check or balance for cormorants. And as I mentioned before, they are advancing into new territories. I have seen them at the golf course I play at, as well as at ponds around where I live. This is a serious problem and it needs a serious solution before the balance becomes so far off that no solution will be even possible.
  7. Oiling the eggs! Oh yea, that sure had a big impact didn't it? Makes about as much sense as installing screen doors in a submarine. Can't even imagine how they thought this was going to accomplish anything. This situation has gone way past the touchy feely stage. I'm almost glad they tried this though so it became apparent what a ridiculous idea it was.
  8. They're also starting to show up in retention ponds on local golf courses. If they ask us to organize shoots or put a season on them, I'm all in. For those of you who don't frequent the St Lawrence, you would not believe the destruction these damn things have caused.
  9. When we were kids up on The River, the undisputed God of Musky fishing was Len Hartman. He caught all the big fish, he won all the tournaments and he was a celebrity, especially around Ogdensburg. Every week, we were able to see his fish in a big cooler at Cubby's Marina on the Oswegatchi River downtown. He held the record for a 67 lb, 15 oz Musky he caught out on the sandbar. Except.......it was all a lie. Hartman took mediocre fish and stuffed wet sand down their throats , then once that was down in the fish, he would "mold" the sand so you couldn't tell even by touching it. Truth is, they stripped him of all his records and the last I heard, he was living alone in a room at the YMCA in downtown Chicago, a broken man. So this is hardly a new thing. 25 years ago, I entered a perch derby on Seneca Lake. After I caught the biggest perch of my life, I pulled the boat and went to the weigh in, confident that I had swept the board. I was stunned to see what was in there on the tables. There were perch that were so obviously frozen, caught God only knows when, entered in the contest, several of them larger than mine. I turned and walked out, visions of my childhood coming back to me. Cheaters are going to cheat. I can only imaging there are not too many mirrors in their houses. Here's an article about Hartman. What's old is new again I guess. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-02-9507020340-story.html Even with all this, Hartman wrote a book that I think is still one of the very best ever on Musky fishing. It's out of print but I was able to buy a copy for my cousin a couple months ago on the internet from some bookstore. It's called "Before I Forget." I'm sure by now, he doesn't get any royalty payments or anything.
  10. The purpose of a "puffball" is to disseminate spores. What we enjoy eating is the fungus in an immature state before it has begun the process of spore formation, which occurs from the center outward. Are they toxic? Possibly, probably not, and nothing like a Deathcap or a Destroying Angel. Probably more likely to give one a nasty GI upset but as you recall correctly, when they do begin to change, they do start to smell pretty unappetizing to say the least and you're not likely to eat it anyway. Fortunately, where there's one, there are bound to be more so if you're looking for them, you just have to sort them out. I usually just cut a wedge into the ball in the field with my knife. You can usually tell the good ones from the ones starting to go. Also, give them a good thump. Good ones sound different and the balls feel "solid" rather than yielding to pressure. I found five today all tolled, only two made it home and none were good enough. Tomorrow is another day!
  11. Sometimes it's easier to catch fishermen than it is to catch fish!
  12. Ha! I just came home from a mushroom foraging trip this morning. We found two Calvatia Gigantea or Giant Puffballs this morning along with a good variety of others including Heracium Americana or Bear's Tooth, Wood Blewits and a real nice specimen of Maitake or Hen of the Woods. Unfortunately, both puffballs today had a bit of yellow in their centers. They were inedible, but where there's one, there are sure to be more. And they do make an interesting alternative to pizza dough. Suggest that after you cut them into steaks, take a rolling pin and roll the steaks out. They cook better, especially with that preparation. Great time of year to be out mushroom hunting.
  13. And by all means, get a micro SD card and download the very latest software upgrade for your SIMRAD. I have an NSS12 EVO2 on my Grady. Recently I purchased the C-Map Great Lakes chart card and found it did not run correctly until after installing the most recent software upgrade. That made a huge difference overall in the performance of the unit. And that C-Map card is a real winner. Definitely give that a look.
  14. Grady95

    Dead bass

    Saw a bunch of them headed out of town this morning along Rt 37. Saw some out fishing near Blind Bay and Chippewa yesterday. Heading out tonight to fish. I'll let you know if they're gone. They're worse than mosquitos. At least with mosquitos I can put on some bug spray.
  15. I know someone who was fined several years ago fishing two rods in Ontario Provincial waters near Gananoque. Apparently from his account, they were quite unsympathetic to his pleas for leniency.
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