chowder

The accutips are all I'm shooting now Pete, thanks for putting me onto them! Now I just need a coyote out there at 375 instead of a crow. -Andy

My county's seat, the town of Norwich, has been plagued w/ crow issues for years (much like some others-Auburn,etc). I live far outside of town but have seen great flocks of these birds at different times when I've been running errands from time to time but I've never seen large numbers of them out here at the farm till last weekend when they descended en mass on my corn silage bunker. It was bad enough when they were feeding on the spillage and the exposed face of the bunk but when they started poking holes in the top cover to get at the unexposed feed I was forced into action. My son & I quickly dispatched a large number of them last weekend using a pair of trusty 1100s and it seemed as if the massive numbers of dead ( being picked over by the barn cats, who quickly grasped that a shotgun blast meant a fresh meal) caused the crows to disperse and they were not here all week till yesterday. Yesterday they were back again in epic proportions, and again I went out with my auto loader to mete out some death. This time though, the minute the crows saw me with the shotgun they dispersed back to about 100 yds, blackening the trees with they're massive numbers and cawed raucously. "OK you s.o.b.s", I thought, as I went back in & grabbed my Savage 22mag heavy. Using my camper as a rest for the bipod equipped rifle I cranked the scope up to 16, pulled myself together, and picked my bird. At the sound of the shot mayhem ensued as the dead crow pitched into the snow. "Ha", I thought, that will teach you to mess w/ me! The birds moved back to about 375 yards and again began to mass up, blackening the trees. Back into the house I went. As I passed thru the kitchen with my 22-250 long range predator rig my wife looked up with alarm and said "what on earth is it that's going on out there?". "WAR!", I declared! Leaving nothing to chance, I quickly set up my swiveling shooting bench using the corner of the calf barn for cover and set up my rifle on two shooting bags. I did my 'breathing thing' and broke the 1.5lb trigger. The shot was good but there was no opportunity for a follow up as the gigantic flock flew, swirling high up into the sky. They haven't been back, but I'm ready...

I have relations who are grain growers around Canandaigua that hate them, they say that when they move into their winter wheat its like seeing an apocalyptical swarm of white locusts. They are always after me to come out & hunt but thus far I haven't made it happen.

I doubt the flats will hold many LLs right now, the alewives are not stong swimmers & they are locked up most of the winter in deep water. Should start to see some browns down on the southern shelf and also over on the east side off of the cliffs. Hoping to get over there next week & will report. -Andy

When did this law get passed limiting us to 3 rods each?

Back when I lived in Belchertown I used to fish the Quabbin but that was back in the eighties! Hey Glen when are you gonna be out here? -Andy

Nice going guys! -Andy

Oh Yar!

I'm figuring you know this but browns can be pretty spooky in shallow water so you want to be set up to run most of your stix on light line 100' back, off board lines (running board lines will probably be new so leave some time for getting this program into gear) and don't do much thumping around on the bottom of the boat.By the same token you don't want to be the 15th boat thru the shallows cuz those fish are gonna scatter - 'the early bird gets the worm'. You will also want to play around w/ slower speeds in the early cold water. Oh yeah and it's a good idea to have some smaller stix to try sometimes in the early going too.

Lose the swim platform & seal up the transom holes w SS thru bolts ,fender washers & "life caulk".But B4 you get too carried away w/ this project make sure you get some competent advice from a professional marine expert w/ a lot of experience mounting kickers! There are a lot of factors involved w/ this project and some of them might only become obvious after you have made a FUBAR out of the job. Remember a stitch in time saves 9. For what it's worth I sent you a PM detailing some of the issues you are gonna face. Cheers, -Andy

You guys need some barn cats around! I can leave my shanties sitting on a pile of chaff in the hay mow w/ no mouse issues at all. It's my landing nets I have to protect (from fish craving, net eating cats!).

Thanks, Hank- keep us posted, I gotta get outta here & do something! -Andy

Link for show http://www.northeasternsportshow.com/attractions.php3 Hey LJ I might make it up there if there aren't too many arctic issues here in the morning (I'll PM ya my cell, I can't find yours, thought I had it here somewhere...) -Andy

Have a good one! -Andy

We've got some bad slush conditions going on around here, hows the shanty dragging out on PB?

For what it's worth Kevin @ Wilson Boatyard is the guy who I talked to about this situation, he seemed to know more about what's going on than anybody else I've run into and I've been trying to figure out what's going on w/ the availability of these units since late last summer. -Andy

For what it's worth I ran approx the same thread a few years ago and I did use the rubberized spray paint (got it at Lowes). I cleaned up my weights & removed the oxidizing but that rubberized stuff started to come off at the end of the first season. I wound taking the advice that I got from some of the charter captains (Hank,Rob,etc) and now I just repaint any weights that look like they need it w/ a good quality flat black exterior spray paint in the early spring- sometimes I think simpler is better but you be the judge & good luck! -Andy

Sounds like a great day! WTG -Andy

Ensenore point, eh!

From what I understand Raymarine will be releasing the new version of the Raymarine X-5 Sport Pilot at some point this spring. Until Raymarine unveils this new version you will not be able to (nor has anyone been able to for quite some time) actually buy a new Sport Pilot anywhere.

Looks like an awesome ice fishing venture! Those lakers can put up a real good tussle if you winter troll the Fingers like some of us 'crazies'. -Andy

There's a couple of really good ones you guys got there, congrats Three years ago I got a 10lb+ slammer right out in front of RR's place in 250' fow down 55.

I'm not trying to be discouraging but, again I feel compelled to say I would be very careful in that 14 footer w/ a 10hp outboard. Even a West wind on Cayuga can come up very quickly, producing waves that will swamp a boat w/ out much free board and that 10hp is not going to allow you to make a real quick escape from an approaching front. Though these quick Westerly blows are more typical of spring thru early fall weather cells, they are possible in the winter too. Anybody fishing the Fingers in the winter needs to be ultra aware that the margin for error out there is really very small. Be absolutely sure you have a functional (unfrozen) bilge pump w/ fully functional wiring and a backup plan for what you would do if you lost power,etc. I hate to sound like a worry wart but this kind of fishing demands extra caution at every turn. Be safe, have fun & good luck! -Andy

I like the picture of Gray getting ready to take a swim!