chowder

And somewhere there's a guy telling his buddies that somebody stole the pail they kept up in the old stand to use as a seat.

For the FLX: riggers- Okuma Blue Diamond ML 7'5" great action. planers (flat)- Eagle claw Starfire 8'6" L Dipsy(wire) - Talora 7' med fast(it's actually listed by Shimano as a rigger rod) I don't use those Blue Diamonds on my riggers on Ontario, not near enough rod for Kings, on Ontario I use 6'6" H Ugly stiks on my riggers. My copper & core rods are Ugly stiks(7' med(short cores and short copper) and Ugly stik 7' MH and H for long coppers.

Greg's comment about the difficulty of taking mature does w/ a bow reminded me of an incredible incident I witnessed about 15 years ago. I had 2 stands in a funnel leading to a crop field. They were set up to allow me to hunt the travel route under 2 different wind patterns, I could see one stand from the other. Ok, I get busted by a really big doe the first week and I keep an eye out for her b/c she is distinctive and she "looks up". Never see her again till almost the end of bow and she is on pins & needles so I'm sure she is trying to avoid a buck, I'm in the other stand on this day, not the one she busted me in.What came next was incredible cuz here comes dummy, crashing out of the tucker brush after her, she bolts around trying to lose him but he's a basket rack 7 w/ nothing else to do so he pesters the daylights out of her. Eventually she leads him right in front of the stand she busted me in two times, the 2cd time she was way out in front of him and she stops about 50 yards from the stand she busted me in and looks right at it from 3 different head angles as if to say " where's that guy w/ the stick & string when you need him?" I nick named her the Black Widow but alas I never saw her ever again...

Greg, you are gonna get me going on what my wife calls "Chow's regular rant"! All I can say is I hear you. I don't usually find too many untill Black powder ramblings find me on my property lines on a snowy afternoon, but the sensation is always the same- profound astonishment that any one could be so stupid and on top of it all they are mostly spike or crotch horns. I find myself hating every idiot w/ a rifle rack and an antler sticker on their pickup! ( wow, that was venomous ) As far as the does go, many many years of trying to manage doe numbers on crop land w/ a bow have convinced me that at this point in the season a mature doe is a far tougher animal to take than 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 year old buck- they can be really tough to draw on w/ out getting busted! If you get towards the end of the regular season and there's still room in the freezer, give me a ring- I could use an ethical, trustworthy man on doe patrol.

Nice Atlantics! We caught a nice pair yesterday on Cayuga Lake but they only went 5-6lbs, still they were great fighters right up to the net!

Weary of blood & gore filled late day bow expeditions, I got talked into an early Saturday am goose hunt which, after moderate success, led to a trip to the local diner for a late breakfast. After this much needed nourishment was consumed it was concluded that it was far too fine a day for hanging around the farm and that some sort of fishing trip was required. After a hasty attempt to convince my wife that my sense of responsibility had not completely disappeared we hitched up to my 16' and scooted over to Cayuga. Upon dropping the boat in I discovered that all the stuff I had taken out of the boat for some trips to Skinny had not magically put themselves back in. So, no dipsies, no flashers, no copper, no core and no chop and a clear sunny sky. Starting at noon, we worked our way from T-Falls to the Scout camp and back a couple times in different depths and picked up 2 good lakers and 2 decent salmon. Fish came on the larger size Honey bee spoon in a rainbow pattern on the rigger back 40' down 80' over 160-200, Yeck chicken wing behind a slide diver down 40' over 160' and a orange tint rapala also behind the slide diver. Surface speeds were 2.5-3.We tried running some spoons & trolling streamers w/ snap weights off the boards but they would get snatched up by little salmon so we quit running those lines after we had to clear off 5 skippers 10-13". We finished by trolling across to Myers and I have to say from the look of the screen as we approached we probably should have given that point a good going over. Oh well, nice November afternoon on the water despite the lack of preparation.

If anybody comes across a good used 4 stroke 8 or 9.9hp or knows of a new one "priced right" somewhere, send me a pm. Thanks

The legend of "Eskimo Joe" grows by the day!

You will always remember that deer, congratulations!

Nice going Greg! Great story & picture! I'm sure that hunt will stay w/ you for a long time.

Always clip the release to the backing (I use power pro) after the core or the copper is all in the water. I use Scotty mini power grips for short cores( up to 6 works fine) and I use the Big Scotty releases for my long coppers. If you get the stacker style release packages you get a better deal, just add your own shower rings after you cut off the stacker line.

Thanks, got it! pretty pumped to try this out, made them from some Bert's trax and some extra rod holders that came w/ the boat, seems like this will be a lot slicker than juggling the rods in the regular style holders.

I just built a pair of rod trees to make running 3 rods per side out on the planer lines a simpler affair but I'm not quite sure of the order; seems like it would work to have the low rod go out the farthest and the next one up the tree the 2cd farthest etc, is this correct?

Nice going! That's a great picture and one that will bring that moment back many times for you.

All right, I'm feeling better but now I gotta skin & butcher up another deer - I will get the rub posted this weekend. P.S. Just stack the ribs on top of each other, double bag them and freeze if it's a warm bow season, usually I just leave them hanging if it's cold enough. It doesn't hurt to leave the extra fat, etc on the cage untill you are a day or so away from bbq. I usually wait till then if I can and then trim them off the spine w/ a sawzall and kind of spruce them up w/ a fillet knife.

Sorry,I got the flu, will get my deer rub recipe up on the forum asap. I will post it on the favorite recipes section.

Nice going Sean!

Congrats on the buck! Great story.Speaking of processing venison, Hey You All; keep your ribs if you have a smoker & by and by I will post my Wild Willy's Wondeerful Rib Rub recipe, everybody in my extended family looks forward to this feast. There isn't a lot there but what there is truly, incredible!

Yea Man, that's a dandy!

Ray, you raise the birds & release them on my farm and I'll help you w/ the hunting part

Where we hunt the state birds it is very high annual weed growth & the birds simply will not put up w/out a dog-they just run hidden from sight. It's been my impression that this is typical of the areas the DEC chooses. If you were closer I would be happy to have you w/ us, if you find yourself in the Cortland/Chenango area drop me a PM.

Greg, I have R.R.'s route on my GPS but I don't have the key's to the fish cages he keeps suspended out there and don't bother trying to follow Split, he has some sort of cloaking device on his new boat that makes it impossible to track!

The changing ecology of the lake w/ respect to declines in smelt and the growth of the alewife population must have something to do w/ changes in the way browns do business on Cayuga. Maybe someone can expand on this? All I know is that Cayuga Browns during the summer seem to flaunt indifference to the conventional wisdom used to locate & take these fish on other bodies of water(i.e. where the thermocline hits structured bottom). In the spring on Cayuga it also seems to depend on some elusive variables whether you get into some good Browns or not (Ontario is much more predictable). I like to run super stealthy long flat lines off planers and slide divers and long leads off shallow riggers w/ a mix of spoons / stix. After the early fishing (April/May) I get most of mine by running high stuff over deep water. It will help if you follow Rusty Rat's Islander around! Best time to get these guys is in the winter, but again weather/ temps are a fickle mistress. Also shore fishing in the S.end in the spring can be as productive or more productive than any other technique b/c no boat=maximum stealth, plus you fish the really shallow water they are in early, I like week days for the planer bite b/c after a few boats have trolled the shallows the fish get spooked. Greg, the planer rods I use for flatlining are inexpensive Eagle Claw Starfire 8' Light Action (rated for 6-8lb), but I run 10lb. You can get them for $29 on the net. I like the Daiwa 17 or 27 Accudepth reels. Check your line after landing a fish for nicks by pulling aggresively on the bait and up about 16"- don't just feel the line, especially if you pop a pickerel or god forbid a pike - these guys like stick baits too!

Skipper 19, I hear you! I drove truck for 3 years when I was younger and I got lot more deer w/ my 9676 International than I got w/ my 870 Remington.

Hey Jerry, do you fish Cayuga or any of the other FLX? Check out the Finger Lakes Forum! Welcome aboard!