NitroMusky

It seems to me this has become a battle of which port has the best fishing, rather than the broader question raised in the contest: what is the best fishing TOWN...to include a broad array of considerations including quality of fishing, quantity of top notch options- both species present and locations (i.e. rivers streams and lake), AND -this is a big one- the town support in terms of water access, marinas, fishing related business and amenities catering to fisherman, and govt and other local support (tourism $$ aimed at fishing, chamber of commerce support, number of local fisherman etc etc). If we here in upstate really want to compete nationally vs. debate amongst ourselves, then put together a REAL and comprehensive value proposition on why our choice is the BEST choice for the nation to vote for. Just my .02 [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

bingo [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

even if its legal, its somewhat impractical to do this in quantities beyond single digits. with a few notable exceptions, most fish give off chemicals which stunt or severely slow growth when population density get too high. to get around this you would need a lot more than an aquarium sized tank and/or a continuous supply of 'new' water [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I would respectfully disagree with the need to modify the tiger regs across the board. natual tiger populations occur with such infreqency in nature that targeting them in those unstocked waters would get you ticketed for targeting pures already...this was discussed last year here and chautauqua was cited as a prime example of this. if the state wanted to go to the trouble, the regs protecting pure strain muskies could be emphasized and strengthed however by aligning the tiger regs to that of pures in the few waters where pure are known to exist (or conversely a statewide reg for tigers june-nov, with exceptions to align them with pike where tigers are stocked- and thus in great enough numbers to warrant targeting them)

ronix, zach is right on about making your own leaders. buy a roll of seaguar flouro and hardware and go to it...cheaper in the long run, you never have to go without and always have the exact lengths you prefer. good to hear about the lakewoods at BPS...thats a really good sign. [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

sol, i've made that drive a few times...it is very easy as long as you miss rush hour in hamilton. could be fun dragging a boat in traffic there. otherwise just long and monotonous. zach. 3rd weekend in april would work for the first go at the cow. guess I should get my azz in gear and get my boat parts ordered once I settle into my hotel tonite. you planning on bringing your boat then too? [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I don't know yet, but i know I'm bound to find something i 'need'. I'm sure there is something on the website with mfgs sponsors. take a look there and we can bird dog some stuff for ya. [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

if you're mechanically inclined and consider doing the actual repair yourself, you can post your issue on bassboatcentral.com trolling motor board and you will get some good direction on diagnosis and repair [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

get yer PA liscence online [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Ronix, cowanesque is about 2 hrs door to door ALL expressway. About 10 minutes past corning. I want to try the susky myself, but won't be in my fiberglass boat and will be after doing some research to learn what stretches have the productive pools, and where the skinny water danger areas are. If someone has an open seat.... Salt fork...hmmm anyone have an open seat? Not sure if I can get my boat out of storage and prepped in time, but sounds like fun. [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

sure thats where the locals fish, but most wouldn't be caught dead in there without a jet boat

heres my take (and totally unscientific at that)... those big bodies of water have low density overall yes, but from what I can tell, there are going to be areas that hold the fish - meaning you have to know the area well and be able to separate out the empty water from the productive areas... On the allegheny it seems there is such a low density (maybe once the fish move below the dam they cant get back up??) that even in the areas that should be productive there is not even a whiff.

yeah...keepin a wad o' cash in my pocket for that one

yep, lure wash= clean lures, no fish. I've heard there are some bigguns in the 'alley' and a potential record breaker has been prophesized to come from there sometime in the near future, but they are very few and far between. Like I said, even the locals don't waste their time on skis in the res...that tells me something right there.

Cowanesque...just - and I mean just - over the border south of Corning, right off the expy. I went down to Allegheny two years ago for a 'spring fling' and won't do it again. Its a lure wash. even the local musky die hards don't even touch it barely from what I hear. It was the allegheny in-the-know locals that reccommended the Cow to me. maybe not bigguns, but much better odds and a lot shorter drive. just my .02

Anyone planning trips this spring to cure the musky itch prior to June 18? I was thinking of hitting Raystown in PA for muskie and stripers for a long weekend but with gas prices I may just make a couple day trips back down to the Cow and try to figure it out. The new MH has a nice article on spring fishing reservoirs that I will probably be rereading a few times in hopes it will make this year there more productive than last... [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I tried to keep it under control...dropping some coin on the boat before the season starts... 5 muskellunch, a plow, couple of ROB tubes, hooker, 4 depth raider knock-offs, few others... Picked up another set of boat rod/reels to boot. We all must be getting same itch, yesterday I finally put away all by new baits, replaced the grips on a couple of trolling rods that got took a beating last year and now pricing out the parts I have to pick up for the boat. Figure the boat will be back in the driveway in the next week or two to get it all done in time for the pike opener [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Yup. Seneca river is up about 6ft over summer levels. Water moves so slow at 3 rivers north of syr (nonexistent gradient) and is so flat that it would flood out a wide swath of the local area if they let it flow free this time of year. So they hold the water upstream of B'ville which has more capacity (albeit on people's lawns). With that at (beyond) capacity, cayuga lake gets it's turn next. This is the link to a USGS site a little down river of the lake. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ny/nwis/uv?site_no=04235600 [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Yes, you did Zach...nothing I thought was out of line. But maybe it was too much info about a small body of water...wow, Have I been gone that long...did they make Gambler a mod??? (just kidding ) [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

zach, I looked hard at the new gore composites when respooling this winter but something i read in researching it made me go back to the spiderwire...cant remember what it was, either the lack of smoothness in the braid or something that made me equate it with the poorer aspects of fireline (hate that stuff) [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

so whats the answer, become stereotypical, tight-lipped musky hunters... keep to ourselves or take our conversations offline???? I have to say I shuddered a bit as I think about what this forum would be like (think desert rather than fertile lake)

How do you forget something like THAT?? great job! now where's the picture?? [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Now that's a loaded question! Asking us to choose between friends That said, keep your eye on baker, came a long way in a short while and always looking to innovate through out of the box thinking [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I don't know too much about quick strike rigs but but I do know that you don't want braid near the sucker. too easy for a toothie to cut it. between 20 lb fluoro and 50 mono I would think the mono since its thicker and thus probably more resistent to a bite off but I'm not certain of that [ Post made via Mobile Device ]

good luck out there. wifes having knee surgery tomorrow so I'm grounded this weekend holding up the homefront. next weekend tho...