sandwick50

Tim is correct.  DEC Director of F&W said today since their launches are by nature self-service, they continue to stay open.  I would assume same goes for OPRHP unattended launches.

Fish for perch up on the st law river bays but would like to try Cayuga this year.  What I remember from posts of previous years is that some said they can be had by just cruising the shoreline with a jig/bobber.  Are you actually sight fishing for them?  Thanks.

You certainly know your stuff.  Freedom cut bait plugs again, clean or behind flasher?

Do you run the freedom cutbaits clean or behind a spinner?

The question has been asked before my myself and others and never saw a response.  Please, explain what a Gary D rig is.

Great looking kids.  Love those pants!

Found USF&WS pilots report online for this years waterfowl survey in northern Quebec.  Late spring, almost identical to last year.  If very poor gosling production again I guarantee next year the daily bag limit will be dropped to 1 bird a day or closed entirely.

Congrats on your success.  Small boat man, like me.  How were the fleas there?

So you can or can’t launch at Wright’s?  I thought it was closed.

Ok, so my final question is this.  In non-coastal waters not connected by a canal a VDS  is not required, correct?  Do I need a VDS to fish for panfish in say, Black Lake?

Back to flares.  I just read the Coast Guard regs.  It says visual distress signals are only required on coastal waters, the Great Lakes & territorial waters.  The Finger Lakes are none of those, so is the visual distress signal requirement on all water bodies a state law?

Flare gun required for all boats or not necessary for small (I have 16’)?

Yeah, what is a Gary D rig?

Circus....when you run sticks off the boards are you using split shot for a little more depth?  Thanks.

Believe me, I have no love for these birds at all but to clarify, they are not an invasive species.  Native to North America, population significantly reduced in the 70’s due to pesticides that are now banned.  From what I’ve read it is now legal to shoot 50/day in Ontario.

I never here of these used in Lake Ontario.  I would think they would be dynamite for spring Browns.  No?  Guys on Champlain use them a lot, or is that only because they’re after atlantics?

Where are you guys?  No perch run on the river this year?

Sutton.....my sentiments exactly.  I have asked DEC wildlife biologists about shooting migrants during the late resident season.  They insist that banding data has shown that they are not migrants, they are resident molt migrators and Province of Ontario resident geese.  Sorry, I don’t buy that, and I worked for the Dept my entire career.  Have hunted caribou in northern Quebec many times.  By mid Sept up there all the geese were on the move.

The 15 bird limit ruined all the resident hunting in my area.  Guys would brag they shot 90-100 geese on a given day with regularity.  Now they wonder where all the geese are. Duh.  The resident population here now is minuscule.  That is, until the last week of the season when they miraculously show up.

Oops, sorry about that.  Once again, behind the times.

DEC News release:

According to the DEC: "Fishing success is measured by 'catch rate,' which is the number of fish caught per boat trip. The catch rate for Chinook salmon during April to June 2018 set a record that was 227 percent above the previous five-year average. The catch rate for all trout and salmon species combined also surpassed the previous record high, more than 37 percent above the previous five-year average."

But of course, you knew that!

If no success with the browns in shallow I would like to at least catch a few fish.  Everyone talks about going deeper for lakers.  What kind of depth should I concentrate on? Thanks.

Jigger.....in regards to eastern Canada, here is a portion of the official news release:

Atlantic Flyway Council and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are poised to reduce the mallard bag limit in the Atlantic Flyway from 4 to 2 birds per day starting with the 2019–2020 hunting.  Mallards are managed as three distinct population units including Western (California, Oregon and Washington), Mid-continent (prairie pothole region, parklands and boreal forest) and Eastern (northeast states and eastern Canada).  Bag limits and season lengths for the Atlantic Flyway are primarily influenced by the population status of eastern mallards through an adaptive harvest management (AHM) framework.  Band recovery information suggests that most mallards harvested from North Carolina to eastern Canada are produced within the region.  In recent years, the breeding population of mallards in eastern Canada has been stable but declining in the northeastern states especially New York and Pennsylvania. The decline is significant enough to cause the current AHM model to predict restrictive seasons in the Atlantic Flyway.

From what I read the mallard population in eastern Canada has remained relatively stable.  It’s NY & PA where they’ve seen significant reductions in the population.  And, it seems like their bag limit has always been more liberal than ours.  

You are in fact correct. Just found this:

""Atlantic Flyway Council and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are poised to reduce the mallard bag limit in the Atlantic Flyway from 4 to 2 birds per day starting with the 2019–2020 hunting season.

Where did you hear that?  I just found 2018-19 proposal online.  Still 4 mallards, only 2 hens.