Hey all! I know it has been awhile, but I continue to be busy with the new baby around. Anyway, I didn't get out fishing much in August. Pretty much just did a little bay fishing when we were on our family vacation in Ocean City, Maryland. We caught a bunch of small sea bass, but that was it (dad did catch one small flounder). This week I fished Lake Ontario three times with Scott and his wife Caroline (who knows more about downrigging than I ever will). The first day we fished an evening and only hooked up once. It was a big salmon and I fought it for about 10 minutes before losing it. Then we went out fishing Friday Morning and had a decent Morning. I started with a 10lb brown and I later caught a 25lb King Salmon (see pictures). We caught two more small salmon before calling it a day. This morning we got on the Lake early and the waves were already 2-3 feet. By the time we left they were 5 ft or so. Anway we were only able to fish from 6:00-8:00, but man did we kill them. We landed six salmon, including two doubles. What an awesome morning. My arms are killing me (really). Catching salmon out on the lake is a totally new ball game. We had a ton of fun. We never went more than 10 minutes without hooking up. Hope the fishing continues like this. With the salmon comes fall... goose season...duck season...deer season...I can't wait. Tight lines and shoot straight my friends (and post once in a while)!

Joe

Hey boys and girls, Are you ready for hunting season? Cause it's here!! I went goose hunting with a friend of mine to the Hudson River. We got seven total (I got two) and we probably should have had 14 all within sight of the twin bridges in Halfmoon. It was good there and we were the only ones hunting on that mile or two stretch of river. It got me thinking of all things hunting and I am looking forward to the upcoming season's. My good friend Dave Crandall moved back up to Wascilla, Alaska this April and he has been pushing me hard to go up there for a hunt this year. Our original plan was to go on a moose hunt next year after he got settled. He found out he will have to go to Iraq or Afganistan next year though for an end of his career tour(which kind of sucks) but it was a known possibility of taking the Alaska job and move package etc. Dave has been in the Army for 21 years. I can t swing it right now finacially as I am waist deep into fixing up the old family farm. He keeps calling me with stories of his exploits this summer and fall and sending pictures. He and his family went to Resurrection River (I think it was ), he said they kept 21 King Salmon over 30 pounds, 8 Red Salmon and threw back around 200 other salmon. I'm jealous. He also sent me some pictures of a grizzly bear and tracks that he saw along the way into Petersville. One of the pictures shows them saddling up on the four wheelers in front of The Forks Roadhouse, which is in the middle of nowhere. I was right there with em a few years ago and it is quite an area. Many, many, many miles to roam and mountains to walk over only to find more mountains. Wish I was there right now as moose season just opened and no doubt Dave is out there looking for Bowinkle.
Hope all are happy and healthy
Shaun

Alrighty - so heres why i havent been doing much fishing - two weeks ago when i was hitching the boat to the truck, the 3000lber fell on my foot - no not the boat, but the tongue of the trailer with the boat on it. It hurt. Swelled up real bad, and, after two weeks of three vicadin a day and 1200mg motrin pills, im on my feet again. We fish Conesus this weekend, im sure ill at least have a blue gill to post after that!

Hey guys,

I know it's been awhile, but I have been busy with the new baby. Anyway I have been out fishing a couple of times since my last post. Opening day of bass season (June 16) Larry, Craig, and I went to Silver Lake and fished in a bass tournament. We ended up taking fourth place overall with a 3.2 lb bass Craig caught in the last hour of the tournament. I caught one early that weighed 2.5 lbs and would end up in 8th place. Overall a terrible day of fishing on Silver Lake (3.9lbs won the tournament). But we did win enough money to pay all of our entry fees and have enough left over for gas for the day.

I also went fishing Monday on the Genesee River with my dad and Stryker. We floated from Mt. Morris to Geneseo. Caught lots of carp, suckers, and smallmouth. I also caught two soft-shelled turtles. One was 18 inches across and the other was about 12. Pretty cool. One took and worm and the other one hit on corn (for carp). I caught one carp that was over 30 inches and would probably weigh about 20 lbs (lots of fun to fight in the current). Dad caught a catfish that weighed about 5 lbs. Overall a fun trip. Hope you're all fishing hard. Have a great fourth of July!

Hey joe its been a while, Mindy and I are expecting our first child on nov. 7th not real good timing, but were very excited, in fact at 3:oo today we will find out what we are having. Other than that I have already been seeing some nice bucks. I shot a good turkey also 8 1/2" beard and 1-1/8 spurs. Before you know it we will be posting pictures of our bucks cant wait! Hope all is well talk to you soon.

Memorial Day camping trip (Reneeeeeeee). We went to Seneca lake this year and camped in Sampson Park. It was a ton of fun having John and Andrea there, along with me, Larry, and about 100 other people from my family. I was concerned that we were not going to be able to locate or catch fish in such a big lake (67 miles long, 600 feet deep), but we ended up doing quite well. Larry especially had a good weekend on Crankbaits over rock walls/ledges. We probably ended the weekend with 80 bass bass taken between Larry, Shaun, and I. Larry caught a couple of smallmouth that would go over three pounds. We also hit into the bluegills well (they were swarming by the thousands in big, black masses). John and Andrea had a fun afternoon (20 minutes) catching one after another as Larry and I baited hooks and took fish off. Shaun also had some luck catching a few pike. Overall, everyone caught some fish and we all had a good time. I love camping.

'Stichin'

Every year I make a strong effort to learn a new technique to further my bass fishing prowess. A few years ago I tried a new bait that had just hit the market and was only available in Black, Green and White at the time in a 5" variety. They were called Yamamoto worms and eventually were termed "senkos" for their erratic action in the water. Despite all odds and without any preconceived ideas on how to fish them, i put a small size 6 bait hook through the center of the worm (now called "wacky worm") and throw it out into the river along a brush pile. I ended up catching a good bit of fish on that plain black worm that day. Today, most of my fishing circle live and swear by that worm as one of their go-to baits. The watermellon green color landed Rebisz a 7 pounder last summer next to another fisherman that was using live bait!

So two years ago I picked up another new style of fishing for the hot, clear summer days, particularly when the wind was lite and the bite was slow. The method was called drop-shotting. Small 1/8 ounce sinker placed below a long shanked straight hook that was rigged about 12 inches (or so) above it with a finesse or french-fry worm. Aaron Martens had ripped up the BASS circuits with this tactic and it seemed to work on all waters north and south. I gave it a whirl, bought a new rod (witch seems to happen yearly), and learned a new method. This continues to be one of my favorites and it works amazingly!

This year I have been reading about fishing high pressured lakes such as Silver Lake, Conesus, Honeoye and others in the local area. Basically, small bodies of water that get killed over and over by weekend warriors and die hard locals. Ref: http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/members/insider/technique/story?page=b_ency_FLARp42_highpress

The basic premise of the article is fish hard, be patient, use something different, and dont be ertarded about where you put your boat and how you treat weary bass. According to this article, most pressured bass will retreat from the comfort of deep and open water and will seek out thick cover such as matted grass, weeds, and brush, particularly in deep water. If youve ever fished in upstate NY, you know that every lake is a virtual cereal bowl with typical topography of weeds from 0-12/13 feet that peters off into a sandy bottom from 14-20/30. Most lakes in upstate, NY dont hold enough oxygen (according to DEC) for fish to stay to long below 20 feet in the summer. So, where do pressure fish go? Into the thick weeds in 10-12 feet of water. At times, we kill them on the weed line, but when pressure, they are always safely 4 feet away from our lure in the weeds. So how do we catch them? Weedless worms - no chance, lines to light and the weight isnt there. Drop shot? To much hardware on the line and way to light of a rod. Spinners and crankbaits are out of the question. According to locals, and verified by many articles "Stichin" is the way to go. Now the technique transcends fishing the thickest of thick and can be applied in open water for deep water, weary fish, but for practical purposes, ill start my learning in the weeds.

Necessities - Your going to be fishing deep and in thick cover your going to need line that doesnt stretch so Monofilament is out of the question and braided wire or something similar is a must. Your typical spinning rod has got not chance because there is at least a foot of give in the rod before the hook is set - thats why there is such a huge sweep in the hook set for spinning rods. So your going to need a baitcaster, and not just any baitcaster, something with some backbone. So here is my initial recommendations:

rod - 6'6" medium heavy or 7' heavy action bait caster. Im using a 6'6" Guide Series from Gander Mountain, one of the only rods thats not a St. Croix or G-Loomis in my garage and frankly, its an awesome rod for about a quarter the cost.
reel - whatever baitcasting reel your comfortable with, I prefer a Pinnacle because their stupid proof, but Shimano is a great selection for a low dollar as well.
line - Stren Superbraid lo-vis green 20-30lbs minimum, im using 30.
tackle - Heres where it gets interesting.

Big Jigs. They look nothing like anything in nature. They are really heavy and they have punching power. The hooks on them are gamakatsu, which are some of the strongest hooks made. And, get this, on the fall and most of the retrieve, the are weedless. Most of the time, the lure is about 6 inches in length and about 3 inches in girth weighing in at just over an ounce, so it will feel like your throwing a downrigger ball from your rod. But, you cant argue that the lure will get down through the weeds.

Now, lets talk tactics. We already know the where and the why, we know the what, so heres they how - its what we've already coined as stichin.


Stichin - A slow process of keeping the bait in contact with the bottom moving it only inches at a time in a painstakingly slow manner.

Now, as I mentioned early, this can be done in all types of situations and fishing environments, but the two keys remain consistent - SLOW and BOTTOM. The huge jig and its overwhelming weight make the bottom part easy. But, the slow part, well, thats an entirely different story. For most of us, throwing a plastic worm or a faster moving bait is all about reaction strikes and the perfect cast in the spawn. If the fish doesnt hit at that specific point, within those 15-30 seconds, then its off to the next cast at the next spot. Stichin challenges that mindset. Picture open water in 18-20 feet, well off the weedline along a mainlake or secondary point. Your casting a 14 inch black plastic work with 1/8 ounce weight. It takes the worm 30-45 seconds just to reach the bottom. By the time it does, your only next step is to move the worm about 3 inches and let it settle back to the bottom again. After another 15 seconds or so, you move the worm another 3 inches in a slow, methodical manner (not with an erratic jerk or twitch). You then repeat the retrieval over and over with grueling patience until the lure is back to the boat. Each cast feels like an eternity and tests your patiences worse than your wife nagging you about going fishing in the first place.

So now we know how, so whats the reward?

Yes, thats right fish. Some might ask, well, why would I waste my time using a technique that is SO gruelingly slow if the fish are biting. Well, thats just it, the fish arent biting, or at least their not biting our typical fast moving presentations, or plastic worms, or weed line antics. So rather than concede, we will as the article reads, be patient and work hard. Furthermore, and really the icing on the cake for me, many local tournament veterans swear by huge jig and pig combinations. These are guys that dont care much for numbers of fish as they dont win tournaments. They care about quality of fish - SIZE. According to Conesus Lake fisherman, blue and black jig and pig combos at 3/4 to 1 ounce weights catch more 7 and 8 pounders than any other lures fished in tournaments. If that holds true, sign me up. Ill try it. Especially on days where I've driven an hour one way to fish burning $50 in gas towing my boat and have permission from the wife to spend the day on the lake. I understand that not everyone reading has the funds or the tackle to perform said stichin technique, so, call me up. I have more than enough tackle to take everyone on this blog fishing at once. As long as you dont give me a hard time about fishing slowly or not catching enough fish, i wont throw you overboard either.

Thanks for being patient and good luck in your fishing endeavors.

About the author:
Larry Moore grew up in the rural districts of Westmoreland County about an hour east of Pittsburgh, PA. Fishing and Hunting were primary focuses of his childhood upbringing. Many of his early experience as a bass angler were on PA's local reservoirs and rivers such as Big Keystone Reservoir and the Conemaugh River Lake watershed. Today, Larry resides in Rochester, NY. He works hard to fish the finger lakes region and many local lakes in the area. While he considers Silver Lake in Perry, NY his home water, he's not afraid to travel for new fishing experiences.

For more information contact:
Larry Moore
Big Wawwy's Fishing Adventures
21 Donlin Dr.
Rochester, NY 14624
585-415-7751

Hey Guys,

It's been awhile, but I have been busy having babies (Joey Cade: May 20, 2007, 8 lbs. 20.5 inches). Anyway, the fishing has been off and on. The first picture is a brown trout I caught on a spinner in Sandy creek in late March. After that time I stopped fishing for a short period of time before hitting the crappies. I had another good year for crappies on Lake Leroy with my dad, Adam, and Larry. I also hit them at Godfrey's Pond with Maury a couple of days (nice big crappies). Ended up putting away a bunch of packages of fish. The last two weeks I have fished several days with Larry on Silver Lake with good success. We caught several over four pounds (see pictures). One Saturday (May 5) we caught over 50 bass between us. Larry also managed a decent pike and walleye while fishing spider jigs. Last weekend Larry, Adam, and I were zipping down Silver Lake at Sunrise and I saw something swimming in the water. As we got closer we saw that it was a deer (doe) swimming across the middle of the lake. We took a couple of pictures and then let it go on its way. Only a few bass were caught that day. Anyway, this weekend is Memorial Day and we are going on the annual Memorial Day camping trip (to Seneca Lake this year). It should be fun and I should have some pictures to post when I return. Take care and keep fish

Gobble Gobble

Kokkommos slate call moderately for a bit with no response. I had about 15 minutes before i needed to head back to the car to make it to work on time, so i start cutting aggressively and yelping my hen head off. Shortly there after, i had three Toms come trucking along the edge of the corn field to me. I was tucked into the brush about 30 yards off the field edge. The first tom went tearing by my, he was huge - at least 10-12 inch bearI took this fella on May 8, last friday morning. Its a real pain in the neck to wake up before work and hunt, then make it too work on time and not feel like a zombie all day. Anyways, after setting up where i had located some birds in archery and shotgun and spending most of the morning calling to the geese in the nearby swamp, i decided to take my last hour and run and gun. I walked fast, far, and called where i thought birds might be with no success. My last location, thanks to Nathan, was on the edge of one of the main corn fields on the farm. He said he had seen birds and deer in the field a few times an that they were there later in the day. Fortunately, it was 7am which if you wake up at 4 is later in the day. I sat and called on myd. The second two birds were together, i was able to yelp with my mouth to stop them and pound the last bird - the smallest one of course.


The bird had been pecked and his neck was pretty beated up by other birds, what was left of his beard was about 5-6 inches, just enough not to be a Jake. His Spurs though, wow - 1/1/8 " the biggest spurs i have ever shot.

Spring Derby Weekend One

This past weekend was the opening of the Spring Loc Derby. The derby snuck up on me this year and we still had some bugs to work out on the boat at the onset of the derby. Our original plan was to fish out west again and hit the water near the Niagara River. However, the unusually cold water in that area had the king fishing behind schedule and most of the fish caught out that way were lakers. So, we made the decision to fish the only colored water we could find... off the Genesee River. We launched out of the River on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On the first two days, the water and weather were beautiful. On Sunday, the wind picked up out of the northeast and messed up the fishing and only allowed us to fish for about an hour. The fishing can be best described as a slow-pick overall. We caught browns, coho, rainbows, and kings with the best fish coming on Friday and the most numbers (10) coming on Saturday. The best area seemed to be the warmest, colored water between the river and Irondequoit Bay in 20- 50 feet of water. We had limited success out deeper, but the majority of our fish came in close off the boards or riggers set just below the surface. The highlight of the weekend had to be the 17 pound king on Friday. Our hottest lures were black and silver smithwicks and blue and gold bombers.

Strange Evening at the Pier

Decided to hit the pier for a little while last night. I arrived at about 6:00 and took a look at the water. It had a little color but was clearing fast and there was almost no waves at all. I knew the fishing would not be fast and furious but since it was a beautiful night I decided I would spend some time tossing cleos and hope to catach a brown or two. Well, after about 40 minutes of casting and not even a follow I was getting discouraged. I stuck it out and after another ten minutes, a fish hit. It did not feel like a trout or a salmon. Once it came into view, I knew immediately it was a good sized northern pike. It turned out to be a thick 37 inch fish that was clean and full of fight (all alone, no camera). I released the fish, retied, and began casting again. A little while later, I had a second hit. This fish hit the same cleo. The hit came soon after the lure hit the water and the fish immediately came to the surface. It was a long ways away but it appeared to be a nice brown. I continued to fight the fish and it soon became apparent that it was not a brown but a very nice smallmouth bass. I landed the fish and quickly measured it, 21 inches long with a 14.5 inch girth (5.3 lbs) . Unfortunately I had no camera. Carolynne showed up right on time and took a picture with my cell phone, but it does not do the fish justice. A beautiful fish and a great night

The Challenge Has Been Issued
Lets Invite Everyone

The Challenge - Joe and Scott have challenged Larry and Craig to a fishing tournament on Silver Lake this summer.

Date - ??

If anyone else out there thinks they can put a two person team together and can make it to Silver Lake in Perry this summer (at the date Joe picks), then feel free to join the competition... if you think you can handle it.

Stipulation - Im pretty sure that Joe said it was artificial bait only and Bass. Probably a total of a five fish wieght for the day.

Whose in?

Hello all. As you can see from Joe's posts, the weather has finally taken a turn for the better and the fishing is starting to get good. I have hit the water everyday for the past four days and the fish have cooperated on each trip. I have had the pleasure of fishing with some great people and also the opportunity to fish with the best partner I have fished with in long time (Brilyn). As far as the fishing goes, the browns have been hammering lures and the steelhead have been hitting the eggs (thanks for the loan Larry, I will repay you with some brown egg sacs that you will love). The weather has been nice, the fishing good, the company great, and this is just the start of some great fishing ahead. Before we know it we will being chasing the crappie and perch int he ponds, hitting the bass and pike in Silver and then it is tournament time for me on Lake Ontario. If anybody wants to fish let me know. Here is a small sample of some of the fish.

Hit Sandy again today. Went with Scott, his father-in-law, and Brilyn (on my back in her backpack). Fished for about an hour and a half. Many more guys on the stream than the other day, but I did manage to catch four. All fish hit a Vibrax spinner. Great day to be out fishing (cloudy, calm, 45 degrees.) Brilyn was awesome! She was a little scared of the fish (of course they are bigger than her), but her behavior was beautiful. Catch you later!

Finally!!! Hit Sandy Creek (A lake Ontario Tributary) Sunday with Scott and Larry from 2:00-4:30. It was cold (25 degrees) and windy, but boy did we have fun. I caught 11 browns, the biggest being around 8-9 pounds. Not too bad at all. The action was pretty consistant all along. They were hitting spinners hard. I can't wait to go back. Maybe tomorrow... Hope you guys are getting out there fishing. I hit the bluegills pretty well through the ice last week on Silver lake. In two days of fishing I put away 6 packages of meat (Rebisz size packages of course). The crappies and perch should be in soon...I can't wait.

Hey, this is my first post on this blog. You guys have some great pics and tales to go along with them. No I dont have any huge buck tales for this year, and no I didn't catch an 18 pound pike either. I did get a doe this year after having spotted her about 400 yards away from up in a maple tree. There was nothing between the doe and I except for foot high alfalfa, but with me all camoe'd out (new boonie hat with alfalfa stuck in it too) I figured to give it a shot. What the heck, its all about the stalk eh? So I crawled on my belly across the field, arms outstreched with my rifle on my arms (yes rifle.....I was in a legal zone for using the 22-250). It could have shot the 400 yds no problem...but what fun is that? After I got about 200 yards out I was sweating like a pig... I dont know why she didnt smell me. I was upwind of her too, coming down off of a slight slope. Air currents must have been going over her head I guess. So...200 yards worth it?..naww....had to get closer...I wanted to see the whites of her eyes....150?..naw...a little closer. Each time I peeked slowly up and froze when she would raise her head.. I'd start moving again when she began grazing again. So I decided I better forgoe my plan of getting close enough to ride her home and actually take a shot pretty soon. At about 100 yards I wiggled around so I was feet towards her..raised my knees...put the rifle on themand did an ab crunch looking into the scope..only now there were about 5 deer. I hadnt seen them... This threw me a bit...and they were so big in my scope I got mixed up as to who I was shooting at. You know the thing...pick a spot..focus...breath..exhale..hold it...squeeze. Well, adrenaline threw that out the window, and my shot missed the whole herd. So now they were running around like cows in a stampede and wouldnt you know it, they were running up to me. I pulled the bolt back, threw another shell in, and focused on a doe at about 70 yards that had stopped facing me, seeing me in the grass. Well, I got her through her brisket, and the bullet blasted out her shoulder, knocking her down like a ton of bricks. That little 22-250 packs a punch... Reminds me of a tophy elk my partner got with one back in my home of British Columbia...but that's another story. Hey, I'll keep reading your tales...you keep writing 'em. Stryker

So there I was, in shanty land once again when I got a flag and on the other end of the line here is this big pike. I was very happy to finally land one bigger than 40 inches. They usually break the line every year. I had help with this one from my friend Gene who stopped by on his snow machine to visit and was just about to leave as the flag went up. Gene did a great gaff job on this big pike. He was 43 inches and weighed about 18.5 pounds. Made my day and my season seeing as we did not get to ice fish until very late this year. Sent this one to the taxidermist and can't wait to see it on the wall next year. I also got some good use out of my new shanty that I almost did not put out due to the late forming ice/short season this year. Now the ice is good and we will be likely fishing until April 1st or later up north. If anyone is in the area, give me a call if you want to go ice fishing. The best time to go is in March and April (yes April) when the ice is thick, the fish are biting, the people are thin and the weather can be devine.

Can you even believe that it is already here? It snuck up on us this year. Just a few weeks ago we were thinking about shotgun hunting or sitting around any open water to shoot geese... now, we are preparing to observe the 2007 Citgo Bassmaster's Classic - the Superbowl of, I mean the World Series of... or even the World Cup of Bass Fishing. Thats right, Bass Fishing. One of the most mentally and physically daunting sports around. A bold statement, yes. But take it from one who has played competitive soccer for 23 years, ran track, played football, hunted, fished, and hiked for years. Competitive (not recreational) Bass Fishing in tournaments, for money, is extremely wearing. Picture an 85000 acre lake (roughly the size of the greater rochester are) that you have one week to learn. What do you mean learn? I mean learn the bottom, the structure, the flow of currents and channels, the timing of canals, and how weather affects the lake. The talk to locals to find some hotspots, pour over maps to get away from the crowd of the other 50 contestants. After learning the lake, try fishing it. Through your favorite trusty pattern that is hot one day and off the next, adapt to the change in the wind or redirection of bait fish. Then, on the three competition days, take time into consideration. Fishing is only from 8-3. How will you manage your traveling? You have to catch 5 fish. Your five fish all 3 days have to add up to the most cumulative weight. How will you do it...? So much for Grampa's rusty 12 foot row boat and your 6 foot fiberglass Mitchell fitted with the ever popular Zebco 33... live baits not even allowed. Dont beleive me? Catch it on ESPN and ESPN 2 this weekend Friday - Sunday. Or Join my Fantasy Bassmasters group at "You'ns Catchin Any." And may I say this, for the few of you that care - Go Denny Brauer!!