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!!

Hey all. I thought since the weather has made everything pretty much unfishable and unhuntable for awhile I would take this opportunity to re-hash the 2006 hunting/fishing year .

JANUARY: The year started off quite strong on New Year's Day when Scott Shady and I hit Sandy two or three days in a row and absolutely hammered the Browns and Steelhead. After that January cooled off and I didn't see any more trib action until march.

FEBRUARY: Not too much of anything in February. I did go rabbit hunting once with my dad for an hour and a half and we took three rabbits. Good Day. Silver Lake never froze up, so I never got out ice fishing.

MARCH: As usual March was good for next to nothing. I did hit Sandy a few times and caught a couple browns and steelhead.

APRIL: For the first time in a few years I really hit the Crappies this year. Most of them were taken in Lake Leroy with Scott Shady, Adam, Larry, Jocelyn, Matt, Dad... The Moore's and I also had a great bluegill meat day on Silver Lake. Again in April I hit Sandy several times with great success. Only this time I also caught Smallmouth, Largemouth, and a bunch of pike.

MAY: As usual May was a great month (normally the best) for fishing here in Western New York. I started the month by hitting the last of the crappies in Lake LeRoy. On opening day of Pike season I went to the Genesee River with Scott for Walleys, but all we ended up catching were suckers and I got one 30' or so pike. I also hit Sandy Creek Mouth several times with Scott and Larry and caught some nice pike. Later in May I really hit the spawning bass in Silver Lake several times. As usual, on Memorial Day we went camping in the Adirondacks. That was a ton of fun. Of course their was excessive fishing (and drinking) as is evident by the picture of Uncle John. We really killed the Largemouth, smallmouth, and brook trout again. Over the course of the weekend I probably caught between 75 and 100 bass and 25-30 trout.

JUNE: Bass season began and I hit Silver Lake Several times with Mr. Baker and Larry. Larry and I had some mild success, but Baker and I hit it perfect several times in late June (after school ended). We had several mornings with over 20 - 2-4 pound bass. I also took my baby girl fishing for stream browns in the Oatka several times in June. We had several days with 20+ fish.

JULY: What a great month I had in July for Bass, walleye, and Pike. Hit Silver Lake several times in July with Matt, Larry, Dad, Mr. Baker, Adam, Nicole, Nate, and so on with some great days. Larry and I had a great day on Silver in which we caught my biggest walleye ever ( on a yamamoto worm) and a handful of great bass (picture). I also went fishing with Matt and caught a 20" largemouth that was over 4 pounds. A nice day fishing with Adam and Nicole was also a highlight of July. One of my best days in July was pike fishing on Conesus with Larry and Adam. We were actually bass fishing, but boy did the pike start hitting. The highlight of the month, though, was the largemouth I caught in late July with Mr. Baker. I caught him on Silver lake on a nightcrawler. He measured just over 22" and weighed (estimated by using length and NYS DEC averages) about 6.5 pounds. I wish I kept him to get stuffed, but what are you going to do.

SEPTEMBER: I started the month off having a great day bass fishing with my dad on Silver Lake. We limited out in a couple of hours (I actually ate some of those bass tonight). Also in early September I went out trolling for samon in Lake Ontario with Scott Shady. We ended up hooking up four times, and landing one steelhead (see picture).

OCTOBER: Deer season begins. Opining day I saw three bucks sparring at about 15 yards (no shooters). I ended up taking a doe at 15 yards on the Sunday of opening weekend. Joce went out and helped me track it on the dark. Two weekends later I shot a two and a half year old eight point buck with my bow. I got out duck hunting two days in late October with Mr. Baker and the Steiners and did quite well (Andy is a great caller). Since I got my buck, I also got out
fishing the tribs (Sandy) a couple of days with Scott with great success. In one morning Scott and I caught 25 browns and steelhead between the two of us.

NOVEMBER: Started shotgun season by harvesting two deer behind my new house within ten minutes of each other. I shot another doe behind my house about a week later. Jocelyn and Brilyn hiked the 100 yards back behind the barn in the snow to the deer to help me gut and drag the deer.

DECMBER: On the last Friday of shotgun season I went hunting with Dad, Stryker, Larry and Nate. We hit the east side of Letchworth Park and I ended up shooting two deer. One was a small doe and the other was a nice 16.5" spread eight-point. I ended the deer season by shooting another doe in my backyard with a muzzleloader on the last weekend of the season. After Christmas I hunted geese for several days with Mr. Baker and the Steiners (shot six the first day). I also hit Sandy with Scott and caught a few Browns and steelhead. And now the new year has began...who knows what it may hold?