Grady95

Are they in the meat?

If you are ever up here near Morristown/Brockville area of The River, have a look at The Three Sisters islands. One of them is basically free of cormorants, that island having a residence on it. The other two look like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. They are devoid of vegetation, their color is now various shades of white bird poop and depending on where you are in relation to the breeze, you either don't smell them or you are literally gagging. I applaud every effort being made by our DEC and their Canadian counterparts. We all know there are laws protecting certain wildlife and we do our best to abide by them. At some point, I would hope that the authorities come to recognize that this problem has completely outsized their efforts at a solution and begin to enlist the help of the citizens that hold this precious resource we call The River so dear. We've lost control of zebra mussels, we've lost control of gobies, we're soon to lose control of snakeheads. There's not much we as fishermen and outdoorsmen can do about those but we could conceivably help control the scourge of cormorants. I hope they recognize that someday soon.

1) Be on the water to see the sunrise 2) Bring some way to run lures away from the boat. In-Line planers work really well if you don't have a mast and big boards 3) Be willing to run in tight to shore early in the day. Some of my best luck comes from running in-lines up in just a couple feet of water depth 4) Try flatlining behind the boat about 125-150 back 5) Run at 2.0-2.5 MPH 6) Sticks are great. Yo-Zuri, Rapalas, Long-A, Thundersticks. You get the idea. Red, white silver, blue, purple 7) Move out as the day gets on. Fish the outer edges of any mud bonnets you see outflowing from streams Hope this helps. Don't be surprised if you hit some small kings.

Sage advice to be sure. You can add my favorite one: "Never munch on a hunch!" Mushrooms have been around a lot longer than grocery stores. Are they safe? Yes. Are they dangerous? Yes. Should we be crippled by a fear of them? Absolutely not. Knowledge is power. And mushrooms aren't the only thing. There's lots of food out there if you know what to look for.

When we were kids up on The River, the undisputed God of Musky fishing was Len Hartman. He caught all the big fish, he won all the tournaments and he was a celebrity, especially around Ogdensburg. Every week, we were able to see his fish in a big cooler at Cubby's Marina on the Oswegatchi River downtown. He held the record for a 67 lb, 15 oz Musky he caught out on the sandbar. Except.......it was all a lie. Hartman took mediocre fish and stuffed wet sand down their throats , then once that was down in the fish, he would "mold" the sand so you couldn't tell even by touching it. Truth is, they stripped him of all his records and the last I heard, he was living alone in a room at the YMCA in downtown Chicago, a broken man. So this is hardly a new thing. 25 years ago, I entered a perch derby on Seneca Lake. After I caught the biggest perch of my life, I pulled the boat and went to the weigh in, confident that I had swept the board. I was stunned to see what was in there on the tables. There were perch that were so obviously frozen, caught God only knows when, entered in the contest, several of them larger than mine. I turned and walked out, visions of my childhood coming back to me. Cheaters are going to cheat. I can only imaging there are not too many mirrors in their houses. Here's an article about Hartman. What's old is new again I guess. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-07-02-9507020340-story.html Even with all this, Hartman wrote a book that I think is still one of the very best ever on Musky fishing. It's out of print but I was able to buy a copy for my cousin a couple months ago on the internet from some bookstore. It's called "Before I Forget." I'm sure by now, he doesn't get any royalty payments or anything.

The purpose of a "puffball" is to disseminate spores. What we enjoy eating is the fungus in an immature state before it has begun the process of spore formation, which occurs from the center outward. Are they toxic? Possibly, probably not, and nothing like a Deathcap or a Destroying Angel. Probably more likely to give one a nasty GI upset but as you recall correctly, when they do begin to change, they do start to smell pretty unappetizing to say the least and you're not likely to eat it anyway. Fortunately, where there's one, there are bound to be more so if you're looking for them, you just have to sort them out. I usually just cut a wedge into the ball in the field with my knife. You can usually tell the good ones from the ones starting to go. Also, give them a good thump. Good ones sound different and the balls feel "solid" rather than yielding to pressure. I found five today all tolled, only two made it home and none were good enough. Tomorrow is another day!

Sometimes it's easier to catch fishermen than it is to catch fish!

Ha! I just came home from a mushroom foraging trip this morning. We found two Calvatia Gigantea or Giant Puffballs this morning along with a good variety of others including Heracium Americana or Bear's Tooth, Wood Blewits and a real nice specimen of Maitake or Hen of the Woods. Unfortunately, both puffballs today had a bit of yellow in their centers. They were inedible, but where there's one, there are sure to be more. And they do make an interesting alternative to pizza dough. Suggest that after you cut them into steaks, take a rolling pin and roll the steaks out. They cook better, especially with that preparation. Great time of year to be out mushroom hunting.