Gill-T

Thanks for the report!

I don’t pretend to know all the ins-and-outs of the proposal as this has not become public knowledge and there is a gag order in place. What is in play in the discussion is..... - big business does not like doing business in NY because of all the expensive environmental assessment that is required before a shovel is put in the ground. There is some good regulation and some stupid. For example, paying an archeological firm to dig with a shovel every 100 yards to make sure you are not destroying artifacts is stupid IMO. Make sure chemicals are not being dumped in streams is good. Big business is anti-DEC. -Rangers want the change because many want to be able to learn the physical means to apprehend criminals. They call the DEC or police when confronted with a belligerent person in the field. - The governor has gutted the DEC Econ department by reducing funding. Pay raises and money to repair vehicles has been non-existent. Cuomo is on the record as wanting to do away with the DEC. Econ officers’ jobs will disappear. There has to be a public discussion before a wing of the government is dissolved. I would deplore you all to see what happened to the “Buffalo Billions” scandal on how cronism is alive and well in New York. I still don’t know how Cuomo has not been charged. Nothing sticks to him.

Sorry the message is cryptic rolmops but people's jobs are at stake so I will not give up my sources. I would use my warning to direct your state representative to look for the part of the proposed budget that deals with restructuring the DEC. Things get buried in budgets. Cuomo is trying to bypass civil service law by getting his anti-DEC agenda passed without a public debate process. The pros and cons need to be debated in an open forum not hidden.

Thank you sir!

Today I heard some disturbing news from a Forest Ranger (despite a gag order). Cuomo is at it again trying to sneak something into the fine print of next year's budget. While you were not looking, Cuomo is trying to erase the DEC Econ Officer Department and have the Forest Ranger Department assume all duties. This will be pawned off as a money saving plan. Behind the scenes Cuomo has been seething at the DEC because they refused to back him during elections or regarding the Safe Act. Exit commissioner Basil Seggos, and with his departure... back door Albany dealings to make this change. Basil will take the heat and then conveniently leave. Cuomo's plan is brilliant as this will less likely not stick to him politically. No offence to the good men and women of the Forest Ranger Service but they do almost nothing compared to DEC Econ Officers. Rangers get calls to find missing persons or during forest fires. DEC Econ Officers have the jurisdiction to act as a border patrol agent, a state trooper, and enforce environmental law. If you live out in the country, a 911 call at your house may be responded to by a DEC officer. If you are in an accident with injuries on a country road, it might be a DEC officer that responds first. DEC officers receive the same training as state troopers and receive far less pay coming out of the academy. Time is of the essence. Cuomo is trying to sneak this thru via the 2019 budget. Please email your local politician and send a message you stand with DEC Econ Officers. We all have been complaining on this website that we need more Econ officers around to enforce the laws. Time to put your voice to good use! Cuomo tried to steal money from the environmental Pittman-Robertson Fund a few years back. His shenanigans were noticed by the environmental conservation oversight board and the DEC. They made Cuomo put the money back where it belonged. Power unchecked corrupts- Republican or Democrat. With no term limits, Cuomo thinks he can do as he pleases. Send a message.

Interested. You could PM with details

It would not be a true test unless you remove all the wire downrigger cable from the set up. When I first started with downrigger braid I added it to one rigger but keep the other two riggers with wire. The braid rigger didn't catch crap. Wire outfished braid on riggers 4 to 1. Fish can key on the hum and vibration of wire cable. The question I had with the wire attraction was- would it be a deterrent later in the season? When I swapped out the other riggers for braid, I noticed my big fish bites increased exponentially.

Cool idea!

I saw a recent viewing on the rare instances that killer whales catch and kill great white sharks off the Farallon Islands off California. In two recorded instances of orcas killing white sharks, researchers noted that white sharks (numbering over 100 strong) left the area immediately and did not return til the following year. A tagged white shark was recorded as leaving California and ended up off Hawaii. The take away point I got from watching the show was there are underwater clues, smells, noises, sounds that fish pick up on that we have no idea of their effects on fish movements and mood. When considering the possible negative clues that cable hum and engine noise have on fish, consider every downrigger cable in the water may be cumulative. Check out this underwater video with sound to hear how obnoxious high thrust trolling motors and downrigger cable hum is down there and consider a fish that is 3 or 4 years old may have been stung by hooks before and associate those noises as "danger". The success of long 500'-600' copper set-ups in pounded waters such as off Oswego is probably not from some "magical" hum or rise and fall of a bait but more to the point that your bait is presented in quiet water. Click the link below to hear what you have been missing. http://www.michigansportsman.com/Tips_n_Trix/Seeing.htm

Malin 30 lb 7-strand on deep inside dipsys. 19 strand torpedo wire on outside high divers.

This don't sound good. https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2018-12-18-polar-vortex-weakening-colder-jan-2019

Call Wes at Slippery Sinker as they sell perch minnows to locals fishing the harbor. Also there is a webcam.

Bad start to the winter season has us three degrees colder than 2016. https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/compare_years/

Looks like Moonshine is making available their Geezer spoon pattern. For those of you desperate to find them (Oak Orchard fanatics), fishUSA has them.

Fish the mouth of the Niagara.