Gill-T

Thank you for posting. As stated in my other thread, the time to voice your opinion is NOW.

As Les said....it might be as simple as the fish are fed. The TV I am watching right now is 8' from a refrigerator full of food. I am not at the frig because I had dinner an hour ago and I am not hungry. The water is still cool and fish are cold-blooded so fish can afford to eat and be lethargic.

Frustrating when that happens. With lakers sometimes all it takes is shortening up your leads to 5-10' or go the opposite extreme and put them back 75'. Been there. Lady Ontario.......she teaches. The challenge is what brings me back.

Until the mid 80's coyotes were just a myth over much on New York. Once people stopped trapping (and poisoning), they exploded. Killing anything at the top of the food chain WILL have an effect as the top of the food web pyramid has the smallest numbers. Look at the Michigan 333 tournaments year over year. As king numbers dwindled, anglers targeted Lake Trout. If you compare the Lake Trout size being measured lately you will notice the sizes are decreasing. A dent is being made IMO.

No kids or women younger than 50 years old + one meal a month for everyone else is enough of a warning for me not to eat large Lake Trout. Page 68-70 in the NYS fishing guide. Much better options out there.........esp. on taste!!!!

I believe the OMNR in Canada conducted a survey and found that 90% of the Lake Trout caught in Lake Ontario are released to fight another day. It is not hard to figure out how stocking a fish that can live to 15 years old and is now confirmed reproducing (at a low rate), could become overpopulated. It depends on the definition of "overpopulated", however, overpopulated in most our vernacular means as a percentage of gamefish available. Given their toxin bioaccumulation over time, one would hope the DEC and OMNR would aim to keep the public safe and offer more of the silver and less of the green.

Funny about your plan to take Lakers every time out. I have a similar plan, but luckily I have a Korean neighbor that loves fish. I have a buddy who takes them to Chinese restaurant he frequents and exchanges Lakers for take-out. Compared to the toxic fish coming out of the ocean around the orient, lakers are clean by comparison.

I asked my DEC buddy about wanton waste laws on books. Apparently NY is a state that does NOT have such laws. My apologies.

Despite the fishing handbook stating in bold lettering DO NOT EAT LAKE TROUT of size on Lake Ontario, I would not broadcast that you broadcast your Lakers (wanton waste laws). We got a polish grand slam today with browns, a coho, a smallmouth, and a seagull. Tough bite today. I think that big rain event last week flushed all the poop out of the storm sewers in one big push making the stained water oxygen poor..... the bite is off right now.

Battle for the Great Lakes on PBS at 8 pm tonight Looks like tonight's show explains USGS fight against invasive species.

You can catch them right now along the the same reefs you catch walleyes on. Put out a mix of short leadcores with spoons and you will catch some. They are gorgeous looking fish

Same here Adam. Eleven rod spread and couldn't get the lakers to bite.

QDM Good vs Bad I am hearing rumors that the DEC is considering antler restrictions in the future. It would appear that the QDM groups are carrying a louder voice. The business of growing big deer is great in theory but is having some undesirable effects. Infiltration of anti-hunters into QDM groups has muddled the picture further. As more and more people leave the farm for the cities, the anti-hunting voices grow......and as they grow, politicians wanting to get elected hear them. Rumors of anti-hunters posing as pro-QDM hunter-groups walking around outdoor shows and collecting signatures of unsuspecting outdoorsmen. These "sales people" will show outdoorsmen pictures of big bucks and say "do you want to shoot deer like these?"........then you should be for antler restrictions....sign here. It would seem that the anti's are for reduction in the killing of deer in any form they can make happen.....and going to QDM (despite the premise of reducing doe numbers to better buck to doe ratios) will reduce deer take. Look at Illinois. They allow for 6 days of gun season! Yes, they allow for generous bow seasons and a muzzle season but again......these long primitive arms seasons at the expense of a short gun season means less deer taken. This makes the anti's happy. So much of Illinois hunting land has been scooped up by trophy-lease companies, access to hunting ground has become impossible. The business of hunting is booming. Good for farmers and outfitters.......bad for the average Joe. I was a staunch QDM guy. Our deer camp in Arkport was one of the first to institute QDM in New York in the 80's. At first QDM was as advertised......let young bucks walk and you have opportunities for trophies. Shoot more does and there is more food for deer over winter. Good for the herd. These tenants of QDM are true. After eight years or so of QDM we had 140" eight pointers being taken. Along with success comes demand as more groups become interested in QDM land. Demand will drive the almighty dollar. In the end my cousins had offers they could not refuse and sold off weeks on their properties thereby dissolving our family deer camp group. It happened to our group 20 years ago. It is happening now in the heartland. Two nights ago I watched a PBS show on deer and Lyme Disease. There was a town in Massachusetts (which does not allow hunting) that is tranquilizing deer and paying veterinarians to give hysterectomies to does! How un-godly and unnatural!! I am sure most of the anti's in these suburban towns enjoy eating steak. The hypocrisy of anti's........ I am firmly against state-mandated antler restrictions.......I have come full circle. I see antler restrictions for what they really are.......a restriction. The last thing we need are more of our hunting freedoms taken away. Time to wake up New York. If you are against antler restrictions it is time to let your voice heard. Yelling at a DEC meeting does nothing.......you actually have to write or email your government officials. Please do not sign any petitions if you don't know what it is and who is behind the petition!

List of items to bring for beach warfare would include: Yuzuri Cristal minnow Yuzuri Pin's minnow Yuzuri 3D twitch bait Yuzuri 3D pencil Small casting net for bait Medium action spinning gear for lure casting long distances Medium/heavy bait cast gear for live bait **didn't catch anything on casting spoons or jigs.

I believe it is Palm Beach.

As others have suggested, bright colors with rattles. Renoskys have some glow patterns and they have rattles. If the water is too muddy, you could fish the transition area where the clear water mixes in. You will not get as many fish if the the transition area is off the shore too far to stay in the warm water. When faced with conditions too muddy, I make mud pie by peeling out into the green water beyond and fish lakers.

Fishing has slowed to a grinding halt. Found a couple of areas where the beach is steep and tarpon will lay in 2' FOW in the first dip in the sand. They will lay right in bait schools and occasionally come up and suck some bait down. Extremely smart fish. They will not hit my bait that is a perfect match to the small fish around. The cudas are territorial. After taking a couple near some buoys, they now got hip to my lures and just follow for awhile and peel off. The offshore fishery is mostly cudas and wahoo. Some giant wahoo come in each day off the charters. Nothing fast or furious, mostly a couple per outing. Some black fin tunas, some bonita. I get the feeling from snorkeling and the submarine trip, there is an overfishing problem as there are not many predators around. Hit the rock jetty this morning off the Hotel Phoenix but no takers. Looking forward to coming home and hitting the shoreline for some real fishing on Lake O.

So today the bait left the docks and so have the predators. Took a trip into town and went on a submarine tour under the sea. For $100 or so, you get 1.5 hrs under the water viewing a reef community and 5 shipwrecks with a maximum depth of 150'. Totally cool. Great to get a perspective on how much light is down that deep. Amazing amount of fish in a living coral reef. Highly recommend this excursion.

There was a limited run of smelt in February. Not sure if there will be another. Lots of bait in the upper river.

Marriott Surf Club.

First try at an evening bite. Took another Lady Fish and a few others that blew up my bait but eluded the hook. Highlight of the evening was two blow-ups by 50 lb Tarpon 20' off the end of the dock on my Yozuri topwater bait (hooks didn't stick). I have to clean my shorts now.

So Day 1 found me down on the docks at first light to see what game was available. Lots of bait but no blow-ups. Tried some blind casting but no luck in the first hour. Today, was a different story. Slightly overcast conditions had predators blowing up bait at first light. Yozuri Banana bait on top cast into frenzies took a Lady Fish and a Cuda. Lost a couple of others. As soon as you hooked one, the fish would disappear and all activity would cease. Fun lasted an hour. The Charter Captains waiting for their clients were cheering me on when I would hook up. I think they were taking side bets LOL. Updates to continue.