momay4000

With all due respect this is not 100% true. Lyme disease is most likely to be contracted during the Spring and Summer months as a person is most likely to be bit by a nymph tick (much smaller tick and harder to detect and typically infected with the bad bacteria which causes Lyme. Because they are smaller and harder to detect, they are likely to be latched on longer). In the later summer, fall and winter, you are less likely to be bitten by a small nymph tick based on their life cycle, but you can still be bitten by an adult female deer tick even in the winter if she finds you. Although she is less likely to carry Lyme compared with the nymph stage tick, and you are more likely to see it and pick it off before 36 hours, she can absolutely still transmit Lyme to you. Thus, if bitten by a deer tick even in the winter, please make sure you call your doctor. Also, please keep in mind that you may exhibit "later stage" Lyme symptoms in the fall and winter (such as joint pain arthritis) from a tick bite exposure earlier in the year. If you have severe joint pain and think it's from Lyme, call your doctor. Don't ignore the symptoms just because it's "winter". Chris

I used to think the same thing but I'm no so sure about lead fouling

http://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-46-shotgun-slugs-sabots-and-smooth-bore-barrels/ Pretty awesome article looking at some of the common slugs types and accuracy of the round in smooth bore vs. rifled barrels. I have shot a 20 gauge 11-87 for years and have always had my best accuracy with Remington Copper solids. That being said, one could make a case to use el-cheapo rifled slugs which aren't sabots even though you have a rifled barrel. Good luck, Chris

Awesome stuff. I love your videos of these wrecks. From a fishing perspective, do you ever see salmon hanging out on these wrecks at that depth? Thanks for sharing, Chris

Wow - great hunt. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you took advantage of the unlimited antlerless deer take in NJ. I thought I remember hearing about that at one time that there's no limit on doe (not sure if it's both gun and bow, or just certain seasons) Great job - way to fill the freezer, Chris

I agree with this comment 100%. Again, I'm not disagreeing by any means that there could be an issue (based on my experience earlier in the year) lake wide, I was simply sharing my total year experience and my own personal creel survey. Thanks for the support! -Chris

Dead nuts wrong? That's a new one for sure! Since you are a micromanager Gill, I'd be happy to present my argument based on the original question asked by the gentleman who started the post. Perhaps we can dissect it a little, and possibly micromanage it just a bit: His original question was how the "fishing was in various parts of the lake". He doesn't mention ports by name, he simply mentions east vs. central vs. west. My reply was meant to reflect on my own personal experience this year, much of which was spent in the later portions of the season fishing in much deeper waters offshore out of the Rochester area as we could not find the big boys in the traditional waters closer to shore. Although I do not have any scientific proof on catch rates by Chinook class year lake wide (i.e. DEC creel survey data), I can share with you my personal experience this year that the mature fish that I caught were later in the season compared with past years and were offshore in deeper water. My own personal catch rate of matures was certainly down early in the summer, but seemed to approach my typical year end numbers by targeting fish in different and deeper waters later in the summer. As a conclusion of my personal experience, I had to disagree with you that the mature fishing was one of the worst seasons on record. Perhaps I am the world's greatest fisherman b/c my catch rates of mature salmon and other species were similar to other years. However, it's obvious this is not the case, and probably more luck or being opportunistic than anything. However, to tell me I am dead nuts wrong based on my own personal experience is well.....simply dead nuts wrong. Your logic would imply that my own personal experience of having to search offshore for fish and target other species, and catch the mature kings was a mirage. I think some of my videos would argue the contrary. Keep in mind, and read my post very carefully (i.e. think "micromanage") but I am not commenting on the health of the lake and what may truly be a problem with the mature Chinook population. I would love to see DEC creel survey results and data based on sound scientific principles done by folks much smarter than me. VHS, Gizzard shad die-offs, transport issues with the fingerlings, the cold winter, Altmar hatchery issues, Caledonia hatchery no longer supporting Chinook, excessive bait fish are all great theories but I think it first needs to be scientifically concluded how severe the problem is in the first place. I agree that there probably is some sort of problem caused by something, but I was able to overcome some of it by fishing different waters. That is all I am arguing here. There are some terrific fishermen on this site that have enlightened me with some their great posts on this already: i.e. Yankee Troller, Vince P., and many others. In conclusion, you can think of me as a case study (perhaps not the best way to determine cause and effect in the name of good scientific principle) but what's probably more important is a retrospective analysis or at least a current analysis of the trib fishermen over the next few weeks. I believe there will be some sort of DEC meeting in the next few weeks (there was a post on this earlier) which could enlighten all of us on what problems currently exist and hopefully ideas to improve it. That being said, to tell me that my own personal experience is dead nuts wrong is analogous to telling me that a patient with chest pain that I saw in the office today could not possibly have been an "aortic dissection", but rather a "heart attack" because all the other doctors you talked with over the past three months who had patients with chest pain all were heart attacks. Just my two pennies....and please keep in mind there's a big difference between disagreeing vs. telling someone they are wrong........ Chris

Disagree - we have been lazy the past few years and accustomed to large catch rates and matures in the shallower waters between 100-200 feet and earlier in the July/early August timeframe, so if you compare chinook catch rates in this water and time frame then yes the season was terrible. However, if you were willing to venture offshore in the vast deep water of mighty Lake Ontario, then you would have been presented with an incredible bounty of three year olds and some of the biggest and best steelhead that I can remember. The fish are/were there, you just need to find them. Good luck, Chris