MS is my favorite season. Nice and quiet and usually, at the very end of it, the deer react as though it was archery season. With this cold and snow they should be feeding more often.
We did well there Saturday ripping blade baits. I was surprised to see a bunch of other guys out too. Looks like a good class of eyes around for the hard water.
Glad you got the deer Brian. Another proud member of the Colby road banishment club
Yesterdays morning hunt was a big zero for me, but the evening hunt was pretty good. Had a nice 6 right under the stand for a long time before a wind gust brought my scent down to him. Fun to watch them bolt. Had another 8 out in the cut corn that did not respond to my calls and finally saw a nice little herd of does at dusk. It was a good night.
Ladder stand winch installation
Has anyone ever tried the winch installation system? I was wondering about the pivots you place in the ground and then put the ladder in it to hoist up with the winch. Can you get those pivots out later to use in other installations or do you have to leave them in.
If things don't change dramatically in the next two weeks, it is going to be a tough contest. Fished Canandaigua today. Water temp at the ramp was 59 deg but the further south you went in the lake, the warmer it got. Lake was a consistent 68 deg in some of my favorite areas. The perch are there, just not the big ones. The perch averaged less than 9" with an occasional 9 1/2 - 10".
It should be a little cooler by the time of the contest. I would carry two coolers on board. One for the fish you intend to weigh in. Replace the water periodically and the perch will live. I have done this in a lot warmer conditions with success. I would not thermo shock the fish bye changing water temps a lot. Just change the water.
The Gambler rig micro was a hot ticket with us the later part of the day. I wished we put it on earlier, but the rule of the day was not until eye number 17 was in the boat. Of course, we could have gotten it out earlier, except for a cluttered f... trying to land an eye earlier
Unfortunately, I have to agree. There are still plenty of panfish left, but a couple of years of trial and error searching and refining techniques are necessary to become successful. These days, I have both my own slot limit and bag limit. No need to "fill the freezer". A lot of other guys are too. Seneca lake is a good example of what can go wrong and I am worried that Canandaigua might be next. And how many of us here over 60 remember the perch and giant gill fishing in Conesus?
As far as reports go, I am looking for pre fall perch right now and have to report that they are not schooling yet but I am picking up more and more in deep water staging areas off of flats in a few of the finger lakes. Nothing to be excited about, give it another three weeks and they should move in. Temps need to drop in to the 60's.
John my buddy and I would. I will be in L.A. and Seattle until Sept. 23 though. If the fishing is still on then shoot me a p.m. Perch might be on then as an added bonus.
Jim
Yes, a lot of three pounders. Average around 15-16". Only three or four small ones that I did not count in my total. Even found a largemouth in the stomach of a perch!
Keuka 8/19
I spent the day looking for perch but could not get away from the bass. Never realized how many there are in this lake but all I can say is if you drop shot small crayfish in 20-30' just about anywhere on the Penn Yann branch, you will not be disappointed. I wanted to see how many I could actually catch and release and counted 20 that came to the boat. Ran out of crabs early and switched over to plastic with almost the same results. What a great bass lake.