thejigger

They did not comment on the limit changing in Canada. The population in Eastern Canada has not remained stable, the population across the entire flyway has been decreasing steadily for the past 10 years. Longspurs, the questionnaire you were sent represents the way the season setting process is going to change. Yesterday was the last task force meeting for the next 5 years. Beginning in 2019 the seasons will be chosen by hunters who are sent a questionnaire with different season dates to choose from. As far as your comment on Finger Lakes clubs crying about divers, look at the addresses of the task force members and notice that there are only 2 that live in the Finger Lakes. When setting the season in the western zone, many factors come in to play because of its size, and it is impossible to make everyone happy.

It is across the entire Atlantic flyway

No reason was given why this is not taking effect this year. Based on the data, the Atlantic Flyway Council and USGWS figured the eastern mallards cannot support a 60 day, 4 bird bag limit. They reduced the bag limit rather than reduce the season length.

I was at the Western zone season setting meeting yesterday as a member and the mallard limit will change to 2 birds for the 2019-2020 season. There are places and times of year that the mallard population seems to be strong, but as a whole, across the flyway, the mallards have been in decline for the last 10 years. This will be a temporary thing if they see the population begin to rebound. Here are the season dates proposed by the zone task forces.Western zone=youth, Oct 13 and 14;duck, Oct 27 thru Dec 8, Dec 26 thru Jan 11;goose, Oct 27 thru Nov 26, Dec 26 thru Jan 13;goose, south area, Oct 27 thru Dec 16, Dec 26 thru Jan 13, March 1 thru Mar 10 Northern zone;youth, Sep 22, 23;duck, Oct 6 thru Oct 28, Nov 3 thru Dec 9; I don't have the goose dates as of now but will be posting them later today Southeast youth;Sep 22 and 23;duck, Oct 6 thru Oct 14, Nov 10 thru Dec 9; Again, I will try to post the goose dates later today

OK, thanks

Does anyone know if the launch is open in Fair Haven at the park.

Hey Big Mark. I'm a jigger. Tommy tells me about the top water action on the lake, but I can't get enough of the jigging. Tight lines, tell Muff I said hi.

I just love fishing Skaneateles this time of year. A friend of mine and I started at 5:45 and had the first fish in the cooler at 5:50. We ended up keeping our limit plus landed and released many more. We fished 2 to 10 feet of water throwing 2" brown jigs. We launched from Mandana and found fish were all over the shoreline. The fish out of that lake are great eating and this fishing seems to last through August. A great day on the water!!

I practice alot of the scent management techniques mentioned in the above posts, but have a theory about scent blocker clothing. After several trips to North Dakota pheasant hunting, I can tell how close my Brittany is to a bird by how fast he is moving. As the scent gets stronger, the slower he works, eventually almost belly crawling to a point. I believe that the scent blocker clothing, never truly blocking 100% of your odor, makes it harder for a deer to tell how close it is to you, thus giving you more of a chance for a closer shot. Playing the wind is by far the most important thing in deer hunting. There are several deer trails we hunt that we have stands on both the North and South side, the wind deciding which one we will hunt. Good luck and safe hunting.

I could not agree with you more, we have hunted 3 different lakes for geese so far and had great luck. Turf, thank you for the link to input on the season dates. I have talked to 2 of the men listed and have been told that the input is just a formality, that the season dates will most likely never change. There is no way to make everyone happy. I was just curious if there were more guys out there who would agree that changing the dates would improve the hunting. One thing that I enjoy about the LOU members is the respect that is given to the other members who take the time to comment on this site.

After waterfowl hunting in the Western and Northeastern Zones for almost 3 decades, it makes me wonder who makes up the season dates. Is there ever any public input to this decision? It seems to me that the bulk of the early season is open before any real migration has started. I know that this is a subject that other people have wondered and talked about for years because most of the hunters I have talked to seem to agree. I know that I can speak for many waterfowl hunters who believe that a "late-straight" season would put more hunters in the blinds when the birds are actually here. Late straight meaning picking a day in mid January, say the 15th, and counting back 60 days. Or instead of having 15 days at the end of the season, put the 15 days at the beginning, say from October 22 to November 5, then count back 45 days from January 9. I know that these opinions are not shared by all hunters, but i also know that the only way to make any changes is to have an open mind. Just something to consider and talk about with your hunting buddies this waterfowl season. Good luck and safe hunting.

Hey Mark, great post. Looks like the fishing is picking up all over. Carl and I were in Mexico on Sunday and had a good morning. Good luck and tell Muffler I said hi.

I have had Britts my entire adult life and don't see myself owning another kind of dog. They are not only great upland dogs but I use my dog on waterfowl both in the fields and in the water. French Brittanys are smaller and often have different colors than thier cousins. There are more breeders in the mid-west than around this area. I subscribe to the Pointing Dog Journal magazine and they have several breeders listed in the dog breeders section.

I needed new fletches for some of my arrows and decided to try the quickfletch. I shot one arrow from 20 yards and shot the second arrow from the same distance. I am 40 years old and have been shooting the bow since I was 12. I have shot indoor leagues for 6 yrs and this is my 1st robinhood. Call it luck or not but I will be using the quickfletch for arrows that need new fletches.

Thanks for the correction Rusty, that would have been a good one to try to explain! I noticed a Britt on your reply. Do you own one? I have a 3 year old male. He is our second Britt and I would be hard pressed to own another kind of dog. Great for upland birds and does very well on both ducks and geese. Again, thanks for the length update.

I have had good luck in shallow water (4 to 10 ft) early in the morning casting small pumpkinseed colored jigs. As the sun gets higher in the sky, the smallmouths move into deeper water (20 to 30 ft), and if there is a decent wind, they can be caught drifting shiners or crayfish as well as casting jigs. Smallmouth only have to be 10 inches to keep on Skaneateles and are excellent eating. good luck!

from the weeds in. It will get tougher to deal with the weeds as time goes on, but those spawned out females are up in the shallow water. If the moss and weeds are too much, try not letting the jig go all the way to the bottom. I also have good luck throwing the smallest stickbaits you can buy. This allows you to stay above the moss. Good luck!

I caught some nice perch along shore just south of Ensenore throwing brown plastic jigs.

I have fished for perch during the early summer on the big lake and found that off the bluffs you can see the perch in shallow water and catch them on jigs

Thanks Jim for the info. I have fished Fair Haven quite a bit in the past but only fished Sodus through the ice. I live <1 mile from Owasco Lake and grew up on Cayuga Lake so I have some ideas, just looking for some inside info. I would be glad to share any info on Owasco, Cayuga or Skaneateles Lakes, because that is where I mainly fish. Tomorrow I am going to Oneida to fish with my brother, he has been doing well on the walleyes.

I am renting a house on Sodus Bay the second week of June and would like information on panfish spots to fish.