Sk8man

It shouldn't be long if the temps stay up as I don't think the ice is all that thick as it was open water a short while ago

New DEC syllabus out now: changes April 1st The new DEC New York Freshwater Fishing syllabus that goes into effect April 1st is now out and there are some changes that should be looked at. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/109353.html Highlights of 2017/18 Freshwater Fishing Regulations Changes The following is a summary of the freshwater fishing regulation changes for the April 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018 period: An 18 inch minimum size limit and daily creel limit of 3 has been established for walleye in Titicus Reservoir (Westchester County); Sacandaga Lake and tributaries and outlet and Lake Pleasant and tributaries (Hamilton County); Kiwassa Lake, St. Regis Falls Impoundment, and Little Wolf Pond (Franklin County); Putnam Pond (Essex County); Cazenovia and DeRuyter lakes (Madison County); Waterport Reservoir (Orleans County); Rio Reservoir (Orange and Sullivan counties); East Sidney Reservoir (Delaware County); Taghkanic Lake (Columbia County); Canadarago Lake (Otsego County); and additional portions of the Seneca River (Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca and Wayne counties). The 18 inch minimum size limit and daily creel limit of 3 walleye has been eliminated in Chautauqua Lake (Chautauqua County) and Franklin Falls Flow (Essex County). Three short sections of Fish Creek, Indian River and Grasse River in St. Lawrence County have been closed to all fishing from March 16th until the opening of walleye season. The number of brown trout and rainbow trout that can be kept as part of a 5 fish daily limit in Skaneateles Lake has been reduced to no more than 3 of either species. The allowable daily harvest of brown trout and rainbow trout has been reduced from 5 of each to 3 of each and the allowable daily harvest of lake trout has been increased from 3 to 5 as part of the 5 in any combination daily limit regulation for trout, lake trout, and landlocked salmon on Cayuga and Owasco lakes. The minimum size limit for rainbow trout has been increased from 9 to 15 inches on Owasco, Skaneateles and Otisco Lake tributaries. Ice fishing is now permitted on Rushford Lake in Allegany County. Crane Pond (Essex County) has been reopened to ice fishing. The restriction on the number of devices allowed for ice fishing on Bigsby and Copperas ponds (Essex County), Upper Saranac Lake (Franklin County), and Fawn Lake (Hamilton County) has been continued. The Lake Erie and tributaries 20 inch minimum size limit, 1 fish daily limit black bass regulation has been expanded to run December 1 through the Friday before the third Saturday in June. The daily limit for northern pike in the St. Lawrence River has been reduced from 5 to 3. The special trout regulation on Whey Pond (Franklin County) has been eliminated. The special regulation for landlocked salmon on Piseco Lake (Hamilton County) has been eliminated. The minimum size length for lake trout in Woodhull Lake (Herkimer County) has been decreased from 21 to 18 inches. The prohibition on the use or possession of smelt in Lake George has been removed and smelt may now be caught by angling. The special regulation for black bass in the Hamilton County portion of the Hudson River has been eliminated. The minimum size limit for trout at Colgate Lake (Greene County) has been decreased from 12 to 9 inches. The taking of suckers by snatching (but not blind snatching) from January 1 through March 15 in specific portions of the Otselic and Tioughnioga rivers in Cortland County is now permitted. Snatching and blind snatching of lake whitefish is no longer permitted on Piseco Lake in Hamilton County. Spearing bullheads and suckers in all Cayuga and Oswego county tributaries to Lake Ontario is no longer permitted. Fishing is now prohibited at any time on Buttermilk Creek in Cattaraugus County from the mouth to Fox Valley Road Bridge. Several changes were also made to clarify or better define existing regulations.

Still iced up as of today.

Rick you make some good points too. As long as you have your other employment and after having gone to the trouble of getting the license etc. taking a few charters might be worth a shot as long as you're ready to share your "baby" with others

Reel Overtime - It sounds as though you have some good things to start with....the main problem however may be the fact that you are looking at your boat and equipment through the eyes of a sportfisherman (which is understandable) and herein lies a major problem. When you make the decision to charter your boat and equipment become much like any other business tools (e.g. drills, sanders, compressors, office furniture etc) Like it or not when you make the decision to let strangers board your boat and use your equipment and pay money to do so to a large degree you are surrendering your control over how it is used (or abused). A lot of times these are folks who have had little to no experience fishing let alone with your particular equipment You have little control over alcohol use in some ways as sometimes customers arrive half wasted or may have been drinking or doing drugs to some undetermined degree and you have responsibility for those peoples and the others aboard in terms of safety and you may be the one to clean up the puke on your freshly cleaned floor resulting from their poor judgement. You may have to deal with kids totally tuned out to listening to you or your instructions regardless of their importance to you and parents too embarrassed or else unable to properly control them. Folks may say "oops" after they drop your $200 rod and reel in the water in 100 ft of water. You may have folks cancel out at the last minute (perhaps not caring if they forfeit part of their money) when you are waiting at the dock all ready to go fishing. The most critical thing is the major thing that can affect your business and you have absolutely NO control over....the weather. In this climate many fishing days have to be scrapped because of it and that can be money down the drain....if you are totally dependent on that income as your full time job for your subsistence you are screwed. I think you will see if you look into things carefully that there aren't many FULLTME charter guys operating and some may be doing it part-time just for the tax write-offs to maintain their :habit" There are much easier ways to make money than the long hours and expenses connected with having your own charter business. There are some really great Lake O charter guys on this site and I hope they pipe in here too.

Good points.

I've spent much of my life fishing Seneca and most of the streams on Seneca and Keuka for muchof that timeThe trampling of the redds was a major factor in my decision to get away from the stream fishing another is the level of poaching that goes on especially on the smaller shallower streams that are less well known. There are many years when the water levels seem to stay up that the larger streams still can support rainbows sometimes into early June in the deeper holes or underneath banks in the major streams. Storm activity in recent years as well as human generated clearing efforts have negatively impacted things recently though. I know a lot folks figureor assume the fishing is "over" after the first week or so It is too bad the rainbow season couldn't open later in the streams at least like May 1st on the Finger Lakes when spawning is usually completed by most spawning fish and they are out of there other than the "stragglers" for about a five year period assess the results and if the fishery has regenerated to optimal conditions consider suspending it. I know it would negatively affect the "derbies" etc. but the future of the fishery sure seems more important to the future than winning a few bucks and having bragging rights.

The biggest sstep NYS could take in getting a better handle on things is to do away with the concept of the "general fund". Monies should be specifically allocated to carefully determined dedicated budgets instead of the "pinata" approach that has existed for years and then specific agencies could also roll over unused funds applied toward next years budget instead of "losing" the money if unspent. The current so-called "system" is ridiculous. I (dys)functioned within it for over thirty years.

Some very good solid information and advice here. I have a further suggestion based on my own experience. See if they offer a class on starting up your own small business at MCC or at the Business Institute at Finger Lakes College in Canandaigua (e.g. evenings) and do a business plan. It will sort things out for you. That should really be your starting point in pursuing this with any chance of success. I have fished my whole life and it is a big part of my life even now and have had friends do chartering and I've assisted them in the past. The fishing side of the equation is the smaller side of it - especially if you are considering doing it full time in this climate (as contrasted with Florida or California for example). If the business side of the venture is either ignored or poorly understood from the get go your chances of success are about zero point chit. Running a bait/tackle shop is a fulltime job as well if you don't have employees running it for you and the hours pretty much prevent you from doing other things away from the place if it is just you. I'm not trying to discourage you but there is the reality of it to consider which is quite different than the thoughts of doing it.

Ah good point Ed....guess I overlooked that requirement. Thx.

You know I am always encouraged and enlightened by Vince's posts whichcontain very little if any "finger pointing" and always useful information for further thought or discussion. This whole comorant thing in my view is even much more important than many of us may have been thinking or discussing. The total Federal protection approach seems to be another short -sighted knee-jerk reaction to the perhaps well-meaning motives of the "birders" or perhaps their lobbyists influencing governmental officials to implement a "blanket" regulation that fails to either understand or take proper notice of the need for balance. These birds when overpopulated or in excessive densities in localized areas create a myriad of problems some of which can even become public health issues (fecal droppings in ponds and smaller bodies of water especially.. becoming bacterial spawning sites witness those in Cape Cod for example) and like other potential pests such as crows they need to be "controlled". It seems hard to undertand the "logic" behind the complete protection approach to this issue. At least at the state level some authority and discretion should be given regarding the issues and control measures pursued relative to localized problems when the populations get out of whack.

Good luck finding the.....there are some different designs depending on the age and type of downrigger too. I believethe 10A emergency handles are different than to Mag 10's I wishIhad one for the 10A too.

Here is an additional option if you are age 62 or older - https://parks.ny.gov/admission/golden-park-program.aspx

That is his answer right above you

Maybe we should BS him that we're hanmmering the perch through the ice right now and he's missing all the action....he'd probably be beside himself

Cmon Keith....someone has to hold Jim's plaque while he has his pic taken with thewinning fish

Hey fellas. You know a lot of folks from all over the place look at this website and and I'm sure that the emotion is running high here but this kind of thing could be better dealt with in PM's between the two of you despite some of the general issues being of interest to all of us. We should ALL be interested in securing a viable and diverse fishery for ALL of us fishermen that is fair to each parties (trib and lake folks) interests as well as maintaining a multiple species fishery. Lets keep trying to figure things out and disccussing for the mutual benefit of all not creating an atmosphere of "infighting" among us. We're all in this together despite our different interests.

Man... Kevin a lot of that stuff looks like what used to be in my grandfathers tacklebox (Geneva or Sutton copper jerking spoons Heddon plugs, bucktail spinner, and the doctor spoons out of mine

Awhile back I read that the trout and salmon eggs are being sold as caviar and that is what the eastern block dudes are doing with the snagging etc. I always thought that caviar was just sturgeon eggs but apparently many types of fish eggs are regarded as a delicacy in the eastern block countries. Wherever $$$ are involved there is always somebody with an angle to get them....