Capt Vince Pierleoni

It's always going to be a judgement call. I do remember being in the situation many of the guys are in on here. Fortunately now most of my clients are highly interested in eating at least some fish. This makes it easy to lean the way of not wasting. From all the info I have gathered, biologists I have talked to, and observations I have made, any profuse bleeding from the gills or tongue area results in death every time. Think "lung shot". They may sink, but to no avail. The exhausted ones may float or sink. If they float, they are still likely to recover and dive. We know this from countless times of circling back for nothing. A big problem with any fish that recovers at the surface is gulls will dive on them and peck their eyes out. We have circled before just to try to scare the gulls away. If your boat allows it safely, large exhausted Salmon can often be revived by slowly towing them behind with a boga. You will know when they are ready as they will try to rip it free of your hand! Use the lanyard on your wrist. Just be careful that the boga is gripping out near the outer jaw, and not in the gills. The river guys know that whipped Salmon can be cradled until ready to go. From the amount of mangled but healed up jaws I am seeing on Salmon, I would say that the skill and pressure is rising, but so is successful releases.

Certainly can respect your wanting them to survive when released. I don't have any experience with the needles, but rolmops is correct. Pacific Salmon have air bladders that adjust very quickly. I have found that the single biggest factor as to how well they survive after release is the time of year. Cold water Spring fish do the best when released. You will notice how they fight all the way to the boat, as most of the water temp is ideal for them. By June, the the lake is beginning to warm rapidly. All Summer, Salmon will fight to the death in that warm upper layer after being hooked down in cooler water. This is particularly true with larger fish. The fish you wish to release should be brought in as quickly as possible and flipped off in the water. Any of the ones you have to bring onboard should be plunged head first back in to the water. It has been my experience that Salmon, Browns, and Lakers release fairly well throughout the season, but in the heat of Summer the larger Salmon and Steelhead do not release very easily. If you are going to stick to your guns, do most of your fishing in the Spring and try not to "over play" any of the fish you wish to release. I think the only species where that needle may increase survival is with Lake trout, and then only if they don't go down right away.

We are up here in Northern Niagara county, near the Lakeshore around Olcott harbor. Talking to friends along the lakeshore from Somerset west to Wilson and Youngstown, they are experiencing the same things. Many nights just after dark you can hear them howling. It is mainly rural, with lots of agriculture outside of the villages. Lots of human intrusion except in the dense thickets and on the "safe zone" farmettes and 5--25acre posted parcels. The Deer find these safe zones fairly quickly, and so must the Coyotes. I think as stated above, they are adjusting and thriving. I'm just surprised at the amount of daytime sightings.

That Pro-Am has become a fiercely contested event. It seemed to bring the community together in Orleans county, and with all the Charterboats docked there it's one I am expecting continued growth from. With the onset of the "transition period" it is always extremely interesting.

The 8lbers can work for you some of the time, particularly early spring and late fall fishing the top 40'. The most important thing is you run the same weight on both riggers. You will be glad they are only 8lbers when you are smacking fish and are cranking them up over and over. You will probably want to invest in at least 12lbers for summer. As for the crimps, I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to accomplish but DO NOT take all the cable off to install your releases. Both Cannon and Klincher make a quick install termination for your cable end. If you want to install the old style Blacks on your cable, do so from the Ball end, and then use one of these products. Until someone shows you how to crimp the swivel on stick with these easy to use connections. They endure abuse very well and may very well save you a lead ball.

No matter what, I guess the days of sneaking out of your bow stand at dusk and coming back later to track your deer are over. Unless of course, you want it minus the hind quarters. Maybe hunting them will only make the 'yote population stronger, but perhaps they will become less bold in areas where they are pursued.

Hi Terry and "Pandemonium" team! Doing well but the winter seems too long already. Looking forward to seeing you guys in Wilson in May, hopefully sooner in Dahlousie in April.

New Price! Get ready for Spring!

No doubt about it. Numerous times this season I watched ADULT deer freak out when encountering coyotes. They show little concern in the same areas when a fox is near.

You seem like a sharp angler, as you are plotting your attack for spring now. You will be pretty proficient relatively soon, I would expect. Just keep in mind, sometimes less is more. A boat only hitting 'em on 300 coppers may be spooking them with the rest of their set. With your simpler set, you may be able to produce with other methods and presentations. Kings and Browns are some of the greatest trolling fish on the planet. Put together some simple programs that work at different times of year, then expand from there. These next few years will be the "wonder years" for you, and many memories will be made. Good Luck!

Sweet! When are they drawing Billy?

Rick, that is great news! It will be good to see him "back in the saddle". An important part of life is having things to look forward to, and the Tournaments are definitely worthwhile. Blue moon, the format is such that anyone can win the WHI. Ask any of the Tourny Pros, and they will tell you the fastest way to become competitive and "sharpen your pencil" is to fish the big events. Welcome and best of luck!

Happy Birthday!

I have had very good results for many years with Fish Hawk products, most recently the X-4. You will need to install a transducer on your boat, or at least mount one on a removable bracket for your transom, but you will not need the coated cable. The blow back is minimal, as it is one of the smallest probes on the market. The head(read out) connects and disconnects in seconds. Good Luck.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannuka to all. In that picture, Morgan looks like, "dad, really?" "A fancy carp?" Next thing you know, he will be pedaling doors in Asia and England.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Howie.

Merry Christmas Pete!

Merry Christmas, Mav! Ray, very well put. Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas!

There are many different reasons why a 3 blade or 4 blade prop could be better than the other. In your case, the 4 blade prop will not help you "soften" the ride. The prop you have gives you plenty of push, you are slowing down to spare your passengers the brutal beating. In waves like that, a boat is a battering ram. The only way to improve the ride is with more length, or more weight, as your boat already has an excellent hull design for it's size.

Thats good news about the advances in geo-thermal. My uncle has been singing it's praises for years. Saw an article recently in the Wall Street Journal where the big money investors are pulling out of Windmills and moving towards natural gas. This is great news, unless of course, you are in NY where they have stopped all the new capturing(de-fracking?). I know some farmers in PA that are getting rich. The USA has 3 times the amount of natural gas as Saudi arabia has oil. Yes, there are a few snags that have to be worked out, but it will happen when the big money invests in it Yeah, those pre-9/11 days off the Nuke were memorable. Definitely were some winter days in the early 80's when we should NOT have putted down there. We used to throw our anchor up on shore!!! Imagine that today.

Nice job. Yeah, about the hybreds, I was in Stueben co yesterday and saw a GIANT. Perhaps it was a cross. Predator stuff is all new to me, haven't hunted them yet(blasted a few incidentals) but I am seeing them everywhere. Had a cool last day, got my doe with the T/C, and passed 2 small bucks. Most noteworthy was when I watched a huge dark coyote or coydog slither out of the woods 200yds away. Just when he was coming into range, he blew 2 does out of some pines and they were all off and running. His track was alarmingly big. Everytime I see a woman wearing a real fur coat, I compliment her on it. Good Luck predator hunters!

We will learn alot about the Giants and how they feel about Coughlin(a Waterloo, NY native) who I feel is a great coach. I like a coach to be demonstrative, and care as much as the fans do. Vick is absolutely "GIFTED". Watched him warm up next to Donovan last year at the "old" meadowlands. He has the finest throwing motion I have ever seen. Once he reverted to what I call "chaos football", he was unstoppable. They will win alot of games with him, but they better have a good back-up. Still not sold on him as a person. Notice how he acts when he doesn't know the camera is on him-- totally different from that new carefully crafted persona. He will run upfield along the sideline 80yds if he can, but nearly everytime he gets blasted he gets up campaigning for a flag. Wants it both ways.

I think you are dead on, Gator. Had some clients this past Summer from Germany, who were very gainfully employed in the Nuclear energy industry. They talked candidly about having associates charged with maintaining Wind turbines. They stated that it is simply understood how toxic the metal dust is they create, and anyone working in or around one wears a mega-Hazmat suit. They wondered why in the world any of these would be put in or near our drinking water!!! On the other side of the coin, these World energy experts felt strongly that the fad of Windmills was fading in Europe for numerous reasons, and the future of clean and efficient energy there was Nuclear.

Nice job Pete. I was gonna let this die and the bird fans have their fun(haven't seen a word from Mr Tither since at least August--but as an eagle fan he jumped on this one!) But that was one fine compilation. Just think guys, they COULD play again in the Playoffs!