Stinky Finger

Oh I hear you, Skipper! Gas prices are certainly going to be a big factor this year. Will be fishing mostly close to home a lot. Silver lake 20 minutes west, Conesus 20 minutes east, Chautauqua not so much . I'll be soothing my Esox itch on pike mostly this year. As for new stuff I'm waiting on my local tackle shop to open back up for the season, good shop, well stocked and run by a good man who knows his stuff (Viet Nam vet). Live bait, tackle, guns & ammo, archery supplies, antique tackle collector (buy, sell, trade) rod and reel repair. He's in Mt Morris 112 North Main St (Rt 36) just south of the Genesee river bridge on the east side of the road two doors from the Dollar General, been there for years. 24 hour bait machine out front. He is partial to pike fishing himself and is a heavy advocate for CPR (you aren't welcome in his boat otherwise). I need new lines on all my reels and to stock up on all the little stuff (terminal tackle) swivels, leader wire, replacement trebles, etc etc etc. He's got it all, 5 minutes from my door so very convenient for me.

Lucky Strike has a good assortment of pike hardware too- http://www.luckystrikebaitworks.com/sho ... hp?cPath=5

Could be, that's an old Netcraft lip. They've been making the same lip, unchanged, for a long long time. I can remember buying those same lips, the only metal plug lips available then, as early as my freshman year in high school in '81. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/crankbait-bills-lure-lips/

NYSDEC will tell you everything you need to know to be in compliance with baitfish regulations. Your local Chamber of Commerce will make sure you cover all the business/ legal aspects with one of their entrepreneur kits. Make sure you jump through all the right hoops, legal, permits, tax, zoning, etc. The state won't send Vinny & da boyz to break your kneecaps but they can make life miserable for you if you are not in compliance with everything.

Sounds great. Please consider selling quick strike rigs as well. Too many people are still using the old methods, waiting for the fish to swim off before setting the hook when using live bait for esox. It kills fish, period. The old song and dance about "cut the line and the hook dissolves in their stomach" has been conclusively proven false. A gut hooked fish is a dead fish.

What happened to the Cassadaga Lakes thread? Lest's start a new one. Chautauqua County, Cassadaga lakes chain at Lilly Dale, N.Y. Thoughts?

Brooks Reefer. White/red head.

So who's up for it? Winter doesn't last, thank God and there is a new season coming. Cabin fever is making us all a bit loony toons, longing for a fresh start. First Saturday in May. Ain't so far off. Pike. Talked to Deaf Fisherman about meeting up for some fishing and got the idea for an Esox LOU group opener for pike. How about we all get together and have a group opener? Pick a lake and a launch and let's do it. Who knows, might even turn into an annual event! Doesn't have to be anything official, just a season opener meet & greet. Let's go fishin'!

Out of habit and because I've been using the clinch knot since I was 5 it's what I most often use. Actually it might be the "improved" clinch knot, I pass the tag end through the eye twice instead of once to give a double loop at the eye before wrapping the tag around teh main line and completing the knot. Somebody showed me this one about 15 years ago- http://www.fishing.sh/htmfiles/knots/cordloop.html It does seem to ward of the fraying a bit longer. This one was recommended for lead core and does seem to lessen those mysterious break offs. Hope this helps.

Here are some more spoons from Ireland and England (they have some not available here) http://www.henrystackleshop.com/index.p ... =29_71_148 http://www.thepikeshop.co.uk/shopdispla ... cat=Spoons http://www.thefriendlyfisherman.co.uk/s ... poons.html http://www.vikingtackle.ie/pike-predato ... poons.html

Caught at the lake, driven home in a bucket, photographed, driven back to the lake, -AND- she slapped you on the way back in? Ha! That is one sturdy pike!

Do you mean this one- http://www.vimageoutdoors.com/servlet/t ... Bug/Detail Not a spoon but a good pike lure, you are right about that. Good for lots of fish, bass, pike, stripers, muskies, even bonefish and tarpon. Hey, it's winter so why not wander a bit? Deaf Fishernman, I wish I knew your real name, I am Dan in Leicester, N.Y. If you like pike I'd like to go fishing with you on Silver or Conesus this season. I live halfway between Silver and Conesus. If you like muskies I have a family cottage on Chautauqua. I have read some of your posts, you seem to enjoy the fishing thing more than some that make it too much like work! I know where you are coming from, my wife is hearing impaired.

signs at the launch maybe? http://www.flickr.com/photos/moncriefspeaks/1085056901/

Don't overlook the Shakespeare Ugly Stick catfish rods. They are tough as nails, have aluminum oxide guides and a $35 price tag. Tough to beat. If you can live with the blasphemy of the word "catfish" appearing on the rod then you've got a great muskie stick that will last for years.

I'm with Capt. Larry on this one, Johnson Silver Minnow. I tip them with a large plastic curly tail worm threaded onto the wire guard all the way up with the tip of the worm right up to the front of the spoon totally covering the wire and bury the hook point in the worm. TOTALLY weedless in the thickest slop. Also helps on snaggy bottoms like creeks with a lot of wood in them.

Whatever the creek is that flows under the 5 arches, if that is Conesus creek then yes, that's the one. It is the outlet of Conesus lake. There is also a second dam they have to get over just above the 5 arch bridge. The stretch between Lakeville and Avon gets about zero fishing pressure and might be worth exploring with a canoe. When I first heard about tigers in the Genesee around Avon I was skeptical until I met two guys who showed me pics of the tigers they have caught there. One of those pics can be seen on the back wall of Fat Sam's bar in Avon. A friend of mine lives in Avon and I've fished with him a number of times under the old railroad bridge just downstream from the Rt 5&20 bridge and DEC access site. The last time I went, last year, he was telling me that they had been seeing a large walleye there almost every night but nobody could catch it. It's not a walleye. It is a tiger, about 45 inches. For some reason it has a habit of cruising just under the surface but it spooks if you cast near it. That stretch is generally unfishable after it rains. The water level about doubles and it's like chocolate milk for several days. The Genny is a lot different in the area where I used to live in Allegany county at Caneadea. It's more like a creek there with fairly constant water levels and usually runs clear. No way any of these tigers could make it up past the dam at Mt Morris though. Who knows how much they travel around, likely quite a bit. I know of several pure bred muskies caught in Ellicot creek near Glens Falls park below the falls in Williamsville near Buffalo, miles from the Niagara river but it really shouldn't be all that surprising. Ellicot creek has clear clean water, several large deep holes and plenty of chubs, suckers and rainbows to feed on. I also know of another sleeper muskie fishery out that way but I'm not giving that one up!

One local river that does have some tigers in it is the Genesee. The stretch between Avon and Geneseo has given up a few nice ones. These are likely escapees from Conesus that make it over the dam at high water. I don't think they were stocked in the river, can't recall seeing that on stocking lists. Lots of pike and walleye in that stretch too.

Here's a link to some Virginia muskie guys who use circle hooks- http://virginiamusky.com/project-noble- ... k-success/ You could also have a look at websites in the UK and Ireland. Those guys do an awful lot of live and dead bait fishing for pike and have developed quite an assortment of terminal tackle designs that work. They are big time into almost total catch and release and have several "quick strike" rigs to study. The terminology is a little different, i.e. what we call a leader to them is a trace, etc. so just read up and figure it out as you go.

Back in '94 I had about a 40" tiger on for a minute at the mouth of fish creek on the canal but couldn't get it to net. I was using a worm harness with an 18" walleye trailer for bait. Just kidding, I was playing the walleye when the tiger grabbed it and we had a little tug of war before it let go and disappeared. We did get a real good look at it right at boatside, definitely a tiger. They exist throughout the Erie canal/ Mohawk river, Oneida being connected they can show up there from time to time but I wouldn't call it a fishery. As far as I know the first time tigers were in Oneida lake in any numbers was following hurricane Agnes in '72 when the Oneida hatchery at Constantia on the lake flooded and all the tigers of course went into the lake. I also know an old timer who lives in Sylvan Beach who swears he once caught a pure bred muskie in Oneida but who knows, probably just a fish story or a case of mistaken identity.

Are they made in the U.S.A. ? I -AM- affiliated with the U.S.A.

Was this woman speaking Chinese or did my ears just flutter??? I believe she said "Asian carp already in Lake Erie"... Pay attention from 00:55 to 1:01

East Mud Lake was the body of water specified, south east of Forestville in Chautauqua county. Not Merit reservior. I don't know why East Mud Lake is cited unless, like Lime Lake, it connects separate watersheds and if so may indeed provide an avenue of access to Lake Erie.

Just like what I've heard about some unscrupulous "other species" anglers on Chautauqua when they encounter muskies which they regard as pesky lure stealers, they practice "club & release". That would certainly be the best way to handle these Asian sewer trout.

Duh! Just noticed the flub with the "ot...icle"/ "article" thing. Even I should have caught that one. A couple weeks ago I saw an article on another sight about these asian carp and the Chicago ship locks and in that article they referenced a body of water in Chautauqua county NY as reportedly having these carp now and they would be getting into lake Erie from there and also the Allegheny river, maybe Minton reservior by Westfield but I don't remember, will have to surf around and find that. I had the same idea, that the info is wrong and is just being repeated without anyone getting it straightened out. As far as I know the only water body connected to separate water sheds in the area is Lime lake which has two outlets. Lime lake water goes south into the Ishua, Allegheny, the Ohio, the Mississippi then the Gulf of Mexico by one outlet, Cattaraugus creek, Lake Erie, Niagara, and eventually the Atlantic by the second outlet. As far as I know no other lake shares this characteristic, sending its water in two different directions. I think there must have been some mistake made, an isolated little reservior in Chautauqua county being the only one in the area with these carp? Somebody screwed up when they wrote the article.

Thanks Nitro !!!!!!