greenboatluke

Not really much. We’d prop the bird up on some potatoes so it wouldn’t fall on its side. Threw some carrots and onion in on occasion.

We used to skin our birds whole, a bit faster than plucking, then wrap them in bacon to re-create skin so to speak, placed it in a baking bag and put it in the oven. Moist and delicious.

Well said Gator. Also... A total solar eclipse happens once every 2 years somewhere on the planet. The US makes up 1.5% of the surface of the Earth. So to have a total solar eclipse go through NYS in your lifetime is an awesome event! You should try to see it. The next to hit NYS is 2079, if my kids are lucky, they might be able to see 2 in NYS in their life... If I live to 100, I'll see a second! If you have a chance in the afternoon on the 8th, take in this astronomical event. Please buy eclipse glasses so you don't damage your eyes, you can only look without them during totality for 4ish minutes.

Eels can move across land, especially after large rain events when the ground is saturated. Maybe that’s how??

I posted it with my original response.

A little background for those interested… the DEC is studying the American Eel is because the Pacific Eel is basically extinct due to overfishing, habitat loss, etc. and the American Eel was trending the same way. The American Eel is the only species left to be studied and protected. I teach a Marine Science elective at my school and it’s cool to show some of my students real field work. I’ve been participating for about a decade, the DEC has been researching since the early 2000s. The returns are up and down yearly, like any wild species, but the general trend over a decade is slowly rising. Get this, if you have eaten Eel, usually in sushi, it was most likely caught as a Glass Eel in the state of Maine, then shipped to Japan where it was raised in aquaculture and then shipped back to here eat! Maine is the only place Glass Eels can be legally fished. Last numbers I saw were $2000 per lbs.

You'll find adult American eels in rivers because they're catadromous fish. The opposite of salmon, steelhead, and trout, they live most of their lives in rivers and streams, then the adults head out to the ocean/lake to spawn in deep water. The larvae float on currents and enter rivers as glass eels (clear) an inch or 2 long and make their upstream. I'm a teacher and take students to help with a DEC study on the Hudson to look for population numbers. Made a video with my own kids a few years back, I'll add a link. You can catch the adults on bait as if you were fishing for catfish. I've caught some juveniles on the Hudson with chunk herring, but they should eat most bait I would think.

You’re talking about the “tattle flag” system. It’s an add on to the boards. They run fine like you have them, just a stationary flag. You have to watch the board itself to be pulled back or for erratic movements when a fish is on.

My brother and I limited on browns last week off Stony Point lighthouse. Fished close to the structure there. Had a triple at one point, landed 2 of it.

If you’re worried about the insulators… I use Amish Outfitter downrigger snubbers and have new mag 5s. I reached out to canon about them working as an insulator and they said they will work as the insulator to stop the auto retrieve. I’ve used em multiple times and it stops at the surface like it should. So, from bottom to top I have the rigger weight, snubber, probe, then release. Hope this helps.