MooseKnuckle VI

I was up at camp yesterday & today for a night. My place is way up north near Watertown. Pretty much still all iced in but there were patches of open water right in front of my place. I hope two more weeks outta do it but it was snowing this morning when I left to come home.

I just bought a new boat hoist. the one that came with my camp is in pretty rough shape and the local place had a sale and good price on a new Hewitt. Guy talked me out of adding a canopy and I didn't want to spend that much for a canopy anyway. So I'm searching for a GOOD cover. My boat will be on stored on the lift all season at camp and I live kinda far away so I don't wanna have to worry about the wind taking it or the boat getting all slopped up, etc. I currently have a cheapo cover that straps to the trailer, I just use this to keep dust outta the boat while it's parked in the barn over winter. So I know nothing about covers. I like the idea of a snap cover but they seem like they might be a pain to get on and off. They seem secure in my mind though. Can anybody recommend something to me and where to buy? The boat's a 2008 G3 172 FS. It's an 18' aluminum deep V dual console walk through windshield with a trolling motor on the port side. It's in near perfect shape and I'd like to keep it as nice as possible so it's definitely gotta be covered somehow.

I need to find a decent price on home owners for my new camp. I have everything with Allstate but they won't give me a multi-policy discount since I'm crossing state lines. They gave me a stupid high yearly rate for a tiny little cottage. Anybody have any recommendations for an agent near Sackets or Watertown?

my wife had me neutered, so I don't worry about cold water on my junk lol

I like that idea but the shoreline at my place wouldn't lend itself very well to that.

Thinking about replacing the boat lift that's at my new camp. The local Ace in Sacket's has a sale going on until mid April I think he told me. I'd be ordering a cantilever lift with a canopy. The Ace sells Hewitt lifts and docks. Can anybody comment on their Hewitt lift? good, bad ugly.....

bumpity bump. summers coming.

I have Allstate. To be honest I'm not even sure what all is covered. I only have them because I use them for everything else. I do know I have a certain limit on gear if I sink or something. But I have no idea about roadside assistance and know for sure I don't have seatow coverage.

now if the damn ice would just melt........I still gotta move all my crap up to my new camp, build a smoker, figure out the dock, and fix the boat lift.

I was in the same boat this past year. I said screw it and bought a place myself. I'm not getting any younger and since you can't take it with you......why not?

I was planning to build a mini smokehouse up at my camp. But then I got to thinking.....They already sell those charcoal style smokers with the offset smoker box on the side. What's everyones thoughts on these things? For around 100 bucks I could just pick one up. Be cheaper and way easier than making a legit smokehouse. It'd also be portable. I never smoked anything before so this is all new to me. The only experience I have is when I used to help out at my buddy's butcher shop during deer season. He had a real smokehouse but he did all that. He didn't trust anyone else to run the smoke house. I'm planning on doing a lot of fish on it and some ducks. Maybe even dabble in brisket or hams, but primarily would be used for ducks, trout and salmon. Do these cheap little grills work OK for the occasional user? Are they able to maintain and adjust the heat fairly easily?

thanks for the offer. I'm actually going to let my neighbors kid buy all the duck hunting gear. I bought the boat and camp and all the fishing gear lol. He's getting real into duck hunting lately, his little brother is working on finding us a little jon boat to use, I might also pick up a cheap deep v jon for a camp boat. but i'll let him know about the decoys.

I think I have the same boat as you. Let me know what you end up going with. I currently use a hand held. I think an antenna on that boat would be in the way pretty much anywhere you mount it.

I'm really happy with the location. It's right on the Dexter Marsh. Stop by if you're in the area I'm always looking for fishing buddies.

South East, kinda sorta. Berks County. I'm looking at the regs for turkey in NY. Was wondering if a semi auto can be used for turkeys up there? I'm looking for a good shotgun to use for multiple seasons. The guns I have now I don't really care for when hunting but I like them for clay birds.....I know, doesn't make sense.

thanks for the info so far. I have 3 winchester pumps I hunt with. I have some heirlooms too, I have my dads bolt action 410 from when he was a kid, an old Ithaca 16 ga, a damascus double barrel that's stamped with an 1890 (never shot it) and two others that I don't know anything about. I never owned a semi auto shotgun before so I'm kind of clueless. we can shoot them in pa for pheasants so I'm sure I'll get some use out of it. My biggest concern is having a gun that'll hold up well in a wet environment but I guess duck hunting is no worse for a gun than hunting in the rain......the wife wants a pistol to carry for protection so we're going shopping on Saturday. Her hands are so damn small none of my pistols fit her. There's a great gun shop about 40 mins away owned by a lady that really knows her stuff. Hoping she has a good selection of semi's while i'm down there. Cabelas has a sale right now but I hate buying guns there. Nobody knows anything and it takes about 5 hours for them to get done with the paperwork, theyre always too freaking busy. I think my biggest issue will be hitting a duck, those damn things are fast. It's all i can do to shoot a pheasant lol. Duck hunting will be more of an excuse to go to camp and hang out than anything. I've never been so excited for Spring before. I say that every year but this year I really mean it. How's the ice looking up there? any guess when it'll thaw out? I'm going to organize and inventory all my crap for browns this weekend I hope.

Does NYS allow semi auto shotguns for duck hunting? Just bought a place on black river bay and I'd like to get into a little duck hunting. Looking for any advice on duck hunting up there. I never did it, always hunted flintlock season for deer and shotgun season for pheasants here in PA. Can anyone recommend a good semi auto shotgun for duck hunting? Gotta be less than $500 if possible.

Anyone ever smoke walleye? I love smoked fish, I can't eat wet fish. I gotta cook it and dry it out real good. So I really like smoked stuff Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

can't tolerate that show. I watched a few episodes when I was really bored, but it's a typical "reality" series. TV sucks. Best thing I ever did was cancel our cable. That gives me almost $1200 bucks a year to pizz away on fishing gear, booze & women.

I have all Cabelas brand trolling rods. 7'-6" for the riggers and 9' for the dipseys. I've had them maybe 4 years now. They came with the depthmaster line counter reels. Overall they work fine. Only complaint is the line counter sticks sometimes. Had one that just plain quit but Cabelas replaced it with no problems. Time will tell how they hold up. I think they were only $90 for the combo, got them on sale for $75 maybe. Wasn't sure if I'd enjoy trolling when we first started a few years back so I got cheaper rods, ended up liking them and got more.

So I bought a camp up near Sackets. I mainly fish catch & release and love catching pike. Have yet to land a walleye in my lifetime (there's none around at home). My question is this: when I do keep a few fish for dinner, what's better on the conservation end? Keeping a few pike or a few walleye. I like to eat both. I read that pike are not as hearty as the walleye in terms of reproduction, take longer to reach maturity and are not stocked up in that area. So would it be better for the population to keep the walleye and release the pike or vice versa? On a side note, about how long does it take for a walleye and for a pike to reach breeding age up in that area?