Last Updated: Thursday, February 02, 2012 9:24:14 AM
The unusually mild weather we’ve experienced threatened to perhaps derail plans to hold last weekend’s annual Walleye Challenge and Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation ice fishing contests but after careful examination of the lake’s ice conditions a week earlier, a decision was made to go ahead with both events. Participants in those contests faced ice a bit thinner than expected for this time of year but still safe, and slushy, wet conditions that made fishing a tad more ...
Last Updated: Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:50:48 AM
Based upon tests of ice thicknesses and the integrity of the ice sheet on Great Sacandaga Lake, last weekend a decision was made to hold the Walleye Challenge as scheduled this coming Saturday, Jan. 28. Registrations for this event reached the maximum 1,500 mark over a month ago but for those of you who were lucky enough to enter the event in time, here’s some basic information to refresh your memory.
The contest will run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and you can fish anywhere on the lake. A total ...
Last Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2012 9:33:40 AM
We still haven’t published the results of the annual Fuel & Food Big Game Contest so let’s do that now.
The winners during the northern zone early bow season were Paul Peniston of Bleeker who brought in a 108.8 pound doe and 14-year old Kyle Ferguson of Providence who brought in a 148.2 pound 10 pointer.
Gary Gutowski of Perth took top honors during the early muzzleloader season with a 175 pounder and William Bell of Johnstown took the top spot in the longest spikehorn com ...
Last Updated: Thursday, January 12, 2012 10:02:35 AM
The Fish House F & G Club Contest originally scheduled for this Saturday, Jan. 14 has been moved to its alternative date of Saturday, Feb. 11. All other contest details remain the same. It will still be headquartered at the Town of Providence parking area on Route 110, 1/4 mile north of Fish House Corners.
It will offer $2,400 in prize money and the fishing hours will be 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., with prizes awarded soon after the 4pm contest closing time.
Three prizes will be awarded in the walle ...
Last Updated: Thursday, January 05, 2012 9:19:18 AM
Between mid-January and late March there seems to be something going on virtually every weekend. Let’s review some of the events occurring during the early part of January and then next week we’ll finish our January review.
The Fish House Fish & Game Club Contest on Feb. 11 will be headquartered at the Town of Providence parking area on Route 110, 1/4 mile north of Fish House Corners. It will offer $2,400 in prize money and the fishing hours will be 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., with prizes ...
Last Updated: Thursday, December 29, 2011 11:01:08 AM
The Department of Environmental Conservation has issued preliminary harvest estimates for the hunting seasons and for deer, the agency says the harvest results started out slow compared to the 2010 season, particularly in the Southern Zone where there was 20 percent less harvest in the opening week of the season. However, that picked up considerably during Thanksgiving week, brining the total take closer to the previous year.
The preliminary harvest estimates for bear was a bit of a turnaround, ...
Last Updated: Thursday, December 22, 2011 11:45:02 AM
Many moons ago, perhaps a dozen years or more, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek column for the Recorder that related the Legend of “Sackie”, Great Sacandaga’s huge northern pike.
The response to that column was far greater than I had expected and I not only received calls from local and area anglers but also from DEC personnel in Ray Brook and Albany who found the story humorous and interesting and took the time to call and tell me so.
In the ensuing years I’ve had a number of ...
Last Updated: Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:33:36 AM
One thing that really has me wondering is just how many deer will have been taken by crossbow hunters this season. I doubt it will be very many at all, but of those that are taken with that weapon I suspect that most will have been does rather than bucks. Here’s how I think the scenario might play out by those hunters who chose to use them.
Any crossbow owners who also have a deer management permit and who are fortunate enough to take a buck with their rifle, shotgun or bow, will then use ...
Last Updated: Thursday, December 08, 2011 10:13:22 AM
The first of GSL’s annual ice fishing contests - the one sponsored by the Fish House Fish & Game Club -will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14.
The Jan. 28, 2012 annual Walleye Challenge Ice Fishing Derby is also rapidly approaching and here are the details of that event.
The entry fee is $30 and pre-registration is required. No registrations will be accepted after Dec. 31, 2011 and participation in this contest is limited to the first 1,500 entrants.
This may seem like a lot of entrants - ...
Last Updated: Thursday, December 01, 2011 9:27:29 AM
A few weeks ago I received a note from Bruce Bush of Caroga Lake who took the time to send me several reprints of newspaper columns from early 1968, recounting the predations and ultimate demise of what apparently turned out to be a wolf.
The critter was first thought to be a large dog, though a particularly troublesome one since it had tussled with a Caroga Lake dog and even ransacked a residence in the area. The critter was eventually dispatched as the result of a confrontation with a p ...
Last Updated: Thursday, November 24, 2011 9:19:55 AM
The southern zone regular big game season opened five days ago, on Saturday, Nov. 19. Some snow fell the day before the opener but in large part most of it it was gone later that day, except perhaps in sheltered areas or higher elevations.
This may come as no surprise to most of you but according to statistics issued by the Department of Environmental Conservation, 85 percent of New York State’s 560,000 licensed big game hunters hunt the southern zone of the state at least part of their ti ...
Last Updated: Thursday, November 17, 2011 9:34:11 AM
The southern zone regular big game season opens in just two more days, on Saturday, Nov. 19, and at least at the time this column was being prepared, the weather predictions for the opening weekend were good.
Perhaps a bit of rain on Saturday but still mild, with nighttime temps in the mid-to-upper 30’s and daytime temps in the 40’s. Not bad at all though temps took a nose dive last Friday, 11/11/11. Fortunately they recovered nicely in the days following.
The rut was on last week a ...
Last Updated: Thursday, November 10, 2011 8:03:41 AM
I’m more than a bit curious as to how many deer and bear will be taken by crossbow hunters this season here in NYS. Not very many at all I’d guess, though as the three-year sunshine clause on these weapons approaches in 2013 we may see a loosening of restrictions on crossbows, permitting them to be used more easily and more often.
Right now I doubt many hunters will forego the use of their favorite shotguns or rifles during the firearms seasons and use crossbows instead, though ...
Last Updated: Thursday, November 03, 2011 9:41:51 AM
According to the recently published results of a study conducted by the New York State Museum, it appears that wolves have migrated into the Empire State as well as other areas in the northeast.
That should come as no great surprise to many of you but for the first time, scientists used a new isotope test to determine whether eight wolves found in the northeast over the past few decades had been living in the wild or had escaped from captivity. Wolves are not known to breed in New York State bu ...
Last Updated: Thursday, October 27, 2011 10:06:07 AM
Last week DEC announced that it had adopted a five-year deer management plan, containing revisions based upon public comments made after the release of a previously drafted version.
I’m still not certain what this all means, primarily because so much of it appears nebulous but here it is. In any event, here’s what the five-year management plan involves:
The plan describes six primary goals encompassing the current priorities for deer management.
1. Manage deer populations at levels a ...
Last Updated: Thursday, October 20, 2011 9:37:33 AM
Angling has apparently taken a back seat to small game and big game hunting recently but that’s understandable when one considers all the hunting seasons opening within the next few weeks. In reality, we’re in one of the best fishing periods of the year now.
On trip to Northville last week I saw only a smattering of boats out on Great Sacandaga despite the fact that it was as fine a boating day as one could ask for. Surprisingly, there were few anglers to be seen though there were a ...
Last Updated: Thursday, October 13, 2011 6:26:10 AM
Dave Allen of Dave’s Bait & Tackle, Bunker Hill Road, Mayfield has announced the results of his monthly fishing contest for September.
Chris Barth, Mayfield, took first place in the walleye division with a 19 1/2 incher, followed by George Keohan, Mayfield, with an 18 incher, and Keith Simonds, Gloversville, with a 17 3/4 incher. Ken Olsen of Gloversville took first place honors in the northern pike division with a heft 39 incher, followed by Art Georgelas of Scotia with a 33 5/8 inch ...
Last Updated: Thursday, October 06, 2011 9:18:28 AM
Autumn weather arrived with a vengeance - and more rain. As if we didn’t already have enough. However, fair weather is predicted for the remainder of this week.
If you’re a hunter you may not appreciate the rain because it makes for soggy, uncomfortable conditions whether you’re out for pheasants, cottontails or even the northern zone early bear season.
Gore-Tex is one of the finest inventions ever created and my camo gear is dry and comfortable but in an incessant rain the wa ...
Last Updated: Thursday, September 29, 2011 9:58:30 AM
Deer are beginning their pre-rut activity, meaning they’ll become more active. Actually, some bucks in this area have already been seen “chasing” does but as mid-October arrives, they’ll begin their activities in earnest. Exactly when the rut occurs in this area is subject to conjecture and it depends upon whose book you’ve read. Better perhaps to just go with rough rules of thumb.
Hereabouts the “primary rut” generally occurs sometime around the ...
Last Updated: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:22:44 PM
Hope-fully we’ll have plenty of warm, pleasant days ahead of us before snow flies. For many boaters, the boating season came to an abrupt end the last week of August when Mother Nature unleashed her fury on the area.
One can only hope for better, more seasonal weather as 2011 nears completion.
Despite all that, there are some positive notes too.
September offers a number of opening days that area hunters eagerly anticipate. The statewide squirrel, crow and early goose seasons opened on Se ...
Last Updated: Thursday, September 15, 2011 9:53:48 AM
A total of 95 anglers (93 adults and two youngsters) participated in last Saturday's 10th Annual Fall Fishing Contest sponsored and conducted by the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation on Sept. 10, and, considering the weather we've experienced over the past few weeks, those anglers enjoyed about the finest day one could ask for.
The event was headquartered at the Sport Island Pub and the day was warm, the breeze gentle, the lake relatively flat and the skies blue - perfect for a day of f ...
Last Updated: Thursday, September 08, 2011 9:28:04 AM
For many boaters, the Labor Day weekend signals the unofficial end of the year’s boating season. For some others it ended the weekend before, when Tropical Storm Irene blew through with all her fury and devastation. The weekend of August 27, many marinas were beehives of activity, with boaters pulling their craft out of the water to either deposit them in a safe place on land or to bring them to their storage area in advance of the storm.
Either way, that was a rather hasty and early end ...
Last Updated: Thursday, September 01, 2011 10:05:13 AM
As promised, here are the results of the Fish House Fish & Game Club’s first Summer Fishing Contest held on Saturday, Aug. 20 at Captain Carl’s.
First place in the bass division went to Keith Simonds; second place to Alan Cornelius; and third place resulted in a tie between Alan Cornelius and Joyce Callahan. First place in the walleye segment of the event was a tie between Robert Brink and Art Georgelas; and third place went to John Wegrowski. In the trout division, Mike Carman ...
Last Updated: Thursday, August 25, 2011 9:41:50 AM
The Fish House Fish & Game Club held its first Summer Fishing Contest on Great Sacandaga last Saturday, Aug. 20. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the composite results of the event so we’ll have to wait until next week’s column for that but here are some details I can share with you.
The contest was headquartered at Captain Carl’s on South Shore Road, Edinburg, within sight of the Batchellerville Bridge. Some 63 anglers participated in this inaugural contest and the ...
Last Updated: Thursday, August 18, 2011 10:04:40 AM
Fishing may be first and foremost on your mind right now and that’s understandable since we have one contest, the Fish House Fish & Game Club Summer Fishing Contest - being conducted this Saturday, Aug. 20, and then another contest - the GSLFF’s event - next month, on Sept.10.
In reality, September and October are often the very best months to fish Great Sacandaga, rivaling May in productivity and weather conditions. After Labor Day, the crowds are gone, the weather is milder, t ...
