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, the water level is down and the fish are hungrier. Incidentally, I’ll have the results of Saturday’s contest for you in next week’s column.

However, if you’d like to attend the weigh-in and watch the prize awards, the festivities will be held at Captain Carl’s, the contest headquarters, on South Shore Road, Edinburg, at around 4 p.m. Prizes of $500, $150 and $100 will be awarded in the bass division , and $300, $150 and $100 in both the walleye and trout divisions.

We’re also only about two weeks away from the opening of the first of our small game hunting seasons. The early goose season and the squirrel seasons open on Thursday, Sept. 1, as does the statewide crow season.

Remember that you can only hunt crows on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays.

With those seasons rapidly approaching and others opening later in September as well, if you haven’t been to the range yet to pattern your favorite scattergun or squirrel gun you had better do it soon. Also, if you plan to hunt geese, don’t forget to buy your federal migratory bird stamp and get your Harvest Information Program (HIP) number too.

You’ll probably need a new HIP number since they’re only good from July through April, so the one you received in preparation for the last goose season is no longer valid. To get your number, go to: www.ny-hip.com on the web. The process take only a few minutes and after providing them with the required information you’ll be give your unique number. Keep that number with your hunting licenses.

The 2011 - 2012 hunting, fishing and trapping licenses went on sale last Monday, Aug. 15, and if you’re of a mind to apply for a deer management permit this year, you’ll note that there has been an overall increase of about 10 percent in the number of permits that the Department of Environmental Conservation has made available this year.

In some Wildlife Management units the increase is actually more than 10 percent, while in others it may be a bit less than that, but in total the increase is about 10 percent. If nothing else, that means your chances of being issued a permit are better this year, even more so if you have a preference point or two.

If you purchased your license last Monday, or plan to do it soon, you’ll also note that few if any Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Regulations Guides are available. They’re on their way but will be late in arriving.

In the meantime, if you need to refer to the guide for any reason and didn’t get one when you purchased your license  you can view it online at: www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor on the web.

MVAC CLUB

TOURNAMENT

The Mohawk Valley Anglers Club held one of its regularly scheduled bass tournaments last Saturday, Aug. 13, at McMurray’s Boat Livery on Great Sacandaga Lake. A total of 19 boat teams participated in this event, with 17 of them bringing in five bass tournament limits.

The team of Larry Andrews and Leon Vanwormer took top honors in the tournament with five fish that tipped the scales at 11.72 pounds.Reed Poultan and Tim Squires took second place with five fish that came in at 11.38 pounds, including the 3.21 pound Lunker of The Day. Third place went to the team of Randy and Michelle King for  a stringer that totaled 10.59 pounds and fourth place went to  Jeff Squires and Barton Metzold for five bass that came in at 10.16 pounds.

The Mohawk Valley Anglers Club’s next bass tournament will be held on Sunday, Aug.  28, on the Mohawk River at the Schoharie Crossing Launch.

FISH HOUSE CONTEST

On Saturday, Aug. 20, just a few days from today, the Fish House Fish and Game Club will conduct its first Summer Fishing Contest on Great Sacandaga. The event will be headquartered at Captain Carl’s, 762 South Shore Road, Edinburg, and will offer  $1,850 in prize money. Captain Carl’s will also serve as the official weigh station for the event. The entry fee for this summer contest is $20 per person and the  fishing hours will be 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.