Kids Fishing Classes

By Spider Rybaak

Marshall, an associate of McGrath's, holding a Lake Neatahwanta catfish as his student looks on.

New York is etched in a fabulous web of fishing hot spots. But even fantasies have highlights, and the most exciting fishing destination in the Empire State is Oswego County.

Not just for trophy seekers, either. Granted, catching a walleye or brown trout big enough to hang on the wall is a common goal; but it’s at the end of the line, one of the final tests of an angler’s skills. 

And expert anglers don’t just appear out of nowhere -- It takes years of patience and practice, even apprenticeship, to fully develop fishing skills. And although some learn the game as adults, most trace their interest back to when they were kids.

Mike McGrath is a good example. Packing almost two generations of angling expertise, the man is savvy in all things fishy: from tying flies and fly-fishing for trout, salmon, northern pike and black bass, to trolling for muskies, jigging for walleye and bottom fishing for monster catfish.

With all that knowledge under his cap, you’d expect to find him chiseling out a name for himself on the marble column of the world’s greatest anglers; or at least living high on the hog competing in the tournament circuit.

But that’ll probably never happen. You see, this mild mannered Central New Yorker is a husband and father.  And like the countless other unsung heroes throughout history, McGrath couldn’t live with himself without donating part of his life to giving back. He does it by instructing someone else’s kids in the secrets of carp fishing.

McGrath’s choice of the species is simple. He knows that youngsters have short attention spans. Although catching panfish is fun, the thrill is often fleeting. On the other hand, when children catch carp, the experience is so intense it’s burned into their fondest memories, often hopelessly hooking them for life to the character-building sport of angling.

Watching the master spin his magic, observers often ask: “But why carp?”

When you get to know him, the answer becomes clear: McGrath is a man of the times. An unabashed internationalist, he specializes in this fresh water behemoth because of its worldwide appeal; it’s the most popularly sought fish in the Old Country. (The fact that the Oswego River drainage boasts one of America’s greatest populations of huge carp doesn’t hurt, either.)

Having served apprenticeships under European and Asian masters, Mike knows his game. Like a turkey hunter, he draws his quarry in close. Instead of calling the fish vocally (he has trouble vocalizing the gurgles and grunts of carp speak), he lures them in with his “10 pack,” a gob of grain bound by sticky stuff like bismuth that he “packs” into clumps the size of softballs and heaves into the water. As the pack slowly dissolves, its flavors are released, drawing carp and catfish into the area.

He’s good enough at it to turn a profit running McGrath & Associates Carp Angling Services. But he always makes time to teach, and pairs up with this writer regularly to offer free classes on local waters.

To see how McGrath does it, or to learn how to fish with worms or lures in my section, you are invited to attend one of our classes. See the schedule below:

May 10:  Oneida Lake Hatchery, NYS Rte. 49, Constantia; 

11 a.m.-1 p.m.

May 17:  Lake Neatahwanta, NYS Rte. 3, Fulton; 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

June 14:  Lake Neatahwanta, NYS Rte. 3, Fulton; 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

June 28:  Oneida Lake Hatchery, State Rte. 49, Constantia; 

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

July 12:  Lake Neatahwanta, NYS Rte. 3, Fulton; 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

July 19.   May’s Point Fishing Access Site, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, NYS Rte. 89;  11 a.m. -1 p.m.

August 9:  Lake Neatahwanta, NYS Rte. 3, Fulton; 

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

August 16:  Great Swamp Conservancy, 8375 North Main Street, Canastota; 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

September 6: Lake Neatahwanta, NYS Rte. 3, Fulton; 

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

October 18:  Lake Neatahwanta, NYS Rte. 3, Fulton; 

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Mom and daughter admiring the child's first fish, caught during Spider's section of a kids fishing class on Lake Neatahwanta.

Mike McGrath unhooking an average-size Lake Neatahwanta carp.

Typical fishing class conducted by McGrath and Spider.

May Bites

By Spider Rybaak

Scott showing his walleyes as friends Anthony Sokolowski (left, Phoenix) and
Austin Pollmanteer (center, Central Square) cheer.

May sees some dramatic changes in Oswego County’s world class fisheries.  Most notably, steelhead move out of the tributaries-- out of the minds of most anglers-- and are replaced by walleyes: the other fish everyone wants to catch.

Walleyes prefer to spawn in rapids, too. In average situations, they procreate in creeks and peel out for deep water soon afterwards. Not in Oswego County.

You see, our walleyes are spoiled. They have major river systems to court in. Feeling safe in the relatively vast and deep rapids of the Oswego and Oneida Rivers, they aren’t under  any real pressure to beat fins back to the lake immediately afterwards, and stick around in the warm, caressing currents to pig out on all the minnows playing in the whitewater. 

Normally, the action is best the first week or two of the season. This year, however, for reasons varying from late bursts of unseasonably cold weather keeping the streams cool,  to the heavy rains we’ve had recently, the walleyes are extending their stay in the bubbly. 

Three hot spots of note:

Caughdenoy: The plunge pool below the dam has enough walleyes to draw lines of anglers on both sides of the river around dusk. Crankbaits like Smithwick Rogues account for most of the fish.

Phoenix : After years of so-so opportunities, this place is coming back…in spades. By 9 p.m. last Saturday evening (May 18), native son Scott Davie caught two fish about 20 inches long in the rapids on the west bank on a Thunderstick. 

Oswego: Larry Muroski says: “On a scale of 1 to 10, the walleye bite is at 7. The action stretches from the railroad bridge downtown, north to the former Coleman’s Restaurant. Shad Raps and Challenger Minnows are catching most of the fish,” continues the colorful owner of the Oswego Salmon Shop, (315-342-2778). 
But that ain’t all. 

“The dam in Oswego offers an unbelievable smorgasbord right now,” reports Muroski.  “Massive quantities of bluegills, yellow perch, monster rock bass, 15-pound sheepshead , and huge smallmouths are up there.”

[Smallmouth season is closed until June 15, but catch-and-release fishing with artificial lures is permitted: editor]

“Huge channel cats are in the tailrace below the powerhouse,” Muroski adds, suggesting: “still-fish half a shiner on bottom .”

If catfish are the apple in your eye, “The placid water above the dam in Caughdenoy holds trophies,” says Rob Goffredo, owner of Bartel Road Bait and Tackle (315-676-2144), Brewerton’s newest tackle shop. “Fish cutbait on bottom,” he advises.

Bear in mind, the rapids below the dam in Caughdenoy are the Oneida River’s only fast water and draw loads of catfish, too. While trophies are always possible in the plunge pool, most of these guys are spawning age, generally running from 16 to 22 inches, perfect eating size. They’ll take worms and shrimp.

2013’s Free kids Fishing Classes

May’s one of the best times to go fishing—and to teach kids how to fish.

This lesson was brought home last Saturday. Mike McGrath and I conducted our first kids fishing class of the year at Fulton’s Lake Neahtahwanta. 

Owner of McGrath & Associates Carp Angling services, Mike is the East Coast’s foremost expert on these freshwater behemoths. He proved it by landing 20 of the beasts ranging in size from 7 to 20 pounds, raising the eyebrows of all the youngsters and adults at the event.

Back at the gazebo, I was instructing the kids on how to fish with worms and lures, and showing them how to keep the bait out of the reeds and bushes. Roughly 15 showed up, and everyone caught a sunfish or white perch. 

Two more kids fishing classes are scheduled for this summer on Lake Neahtahwanta:

June 8 

July 13

And three are scheduled for the Veterans Memorial, on the west bank, in Oswego :

August 10

September 21

October 19

Sponsored by Berkley, Alvey, Shakespeare, Sampo, Mustad and Marukyu Baits of Japan, the classes are held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Tackle and bait are provided; or bring you own.

Kids 16 and over must possess a fishing license.
For more information, contact McGrath at 
mmcgrath2@twcny.rr.com ; 315-882-1549; or Spider at srybaak@yahoo.com.

Rob Goffredo, owner of Bartell Rd. Bait & Tackle, Brewerton's newest tackle shop,
fishing with a friend for cats above the Caughdenoy dam.

Fishing for walleyes in Caughdenoy.

Scott Davie unhooking one of his walleyes.

Marshall Kise, McGrath's main man, holding a carp caught by his student Dominick Evans of Weedsport.

Oswego's Carp Master, Mike McGrath, explaining the mysteries of his favorite fish.

Allie Waldron, Hannibal, holding her sunnie.

Ma Holden of Hannibal holdin' one of three pumpkinseeds caught by her daughter.

Bullheads and Crappies: Bank Fishing’s Rites of Spring

By Spider Rybaak

Matt Nies and son Jackson with a couple typical Toad Harbor bluegills.

An old wives’ tale says that bullheads go on their spring bite when forsythias bloom; screwy weather notwithstanding. And while Lake Neahtahwanta saw some early, incredibly fast and furious crappie action the last couple days of March through the first week of April, bullheads are a little more patient and stayed true to their normal schedule.

And, you won’t find a more convenient place in which to catch these thorny delicacies than this lake on Fulton’s West Side.  You see, not only is it located right at the shoulder of NY State Route 3, it boasts a pier and restaurant a stone’s throw from the highway and offers ample shoulder parking and fishing access on about a quarter of its shoreline.

What’s more, these normally nocturnal feeders are famished right after their winter-long snooze in the mud, and hit as eagerly in broad daylight right now as they do after dark. And that’s a good for school kids, working folks and others who don’t cotton to fishing half the night.

Equally exciting is that this year the rules have changed, allowing anglers to use three rigs instead of two, so you can still-fish worms or shrimp on bottom with a couple rods and dangle a minnow below a bobber on a third in case there’s a school of late blooming crappies snooping around the shoreline looking for love or food.

Another Oswego County hot-spot for these popular panfish is Oneida Lake’s Toad Harbor. This year everything’s swarming in at once. In fact, over the past week, you were as likely to catch a batch of bluegills as you were a limit of crappie or bushel of bullheads.

Toad Harbor is notorious for game fish species that are out of season this time of year, and you can’t avoid catching them, especially if you’re using minnows, jigs or other lures for crappies

One of the most common is the pickerel, an ancient critter that hails back to before the ice age. The smallest member of the pike family, these toothy game fish are important for maintaining a healthy prey/predator balance. Unfortunately, some guys treat pickerel with extreme prejudice, like they’re unaware the species is native to New York. Hate to tell ‘em, the reason there’s so many pickerel in the lake is because they’re filling in for the northern pike that are being slowly forced out by loss of habitat. You see, nature abhors a vacuum and is replacing the pike with their tinier cousins.

Remember, pickerel are a game fish that deserve their protected status and should be released without any further harm…until their opening day, the first Saturday of May. Then you can take them home and savor their incredibly delicate flavor.

Another species that finds “The Toad” to its liking in its off season is the largemouth bass. Last Monday, small schools of hawgs prowled the food-rich waters within easy eye-shot of anglers. One guy I was talking to about the crappie bite couldn’t keep his mind on our conversation, explaining “not while the biggest bass I’ve ever seen are swimming around me.” (Bass season opens the third Saturday in June.)

One of the two 13-something-inch Crappies I caught on April 12 at Toad Harbor on a Berkley Power Teaser tipped with a Berkley Honey Worm.

A couple ladies relaxing while fishing from the bank.

Fulton's Brian Kirby, and daughter Kristie, admiring a juicy bullhead they caught bottom-fishing with worms in Lake Neahtahwanta on April 15.

Fulton resident Charles Pollack with a bullhead he took from Lake Neatahwantha over the weekend.

The Best Fishing Spots for the Whole Family to Enjoy Catching a Crappie

To the untrained eye, the title to this posting may sound a little, well…tasteless. But to fish eaters, the word crappie is enough to spring their palates to life.

Also known as calico bass, a majority of anglers polled in an informal survey before press time ranked these former panfish as the tastiest in the group. They’re so delicious, in fact, they’re also called strawberry bass.

Right around the turn of the century, they were elevated a notch to semi-game fish status--they have a size limit, and daily limit but no closed season. Oh, everyone who knew anything about them always felt they deserved the distinction and the protection that goes with it. After all, they’re one tough fish to locate and catch -- for most of the year, anyway.

In the spring they’re easy. Gathering in massive schools in shallow water to spawn, and convalesce afterwards, they’re very fisherman-friendly from mid-March through May. Early in the season, they’re super aggressive because they’re spawning; afterwards, they’ll hit minnows and tiny lures with abandon because they’re famished. Either way, you find a school and chances are you’ll catch dinner for the entire family.

Mom teaches her boys to fish off the public pier on the north shore of the Oneida River in Brewerton, New York.

One of the boys admires a crappie!

Late last week I went to Brewerton to fish at the municipal dock on the north shore, just upstream of the US 11 bridge. I had dropped by earlier in the day and saw a couple guys nail a bunch so I went home to get my ultra-light gear. When I returned about 2:30 p.m., a guy who hadn’t been there earlier was leaving the dock, a batch of perch, rock bass, and sunnies with a couple large crappies in hand.

I tried my luck and got a hit right away. It got loose but I could see from its silver flash that it was a crappie. I fished for a while longer, caught and released a couple nice largemouths, and then nailed a strawberry bass that went all of 11 inches.

After putting up a very respectable fight, I landed him as gently as I could. Since I was facing a deadline and knew I wouldn’t be there long enough to catch dinner for me and my sweetie, I released it.

A family fishes for bullheads at Lake Neatahwanta, in the park just off NYS Route 3 on the west side of Fulton, New York.

Fishing from the park platform on Lake Neatahwanta, Fulton, New York.

That evening, I went over to Fulton’s Lake Neahtahwanta to see how the bullheads were biting. It was a bit early and the sun was still out so no one had any in their buckets Still, one guy claimed to have caught a couple that he released.

Some anglers fishing from shore, at the foot of the park that goes out into the lake in the park off State Route 3, said bullheads have been hitting with regularity for the past few nights. The fish were averaging 1 ½ pounds.

In addition, he continued, some crappies were also fairly cooperative, especially on tube jigs and curly-tail grubs fished on spinner forms, Beetle Spin style. Lake Neahtahwanta has always been a local crappie hotspot, but for some reason, the lake’s population doesn’t turn on until the sun goes down. Oh, they can be caught in daylight, but the bite is far better in the early evening and around dawn.