By Spider Rybaak
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| 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.
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| Mom and daughter admiring the child's first fish, caught during Spider's section of a kids fishing class on Lake Neatahwanta. |
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| Mike McGrath unhooking an average-size Lake Neatahwanta carp. |
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| Typical fishing class conducted by McGrath and Spider. |
