Safe Ice on Oneida Lake

Ron Gosowski, a savvy Oneida Lake icer, holds a nice jack perch he caught on a tungsten tear-drop jig tipped with a fathead minnow, and worked three inches off bottom, in 18 feet of water.

Safe ice formed on Oneida Lake early this year. Actually, it was thick enough to walk on in the bays the last couple days of last year, which is saying something, considering we’re in the age of global warming. Brave hearts were riding snowmobiles on it the first week of January. Rumor has it some went through and had to be rescued.


I’ve been around too long to tempt fate and figured I’d wait until I saw groups out there before I set foot on it. When I looked out my bedroom window Saturday morning, Jan. 16, there they were.


Icers were all over the place. Some were targeting perch, others walleyes, a few tried to get both.


I ran into a several guys with jack perch ranging from 10 to 12 inches flopping around in their pails. Most were taken relatively deep, down anywhere from 15 to 25 feet.


Ron Gasowski was fishing in 18 to 20 feet of water south of Cleveland. Known around these parts as the “Tip-up King,” he had 11 fat jacks in his bucket when I came around, and then caught another, the biggest of the day right when I got there.


Like most of the successful anglers I interviewed, he caught his batch on a tear-drop jig tipped with a fathead minnow. Made of tungsten, the metal got to bottom quickly, and he claimed its peculiar characteristics just drew perch better than other heavy metals.


He told me he’d fished every day since Thursday, scoring each time, including one day when he nailed a limit of walleyes along with a batch of perch. “I would have caught more,” he surmised, “if I had goner earlier. But I like to fish between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the warmest part of the day.”


Next I ran into Lynn Thomson, a veteran of numerous winters on Oneida Lake, probably more than he likes to count. “How were they hitting?” I asked.


“I got a nice batch,” he replied and kept walking, pulling his shelter and tackle with a rope wrapped around his shoulders. His bucket contained five huge perch over 10 inches each.


Thomson’s fish were taken in about 20 feet of water, on a Gill Pill tipped with a plastic trailer.


Walleyes were deeper. The ones I saw were average for the lake and were taken in 30 to 40 feet of water on minnow and jig combinations.


Sunday afternoon the action was pretty much the same. Just about everyone I spoke to had perch dinners.


This year’s ice fishing started early. However, with the unpredictable weather that we’re having lately, please use common sense and follow this advice from the NYS DEC:


Most water bodies do not freeze over entirely. A minimum of three to four inches of solid ice is the general rule for safely walking on the ice. It’s also advised that you should not fish alone, and to let someone know where you are and when you plan on returning. Using your own good judgment and common sense is essential.


Fortunately, Oneida Lake is one of the country’s most productive bodies of water and promises to offer bucket loads of walleyes and perch until March softens the water for good.

A batch of Oneida Lake perch caught by Ron Gosowski, south of Cleveland, on 1/16/2010.

Joel Marko holding one of the numerous walleyes taken last weekend on Oneida Lake in depths ranging from 30 to 40 feet.

Snow Time

Ice fishing for walleye

Songs riding the airwaves this time of year are full of references to the Holidays. But finding natural sights and sounds of the season are pretty tough. Unless you’re in Oswego County, that is.


For instance, anglers from all over the country come here to climb the rapids of the Salmon and Oswego Rivers, and Lake Ontario’s numerous smaller tributaries (called skinny creeks in fishing parlance), in search of steelhead, a species of rainbow trout that can go 20-something pounds. Although trophies this size can be elusive, area waters offer a reasonable chance at one. But even if you only get a relatively small specimen—they average six pounds—its bright green back, pink and silver sides, all speckled in dark spots, make it a living sign of the season.


Our friendly skies are loaded with seasonal fare, too. Snow and Canada Geese are plentiful, and, since the county is split into two migratory game bird hunting zones (northeastern and western), you can target snow geese in the Northeastern zone up until the New Year.





Winter Wonderland



After the Holidays, cold weather settles in and the county’s outdoor recreational opportunities really heat up.


Steelhead run Lake Ontario tributaries all season long to take advantage of their slightly warmer temperatures, and the cornucopia of salmon and trout eggs shifting currents constantly sweep out from autumn’s spawning beds.







If you’re into walking on water, Oneida Lake offers some of the best ice fishing for yellow perch and walleyes in the Northeast. If you prefer drilling for crappies and panfish, Lake Neahtahwantha, on the west side of Fulton, has been filling local’s freezers with the beasties for as long as anyone can remember. Finally, Sandy Pond is notorious for large perch and northern pike.







Small game hunting season for critters like ruffed grouse, squirrels and cottontail rabbits remains open until the end of February, while varying hare and cottontails can be taken in the northern zone until March 21.


Skirting the southeastern corner of the tiniest Great Lake, our entire county is blessed with a meteorological phenomenon known as lake effect. But even we have an area known for extreme snow: the Tug Hill Plateau, famed for the deepest snows this side of the Rockies. A 340-mile web of state-designated trails offers mechanized sledders access to the “The Hill” and neighboring Adirondack Mountains. This is Oswego County Snowmobile Association territory, an organization of 10 clubs whose members maintain the trail system and publish maps for snowmobile enthusiast that come from far and wide to enjoy the splendor of snow covered fields and forests.






Traditionalists who prefer to dash through the snow on skis or snowshoes will find these hard packed trails ideal for their recreational pleasure, too. What’s more, folks on foot have miles of Lake Ontario beaches to explore. Buffeted incessantly by northwesterlies, the shoreline is lined in a towering crust of pack ice carved by wind and waves from Mother Nature’s wildest imagination into snowy peaks and pot each erupting in slush with every passing wave to form crystalline castles with icicle chandeliers.







Another icy pursuit sure to boil your blood is ice climbing in the Salmon River Falls Unique Area. Home to endangered plants, this sensitive area’s cliffs are off limits, but the ice straddling the falls is open. While the trail to the bottom is closed in winter, climbers can use it provided they register daily by filling out a downloadable form and depositing it into the box at the on-site information kiosk. (FYI: Safe ice doesn’t generally form until around mid-February.)







There’s even stuff to do around here with man’s best friend. Dogs love running, and if they can do it in a pack, it’s even better. Dog sledding fills both these desires. “The Hill’s” heavy snows and the 9,233 acres of remote woods in the Winona State Forest that are crisscrossed with numerous trails, make northern Oswego County the perfect venue for this howling activity. In fact, the area is so perfect the Pennsylvania Sled Dog Club comes up each winter to stage competitive events.






If you prefer a more personal experience with Rover, try skijoring, an activity in which you don cross-country ski equipment, attach yourself to the dog with a line, and take off.






An optimist once proclaimed: When you get lemons, make lemonade. Oswego County treats winter the same way: When you get snow, make snowballs.


For more information on any of these exciting winter activities, go to www.visitoswegocounty.com/tn/MoreFun.aspx


Another way to get the skinny on playing in Oswego County’s big back yard this winter is to visit Oswego County Tourism’s booth at the Northeastern Sport Show, Americraft Center of Progress Building, New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY. January 22-24, 2010.


NY’s longest-running event of its kind, the Northeastern Sport Show has been providing generations of Americans with mid-winter respites from cabin fever with a litany of displays devoted to the great outdoors.


Numerous North American hunting and fishing outfitters will be present. Their booths, lined with trophy mounts and photos--some even feature videos--will launch you on vicarious adventures of a lifetime. And if you decide you want to experience the real thing, the folks manning the tables will be happy to sign you up for the trip in your dreams.


Great sport shows don’t get that way by chance. The Northeastern Sport Show owes its success to balance. After booking an outdoor adventure, you’ll find other booths to fill your every need, from clothing and supplies to boats and ATVs.


Educational and Competitive Attractions:

• Seminars by the Benoit Brothers: Learn how they drop more trophy bucks in a given season than the entire membership of a typical rod and gun club.


• Animal displays like Talons! Live Birds of Prey, and Bwana Jim’s Wildlife show.


• Trout pond


• Go Mining


• Kids casting contest


• Big Buck Club Display


• Archery Range


• NWTF-Sanctioned Turkey Calling Contest


• Goose Calling Contest
  

And there’s more…too much to list here. So mark your calendars now, and prepare for a day of wild excitement, regardless of what the weather dishes out.

Autumn’s for the Birds

A happy hunter and his ducks

Autumn finds Oswego County hosting a wide variety of migratory species. Indeed, the place is famed worldwide for its salmonid fishery, the best in the continental US, in fact. But its waters ain’t the only element that carries visitors; the friendly skies do too. In fact, the air over our most popular fishing holes is loaded with birds of every feather.


Stan Oulette, owner of Deer Creek Motel and Pheasant Hunting Preserve (315-298-3730) called last week wondering if I wanted to go shoot some.


“You bet’cha!” I responded, a little too enthusiastically for an outdoor professional, I may add. (You see, this guy is known throughout the county for his hunting abilities, and just about every time he’s invited me into the field, he’s scored…and occasionally I did, too. So, whenever he invites me to go bird hunting, visions of the turkeys, pheasants, geese, you name it that have dropped before his sights fly into my mind and I find it hard to maintain my cool.)



The next afternoon I’m at the motel getting my gear ready in the parking lot when a truck bearing New Jersey plates pulls in. Parking down by Stan’s fish cleaning station, the young men start clearing fowl out of the back. First to get flopped on the stone dust were Canada geese, followed by ducks.


I ran over to get some photos and ask questions.


The pair had been hunting Deer Creek Marsh. Around dawn they shot their limit of Canadas. By 10 a.m., they changed decoys and shot limits of mallards, with a couple blacks mixed in.


“You won’t find this many birds anywhere else,” claimed one of the hunters. “I’ve been all over the Atlantic coast and never seen the amount of birds I see along the Eastern Lake Ontario Dune and Wetlands Area.”


While that morning was spent at Deer Creek marsh, the guys informed me that on numerous occasions they’ve taken their fill of fowl on Sandy Pond, too.


I asked if they had ever tried the Three Mile Bay and Big Bay Wildlife Management Area near Constantia, on Oneida Lake, and the youngster replied: “That’s where my dad taught me how to hunt waterfowl. I dropped my first duck there back in 1998.”


Wing shooting is probably the most challenging and exciting hunting there is. Whether you’re out for pheasants, ruffed grouse, ducks or geese, Oswego County offers some of the best bird shooting on the East Coast.

A bunch of ducks shot out of the friendly skies of Oswego County

Same hunter, different birds: Canada Geese

Steelheading After the Gates Close

A 10 pound steelie caught on a red streamer in the rapids below the bride in Altmar, NY

While some salmon with one fin in the grave remain in Oswego County’s streams, and small pods of fresh-run kings--and a smattering of browns--will run periodically through mid-November, the main focus of most anglers is steelhead. And they haven’t been disappointed; last weekend, chromers stormed into the Salmon River in massive quantities, and most bee-lined for the upper river.



Water temperatures are perfect for the species and the fish are in top physical shape. Combined, these two factors make for the hottest angling of the year.



As I write this on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, the rain is coming down in torrents of Biblical proportions. This’ll cool the water even more and raise its level enough to entice additional steelhead into the caressing currents. What’s more, they’ll be joined by large numbers of laggard kings who, for reasons ranging from being late bloomers to instinctually challenged, wait until now to make their run.



In addition, skinny creeks should be at optimum levels for the next couple of days.



Back to the Salmon River



The Salmon River hatchery has already filled its egg quota and closed its gates. Now the salmon are forced to spawn naturally anywhere they can. As a result, the stream’s floor is littered with caviar.



Bear in mind that the nearer a king comes to spawning, the more territorial and aggressive it gets, lashing out at anything in its way. The next week or two should prove to be the best time of the year for nailing a trophy on a properly presented streamer, egg cluster, or lure.



On the other hand, steelhead are in the river for one reason only: to feast on the salmon eggs. Winter’s just around the corner and the fish are pigging out to put on as much weight as they can before the cold makes food scarce.



So don’t go looking for them in the pools. Instead, concentrate on the rapids, pockets, fast channels, and the heads and tails of holes. You see, that’s where the eggs that are swept out of the redds by constantly shifting currents come to the fish. All a steelie has to do is sit in the backwash created by cross currents, a boulder or other structure and wait for the food to come to it.



Egg sacs, available at all local bait shops, are traditional favorites. Single plastic eggs and scented worms like Berkley Trout Worms, work well, too.



However, right now is one of the best times to get trophy steel on a fly. Last weekend I watched a fellow run streamers through the rapids and score big time. The fish in the pocket he was casting to were hitting everything he threw at them, including a red fly he designed on a whim and never had any luck with before.



Luck like his doesn’t last, and his ran out an hour later when the pod of fish seemed to cross the river. On the other side, they were still hitting but the anglers were using egg patterns.



Justin, over at Fat Nancy’s Tackle Shop (315-298-6357), says the most productive egg patterns are tiny glow bugs and estaz flies.



While purists rely on feel to know when a steelie hits, the action in the fast water can happen so quickly, that if you’re not highly experienced, the fish will hit and drop the fly before you can react. A good way to get the edge is to attach an indicator four to eight feet above the fly, watching it for sudden stops…and setting the hook.

This seven pounder was taken just upstream of the schoolhouse Pool on an egg sac.

Skinny Creeks Fat with Salmon

Salmon fishing amidst fall foliage... life is good!

Dragging Salmon up Trout Brook

Hard-won tropy

Nothing stirs a salmon’s passions like heavy autumn rains. Indeed, they raise streams a couple notches giving the critters all kinds of places to run. All that water can make wading rivers difficult. However, cousin Staash, a guy who likes his fishing close and personal, has the perfect answer: “When stormy weather makes rivers tough to fish, the tough go fishing in skinny creeks.”

Last week’s torrential rains brought his words to mind. Since I haven’t fished with the dude in years, and missed the good times, I got on the phone and asked him if he still believed in the old saying.

“Yup.”

“Prove it,” I dared.

He accepted.

So the next day found us at the stop sign on I-81 exit 36 in Pulaski, arguing about where we wanted to go. A string of cars began growing behind us. Before long they laid on their horns and Stash ordered “Take a right…take a right!” We headed south on NY 13 for Pineville. At the crossroad we turned left onto Cty. Rte. 48. Below the old steel bridge, the Salmon River wasn’t exactly raging and frothing, but it was close. About a mile later we pulled into the Trout Brook public fishing access site.

The lot was almost full. One guy was heaving a limit of kings onto the bed of his pick-up. The fish averaged a solid 20 pounds.

We no sooner reached the trail down to the stream and another guy’s walking up with a huge king. He allowed me to photograph him. While posing, he talked: “My two sons are about a quarter-mile behind me, loaded down with a bunch of salmon. Hauling fish this size is like dragging deer,” he laughed.

Swollen by run-off to roughly twice its normal size, the brook had enough water for the kings to run without exposing their back--in most spots, anyway. Still, it was wadeable and bustling with activity.

Guys were fishing everywhere. And they were catching fish. Indeed, in one spot where we crossed, a hooked salmon came barreling down the riffs and prit-near slammed into me. When it saw the hard object in its path, the beast slammed its tail into reverse, splashing water all over me. Some guy, dripping from head to foot, bent rod in hand, came slipping and sliding after him screaming “Don’t touch the line…don’t touch the line…”

I didn’t.

He landed it a couple pools later. When he went to get the hook out of its mouth, it struck back, sinking its canines into the flesh between his thumb and index finger. I guess the guy got the better part of that deal but you wouldn’t know it from the water pouring off him and the blood dripping from his free hand.

Right now the salmon run is going strong. In fact, the opportunities for catching one are better than ever. Autumn rains lure the fish into spots self-respecting salmon would never be caught in during low water.

The best baits to use are raw salmon eggs or egg sacs. While it’s uncertain why they’ll hit eggs, some think it’s an attempt to destroy they’re offspring’s competition.

A smattering of browns and steelies are mixed in with them. Trout enthusiasts catch quite a few salmon on egg pattern flies and, surprisingly, on plastic worms like Berkley’s Trout Worms and Gulp Mini Earthworms.

Good creeks to try, especially early in the morning or anytime after a hard rain, include Salmon River tributaries Trout and Orwell Brooks, Lindsey and Little Sandy Creeks which drain into Sandy Pond, and Grindstone Creek which feeds Lake Ontario at Selkirk Shores State Park.

The Oswego County Hunting and Fishing Guide contains a map showing their locations.

They’re Everywhere, Man…They’re Everywhere

A king caught off the riverwalk wall in Oswego

Autumn rains are early and hard this year, filling Oswego County streams to levels that are perfect for salmonids. And the fish are running…in massive quantities.



I went up to the city a few days ago to see what was happening in the Oswego River. The water was high and full of fish. It was raining and there weren’t too many anglers out, but those that were hardy enough to brave the conditions were taking kings ranging from 12 to 25 pounds in the fast water stretching from below Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop all the way to the dam, mostly on egg sacs.



The heaviest action was at the dam. Fish were on stringers everywhere. Everyone I talked to had a positive story.



One group even fished directly below the powerhouse from a drift boat. I watched the guide bait the hook with a tangerine-sized gob of fresh salmon eggs, toss it out and within two minutes hook a king of about 20 pounds.



There were several groups of kids fishing or watching. One pair of local boys knew the ropes and had two fish on in the 15 minutes or so that I watched them. Aged around 12 to 14, these guys were holding their own with both salmon but fish were more experienced, made some fancy moves and got off. They didn’t break off, they spit the hook.



I asked the boys what they liked most about salmon fishing.



“Salmon fishing is awesome,” said one. “They’re everywhere, man…They’re everywhere! These monsters fight like freight trains and when you finally catch one you got something to take home and show the neighbors.”



“I just like the fight, too,” said his buddy. “The fish rip upstream and downstream, jump, stop so you think you’re snagged, pull all kinds of crazy stuff. Nothing comes close to this anywhere else.”



Three other boys from “downstate” were up with their parents who happened to be fishing. I asked them why they weren’t trying their luck. One admitted “a fish snapped my pole” earlier. Another dropped his pole in the river. The third said he was more comfortable on dry land and had just as much fun hanging out with the other two and watching “all the other goofs” fish.



This is the best time to take a kid fishing. I planned on going with my buddy Guido and his two youngsters on Sunday but he went Saturday, caught a couple, and the experience convinced him his kids (9 and10) were still too young to handle trophy salmon and trout in fast water. Truth be told, I agreed with him.



It’s possible a pre-teen could land a salmon but the fish are brutal and require experience to land. Indeed, one guy from Vermont said that his 15-year-old son had broken his pole (he didn’t say how) and the dad was doing everything he could to catch a fish so he could hand it off to the kid and let him feel the thrill of tackling with a king.



Just making the trip is one a kid will never forget. Seeing 20-pound fish porpoising all around, less than a stone’s throw away is a memorable experience for anyone, let alone an impressionable child.



There are plenty of lessons in values to be gained, too. Watching adults hooking and mostly losing the fish teaches humility and a healthy respect for the natural world. And when a salmon or brown is finally landed, especially if taken legally, in the mouth (the fish are so big and there’s so many, often they’ll run into a hook and get impaled in the side or belly), teaches the importance of patience.



I called Larry of Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop (315-342-2778) a few minutes ago (10/7, 6 p.m.) for an update. “Salmon and browns are all over the river. Steelhead are coming in” said the message.



Likewise, the Salmon River is loaded with fish. Al Maxwell of Woody’s Tackle in Port Ontario (315-298-2378) says: “They’re in the river from end to end. We don’t have the fish in the flats that we had last week because most have run upstream. This is only the beginning of October and you can count on a lot more running all month long.”



“There’s a lot of brown trout in the river. Many of our customers have come in with 12 to 14-pounders. They’re hitting egg sacs and orange comet flies,” added Maxwell.



“Some steelies are in, too. Most of the steelhead action is in the Sandys (Little Sandy, Sandy and South Sandy Creeks). They’re taking them on egg sacs and estaz flies, a locally tied pattern named after the material it’s made from,” continued Maxwell.



So if you’re planning on trying your luck at this game, now’s the time to do it. While you’re at it, bring a kid along for the ride.

Kids watching others fishing for kings - "beats TV" said one.



A couple of local boys trying to land a king - it got away.

Dam kings. Taken at the dam.

Salmon taken below the powerhouse

Kids Get In On Excitement Of Salmon Run

A boy holds up a salmon he caught on the riverwalk in downtown Oswego. Photo by Harrison Wilde.

Last Sunday I went up to Oswego to check out the salmon bite. Numerous fish porpoised in the power company tailrace, but there weren’t many anglers around, indicating there really weren’t many fish. In fact, the half dozen guys I talked to on the West bank’s river walk had only seen a couple kings taken all day long.



So I went up to Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop to get his take on the bite.



“Ain’t many fish in the river,” Larry offered. “But there will be in a couple of days…the time it takes for the rain from all the storms we had this weekend in the Finger Lakes to work its way down here.”



Yeah, that’s what I figure,” I agreed, and left.



I called back Tuesday night.



He picked up the phone and announced “They’re in. Massive quantities of ‘em. I’ve seen loads of them being dragged up the hill all day long.”



I called Guido, an old friend, to give him the heads up and ask if he’d be interested in going on Sunday.



“Yup,” he replied.



His nine-year-old son was near enough to the phone to hear our conversation.



“Dad, can I go?” he pleaded.



“No,” Guido responded. “You’re still too little.”



I had a revelation.



“Guido, why not?”



“The fish are bigger than him, and it’s dangerous to boot.”



“Hey man,” I retorted, “he ain’t gonna be using a clothes line or a cable. The fish’ll snap the 12-pound-test before it can pull him in. And the metal fences on the river walks in Oswego have spindles that’ll keep him on the right side of the water. Let him go.”



“That’s right, there is a fence,”



“Daddy, can I go too,” chimed his 10-year-old daughter.



Fortunately, Guido likes northern pike and has enough stout equipment to go around. We agreed to meet at his house after church and drive up together.



Life doesn’t provide children with too many wholesome, cheap thrills. And salmon fishing during the runs is about as good as it gets. Imagine your child’s excitement when a salmon hits. And even if the fish don’t bite, the kids will have more than enough fun just watching all those crazed adults whooping and hollering and carrying on like…well, over-sized, aging children.



So c’mon, bring the kids up to Oswego this weekend to fish for salmon and brown trout. Even if they don’t get one, they’ll still walk away with the experience, and those who took part, deeply etched into their fondest memories. They’ll see, up close and personal-like, a salmon’s last days, a time when nature takes the noblest beast in fresh water and transforms it into a violent, grotesque critter bent on charging into shallow, turbulent, foaming water to spawn and die.



It’s one of life’s most enduring mysteries. They’ll thank you for it…and remember the trip… Let’s face it, life doesn’t give us too many tickets to immortality. Taking a kid salmon fishing during the peak of the run is the cheapest, most painless way to get there.



For up-to-date information on the Oswego River’s runs, call Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop, 315-342-2778. If you want to drop in and meet one of Oswego’s most colorful characters, he’s located on 357 W. First St. on the west bank. Larry’s fishing reports are also contained in the Oswego County Tourism Office fishing hotline at 1-800248-4FUN, http://www.visitoswegocounty.com/

An ornimental fence keeps kids in place while fishing in the city of Oswego.



Adults and older kids can fish in or out of the water.



There are plenty of dangerous spots for those who like to play on the edge.