Saturday, December 7, 2013

MORE SALMON FOR YOU

Some 800 landlocked salmon were released recently in Lake Aeroflex and Lake Wawayanda according to the NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife. The silvery fish average 14 inches long with a few up to nearly 16 inches. The stocking is addition to 1,000 salmon released earlier this year in the program that began in 2006.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

CALL OF THE WILD

There have been reports of coyotes in our neck of the woods, but from Pennsylvania comes confirmed reports of attacks by the animals. Two baby alpacas were killed by coyotes and six peacocks slaughered by the critters that seem to have a taste for the exotic. Coyotes up to 80 pounds have been reported, although the average male weighs half that. Residents are more concerned about numbers than size with 20-30 coyotes reported lurking around in some areas.

AN APP FOR THAT

What next in the tech world? You don't have to schlep to deer check stations anymore to report your kill and now you can even complete the chore on your smartphone or whatever is the favored gizmo of the day. According to Fish & Game the ELS website is now mobile friendly and downloading the app is not necessary. Hunters who already have the Pocket Ranger App on their phones will find that the MobileELS links are operational. The access makes it easier for hunters to buy licenses and permits, apply for lottery permits and report their deer take. Go to www.njfishandwildlife.com for more info.

Friday, September 13, 2013

JUST FOR KIDS

The Knee Deep Club of Lake Hopatcong will hold its annual William G. Clark children's fishing outing Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to noon. The public is invited and the club will supply the fishing gear you need if you don't have your own. It's a catch and release event and will be at Jefferson Pond, across from the high school, on Weldon Road.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

TRAVELERS' WEBSITES

A couple of websites for sportsmen heading to the Catskills to hunt or fish are www.greatnortherncatskills.com/outdoors/fishing and www.greatnortherncatskills.com/outdoors/hunting. If you're on the way to Florida and in the Miami/South Beach area a really fun thing to do is tour Biscayne Bay with an outfit that knows what it's doing...as well as owned and operated by an old friend, Kim Falconer. Check out the details and pix on her website, oceanfrontadventures.com.

OYSTERS ANYONE?

We mentioned the passing of our longtime colleague Nick Karas in the print column and I was remebering the fun trips we had with the NY Metropolitan Outdoor Press guys out of Atlantic Highlands. It seems we had more seafood back at the shore restaurant after fishing then we hauled aboard. One of Nick's specialties was oysters and his favorite, as recalled by old friend Vin Sparano of Waretown is Nick's Oysters Moscow - that would be raw oysters on the half shell with a dollop of sour cream and a lump of caviar. If he wanted to be fancy he used both red and black caviar. Bon appetit.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

BREAKING CAMP

Ransey Outdoors, in its Paramus location on Rt. 17  for more than 60 years, is closing up shop there due to high rents that usually only chain stores can afford.
The owners are looking for a new spot not far from the Towne Square site.
The Paramus store, long a favorite for hunters and anglers seeking equipment, was a location for several episodes of "The Sopranos," with Tony getting the store after its owner couldn't pay back a loan.

Monday, July 22, 2013

TOWL HOWL

The call of the wild comes often up in the boonie mountains, but the local golf course?
According to a story in the Scotch Plains Patch, a very large coyote was sighted on Greenwood Drive at the Ash Brook Golf Course an attempted to attack a resident and his pet.
Al Ivany of the state Division of Fish & Wildlife says there are from 3,000 to 6,000 coyotes statewide and sightings are not unusual.
You can find out more about coyotes at www.njfishandwildlife.com.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

FLATTTIE TOURNEY

The big tournament of the summer, other than scads for sharks, billfish, bluefish, is the 19th Jersey Coast Anglers Association's fluke tourney set for August 24, 2013.
The JCAA says "other than a hurricane" we will have the event August 24, rain or shine."
For more info, or to donate a prize, call Paul Turi at 609-660-2126 (h) 609-709-9215 (c) or email pturi6@comcast.net.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

WATERFOWLERS NOTICE

The Feds still have to sign off on them, but tentative New Jersey waterfowl seasons have been approved for 2013-2014 by Fish & Widlife. You can find the proposed seasons on the division website at www.njfishandwildlife.com.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

ROAD WORK AHEAD

It seems you can't go five miles in any direction in our neck of the woods without spottting those dreaded orange "road work ahead" "detour" or "bridge out" signs. The latter has been the case for the Jacob's Creek bridge in Hopewell Township for more than three years.
Now it's time for the fishermen to put up with this stuff. The NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife says anglers and other visitors to the Ken Lockwood Gorge WMA should be aware that road repair work will be continuing this month to repair the gravel road. Access may be limited and fishing "may be impacted."
Have fun.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

BLACK RIVER CHANGE?

When it was proposed by Fish & Wildlife that the in-season closure on the Black River in Hacklebarney State Park be dropped, there were a few snickers that suggested that conservation officers were just tired of making the half-mile hike from the parking area down the stream to check for violators... folks fishing before the 5 p.m. start on stocking days.
"Nothing is further  from the truth," said Lisa Barno in an e-mail. Barno is Chief of the Bureau of Fisheries.
She added, "two years ago CO's asked if we had ever looked into in-season closures - and admittedly it had been a number of years since in-season closures had been discussed. Their request was based on that when given the option Conservation Officers do prefer to maximize dtheir positive public reaction by patrolling when anglers are fishing as opposed to enforcing a closure, thus by design, limiting public interaction and preventing anglers from fishing - which seems contrary to the intent of stocking.
There are 16 waters, including Black River, closed from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on stocking days.
Barno said when looking over the list "we kept coming back to the Black River as it is less utilized than the other 15 waters with in-season closures and also because access was a good half-mile from the stream."
She added the later situation complicates the enforcement of the closure (delayed response to calls concering illegal fishing, additional time to patrol) that "it seemed one to consider for potential removal."
Again, this is a proposal. There will be a public comment period in late summer/early fall before the Fish & Game Council votes on proposed changes.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

CHILLY OPENER

There was plenty of sunshine, but temperatures hovered just above freezing and a pesky wind made it seem more like weather associated with the opening of buck season than trout.
We didn't bother to wet a line up at Pequest, just chatted with colleagues and some fish and game personnel keeping hands wrapped around our hot coffee container.
But heaps of hardy souls were out and for the first time in a few years we actually saw trout being caught...in the Pequest behind the hatchery were wading anglers crowded around productive holes and riffs as well as a happy bunch of kids at the education pond at the hatchery. It was good to see younsters out and about in the outdoors instead of having their little faces planted in some electronic gizmo.
We also saw anglers coming out of the Musky with hefty stringers of trout.
Stocking continues this week, with hopefully warmer weather.

FUR FINANCES

By the looks of some of the lush pelts hanging at one of the displays at the recent Pequest Open House it's obvious some New Jersey trappers did well last season.
You can find out about fur prices as well as info on coyotes and racoons in dthe Spring 2013 New Jersey Furbearer Management Newsletter at www.njfishandwildlife.com.
It's in PDF format, look for a link from the trapping information page.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

LUCKY GUYS

With warmer temps, finally, I was looking forward to smacking some golf balls this weekend, but with four inches of snow (enough already!) on the ground we'll have to drive up to see if the range is open.
Meanwhile a couple of Jersey guys enjoyed fun in the sun recently. Old Jarhead pal Tom Leahey of Cranford spent five days fishing and partying in Costa Rica with some business associates....he said the fishing was slow and weather hot and humid, but he managed to have good time. Vin Sparano of Waretown is doing his annual snowbird routine in Islamorada and reports the Keys fishing out of Bud & Mary's has been great.
Longtime colleague Al Ristori is just back from an angling trip to Panama. You can read about it on his blog.
Since Al would bleed salt water if he cut himself shaving, we always bug him about any word on new fluke regulations. He had the report by Paul Haertel of the JCAA on the Marine Fisheries council's decision to set a shorter season this year on his blog, so did Haertel. The details of same will be in our Sunday print column in The Trentonian.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

HAPPY HOOKERS

The annual Skillful Angler Awards are out and we'll run the names of local winners in next Sunday's print column. Meanwhile you can find the complete list at www.njfishandwildlife.com.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

CAT TALES

My dog's trainer down at Bent Creek Preserve in Allentown said a bobcat was treed on the propery not long ago, and up on the Pennsy farm I hunt I saw my first wild cat, a large critter stalking along one of those old stone walls farmer's built around their fields 100 or so years ago to keep livestock in, or out.
A recent report says New Jersey's bobcat population may be rising, although spotting same is a rare treat.
Bobcats from New England were released here back in the 1970s by the Division of Fish and Wildlife (Fish & Game) back then before the outfit went politically correct.

Monday, February 11, 2013

COYOTE ROUNDUP

Coyotes are becoming a bit pesky in New Jersey, but in Pennsy they're a damn nuisance killing fawns, rabbits, birds, etc.
The recent Northeast Regional Coyote Hunt, in its 13 year, bagged 58 of the wild dogs.
Some 841 hunters took part, which means about one in 14 was successful, or less than seven percent.
Given the wary and wily nature of the coyote that's actually not a bad ratio.
Hunters could use dogs, calls or good old fashioned tracking in the snow.
A $2,000 grand prize was awarded for the heaviest coyote which was a 46.95 pound critter from Susquehanna County, which also recorded the most of the 58 taken with 16.
That's where my camp is and I hear coyotes howling at night, never seen one though...and now there are 16 fewer in the hills.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

THINK SPRING - AND TURKEY

My brother in Vermont says guys are already thinking ahead to maple sugaring time and that means spring.
It's still a long way from snow and ice, but the New Jersey turkey application period opened Jan. 25 and the booklet on regs is on the division website and should be available now at license agent outlets.
Turkey seasons opens April 23. Youth turkey hunting day is April 21.

SHORE SHOW

The Atlantic City Outdoor Show is set for March 7-10. I don't have the specifics in front of me so Google it and you should find the info.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

BACK IN BUSINESS

March 2-3 are the dates for the revamped Lehigh Valley Sportsman Show at the Allentown Agri-Plex Expo Center with about 75 vendors already lined up according to promoters. It's the first time in a decade the show has been held at the Ag Center.
It follows the mega Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show in Harrisburg, Feb. 2-10.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

ANOTHER SHOW

Shadman John Punola has brought back his Sportsman's Expo with will run at the PAL Athletic Center in Parsippany Feb. 9-10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
This is a more modest show than the extravaganazas going on this time of year, only two rooms of exhibitors, but they the admission fee is just $5 instead of the usual double-digit costs of the much larger events. For info call 973-822-2395.

SHOT DOWN

Two New York gun shows have been canceled, presumably as backlash due to the Connecticut school shootings.
Big Al's Silver Bullet Premier Gun Shows in Poughkeepsie and Suffern, NY will not happen according to our colleague Dick Nelson, outdoor writer for the Hudson Valley newspapers.
No reason given for the former, but an officer for the company that owns the Crowne Plaza in Suffern, said his organization no longer wishes to be associated with gun shows.
I believe the Crown Plaza, just off the NY Thruway, was formerly a Holiday Inn and a watering hole and sometimes stayover spot for us when we attended the annual Suffern Outdoor Show, which is still on next month.