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.

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.

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.

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.

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.