That's great you had a good trip. Can't wait to get out on the ice with you Brother.
Hi Chez and Kingperch .... I noticed your posts about Big Bay at Oneida. I only get up there a couple times a year, but 2 summers ago I got the biggest pike of my life by complete accident in Big Bay on a small spinnerbait and lightweight casting rod & no leader ! Alot of things went right for me to land that fish, especially considering the thick weeds there (he was released to fight another day). Anyways, I was hoping you guys might be able to help me ... last summer, I took my wife up & the really nice state park public launch (I think it's called Oneida Shores) was closed ... it looked like it was closed permanently. We searched & found some private marina way farther up the lake & were able to launch, but it wasn't ideal as I only have a 16' boat & prefer to launch closer to the end of the lake. Can either of you guys recommend a boat launch near the I81 end of the lake now that the state park is closed ?Also, if I'm not pushing my luck ... would either of you guys mind telling me what water depths you are targeting smallies in Big Bay ? It's so weed choked - I find it pretty difficult to find any open water at all unless you leave the bay & get out to 14 ft or deeper ...Much appreciated fellas ...JOhn
OMG...I have not been on this site for a long ,long time.....I was just scrolling around and saw this. I am so sorry you had to go through this nightmare ruttnutt, and I am happy you are ok.I am very wary of them timber rattler critters, and see them quite often in my yard here in Lordville, and along the Delaware . You are correct about how they blend in so well. Yellow phase, black phase, yellow/black and I even took pictures of a chocolate brown one 2 years ago, they all blend in to their habitat extremely well.If any of you guy's fish the Delaware, or tribs, in the area from Hancock to Callicoon (NY side), or Starlight to Damascus (Pa. side) , please be aware that there are a lot of timber rattlers in this stretch. Last year (2018) I only saw and took pictures of 4 rattlers ...but summer of 2017 I took pictures of 17 different rattlesnakes ! some of those 17 I saw over and over during the summer, probably 30 sightings.... 5 in one bunch sunning themselves. They are generally pretty docile, and do not want anything to do with humans...but some can be more aggressive than others,.... and some of them "buzz" and some don't.Some of you might have read in The New York Outdoor News last summer about the NY DEC had to remove a timber rattler from my neighbors car last summer. He opened the hood of his car to check the oil , and there was a large rattlesnake coiled up and started buzzing on top of his engine !Thankfully that snake warned him.I am sorry that I did not see this sooner to tell you that I am very, very happy that you are doing ok !
I lived not far from Hancock a while ago and there are plenty of rattlers in that area I've seen some fishing in that area thankfully I was never bit by one..I'll have to try and hunt my pics I have some of rattlers crossing the road down there in hancock.