Rochester Boat Show and other items

This week starting Thursday at 11 am, is the Rochester Boat Show.  I'll be there with Silver Lake Marine on Friday afternoon into the evening and again throughout the day on Saturday, usually getting there around 11 am.  Looks like we'll be upstairs this year.  As always, you can get great deals on boats/motors - generally the best deals of the year.  Boat dealers throw in perks and there are manufacturer incentives as well.  I'm happy to answer any basic questions on the boats/motors and their fishability.  Staff from Silver Lake Marine, along with reps for various companies can answer technical questions.

Even if you're not planning on buying anything this year - it's a fun diversion from the winter.  Food and drinks are available.  There's also stuff for kids.  It's a great way to kick off the cabin fever.  Parking is a cinch at the Rochester Parking Garage (at the Chamber of Commerce) and you'll never need to step outside - you can just walk over across the skyway to get to the show.

You will find other brands there and can compare and contrast boats as well.

http://www.rochesterboatshow.com/

My truck spent last week in the body shop getting a new grill and a few other items.  They were destroyed thanks to a Bambi run-in last April.  Our deer population in Tompkins County remains huge, and I always tell clients to be extra-cautious while driving around here - especially in the early morning, late evening and nighttime hours.

I've been enjoying my time off of the water.  Sometimes it's good to just take a break, and that's what I've been doing.  Some people eat, drink, sleep and breathe fishing - that's great, but that's rarely ever been me for long periods of time, although I've had my moments.  I have a lot of interests and other hobbies that keep me busy and also keep me enthusiastic and focused when I do hit the water.  I've been going at this sport starting in 1976 and really fired up full-steam in 1978!  That's a lot of time on the water.

I expect to be ready to roll within two weeks with a brand-new motor - I'll likely find out more this weekend.   The weather will probably be more conducive to ice-fishing over the next couple of weeks anyways.

Dates are starting to book-up.  Now's the best time to reserve dates for this year.

New York has a very diverse number of fish species.  The state can be divided into different watersheds and these are what determined a lot of population "assemblies" over time since the glaciers.  A lot of people wonder what kinds of fish are in the Finger Lakes.  One tremendous online resource is the Atlas of Inland Fishes of New York State.  You can link through this via the NYSDEC website.

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/common/nysm/files/atlasofinlandfishes.pdf

There's a lot of cool history here!  For example, the last (scientific) record of a burbot in Canandaigua Lake was in 1974.  They were reportedly common there in the 1930s.  One was recorded in Cayuga Lake back in 1875!  Want to know about the different lamprey species?  It's all in here.  Only one type of lamprey in NY is parasitic.  You can read about pickerel being moved around, and what species really are native to the region.  If you ever caught or saw some weird fish in NY State, you'll find them here. If you want to catch a white catfish or a quillback to add to your species list, you can see where they exist.  It's a great resource and best of all, it's free online to peruse.  Did you know that American eels actually got into Keuka Lake in the 1800s via the "Crooked Lake Canal?"  That's the failed canal that was built between Dresden on Seneca Lake and Penn Yan on Keuka Lake.  Of course, the eels disappeared a long time ago on Keuka.  It makes me wonder how lampreys weren't able to colonize Keuka.  Thankfully, they didn't.  Although word was that the Keuka Outlet was too polluted historically to support lamprey.  You'd also think there would be other species of fish that originated in Seneca Lake and then swam over to Keuka Lake and I'm sure there are.