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Fishing Hiking Niagara Gorge

Outdoors in Niagara  
Mark Daul

Eating Crow…….really

Sometime ago, I wrote this story about crows. My story routine is, I hand it to my wife for story content, and to make sure all the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted. When she finished reading it, I said, “well?” she crinkled her nose, and said she didn’t think the story was interesting enough. A couple of weeks later I was sitting with a couple of guys shooting the breeze, and a crow conversation started. I told them about this story I wrote, and they were all ears when I told them about it. When I went home, and after thinking about it, I dug the story up out of my computer, and I thought if these guys thought crows were interesting, then others should be too. So, here it is:

Crows always fascinated me since I was a young kid. The neighbor down the street had a pet crow called “Ansy” and a pet rabbit. They both were well taken care of, but it was Ansy that always had my attention. I swear that crow knew me when I would come around to the back of the house. It would get excited when he or she would see me, and my dog, Pete. It would start talking and saying things like “hellooo” or “hie” for hi. Or sometimes it would “chirp” fluctuating between high tones and low tones, probably mimicking other backyard birds. It also seemed like it would ask me, “what time is it?” I never knew if it was a he or she, but it was a cool bird. At that time, my mother had parakeets, and they had a much larger vocabulary than this crow, but it was the crow that had my attention. Ansy had a great big homemade cage that was fastened to the porch railing. It didn’t fly because its wings were clipped so it couldn’t, but it sure could get around with short flights and hops. It would flutter down off the porch railing, hop over to me, follow me around, and be my friend. It liked Pete, and Pete was pretty proud that Ansy would allow him to give him/her a ride. Pete was a medium sized mongrel, kind and gentle. Sometimes they would just stare at each other and Ansy would repeatedly say hie. I knew where the food was kept, and Ansy knew that I knew. It would stand tall, look at me, spread its wings out, make talking noises, and let me feed it and pet it. I felt we bonded whenever I visited, and it sure liked my peanuts when I brought them, but dry dog or cat food was a regular diet feed for this birdie. [And the rabbit too.] I am sure when it squawked and cawed, it was telling me something, and sometimes I guess I would make up in my mind what it was saying, and I would talk back.  When our visit was over, I would apologize and tell him he had to go back in its cage, and understanding me, I would guide him back to it, and he would gladly hop right back in.

The story about how Ansy became a pet, was that the neighbor found this crow when it was very young on the ground apparently falling out of its nest, but no nest was visible, and suffering some kind of trauma. He comforted it, nursed it, and they became friends. However, it is not recommended to rescue any wildlife because sometimes they are better off being left alone, and, rescuing Ansy was back in the “old days” maybe before laws were made to prevent illegal possession of wild creatures.  The belief, at the time, was Ansy would be able to talk better if his tongue was split, but that seemed to be cruel and mean, so my neighbor never did that. Ansy eventually talked anyway.

During the fall and winter, just before dark, a couple of my friends and I would venture out to the Niagara Falls Golf course [Hyde Park] at the very end of North Avenue. Across the green there was a woods where the creek would flow through, and at night the crows would gather in huge flocks, probably in the thousands, way up in the trees where they would make all kinds of noise cawing among one another, just socializing.  We would make crow noises back at them and all of a sudden all those crows would turn silent for a few moments then start socializing all over again. We thought that was fun. It is said crows are the most intelligent birds in all of North America and I am a believer. A flock of crows is called a “murder” of crows to be precise, and that has a good story too. Folklore has it that crows will gather and decide the death of another crow, and the other thought is, that they would circle in large numbers where other animals or people were expected to die.

Crows are very sociable, often when you see them in groups, they are families. Crow, are seen all over North America and around here you will see them in corn fields, golf courses and other places, including your backyard, and you often see them on the road feeding on a dead mouse or other kind of carrion, but they will eat just about anything. On the roads you might see one or two feeding on carrion, and maybe three, four or more, sitting up on the power lines looking down waiting for their turn, more than likely, they could be siblings.

They say wild crows don’t collect shiny objects but, Ansy would collect mostly bottle caps, and it would especially like Christmas tree tinsel it would find in the gravel driveway. Back then most Christmas tinsel was made of fine shiny metal strips like lead. Ravens are the birds that love to collect. They’ll find things from anyplace and hide them somewhere. Ravens and crows are identical in color and shape, but the raven is about 1/3 larger in size than its counterpart.

Hunting Crows in New York State is legal, and a hunting license is required. It is legal from September 1 to March 31 and only from Friday thru Monday from sunrise to sunset between those dates. Besides shotgun, rifles are permitted on hunts. Although the PETA people are against killing crows or anything else that has “meat,” crow hunting is considered a great sport and a necessary one for controlling these sometimes huge flocks that can become destructive, and a vehicle to support various diseases such as the West Nile Virus.  Hunters call crows with mechanical hand callers or with electronic bird callers, and are quite successful. Even predator callers are successful into making the crows think a predator just made a kill, and now there is something for all to eat. Calling crows can be fun and a great adventure for youngsters, and spring will be here shortly so that is the time to get out, look around you and see what Mother Nature brings you. It’s also time to get to your sporting goods store, and take a look at the crow decoys and calling aids that are available, and even learn your own hand calling techniques. Don’t forget to take the young‘uns. Discover the outdoors!

So, the crux of my story is, yes, I ate crow once, have you? Delectable. /Comments to this story: email markdaul@gmail.com  

Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

Do You Have Purple Martins in Your Backyard?

Now, that’s a good question. There is a chance you do and don’t even know it. Purple Martins, in the swallow family, are similar to a barn or cliff swallow; purple martins are a little larger, nearly 8 inches in size. Barn swallows, as the name implies, will be seen frequenting barns, [naturally] your garage, and especially they love horse stables around here. The cliff swallow in our neighborhood is mostly seen along the edges of the cliffs along Lake Ontario either right under the overhang or they love to burrow a deep hole in a sand vein so frequently found along these shores. Kingfishers hang around these places too, waiting to raid the nests. The swallows and martins diet on winged insects, catching them in flight, but the purple martin refrains from eating mosquitoes. [They must taste yucky?] Being the biggest of the swallows, the purple martin has a slightly forked tail, and the barn swallow has a much longer forked one, and your cliff swallow has no forked tail. All three are beautifully colored and the adult martin is all glossy black with a steel blue sheen.

In our area we have a nationally known, federally licensed, bird bander, Jerry Farrell, who lives in Lewiston. Banding birds for most of his life, Farrell is known all over the United States and Canada for his expertise and education of others in this important field. He is a member of the North American Bird Banding Council [NABBC] and a member of our local 3 F Club on Swann Road, where he manages a purple martin banding project. All volunteer work. At a recent meeting of the Niagara County Pioneers Club, Farrell gave a talk on his purple martin banding project, and it was quite interesting to all. He said his project started at the 3 F club 35 years ago in the back pastures of the club and it was never successful. He wondered why, but just felt, well, there are no birds around here, until one spring day he noticed martins sitting on the wires up near the club house and he thought to himself, “I should put a martin house up here” He did, and the first year it was a metal box, and it attracted some birds, 8 pair, not a lot, but some. The second year he put plastic gourd houses up and that was a good year when he attracted 38 birds of which all the offspring were banded. This project just finished its fourth year and Farrell is elated at its success. Every year the nests are full of eggs then, baby birds are all banded, all recorded, and released back into the wild. Maybe you are thinking, why band birds? The North American Bird Banding Council was founded in 1923 for the purpose of “Individual identification of birds which makes possible studies of dispersal and migration, behavior and social structure, life-span and survival rate, reproductive success and population growth” Purple Martins are a migratory bird and Farrell says his banded birds have all shown up in Brazil, where they socialize throughout the winter months, and come back here to mate and do more serious socializing by raising families, before going back again for their winter vacation.

Housing can be of wood, plastic, aluminum, natural gourds or plastic gourds. Plastic gourds you can buy and preferably with a rack system like Farrell uses at the 3 F Club. Why plastic gourds? Maintenance is important. The gourds are erected on tall poles, rigged so they can be raised and lowered for servicing; something like you would your American flag. When lowered to ground level Farrell and his army of volunteers can check the eggs at hatching time, check the new born, and keep an eye on them until they are old enough for banding before they “fly the coop” Farrell said last year they moved a set of gourds out to the front of the clubhouse and when they started checking them, he found some birds hauled shot gun wads of different colors to the nests. The nests were in kind of close to the skeet range where they picked them up at and carried them to their nests. Farrell said upon checking with the NABBC and others, no one ever heard of that. Normally all is found in these nests are leaves and pine needles, and Farrell said when they inspected, the eggs were so buried under the wads, he had to pull them out just to inspect the eggs. The tall poles are good deterrents for climbing predators like squirrels, raccoons etc. There are even flying predators, like hawks, crows, even blue jays, and others.  

Starting a martin colony can be fun and they are a beautiful, graceful bird to watch. You can attract them to your backyard if it is large enough because they like lots of landing room. They don’t care for trees and bushes too close to their homes because when they land they come in with a swoop, plus, the trees are good cover for flying predators. If you ever wanted to start a purple martin colony, go to the library for information or research doing this on the internet. There is all kinds of interesting information out there.

One year I was lucky enough to observe the banding of these birds and get some pictures, all the while learning and asking questions. The picture you see here is of Jerry Farrell raising the gourd house condominium back up the tall pole after his inspection. Notice the birds sitting on the wires waiting for him to finish so they can get back into their little apartment and check on their siblings. Farrell has done talks and demonstrations for years at outdoor shows, for clubs, for schools and regularly appears at the Wildlife Festival at the NYPA grounds in Lewiston every fall. If you have a group that would be interested in a presentation, give Farrell a jingle at his email: jsfarrell3940@verizon.net.

Fishing has been in the doldrums recently and everyone has been waiting for the ice to form on Lake Erie so the Lower River will settle down from the turbulence caused by Lake Erie winds, but it looks like it will be postponed this year. When it freezes, the river clears, the fish feel better, and the winter die-hards can get out and catch them. For up to date fishing info, check out www.OutdoorsNiagara.co. for the latest. For comments or suggestions, contact me at markdaul@gmail.com .

Outdoors In Niagara
Mark Daul

Winter Steelheading the Lower Niagara - Steelhead Contest

Throughout the winter around here you regularly see boats on trailers coming on and off the Moses Parkway, and up and down Center Street in Lewiston, heading for the Lewiston Landing. These are the guys I call the winter diehards that readily accept the challenge of catching steelhead trout from the Lower Niagara. People come from all over, and from as far away as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey and I have seen license plates from as far away as North Carolina all coming here to tap into our fishing resources. Niagara River Charter Captains do a brisk business and they bring a lot of out of town dollars to the area all winter.

In February of every year, for about the last 27 years, the Lower Niagara River has had a steelhead contest and has grown every year. The first year it saw 19 contestants and was won by Joe Augustniak from Niagara Falls. Since then, the fishing has gotten better, the fishermen have greatly improved, equipment and boats got better, techniques have improved, and now there are more fishermen using the resource.  The Niagara River Anglers Association were the creators of this event back then, and this February, on the 18^th they will be sponsoring the 2012 edition under the guidance of Captain Steve Drabczyk at Creek Road Bait & Tackle, If you would like to join in the fun, you can sign up at Creek Road Bait & Tackle, Lewiston, [(716) 807-6248] or contact the Niagara River Anglers Association. There is an awards banquet for all participants following the contest being held at the 3F Club, Lewiston.

I always said, this isn’t a contest for sissies. The weather has a reputation of hardly ever cooperating on tournament day, and only die hards can make the grade.  If you want to see what I mean, be at the Lewiston Landing before daybreak on the 18^th and see the number of boats going out. Some boats will have no less than two fishermen and others will have three or four, all bundled in survival suits and wrapped from head to toe to catch a fish. There are prizes but never enough to make anyone rich, just enough to have bragging rights and get your name in the newspaper once.

This contest through the years has seen weather anywhere from 10 degrees above zero to weather that would hit in the 60’s with 60 mph winds. The fishermen like Lake Erie to be frozen solid at tournament time, which gives the Lower Niagara better visibility water, fish are happier, bait and lure presentations can be seen better. At this point it doesn’t look like Erie will be frozen solid so fishermen will have to cope with murky waters especially if there are southerly winds. Most fishing at this time of year is done from boats and the most accepted baits are salmon eggs, egg sacks, Kwikfish [a banana style lure] and large minnows.

Most of us take winter fishing the river for granted and never get out making use of this resource right at our own back door. Just like living in this area and hardly ever visiting the Falls when people from all over the world come here to see it and enjoy it; same thing for fishing. Its right here, no need to travel anywhere. The best is right in your own back yard! If you don’t have a boat, charter one, lordy, lordy, there are probably 75-100 experienced, licensed, insured Charter captains available just for the Lower Niagara alone, and all are pretty darned reasonable. You can get some people together to share expenses, go out and learn from the captains how these fish are caught, when and where. But, I’ll repeat, sissies need to find something else to do.

If you would like to learn more about this winter steelhead fishing check out Outdoors Niagara.com and click the link on the first page. That will take you to the steelheaders page, pictures, and a live video link to the Lake Erie ice boom, and updated fishing reports. The Wilson Harbor ice fishing contest scheduled for February 11^th was cancelled due to lack of safe ice. Send your comments and suggestions to markdaul@gmail.com or to Sentinel@wnypapers.com
 

Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul
Picture below submitted by Joe DiMino, Lewiston, taken with his trailcam

Residents Report More Bobcat Sightings …… Maybe Canada Lynx?

From the time I wrote the bobcat article until now, a lot of people have come up to me and said “gee, I think I’ve seen one of those things too.” I agree, they are so fast, it is hard to believe your eyes if you do see one.

Needless to say, I feel a lot better after writing in the Sentinel about bobcats in the Niagara area. Now I know I’m not alone about what I saw. My friend, Mike Gillis, should rest easier too, knowing that our sightings collaborated our stories with what we saw were bobcats.

The emails and replies were fantastic as you can see, as you read down further.

Someone asked about the Canada Lynx being mistaken for a bobcat. Yes, they could, but highly unlikely to be found around here. They are similar in appearance, same food habits, same delights for dinner, and habitat the same, and they even have the short tails and the pointed ears with the black fluff at the tip. They are a little larger in size, but extremely rare in New York State. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service [USFWS] has them on the endangered species list all across the contiguous United States, since early 2000. They are more docile than the bobcat, and habitat destruction, and competition with the more aggressive bobcat as the reason given for being on the endangered list. Obviously, bobcats are more adaptable to their surroundings.

George Green, a Lewiston resident who lives on Mt. Hope Road, between Garlow and Walmore roads, sighted one in his back yard, and his wife, and daughter are witnesses. George said he has deer and other wild creatures visit his backyard, and the night of his sighting, he went out on his back porch with his night vision scope to see what he could see, and he saw an animal on the hill in the back. George said he looked at it and thought, “What the hell, looks like a bobcat!” He called his wife to take a look and asked her what she thought it was. “As she was looking through the scope, I stepped out on the porch that turned on the motion light, and it lit up the area, and sure enough it had the brownish color and lighter colored belly, little tail and pointy ears.” George said, “the light went out and we waved to turn it back on, but the animal had gone on the other side of the hill, and all we could see were eyes and ears.” George’s mother lives next door, and has chickens, and she had noticed some have been missing lately. She said some roost in a small tree, and some roost in the barn where the door is always open. Aha, just what these critters eat for their midnight snacks! Chicken! I’ll bet that barn door will be closed from now on.

Joe Kilmer emailed me and said he saw the bobcat article in the Sentinel, and it jogged his mind about his story.  In mid October, Joe and his wife Marie, went out one evening around 10:00 o’clock on their way to Bandanas for a bite to eat.  They left Youngstown via Main Street, to Jackson Street, as they approached the curve to Old Lake Road, he started to accelerate and saw eyes glowing in the road way.  The object was low to the ground, no tail, stubby face and pointy ears, it happened so fast.  It was heading into the Fort, and he said, “I could not believe what I thought I saw or did not see.” First, he thought it was it a fox, and turned around as fast as he could while explaining to Marie what he thought he saw. Joe said he pointed the car into the road to the Fort with his headlights shining, and saw nothing, it was gone that fast. Joe said, “I might have doubted what I thought I saw until today after reading your article. I have also doubted my wife’s and father-in-law’s sighting less than a year ago in the back field behind his house on Dickersonville Road, south of Langdon Road.” 

Joe DiMino, from Lewiston, and I talked, and he reported recording bobcats three different times on his trail cam, at his hunting cabin down near Wellsville NY.  He said the first one he saw was recorded on his Trail-Cam in August just this past summer, and another in October, then the third in November. Also in November, while he was bow hunting, about 25 yards away, one ran across his path. He said it went so fast he couldn’t get his camera out of his fanny pack quick enough, but he knew right away what it was.

Jim White emailed me and said one crossed right in front of him on Upper Mountain Road a while back, and there is no mistaking it was a bobcat. White also said there were reports of a Black Panther in the area, but that is highly unlikely here in NYS according to the NYS DEC: “No cougar [AKA panther, puma, cougar] sightings documented in New York State.”

Thanks to everyone that responded to the bobcat story, it was very interesting for sure, and it was fun doing it.

Lewistonian, Jerry Farrell, and I, attended a Niagara Pioneers Sportsman’s Club meeting recently, and he gave the members a quick synopsis of his purple martin, and other bird tagging activities over the past 25 years at the 3-F Club on Swann Road.  I made notes, and took in as much as I could, and asked Jerry if I could contact him if I have anymore questions regarding his purple martin tagging efforts for a future Sentinel article. Being the sportsman, and the only federally licensed bird bander in the area, he agreed wholeheartedly. Watch the Sentinel for a purple martin tracking story reported by a nationally, and internationally known local bird expert.

Fishing updates can be found on www.OutdoorsNiagara.com and if you would like to add your thoughts or would like to read others thoughts on the local fishing scene, follow the link to the Outdoor Forum. On the website you will find an archive of Sentinel Outdoor Stories. If you have something you would like to add here please email me at MarkDaul@gmail.com 

Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

Fishing Near Johnson’s Fudge Company and Boat House

Johnson’s Fudge stand stood just a few feet back on Lower River Road between Lewiston and Youngstown, but how many knew Johnson’s Boat House was on the river below? I never knew that, and when asking around, not too many of the surviving old timers didn’t remember it either. Several years ago, river man and commercial fisherman, Art King, gave me a manila folder with some old stuff in it before he passed away, and I kept it as a treasure from Art. It had some old papers, old NY & Ontario fishing licenses, a 1950 NYS fishing syllabus, and an old, undated, Johnson’s Fudge Company/Boat House 6 page booklet. In there was even an old Ontario beer rationing coupon book with eight coupons left and it is dated “valid until October 31^st. 1944,” but that is another Niagara story for later.

A lot of old timers will remember Johnson’s Fudge stand, and if you don’t, you’re just not old enough to remember some of the finest fudge anywhere. Here, you could buy plain chocolate fudge for 40 cents a pound!  If you wanted to splurge, you could spend a little more, and get chocolate/walnut for 50 cents a pound. It was sold in ½ pound and 1 pound boxes. When I was a youngster, my mom and dad would take the family for what seemed like a long ride down Lower River Road to Youngstown because you could see the river and scenery, and see where all the rich people lived. Houses were huge and estates were humongous, something similar to today, but only less of them back then. 

The Johnson’s 6 page booklet states they were established in 1917 and the phone number if you wanted to rent a boat from the boat house/marina, was “Telephone 58” You could rent row boats, outboard motor boats, and large party fishing boats, “with licensed operators and guides.” Also at Johnson’s, according to the booklet, you could buy bait, [in season] fishing tackle, gas & oil, boat equipment plus new & used boats & motors. They also offered small boat winter storage with boat & motor repairs.

Fishing on the Lower Niagara was very good according to the booklet, and it outlines the major fish available and the best times to catch them, where they spawn and when they spawn. Perch are mentioned and the spawning migration from Lake Ontario occurs about the middle of April, and “if the ice is not delayed by a late winter, the water has warmed to a degree that will make the fish strike a bait by April 20^th.” “This early fishing produces large catches of the big lake perch often running over a pound in weight: Catches may run as high as 200 perch to the boat on a favorable day.” Remember this is in the ‘40’s & ‘50’s.

Pike, meaning blue and yellow pike, “abound in the Niagara River and offer excellent fishing from the middle of June to the first of November or later.” It continues, “While they are present in the spring, being speared in large numbers in the rapids above Lewiston, they usually don’t take a hook until the middle of June.” Drifting is described as the method generally used by sportsmen, and it goes on to describe how drifting is done and what rigging is used. Basically, the same as fishermen use today but the booklet describes use of hand lines or short fairly stiff boat rod, 20 or 30 pound test, a 2 to 3 ounce sinker, and a triangle [a 3-way swivel today] They talk about using the number 3 or 4 small spinner with a yellow fly, or yellow and red fly baited with a piece of worm. Things have changed a little today, the fact that we use much lighter rods, lighter lines and some lures. The yellow fly talked about is still highly effective, and it was referred to as the “yellow sally” back then, as it is today. You can learn all about the yellow sally fly by visiting Outdoors Niagara. There is a section devoted to these historic, and yet modern, fishing methods. Also, there is a whole section on the demise of the blue pike, which disappeared in the late 1950’s.

Today yellow pike can still be caught in fair numbers, but the daily catch limit is five, and they have to be at least 15 inches long. Back then, there were no limits of any kind, and the booklet said, “catches from 40 to 100 pike per boat being common and from 100 to 200 not unusual.” Back then, people caught blue and yellow pike

for sustenance, feeding families, big and small, neighbors and relatives. You could find blue pike on just about any corner bar menu on a Friday night in Western New York, where you could buy a pike dinner for under a dollar.  

Lake Erie, at that time, was shining with blue pike and the people in those communities there had the same thing. You might think, wow, that is a lot of fish! But again, remember that was back in the tough times and during the Second World War when food, gas and other things were rationed, money was tight, and people   were heating their homes with coal, and I can jog some more memories here, about how, as kids, we even had air raid practices. Remember those? Stories the younger ones today never even heard of.  The Late John Long Sr. wrote a story about Lower River fishing, and how fishing the river paid for his college education in the 1950’s as his family wasn’t in a position to help. Blue pike and yellow pike drove a good portion of the economy around here.

The booklet goes on to describe the fishing drifts and where they are located. A strange thing in the publication is that the Johnson drift is never mentioned, even though it has been one of the many favorite drifts all through the years. It describes Jackson’s drift “above Stranglers point on the Canadian side.” It also says one of the drifts is “Stella Niagara drift, from Stella Niagara to Clarks point on the American side.” Does anyone know where Stranglers Point and Clarks Point is located? If you do, let me know. It also mentions the Lighthouse Drift that I am assuming is the lighthouse at Fort Niagara or maybe the small lighthouse on the Canadian side, downriver from Fort George.

Other fish catches mentioned in the booklet were “herring, white bass, black bass, sheephead, bullhead, eels and mullet, all caught by the angler in some numbers.” Sturgeon wasn’t mentioned, even though they were much sought after fish at the time too. There was no mention of trout or salmon at all, although there were very early stories written by Father Hennepin when he first arrived on the scene in the 1600’s because in his early writings, he mentioned about watching “silvery fish trying to leap the great waterfall.”  They probably were Atlantic salmon, once native to these parts.

There are a lot of stories about Niagara River fishing in the old days, and at times I wish I could have lived those adventures, and the stories I’ve heard from back then, I soaked up like a dry sponge. My father never got into fishing, so I never learned these things from him; back then, he was one of millions working for the war effort.

Today life is a little easier for most, and that is why I always stress for fathers and mothers to get these young kids of today out into the outdoors fishing, hunting, camping, hiking or whatever. Get them out to enjoy the things we have, but take for granted. Besides, you could learn a lot yourselves. After all, they may not last forever.

For area fishing updates be sure to visit www.OutdoorsNiagara.com  You can contact me at markdaul@gmail.com if you have any additional information. Next week I’ll tell you a little more about bobcat sightings in Niagara.

I recently wrote an article for the Sentinel about Coyotes. I met a friend in Youngstown at Melloni’s Market Place, and he told me he had read the article, and asked if I heard anything about bobcats in the Niagara area. That discussion brought me back to a time when I thought I saw one on the roadway, about 150 yards away looking at me from the road. I didn’t see the whole animal up close, nor did I recognize it from that distance, and it looked like an overgrown housecat or a stray field cat, but as I drove closer it sauntered off into the field at the side of the road. I kept my eye on that spot, and as I approached the area where it disappeared, then all of a sudden I could see its hind end and the short tail, and in about two jumps, it was gone. About a month or so after that, I was in Bandana’s on Lake Road, and a friend and I got into a conversation about different things, and he mentioned he spotted what he thought was a bobcat near his house, but had only gotten a glimpse also. We both live in the same general area around Bandana’s, and our description of what we saw were similar, short spotted tail, and brownish hind quarters. After our sightings, I did some investigating with area sportsmen/hunters to learn if they ever spotted any creatures around here that would meet that description, and no one ever even heard of one around here. Time has passed and I forgot all about my sighting until my friend in Melloni’s Market asked me about these ‘cats.

When I got home my curiosity made me Google bobcats in New York. These wily, secretive felines are interesting and live a good life, mostly nocturnal, but can be seen in daylight at times, and sighting one is extremely rare. Their diet is similar to a coyote, believe it or not: rabbits and rodents, birds, insects, even fish and they have been known to prey on deer just like its coyote friends in the wild. They are natural born survivors and live around 12-13 years, and according to some sources, 6 to 8 years. Males are usually between 32 and 37 inches long and weigh about 28 pounds. The ladies of this species are anywhere between 29 to 34 inches and the petite little things hit the scales at an average of 15 pounds. It had to be a male that I spotted, it was big.

From descriptive pictures I have seen, colors vary from yellowish brown, light gray, reddish brown, and buff brown, probably like the one I saw the back end of. They are spotted along the sides, some more than others, and the tail is between 6-8 inches, multi colored, spotted, black on top and white on the bottom. “Bobcat,” so called because of it’s “bobbed” tail. The face is cute and bright looking, with furry black tufts at the top of their sharp pointed ears, long fur at its cheeks and whiskers like your domestic cat. They like to make their homes in secluded places like rock piles, brush, hollow trees & logs and ledges where they can pounce on their prey sight unseen. They don’t like human activity and keep to themselves. Predators are few, deaths occurring mostly from diseases [rabies] or from their prey, in self defense. If you are out in the winter or spring you can tell bobcat tracks by their looks and size. Showing four toes without claws they are about two square inches, which are larger than you house feline, and if they are running, the stride is between 4 and 8 feet.

Hunting and trapping bobcat is not permitted in Central and Western NY, the eastern part of the state allows hunting and trapping but check the laws. Season opens on October 25th.

So, are there bobcats in Niagara? According to the people I talk to, it is highly unlikely, but what was it my friend and I saw? I think we saw a bobcat, more than likely, we both saw the same one. I you have had a sighting in your travels or spot one in your future travels, I would be interested in knowing, please contact me. Maybe if you want to actually see a live bobcat, you need to find a zoo with one, but if you do have a sighting in the wild, by all means get a hold of the DEC office in Buffalo and if you can, get a picture to verify your sighting so it can be recorded. [Buffalo- 716-851-7201]

For up to date fishing reports in our area be sure to check out www.OutdoorsNiagara.com  for the latest. Right now, steelhead fishing in the Lower River is going quite well, if you are fishing from shore or boat, fishermen are using eggs, egg sacks, Kwikfish and a variety of spinners and spoons. Wilson and Olcott pier fishermen have been very successful. If you have something to add contact me at markdaul@gmail.com  or go to the Outdoors Niagara website and you will find an archive of my recent Sentinel articles there on the “L-P Sentinel” Page.

Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul
Click on picture for full sized image!

Don’t put your fishing/hiking gear away yet! This is the best time of the year to don your hiking boots, gather up your fishing gear and get going. Independent bait and tackle shops are loaded with the proper bait and fishing gear for you, plus they can advise you what to use if fishing in the Lower Niagara River, and where fishing is hot right now. The river has cleared up after the high winds off Lake Erie last week. It always riles up the river and makes fishing tough for a while whether fishing from shore or boat, but as of this writing everything is a go and autumn colors are doing what nature does every year at this time.

Speaking of the autumn colors, and if you are not hearty enough to trek into the gorge, [like me] go to either the Devil’s Hole or the Whirlpool parking lots and head toward the gorge railing. If you start at Devils Hole, along the railing there is a path there that will take you to the south, clear to Whirlpool State Park and beyond. Oh, what beautiful views, views that will never, ever, match anything you would ever see walking the proposed hiking path along the old Robert Moses Parkway bed. Along the way near the Whirlpool end there are a couple of those tourist binoculars [still only 25 cents] that will allow you a grand view of the Whirlpool, and the river, north & south from that point. You can get a good glimpse of the Whirlpool Aero car, and even the people on it then look down close on the Ontario side and no doubt you will see fishermen down there catching steelhead from shore, and it’s a mystery to me how they get down there.

Look close and you can imagine seeing Captain Joel Robinson in 1881 piloting the Maid of the Mist II, a steam powered paddle boat, down through there after starting at the base of the Falls, down through the Great Gorge Rapids, through the Whirlpool, out to Lake Ontario. As you stand there, listen, you will hear the rumbling and tumbling water below you.

Sometimes I wonder why people travel to the Adirondack forest, Letchworth, Allegany, etc., and come back and say how beautiful it is when right here, right in our own back yard, is one of the greatest wonders of the world, and one of the most beautiful, accessible, and scenic wonders anywhere like in our own Niagara Gorge. That must be where the word “Gorge” comes from because of its “Gorgeous” beauty.

I get carried away sometimes when thinking about the outdoors, and what we have right here for everyone, and, I wish more of our locals would take advantage of it, and include all the children, young and old. I think it would be just great if our schools would insert some day trips that would include taking the kids on a trail hike to some of these places. There is a whole world out there just waiting to be rediscovered by our young people. [And you] Add these things up and include the fishing opportunities the Mighty Niagara provides and the fishing history is phenomenal, that is a whole other subject we can explore later.

Right now let’s get to fishing, concentrating on the shore fishermen. From the reports I get, anything from egg sacks, spinners, like #4 or #5 Blue Fox Super Vibrax, 2/5 or 3/4 ounce Little Cleo spoons, or heavy jigs tipped with a large plastic or twister tail or even a large shiner available at your bait dealer. The fishing platform at the bottom of the NYPA power plant is an ideal spot with fairly easy access. If hiking the Artpark area, go to the upper parking lot, and follow the trail from there that takes you down along the gorge trail there. Parking is free. Artpark, like fishing the Devil’s Hole State Park and the Whirlpool State Park areas, and it is always recommended to never travel alone but always bring a camera. Your camera is essential so you can show others of the beauty that abounds, right here in our own neighborhood especially now when the leaves are changing into those dazzling autumn colors. Look and you will see trees growing from the rocks, and lots of friendly critters. You will be walking through time.

Big bass are still crunching smaller spinners and lures and the season on them ends November 30th. Carrying one of those big salmon or steelhead can be a chore and that is another reason to bring your camera, release your fish for another day, and with the picture you will still have bragging rights.

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An education on E-10 Gasoline Additives - Solving Phase Separation with K-100

Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

On October 8^th I wrote an article on E-10 gasoline and cautioned about using it in your boat, motorcycle, car or whatever kind of gasoline powered engine you have because of “phase separation”.  I warned about using E-10 [10% ethanol] fuels [and E-15] and what to watch for and the real danger of mixing non-ethanol fuels with ethanol fuels. I advised that you keep your gas tank full and vents closed to help prevent air moisture [humidity] entering your tank. I also mentioned that if there was an additive for this problem the fuel companies would already have an answer, and it would be included in every gallon of fuel you bought, but it doesn’t.

Phase separation is a real stickler, and an easy explanation for that term is “gasoline without ethanol doesn’t absorb water like a mixture of gasoline with a 10% mixture of ethanol”, you get a water/ethanol mixture on the bottom of the fuel tank, and a reduced-octane gasoline at the top of the tank. Either of those will damage your engine” according to BoatUS.

A couple of days after my article appeared in the Sentinel, I got a phone call from Mark Quallen, President of Kinetic Fuel Technology [K-100] at 1205 Balmer Road, Youngstown. He asked if I would like to see a demonstration on K-100.  I welcomed that as I am a long time user and believer of the product. I went to the factory on Thursday and got an education.

President Mark Quallen gave me a demonstration on phase separation using water, which he drank in front of me to prove it was really just water. He poured some of it in a clear glass jar and added some K-100 to it, gave it a short swirl to mix the water & K-100 together, then held it up and it was mixed, never separating. Next demo was gasoline, water added, and then K-100. Water stayed at the bottom as it is heavier than gasoline, then he added a little K-100, gave it all a swirl and bingo! Everything was mixed and the color looked just like the gasoline. As we stood and talked, I kept my eye on the mixtures, and never was there any kind of separation. Mark held it up to the light after it sat, and it still looked like gasoline. Remember, phase separation is moisture accumulating in the E10 fuel and dropping to the bottom of the gas tank causing fuel problems and fuel tank rust/sludge. That’s where K-100 shines. I could see with my own eyes, the K-100, mixed in proper proportions, combined the water & gasoline into a burnable fuel. Get this; after a water and K-100 concoction was mixed, Quallen put a paper towel wick into one of the bottles and lit it. It burned cleanly, and he said it would burn that way until all the fuel and water mixture was used up. [Yep, water and all]

We had a little discussion about what was said on the Fuel Testers web site about K-100 [ http://www.fuel-testers.com/review_gas_treatment_products.html  ] and the K-100 having alcohol content. That is completely FALSE, and I was shown other so called “facts” on that website to be false also. Most of the product they tested is completely untested by the so called fuel testers. In fact, that whole website appears OUTDATED!  One of my friends got it right when he suggested they are just trying to sell their fuel test kit. Make a note for yourself, K-100 contains NO alcohol, ethanol or other harmful things. K-100 was developed in 1960 for other fuel purposes like old #6 diesel fuel, oil containing various undesirable impurities including 2 percent water, and through the years K-100 has been redeveloped and refined for use in today’s gasoline engines.

If you want to buy K100, it sells anywhere from $7.00 to $8.00 for an 8 oz. bottle, depends where you buy it. Locally, Advance Auto Parts stores, NAPA Stores, Car Quest, Guis Lumber, Lewiston Hardware, Coppins in Lewiston, plus on the Rez: Smokin’ Joes, Hanks Smoke Shop, No Blanket, Garlow Road Trading Post, and Rich Marine carries it, plus many others in W.N.Y. and as a last resort, if you can’t find it, go to the factory on Balmer Road and get it there, it’s just inside the front door. An 8 ounce bottle treats 20 gals. of gasoline. There is a K-100 “G” and a K-100 “MG” The ratio is 1:300 for the “G” and 1:150 for the “MG” Use the MG for longer periods of time like storing over the winter, it is more concentrated. Certainly, there are other products on the market but be cautious on what you buy, most of them contain alcohol or other ingredients like that, and you will be adding a product that will only compound your problem. Kinetic makes a diesel mixture called K-100 MD if you need diesel, or you can even use this product in your home heating oil.

If you would like a demo like I had, ask, go to their website here: http://www.k100fueltreatment.com/main.html Tell them you saw it in the Sentinel!

If you want to read my earlier article in the Sentinel go here: http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2011/10/13/103951/caution-about-e-10-in-recreational-vehicle-gas-tank

I want to add here before I forget, Quallen showed me how another brand of fuel stabilizer and water mixed. Be careful, the stabilizer I saw doesn’t mix. I saw that myself. Mix a little of your stabilizer with water in a jar and see what you get: If its oil based, stabilizer on top, water on bottom. You can’t mix water and oil [gas]. It just can’t be done. If you have an alcohol based “dry gas” don’t waste your time, you are just adding big trouble. Like I said, Gas, water, and K-100 mixed completely in front of my own eyes, then Company President Mark Quallen, went outside and dumped the mixes he made right into his own personal car. The K-100 motto: “We Make Water Burn”

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As reported last week, salmon fishing is hot right now in the Lower Niagara. Shore fishermen are in their glory fishing the Whirlpool and Devils Hole areas using Cleo’s, K.O. Wobblers, big spinners and eggs. The water today as this is written is murky but should be cleared out by the weekend barring anymore high winds in Lake Erie. You can even try the fishermen’s landing at the bottom of the Power Plant. You can’t park down there unless you have the proper permit and parking at the top parking lot can be a chore, so if you can have someone pick you up and drive you down. The effort will be well worth it, especially if you would like to take home one of your catches, or bring a camera so you don’t have to tell tales, and you will have proof!

For the latest fishing reports go to www.OutdoorsNiagara.com  and go to the Outdoors Forum and see what others have to report.

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Use caution. Seems the EPA wasn’t happy with imposing 10% ethanol [E-10] in our fuel for the sake of eliminating greenhouse gasses. Now they are ready to impose a 15% [E-15] ethanol/alcohol requirement in our fuel. Even your lawnmower, motorcycle, car, and whatever other toy you have that uses gasoline with E-10 and now coming soon the new E-15 is being pushed on us and you can thank the American Coalition for Ethanol [ACE] and other allied groups for pushing for it.

A new phrase to a lot of us is “phase separation” Phase separation? What’s that? Well, gasoline without ethanol doesn’t absorb water like a mixture of gasoline with a 10% mixture of ethanol. According to BoatUS, “you get a water/ethanol mixture on the bottom of the fuel tank, and a reduced-octane gasoline at the top of the tank. Either of those will damage your engine.” They also said, “E-10 gasoline can hold up to one half of one percent of water by volume.” That’s with E-10 testing, I wonder about E-15?

Upon investigating this and asking questions here are some things Mercury Marine relayed to me: “You are correct to worry about ethanol content in fuel. Phase separation can occur when gasoline is saturated with water to the point it no longer maintains its solution form causing water to settle at the bottom of the tank. The solution created is highly corrosive and can damage fuel system components both metal and plastic. Without treatment gasoline and ethanol blends can go bad in a few short weeks. Once phase separated, the fuel is bad and should not be used at all. There is no known process to salvage phase separated fuel.”

How about your warranty? Mercury says in the same correspondence, “Ethanol related failures are not covered by the Mercury Marine Factory Warranty or Mercury Product Protection. Mercury Marine has designed new, more ethanol resistant fuel lines, tanks, and even primer balls. We've calibrated engines to run with 10% ethanol. There is nothing Mercury can do to make sure the fuel you use is properly cared for.” What about your older engine like mine? What happens now? It seems to run ok with E-10 but what about when E-15 is introduced? Ouch!

On the FAQ forum on the Yamaha website a question was asked: “Can I use fuel with a higher percentage of ethanol, such as E15 or E85?” Here’s what Yamaha answered: “No, all of the negative issues discussed in this FAQ section will be increased and may cause major damage to the engine.”

According to Kwik Fill/Red Apple “Due to an EPA mandate stating that by January 1, 2011 all fuels sold by United Refining Company must contain ethanol, the conversion to selling E-10 blended gasoline at all of our locations is complete. All of our Kwik Fill locations have ethanol in our fuels. Small placards should be posted on the fuel pumps.” Kwik Fill is 100% North American Crude Oil.

Surprisingly, upon contacting NOCO in Tonawanda to see if they have ethanol free gas in any of their locations, they replied “We currently have 2 locations: Grand Island is one and 2530 Hamburg Turnpike, Lackawanna, NY is the other.” Hum, if the EPA mandated January 2011 for all fuels to have E-10, can this plain gasoline be phased out shortly? However, Mercury marine in their response had this to say, “Some areas of the country still sell ethanol free recreational gasoline, premium and plus at the pumps. Fleet Farm in the midwest is one example of a business that still sells ethanol free fuel in at least one form.”

If you are wondering what fuel additive you should use to eliminate this problem you are going to have trouble finding a product. Mercury Marine says, “Mercury makes several fuel care products available through any Authorized Mercury Dealer that has been heavily tested with our motors.” - “Competitors do make similar products, but our testing shows some of the stabilizers on the market like Stabil may contain kerosene and other products that do not stabilize the fuel in an attempt to salvage fuel that should not be used in your motor by altering the octane rating.” Alcohol based additives should not be used because that is what ethanol is basically so you could compound your problem. You had better check with your boat motor manufacturer or dealer for their advice because boat motors were never cheap, plus now there are more and more oil injected marine engines and ethanol is bound to make them finicky as well as four cycle powered craft.

Gasoline currently contains over 180 chemicals and compounds added to make it of the best quality today, and if there were something they could add to E-10 or E-15 fuel they would already have it in there. Probably the best advice I’ve seen is keep your gas tank topped off during storage because ethanol/alcohol absorbs water from the air. Excess water will cause rusting and sludge will form in your tank. If you have a fiberglass tank, get rid of it. The ethanol will eat right into it causing those resins to circulate to your engine. The storage time for E-10 varies, anywhere between 2 weeks to 90 days, before trouble develops but is still unpredictable. There are no figures yet pertaining to E-15 but watch out. One thing you should take heed in, is don’t mix ethanol gas with non-ethanol, the reaction will cause a gummy substance and then you will be in heap big trouble! Maybe the corn industry should stick to making moonshine.

Salmon fishing remains good in the gorge area for shore fishermen and boaters using egg skeins off a three way swivel rig. The leaves are changing now and this is when the lake perch are on the move resulting in these scrappy critters to be caught on minnows easily.

To keep up with the local fishing action and “how to” and “where to” go to the www.OutdoorsNiagara.com  website. Post your comments on the forum, it’s free, easy, and you do not have to sign in.

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Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

Finding a Captain to charter a boat is an easy task for Western New Yorkers with so many available and of good quality. Many people “think” about doing it and never hopping on a boat and doing it. Some worry about the expense. Some worry, am I really going to catch a fish like I see on TV? Some say, “gee what if I get a lousy captain and no fish? Well, have no fear, as it is highly unlikely none of that is going to happen.

Our Niagara River, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario Charter Captains are 99.99% U. S. Coast Guard approved. All Captains must pass rigid Coast Guard exams that are so tough most need to take courses in just how to get through an exam. These courses cost money and it is not just an overnight course either.

River Captains’ Vessels must be Coast Guard approved; Captains are required to be drug free and are subject to tests. They must also know first aid in the event of a passenger needing immediate medical attention. Captains are required to keep their vessels in tip-top shape at all times. River Guides/Captains all need USCG licensing, approved vessels, etc. Although boats and equipment requirements are a lot less expensive than lake fishing boats, nothing is free. A good safe, comfortable fishing boat, motor & trailer and other equipment can top the $40,000 mark in no time.

Chartering expense can be very low if shared between a couple of people. For example, if two people charter a boat at $320.00 - $350.00 per day which is a ballpark number, divide that by 2 and your cost for the day would come in pretty reasonable for some quality fishing. All you would have to bring is your lunch, license, camera and appropriate clothing. [Rods, reels, lures, bait, are supplied.] If your captain fishes the Canadian shoreline you will need an Ontario license so check with your captain when booking. Cleaning and packaging your catch in most cases are free. Some Captains can take up to four people and that is in the $540.00 per day range and you can do the math.

Right now King salmon fishing [Chinook salmon] is rolling, as it does every year in September and October, sometimes lingering into early November. In February through May, the winter steelhead fishing is phenomenal. Trophy Kings and steelhead are common in the Lower Niagara River. You could have the time of your life.

If you think you can tackle salmon & trout fishing with your boat you probably can, but a day on a charter can teach you a multitude of things. Things like bait selection, productive drifts, tackle selection, bait presentation, proper rigging, and above all safety. You will see most charter boats in the river are of aluminum, 19 – 22 ft. in length with proper matching motors. Aluminum craft are better than fiberglass construction as they can take on more punishment from ice floes that you will encounter in winter steelhead fishing. Wearing proper protective clothing is important and back in 2009 a New York State law was incorporated that requires “all boaters on recreational watercraft less than 21 feet in length including motorboats, canoes, kayaks, rowboats and sailboats to wear a personal flotation [PFD] device from November 1 to May 1 on New York waters.” Also included in that law, “PFDs must be worn year-round by all children under 12 years of age on any boat less than 65 feet in length.” If you can afford one, cold water flotation/survival suits are recommended. They not only keep you afloat if a cold water tragedy occurs it will keep your body reasonably warm until help arrives. These suits are also a good deterrent to the cold north winds that frequent the river, and you will see many charter guys wearing them. Mustang and Sterns are manufacturers of quality USCG approved suits and/or jackets. Yeah, they can be pricy, but compare that to the cost of a life.

Pictured is a well known River Charter Captain, Jim Gordon owner of Jims Charter Service with a client showing his early October King salmon catch. If you would like a list of local Charter Captains, go to the Outdoors Niagara website and click on “Charter a Boat” on the homepage. You can’t miss it; there is a picture of a happy little girl sporting an Outdoors Niagara ball cap! www.OutdoorsNiagara.com 

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By now most fishermen & boaters/sailors have probably heard about the Watertown Times story of Roy M. Anderson from Baldwinsville N.Y. who was fishing the Ganonoque Narrows in the St Lawrence River last May and got a $1,000 fine for just being there and not phoning into Canada Border Services Agency [CBSA] advising them of his presence. He was not landed, anchored or anything like that, he was just drift fishing with his friend.

For generations we have all enjoyed the pleasure of fishing and boating the Niagara waters without any interference, only checking fishing licenses or maybe a boat inspection to see what you are drinking I guess. Anderson had two choices; either get his boat towed in to shore while he and his friend lie handcuffed on the floor of his boat or pay the $1,000 fine on the spot. He paid it with his credit card.

In June the New York B.A.S.S. Chapter was planning their annual a bass contest out of Messena NY on the St Lawrence and called Canada waters off limits for fear of repercussions. The contest official always insisted their entrants purchase a Ontario license as well as a NY license. This contest normally has around 200 entrants and it dropped to 144 this year, officials saying the interest just wasn’t there. Think about it; 200 fewer licenses, Ontarians lost a lot of license money and tourism money. Hum, $83.00 x 200? You do the math.

Congressman William Owens D-Plattsburgh protested this and notified the Canadian Embassy in Washington then State Sen. Pattie Ritchie got involved along with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer who in turn had written the heads of the CBSA and its American counterpart, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB), and copied Gary Doer, the Canadian ambassador in Washington. Upon hearing about this and being concerned about our border waters right here, this writer contacted Louise Slaughter’s office immediately and never received a response, but my name is not Schumer, Cuomo or Obama either.

New York's deputy secretary of state for public safety, Elizabeth Glazer, wrote to the Canadian public safety minister requesting that the Canadian government return the $1,000 to Mr. Anderson. I guess we’ll have to contact Mr. Anderson to see if by chance he did get his money back.

How will we here on the Niagara border waters be affected? Could it get that bad here? The Canadian law says, and it stands true in all border waters, "In-transit movement must be continuous, uninterrupted and without delays or stop-overs. Such movement could be for reasons of the shortest route, requirement of deep waters, evading obstacles such as bridges, etc." In other words, as long as you're not anchored, you're not on Canadian soil. So do you think Mr. Anderson should or will get his money back? I wonder how this is handled with the Whirlpool Jet boats. But there can’t be any problem because they are always under power.

RULES: Don’t anchor, don’t drift, don’t tie up, don’t…..

If you want to land in Canada by boat here is the number to call if you can wait long enough to get through: (888) CAN PASS (226-7277) Available 24/7

As you read this on Saturday morning there is a walleye contest going on and if you get to the Lewiston landing between noon and 2:00 today you can see what our local fishermen go wild about and just maybe a fisherman will give you a nice fresh one to take home and eat! Umm! Results will be posted on Outdoors Niagara Sunday. For up to date fishing reports and other information visit www.OutdoorsNiagara.com

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Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

If you are into fishing and decide some day you would like to try your hand at fishing competitively, here is your chance. I hate to say it, but summer is winding down. Before you know it, back to school, tune up the furnace or chop the wood, winterize your home and your boat and brace yourself.

But there is still plenty of time to get out and get some quality fishing in as the fall brings on those hungry fish that are trying to fatten up for the winter. The bass go crazy, the walleye can’t get enough to eat fast enough and the trout and salmon will be right behind all this as the water cools. It’s long been known that the earliest king salmon start moving in from the lake in mid August and generally caught by shore fishermen in the Devil’s Hole and Whirlpool Park areas first, on silver spinners like the #4 & #5 Super Vibrax and Little Cleo spoons. These early arrival guys are considered the “scouts” finding good places to spawn for the rest of the troops upon their arrival.

If you didn’t fish either of the July bass contests there are a couple of walleye contests coming up that might interest you. The first one is the A-1 Bait & Outdoors Niagara sponsored contest, Walleye Classic IV, on August 13th from sun-up to 2:00PM. Simple rules: Lower Niagara only, $25.00 entry fee that includes $5.00 towards the Lunker Award [Biggest walleye of the day] This is a total 100% payback to the contestants paying for first place, second place and third place plus the Lunker prize money. There will be a free hot dog & salad picnic at 2:00 at the Lewiston Landing Gazebo. [BYOB] The public is invited to watch the weigh-in between 1:00 & 2:00. You might even get a fresh fish or two from the fishermen! You can enter at A-1 Bait Supply on 5125 Grauer Road in Niagara Falls [870-2170] or on line at www.OutdoorsNiagara.com  using PayPal.

This contest is being followed by the Niagara River Anglers walleye contest on August 27th from sun-up to 2:00 PM. Lower Niagara only with weigh in at Lewiston landing and a picnic to follow: 100% payback with a $5.00 optional big fish award. Both of these contests feature total weight of just two fish be entered in the interest of conservation. More at www.niagarariveranglers.com  or at Creek Road Bait & Tackle 807-6111.

Fish Odyssey: 35th Annual Fall Classic Derby – Curt Meddaugh Memorial, covering Orleans-Niagara-Erie Counties; Fish for Salmon, Steelhead/Brown trout, Lake trout, Smallmouth bass, Walleye and Carp $2,500 Grand Prize!!!! 1st place $500 2nd place $250 3rd place $125 each specie Prize Structure (based on 500 adult registrations) $20 Adult registration Fee - Kids Free in special category. Fishing will take place in the Public Waters of Erie, Niagara and Orleans counties, including the waters of the Niagara River, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. For more information visit www.fishodyssey.net 

The last competition of the 2011 fishing season is the annual LOC derby. [Lake Ontario Counties] August 18th and runs to September 5th. For more details and to sign up at www.LOC.org . This competition includes Salmon, Brown Trout, Lake Trout & Steelhead only. The dates are an excellent chance for shore fishermen to score.

Bass fishing continues to be good in the Lower Niagara and in the Lake. The drifting moss that hampers early summer fishing has all cleared up and the walleye are cooperating nicely. If you are fishing the Lower River for bass, drift along the Coast Guard station out into the lake and fish around the green can Buoy but not much beyond that. All that area is known as "The Bar" Bass will be hanging out there and if fishing from shore you will do well fishing the public docks in Youngstown using a nightcrawler or crayfish drifted along the bottom. Cast up river and let your bait settle and drift it downstream. You can do the same at the Lewiston Landing. If you don’t get snagged up on the bottom at times you are not on the bottom and that is where the lunkers lay. Don’t be surprised if you nail a walleye as they are on the move in the river now. Walleye come abundant in early August through September.

King salmon will be starting to appear in the lower river gorge area in mid August. Off shore fishermen are the people that report the earliest catches of these brutes fishing the Devil’s Hole and Whirlpool areas casting spinners or spoons. It is always felt that the early arrivals are scouting out the area for the big spawners to come along later in September.

For local up to date fishing information visit www.OutdoorsNiagara.com: Featuring Niagara River, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie Fishing, along with up to the minute local fishing reports.
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Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

Saturday July 23 the Niagara River Anglers held their annual Lower Niagara Bass Contest with Brendan Walsh, Niagara Falls, taking top honors with his two fish total weight of 9.32 lbs. His largest weighed in at 4.74 pounds and was good enough to get the big fish of the day lunker award topping all others. Captain Frank Campbell, Niagara Falls, of Niagara Region Fishing Charters took second place honors with his total of two fish hitting the scales at 8.49 pounds. Rich Domin also of Niagara Falls tipped the scales with 7.30 pounds total weight 5to take home third place honors. Walsh had a very good payday not only gaining first place in the contest as he won the lunker award plus cashing in on the prize awarded for the biggest fish caught by a NRAA member.

All winning fish were caught at the Niagara Bar using mostly tube jigs [root beer color or green] and leeches and some big pike chubs, all available at your local bait dealer.

Captain Steve Drabczyk [Drab6 Charters] of Lewiston headed the committee of volunteers on this 2011 edition of the NRAA bass contest.

If you are fishing the Lower river for bass, drift along the Coast Guard station out into the lake and fish around the red can Buoy but not much beyond that. All that area is known as "The Bar" Bass will be hanging out there and if fishing from shore you will do well fishing the public docks in Youngstown using a nightcrawler or crayfish drifted along the bottom. Cast up river and let your bait settle and drift it downstream. Same at the Lewiston Landing. If you don’t get snagged up on the bottom at times you are not on the bottom and that is where the lunkers lay. Don’t be surprised if you nail a walleye as they are on the move in the river now. Walleye come abundant in early August through September.

For local up to date fishing information visit www.OutdoorsNiagara.com  Featuring Niagara River, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie Fishing, along with up to the minute local fishing reports.
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Those of us that live in the area of the Niagara River and Lake Ontario are lucky people. We have some of the most fabulous bass fishing right here in our own back yard. Minutes from launch ramps and minutes from shore fishing opportunities from June through September.

There are many favorite spots along the Lower Niagara shoreline to fish from your boat but the best place regarded by many is the Coast Guard drift starting at the southern end of the CG station right out into the lake on the “Bar”. The bar is out between the Fort Niagara shore and the “green can” which is a channel marker buoy set out and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

If fishing the CG drift don’t anchor. Drift right through 15-20 ft. from shore while trying to hang and bounce your bait near the bottom, then motor up and go back up river and come down again. I have found my worm harnesses works just fine in there or a heavy jig tipped with a nightcrawler with a 3-way swivel and dropper sinker work for me. The old timers will even remember the famous Sally fly and spinner.

Out on the Bar, the area around the green buoy produces best for me, either trolling or drifting if the wind is right. Stick with about 17-20 feet of water. The hot set up as of late has been a plastic tube jig rigged as picture shows, and drifting on a heavy jig head so it will bounce the bottom. Color is your choice, but motor oil color seems to be hot. A tube jig will imitate a darting minnow or a crayfish scurrying about.

Of course the old stand-by live bait is closest to my heart. A crawler mounted on a jighead with a trailer hook is tough to beat or on a worm harness, but some days you need larger bass minnows or crawdads. Crabs, is a more common name around here for crawdads. Although soft shell crabs are much sought after but sometimes supply and demand say you can’t get them and using a small 1 inch crab will take as many bass as the more expensive soft shells. Generally your independent bait dealer will have both. Leeches are another favorite dinner for hungry bass. Hang them on a harness or a jig head & drift with a three-way swivel and drop sinker like you would with worms or minnows.

Dropshotting for bass and all species of warm water fish is a red hot new method of fishing and I can cover that in another column. The big boys like the pro circuit bassers are even using it now. [More on dropshotting here]

There are several spots further up river to fish if the lake or the mouth of the river is rough and windy. One place is just downriver from the Lewiston Landing along the clay banks but stay along the drop-off there. That’s where the fish will lay. Walleye will cooperate in that section too. Peggy’s Eddy drift starts at the top of Joseph Davis State Park and is another good producer.

I found a spot last year about 75-100 feet north of the water pipe that discharges from the CWM site. That highly purified water is only discharged once a year in the cold weather months. Don’t worry it’s safe. The current there is slow and shifty, dropshotting with live bait is the exact way you want to fish it.

The latest news story out is fishing/boating in Canadian waters. Seems a fisherman in the St. Lawrence was traveling in Ontario waters from the U.S. and fishing unanchored, the story says he was stopped by Canadian officials and was given a choice, either surrender his boat or pay a $1,000.00 fine. He paid the $1,000.00 on the spot with his credit card otherwise his boat would have been confiscated and cost a lot more money to get it back. Congressman William Owens D-Plattsburgh is inquiring further as this article is written. This writer inquired with our own district Congresswoman Louise Slaughter last week and still hasn’t received a reply. Of course there are always two sides to every story and we heard just one so far.

According to Stephanie Malin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol; “While in Canada, U.S. boaters who fish from unanchored vessels are on notice they are subject to heavy fines and seizure of their vessels, the same is not true of Canadians fishing in U.S. waters." "On the U.S. side, a boat must be anchored or docked, for instance, to require a report to customs.” So take heed fishermen, recreational boaters & sailors, until there is more clarification on this. Can Niagara River users have this same problem? For now maybe you should check in to the nearest Canada Customs office when crossing that invisible line. You can call the Canada Customs at 1-888-226-7277 for further understanding, but the bottom line is just don’t anchor or land on shore.

Shore fishermen don’t need to be concerned about those things. There are lots of spots for them starting in the Whirlpool and Devil’s Hole State Parks in the Gorge area as long as you are hardy and can manage the walk down. I always tell people to be sure to bring a camera. That is as important as bringing bait because there is so much beauty to see down there that you would want to share it with others and if you hang a big fish you don’t want to have to carry it all the way back up. Take a picture & release it.  Great bass fishing there and most use spinners and/or spoons. You can drift live bait by casting upriver and letting your presentation drift down but be careful of losing your rig along the rocky bottom.

Fishing the NYPA fishing platform can produce some nice smallies too, and the whole shoreline down to Artpark. I recommend traveling the Gorge in pairs, that water is swift and unforgiving, and it would be nice to have help if needed.

There is a fishing platform at Joseph Davis State Park and, it has produced some nice bass; plus in the early spring perch like to hang out there testing your minnow presentation.

Of course, Lewiston Landing and the park along the river’s edge in Youngstown will produce everything from rock bass to smallies and perch almost anytime.

Lake fishing our area is a pretty easy and relaxing affair on calm days. There is a variety of methods and baits but I recommend and use an old standard; a deep diving Rapala. Shad or perch color, J-7 or J-9 sizes. Similar diving baits work really well too. In the summertime I have trolled the entire shoreline from the mouth of the river east to Porter Park [old Hooker property] in 12 to 18 feet of water, sometimes 20 to 22 ft. because of the water clarity and never ran out of fish. In the deeper water attach a heavy split shot or 3-way rig to get you down to the bottom. If you are not fishing bottom you might as well be staying home because the bottom is where you will find these critters.

Outdoors in Niagara
Mark Daul

Ian Emes, of Niagara Falls went home with a nice payday Saturday by taking the honors of winning the fourth annual Walleye Classic sponsored by Outdoors Niagara and A-1 Bait Supplies plus he won the Lunker Award for the biggest fish of the day weighing in at 10 pounds even. In the interest of conservation only two fish per fisherman is allowed for entry and Emes total for the day came in at 18 pounds 2 ounces. Emes caught his fish at the Bar while fishing with his father Chris.

Brothers Ron [Niagara Falls] and Chris Mrzygut [Lewiston] finished second and third respectively with a total weight of 17 lb. 11 oz. second placed honors going to Chris who came in close behind with 14 lb. 6 oz. total. Most fishermen spent their time at the bar in front of Fort Niagara where most of the fish were caught on worm harnesses and the old time reliable yellow sally & spinner tipped with a crawler, an all time Niagara River favorite from the 1950’s. [Available at local tackle shops only]

Fishing was great with a lot of fish tipping the scales around the 6 to 8 pound mark. A total of 32 fish were weighed in during the 8 hour event.

There were a good number of enthusiastic walleye fishermen this year probably due to moving the contest to August instead of the usual September event. Plans for next year will to coincide for one day with the Annual Fish Odyssey [Niagara County Trout & Salmon Contest]

Again thank you to the Village of Lewiston and the Harbor Masters for the courtesy and the use of the waterfront!

Next up is the Niagara River Anglers annual walleye contest being held on August 27. For more information contact Captain Stephen Drabczyk, Creek Road Bait & Tackle at 807-6248.

Don’t forget Niagara County’s own 35th Annual Fish Odyssey contest will run August 20 to 28. More info and to register go to www.FishOdyssey.net .

For up to date fishing reports and information go to www.OutdoorsNiagara.com . “Always updated, never outdated”

More light on the ethanol fuel controversy

Mark Daul
Youngstown NY

Bob Confer’s column of October 11th pertaining to E-10 fuels was unfairly attacked by Chris Thorne, Public Affairs Director of Growth Energy. Who is “Growth Energy you might ask?” Growth Energy is a proactive group of American ethanol producers……of course biased as I can see. Confer was merely expressing pitfalls of EPA mandated E-10 fuels and warning of the approaching E-15 fuels that are being blamed for costly repairs to some older motor vehicles in particular outboard motors, lawnmowers and such. Confer related the rising prices of food, and Thorne disputes that fact, but that is a whole different argument. Neither Confer nor Thorne addressed the real problem and that is with fuel separation and shortened fuel storage life which happens in gasoline containing 10% ethanol or even the E-15 [15%] that will soon be crammed down our throats.

Phase Separation describes what happens to gasoline containing Ethanol when water is present. When gasoline containing even small amounts of Ethanol comes in contact with water, either liquid or in the form of humidity, the Ethanol will pick-up and absorb some or all of that water. When it reaches a saturation point, the Ethanol and water will Phase Separate, actually coming out of solution and forming two or three distinct layers in the tank. This separation it is said, can occur anywhere from within two weeks to ninety days. Once separation has happened in your tank, the only way to eliminate it is to completely drain the tank and start over with fresh fuel.

In older engines Ethanol-Blended gasolines can raise havoc, but Mr. Thorne didn’t mention that either. However, he did say “Ethanol is a high-octane solvent; and will actually keep your engine cleaner than older MTBE fuels, extending the life of your boat or outdoor engine.” [MTBE replaced lead as an octane enhancer]. He didn’t say older motors [eg., boat motors prior to 2007] can be destroyed by metal corrosion, deterioration of rubber and plastic fuel components resulting in clogged fuel filters, carburetors and in some cases, fuel injectors. He didn’t say anything about composite fuel tanks being weakened, or lowered fuel mileage, this means that the more Ethanol found in fuel the worse your fuel economy will be. You use more gallons of fuel containing Ethanol to go fewer miles. Another note here is the Federal Aviation Administration along with some engine manufacturers, has prohibited the use of automotive Ethanol-Gasoline blended fuel due to safety issues and engine damage.

I have to agree with Mr. Thorne about these blended fuels creating “jobs that can’t be outsourced”. I can assume it has created thousands of U.S. Ethanol manufacturing jobs just like engine repair shops are going full steam repairing motors that can’t take this product even though it has been marketed since the 1970’s, but back then we had a choice. Now the EPA mandates that since January 2011, all gasoline stations carry Ethanol laden fuel. According to the New York Times, [July 2011] “Food manufacturers and cattle and chicken farmers say the government’s support for Ethanol is, in effect, pushing up food prices.” But not so, according to Chris Thorne, who said, “There is no evidence that Ethanol results in higher food prices”. I guess it all depends on who you want to listen to, a newspaper writer or a proactive group of corn/Ethanol producers.

Field corn was projected by the USDA at $3.25 per bushel in 2007-2010 compared to $2.00 a bushel in 2000-2005. Fuel blenders have been getting Federal Government subsidies to the tune of 6 billion a year. Those subsidies come from our pockets. But wait! The Senate voted 73-27 in June to cut annual tax credits for blenders of ethanol. The vote was largely symbolic since the amendment was attached to a bill that failed. There was talk about fuel being blended right at the gas pumps, but gas station owners are reluctant, even though the Feds want to give out grants to subsidize them. Oh, more subsidies!

Whatever way you look at this problem, remember “Phase Separation” is a mean result of this blended fuel and if you are storing your lawn equipment, motorcycle, boat or whatever, remove all the remaining fuel you have in your tanks and start fresh next season. One thing you can do for a short term is close off all tank vents and that will help prevent outside air moisture from entering and spoiling what you do have. The only good fuel additive that I am aware of is K-100 by Kinetic Labs., and is available in many local gas outlets. However, don’t wait until you have the problem, it won’t work; use it regularly to prevent the problem.