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September Canada Goose Seasons

Tentative dates for the September Canada goose seasons are as follows:

*
A Canada goose in flight
New York hunters take about 40,000 Canada geese each year which helps to reduce resident populations of nuisance geese
* Northeastern, Southeastern, and Western Zones: Sept. 1-25
* Lake Champlain Zone: Sept. 2-25
* Long Island Zone: Sept. 2-30

The bag limit for geese during September is eight per day, with the exception of the Lake Champlain Zone, where the limit is five per day. The September season is designed to increase the harvest of local-nesting or “resident” Canada geese, which are causing more problems every year. Approximately 40,000 birds are taken annually by September goose hunters in New York, helping to slow the growth of populations where hunting is allowed.

ELKIN, N.C. — David Hayes doesn’t usually fish with a girl’s toy rod and reel, but after making a record catch, he may reconsider.

The North Carolina man now holds a state fishing record after landing a channel catfish that tipped the scales at 21 pounds, 1 ounce.
His granddaughter had asked him to hold her pink Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. Seconds later, he caught the big one.

Hayes said his granddaughter was worried the big fish would break her rod. It measured 32 inches long — 2 inches longer than the Barbie pole

A few things you should know about salmon fishing:

‘Pacific salmon’ is a generic term that covers ten species. Chinook, chum, Coho, pink salmon and sockeye are all described as ‘Pacific salmon.’ Captain Doug Stein suggests that you pay particular attention to temperature. Choose to fish when the temperature’s between 53 and 55 degrees. He also suggests that fluorescent red, blue, or yellow spoons and plugs give the best results.

Pacific salmon species like an offering that passes slowly through the fish’s field of view. One technique you might try is a backtrolling the plug. Let about fifty feet of line, with the plug attached, and then hold it against the current as the plug dives to the bottom and wriggles. Move the boat slowly downstream into the most likely fish holding area. Ideally, the plug’s action irrigates the fish enough to strike.

Are you a skilled caster, and do you have a ‘feel’ for a light bight? Try drift fishing. Cast your bait, or a bait and drift bobber combination, slightly upstream; if you use the combination, attach a small lead weight thirty inches up the line. Let your lure swing down and across the current. When the fish stops the moving bait, strike fast and strike hard. Eggs make great bait for salmon.

Are you looking for Alaska king salmon? Go after king salmon between May and October. While the fish will average 25 to 35 pounds in weight, they can reach 70 or more. Trolling, mooching, and jiggling are the methods most likely to get you the results you want; you may even find you hook two at the same time.

If you don’t want to look too long, consider obtaining the services of a professional. State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game statistics suggest that an unguided angler will spend just about 40 hours on the water, before they hook a king salmon, while guided anglers will hook and land a king salmon after only a few hours.

Posted by Sarah Freeland

Tips for Walleye:

A good rule of thumb is to start with a leader of about 5 feet and experiment from there. Leaders of ten feet or more may be required to reach the “high riding” Walleyes that feed on schools of main lake minnows or swarms of insect larvae. At times when the fish are really riding high, you might replace your plain hook with a floating jig or add a small float to the leader just ahead of the hook. When you’re fishing with night crawlers, injecting a bit of air with a product like Lindy’s Worm Blower will help float the crawler up higher to reach these fish. Don’t over do it, a tiny bubble of air injected near the collar will do the job and still allow the bait to look natural.
In the Summer when it gets hot out, many of the big trophy Walleyes go deep. In this case, you should try drifting really slowly in the deep water with a worm harness. To keep your worm harness off the bottom, many people use a three-way-swivel set-up which is used with Lake Trout techniques.


Gamakatsu Walleye & Steelhead Assortment $ 5.99
5 Colors of Octopus Hook. Green, Blue, Red, Bronze and NsBlack. 5 hooks in each color. Click to Buy

The best way to catch mullet is with a cast net but you can catch them on hooks in 3 ways.
One way is to fly fish for them. Use a 6 weight system with white colored slow sinking flies. This is extreme fishing for a mullet. The other way is to use a small hook with a small dough ball like biscuit dough. this takes a while unless you have trained the mullet onto the bait you offer. In short, feed the mullets for a few days with the bait and then go back and catch what you need.The third way is to use multiple hooks on a line and try snagging them. The last way would be faster but will wear out your arm because the school is too loose.

Giant Sturgeon jumps 10 feet in slow motion

Since sturgeon have barbels (the whiskers) that are highly sensitive, a fisherman that uses mono filament leaders will many times have the bait rejected. The fish can sense that something does not feel right with what they are being offered to eat. So the leader must be made of softer line. A braided line is recommended.

Try to use the same bait as what they are feeding on at the time. If the smelt are running up the river then use smelt as bait. Salmon will also go for herring and anchovies if that is what you are using to target the sturgeon with - the fresher the better. Obviously when the sturgeon are feeding on salmon you are fishing for salmon and sturgeon at the time you would use sand shrimp or salmon eggs. If you are using herring or anchovies make sure that the bait is securely hooked through the head since that is the part that the sturgeon will want to swallow first.

Don’t underestimate the strength of Nile perch when it comes to destroying lures; most lures are not strong enough and require replacement hooks and split rings. The bigger Rapala lures are fitted with hooks and rings, which are just about strong enough.


The Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) is a freshwater fish belonging to the family Centropomidae. It is native to the so called Afrotropic ecozone, where it was originally found in the Congo River, the Nile River, the Senegal River, the Volta River and Lake Chad. It can also survive in brackish waters and is common in Lake Maryut in Egypt. During the 20th century, it was deliberately introduced to many other lakes in Africa than Lake Chad, since the Nile Perch grows very large and therefore is popular among fishermen. The Nile Perch is a valuable food fish and the fillets are exported to other parts of Africa and to the rest of the world as well. The Nile Perch has also been involuntary introduced to several other parts of the world, and many areas have created rules and regulations regarding the possession of live Nile Perch in order to protect the native ecosystem. It is for instance illegal to possess, raise, sell or buy live Nile Perch in Queensland, Australia. Those who break the rule can be forced to pay fines up to 150,000 AUD. The Nile Perch was introduced to Lake Victoria more than 50 years ago and has since had a devastating effect on the ecosystem. Many fish species have become completely extinct in Lake Victoria, including a large number of endemic species that can be found nowhere else in the world.