Outdoor Adventures with Gary Lee - Vol. 279
Well, another beautiful week here in the Adirondacks but not so much for the folks down south of us in many states hit by the tail end of Hurricane Helene which whipped out many small towns that, sad to say, will probably never recover. The death toll is at over 230 with several people still missing, which is the deadliest hurricane since Katrina. Total losses from wind and flooding are at 30.4 billion and 47.5 billion. Today another Category 4 Hurricane Milton is heading for the west coast of Florida which is going to hit right around Tampa before the end of the week.
The leaf peepers were out in force over the weekend and so were the kids and adults for Kids Day in Inlet on Saturday 10/5. I was out on the fishing raft on Fifth Lake with three waves of young anglers, some of whom had never caught a fish in their young lives. Some did that day, and others did not but they sure tried, and I have pictures to prove it. There had to be twenty young anglers and many adults accompanying their children. At times fish were sometimes flopping onto the raft and other times there was a lull. First, they were biting on the right side of the raft and other times on the left and children would switch sides to where they were biting. They caught sunfish, perch, fall fish, golden shiners, and a couple largemouth bass. One young lady was encouraged to give the bass a kiss and she did before returning it to the water. Some could watch as the fish grabbed their bait, and you almost thought they were going to go in after them in their quest to catch one. I grabbed a couple to keep them from taking a bath in the lake, so we had no swimmers this year or boat drivers this year like we did last year. It was a fun time, and I am sure there will be some returning to catch that big one next year.
I came off the water and went right to the first ever Kids Day Loon calling contest in the Town Hall. I brought in my Loon decoy and the Loon caller which gives the four calls the Loons make, hoot, wail, tremolo, and yodel. Only the male does the yodel. Sixteen young adults signed up to give the judges, two Environment Conservation Officers and myself their best Loon calls. Most gave it a good shot and a couple backed out with stage fright. Adding up the judges scores we came up with the winners for a first, second and third Loon caller plaque for their wall. It was a fun time again and some will probably practice before trying again next year now that they know the Loon calls. After that they gave out the prizes for the young fishers off the raft, for the biggest, most fish and maybe the smallest as there were some small ones which I think when caught were just holding onto the worm.
I got out a couple of those beautiful days to fish myself on an area lake for Largemouth bass and we caught a few nice ones both days. It was a hike but well worth the trip and both days the big one got away from me, of course breaking my line both days. I think I better get some new line for my reel. As it has been years since I made that change, and it may be a record breaker the next time. We both caught fish each day and I did get the biggest one each day if only one the second day, I was paddling that day, and it was very windy. The first day it was calm, and my friend caught a fish on his second cast so I could see how this day was going to go but it soon changed after I caught a few and he changed to my color of bait. The biggest caught were seventeen and eighteen inches which weighed more than three pounds each, never did weigh them, only put a tape measure on some and released them to grow bigger.
The foot traffic was everywhere trying to get the good fall-colored leaves shot. Some great refraction shots could be taken on those calm days during the week and some wildflowers are blooming like the fringed gentians and some New York and New England asters are hanging on for the few monarch butterflies that are still passing through. Parking lots and Rocky and Black Bear Mountains were full and the lots to Bald Mountain extended down past Fly Pond on both sides of the road. I guess everybody was a safe hiker as I heard of no carry outs that day and the weather certainly cooperated, and it only rained overnight.
Only another week to catch those beautiful brook trout in area ponds but that’s another story. See ya.
Photo above: Young fisherman
