Published: May 19, 2008 10:46 pm            

BILL HILTS: Lake George region a great place to visit

There was a stiff breeze in our face as we watched the Adirondack countryside slowly brighten with the morning light. Off in the distance, the distinctive sound of a crowing rooster trumpeted the dawning of a new day. Almost immediately, we heard a hen turkey barking out yelps, letting other birds — probably the toms — that she was out and about from her roost. Something was on her mind.

“We never heard a hen act that way before,” said veteran turkey chaser Ross Sheridan of Pilot Knob.

We were hunting together on some prime real estate that he had obtained permission for. We set up in a hedge row that split two open fields and was adjacent to a huge woods — and, yes, we were within the Blue Line of Adirondack Park so the scenery was spectacular.

I don’t normally associate turkey hunting with the Adirondacks, but we were on the fringe and there were birds all around us. As we kept a close eye on the overactive hen, a bright red headed tom appeared in the field in front of us from out of nowhere. Although we had a decoy out, the tom probably couldn’t see it because of the lay of the land. Sheridan worked his magic on his personalized Quaker Boy box call, something he was quite proud of because of the Dick Kirby signature and drawings. We couldn’t get the bird any closer than 65 yards — not close enough for a shot.

The bird disappeared into the hedge row and reappeared 10 minutes later along the same route. It stopped and hung out for another 10 minutes. We let the real hen do the talking, hoping to entice this big redhead into range. It was not meant to be on this day. The bird wandered back into the hedge row and through, ending up with the noisy hen a bit later. Another tom appeared a short time later, but both were just out of range. We couldn’t call those big birds away from the real thing.

They disappeared as they moved into another field and a short time later our large red head appeared in our field again. Apparently, even he couldn’t put up with all the jabbering. It used the lay of the land to disappear again and move on to a new field. We made a valiant attempt to head him off and set up in a different field, but in the process spooked a hen out of roost at before 9 a.m. That’s probably where I should have been, climbing out of my roost at 3:15 a.m. at the Glenmoore Lodge in Lake George.

The lodge, situated on Glen Lake just a few miles outside the village of Lake George, was both quiet and very scenic. It was the perfect headquarters for a dozen New York State Outdoor Writers as they convened for a spring gathering to take care of business.

Outdoor scribe Will Elliott of Pavilion brought his boat along for some light casting and he was impressed with the quality of fish he caught in the lake. In less than three days, Will figured that the group caught in excess of 600 panfish bluegills, crappie and rock bass. Many of them were slabs in excess of 10 inches. He caught one crappie that was more than 12 inches long. It’s certainly a great spot if you’re trying to break some kids into fishing.

Saturday morning was a little trolling for lake trout and landlocked salmon on Lake George with Ron Nadler, Jr. While he’s not a charter captain, he does know fishing on the lake — in part because of the number of years he’s fished it; in part because of his job. Nadler works at Fish307.com, a fishing tackle super store. What a selection! Check out www.fish307.com.

Nadler launched his 21-foot Blue Fin from Dunham Bay Marina and we motored out toward Northwest Bay. Within the first 10 minutes of placing his orange Mooseluk Wobbler on his downrigger, he hit a 22-inch lake trout, a fish reeled in my Kathy Balbierer of Fairport. Unfortunately, the minimum size is 23 inches — a minimum size that is being considered to be reduced to 21.

We had a most enjoyable outing, with numerous releases over the course of the trip. However, except for the one nice fish, there was nobody home.

Our host for this spring safari was Dan Ladd of West Fort Ann. Just recently, he came out with a new book to share his passion with others, Deer Hunting in the Adirondacks. I picked up a copy while I was there and plan on doing a review. If you want to beat me to the punch, check out his Web site at www.ADKhunter.com.

The trip was capped off with a spectacular dinner cruise aboard the Lac du Saint Sacrament, one of the ships with the Lake George Steamboat Company that operates out of the village. It was a great trip and the food was excellent. Check out www.lakegeorgesteamboat.com for more details.

This is only scratching the surface of everything we saw in the region. Check out www.visitlakegeorge.com or call (800) 95-VISIT for information on the Lake George Region.

POWA Invades Niagara

Nine writers from the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writrers Association will be in town for a few days to sample the local fishery for salmon, trout and bass. They will start things off with a stop at Lewiston for a little lower river action and a fish fry by wonder chef Mike George. Then its on to Wilson for a special Wilson Day — both on and off the water. Thursday will be the lower river or Lake Erie early bass, whatever their preference. Let’s hope the weather cooperates for them. And if you’re one of the guys in town actually reading this, welcome!

Pro-Am deadline approaches

Don’t forget that the mail-in postmark deadline for the 24th Annual Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournament is this Friday and that the walk-in deadline is May 27. Applications and rules are now online at www.lakeontarioproam.com.

Make a wish bass tourney rescheduled

The Lake Erie Bass Challenge to benefit Make-A-Wish that was slated for May 17 was cancelled due to high winds. and has been rescheduled for Saturday. For more information, contact Don Staszczyk at 893-0607 or e-mail him at javlin90@aol.com. The Web site is www.millenniumbassmastersofwny.com.

Bill Hilts Jr. is the outdoor sports specialist with the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation. Contact him at bhiltsjr69@cs.com.

        

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