The Putnam Sportsman

It is always an uphill battle, another mountain to climb: The words of the Miley Cyrus record are fitting for me today, along with writing this column early this Monday morning to try to keep my boat afloat. Saturday’s northeaster with high winds and driven rain kept the sump pump in the cellar working overtime, and all was still well when Mama and I went to bed.

But Mama woke up to a noisy ruckus in the cellar, got me up to investigate. Unlike our neighbors above us, we still had power. But the sump pump had finally failed for some reason, leaving a foot or more of water in the basement, on the verge of threatening the furnace. That was at 1:30 or so in the morning, and I got the pump working, but had to babysit with it until dawn. We got a couple of hours’ sleep, but by mid-morning, with the rain stopped, but with the brook behind my house running like Niagara Falls, there was still a threat, so we couldn’t leave the house and go to the Mahopac St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I was supposed to ride in the back of one of the CoURIER Jeeps, but not on this day!

The February results of the Southern New York Fishing Derby are in, and for the first time in this year of 2010, Tony Montiero from Carmel is not a monthly winner (he brought home all the bacon in January). New Oasis Sportsmen’s Club member Billy Hoag, from Mahopac, won the $50.00 prize for trout with a 3 lb, 9 ½ oz, brown trout out of Croton Falls Reservoir here in Carmel. Mike Marrero, from Mahopac, took the 25 buck, 2nd place award with a 3 lb brown, also from Croton Falls. Hunter Taggart, from Livingston Manor, got 50 bucks for his 3 lb, 14 ½ oz pickerel that measured 24 ½ inches.

Kenny Matthews, age 15 from Mahopac, was a winner in the Youth Contest, wining a rod and reel combo with his 5 lb, 3 oz, pickerel out of Lake Oscawana, in Putnam Valley.

Bill Potters, from Yonkers, got the $50.00 first prize for panfish with a 2 lb, 2 oz crappie, from Croton Falls Reservoir. The 2nd prize, 25 bucks, went to Billy Weizenecker, from Carmel, with a 2 lb, 2 oz, white perch, from Sodom, same weight as Bill’s, but caught three days later. Kevin Brady, from Cornwall, got 15 bucks for 3rd place with a 2 lb, 2 oz, crappie from Swinging Bridge Reservoir, across the Hudson. Billy Hoag’s name appears again with an honorable mention in panfish with a 1 lb, 15 oz,crappie from Croton Falls.

On March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day), N.Y. State trout will be stocked, brown trout, maybe rainbows too, from a truck that will arrive at the Brewster Fire House parking lot at 9am. Anyone who wants to come and help with this stocking are welcome. There will be a lot of trout stocked in local rivers, streams, reservoirs, and, I think, protected lakes Gilead and Gleneida, here in Carmel.

On Saturday, March 20th, Putnam County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs will be stocking brown trout provided by Putnam County through the Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Education budget. Time and meeting place will follow later.

After Saturday’s monsoon, I now feel like I’ve stepped into a rabbit hole, like Alice, and I’ve joined her in my own sort of Wonderland! I hear the Tin Man, tapping on the chimes in the picture window, and I know there’s an invisible white rabbit, named Harvey lurking around here somewhere. Like the Easter Bunny, who will be arriving soon, I too have a bag of “Magic” gifts to deliver at some point in the near future, but I too, have one more uphill battle, and another mountain yet to climb. Getting up early this morning to get this column off was only a first step, and I have many miles left to go.

The only thing stopping me on getting a jump start on this year’s “Victory Garden” is the weather today, but tonight will be a good one to go out with the flashlight and pick up nighcrawlers.