After all the back and forth about where we should launch in Dexter, we could not launch from either site. Dave L was the first to call. He went early to fish and said the bridge was closed to the Fish Island Park. You could not drive over it. In fact, it was so deteriorated you could not walk a kayak over it. He went to find other launches in the area. The next call was from Bob and Hugh who arrived early to get in some extra paddling miles. They said the current from the dam made it impossible to paddle from the Liberty Street launch. In the meantime, Dave found 3 nearby launches. He connected with Bob and Hugh and they drove to Muskellunge Creek. They agreed it would work nicely for the club. Thanks for the heads up guys. The relocation plan was perfect and just a short 5 miles away.
We waited for others to arrive at our published meeting place. A few took a short walk across the street to try out the ice cream before caravanning to the creek. Per Wikipedia: Muskellunge are typically 28–48 in long and weigh 15–36 lb. A fish with a weight of 61.25 lb was caught in November 2000 in Georgian Bay, Ontario. I am glad we didn’t run into any. There were plenty of fisherman along the shore and in boats. The ones we spoke with were quite successful. Along the route were also heron, geese luring you away from nesting moms in the reeds, gulls, terns, red winged black birds, and an eagle keeping an eye on his nest. We took out at another fishing access. The crowd was not too friendly and were not moving much to share the shore with a kayak. Those who got out said the area was full of litter. Shame on them.
After paddling, six of us went to the Cracker Barrel right by our exit on rt 81 in Sacketts Harbor.
The ten who made this northern paddle were Dave, Bob, Hugh, John, Bill, Eric, Jim, Kim, Rick and Cindy.
For future reference: the Muskellunge Creek Fishing Access is off Rt 180 at 20668 Muskellunge Bay Lane. Nearby launches to try: Sacketts Harbor Public Launch and West City State Park.
- Kim
