Good Day

[jojo wilczewski]

 Sean has come up with some numbers for the weather station camera idea.

Weather station and solar cell /battery 1650$  Vosker waterproof  camera 240$

Data and cell phone plans  520$ yearly everything plus tax and delivery

2200$ to buy everything 45$ a month data and cell plans? I love the idea but times are 

tough with not many fund raising choices? 

If you read this please comment at least yes or no.

jojo n Sean on it

[jojo wilczewski]

Pics in Attachments

[SEAN LEARY]

Prices are right. Camera option is $250, then $20 a month. Just to give a separation.
If someone was computer savvy they could figure out a better option for a solar security cam and link it to a 4G antenna and update via cellular using a non-branded SIM card; but I’m not that smart. I just know it’s possible to DIY, and cheaper.

[John Jarosz]

You're def right about the fund raising choices. As much as I try to attend via Zoom, it really doesn't cut it and raising enough to pay the annual data & cell plan would be challenging.

I use the NOAA site a lot to look at L. Erie conditions & the the site labelled BUFN6 is right at the Coast Guard station, which isn't that far away. When you look at the link you'll see all the kinds of data that this records & graphs

Would we be paying for duplicate data that we could get for nothing?

What about a plain cam like there is at Olcott? Silver Lake & Chautauqua also have lake cams, but no data. There you can see the condition of the lakes.

Here's the NOAA link at the USCG station. It's not "on the water" like a buoy but it does record atmospheric conditions like barometric pressure, wind speed, wind direction, temp, etc. Click on the triangles on the left for the data, if your not familiar with it.

https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=bufn6

[SEAN LEARY]

John I don’t think it’s duplicate data at all. I think there’s a significant difference between the coast guard station and say pirate’s island.
I know I’ve been fishing up in the triangle and looked to the south and see a wall of water that never came my way. The Canadian land to the west does a great job of breaking weather patterns to the south or north.
For the purpose of data keeping and looking and bite windows and such, the difference between Sheridan dr and the mouth of Erie could be hours.

The olcott cam is on Wifi, if anyone has a bright idea on how to get a wifi signal down there, I’m all ears. I’ve repeatedly asked for anyone to put additional research in, and have been met with crickets.

I proposed an idea in the spirit of scientific research, accuracy, and to improve everyone’s chances at catching a fish. I also intended it as marketing effort to drive web traffic and eyeballs to our site- not NOAA.
If the club doesn't want to pursue more accurate record keeping, or drive new membership, so be it- I’m sure I’ll continue to fish regardless. While we fund admirable (and costly) conservation projects I feel they are niche to our pursuit, the musky club and buffalo Niagara river keeper talk about it. Average bass fishing guy doesn't hear or care. I just wanted a project that would help make people aware of us, and hopefully get a foot in the door to educate some people who otherwise wouldn’t have sought us out.
Additionally if you’ve never read a report on wind speed or direction and gotten to the dock to find it severely underrated, or coming from a seemingly different direction, then I feel you’ve been uncharacteristically lucky- as it happens to me 2/3 times.

[Tony Scime]

Sean,

I think the project you're proposing is intriguing and I support it as long as it is doable and affordable. However, I do think that it is more conducive to an in-person meeting where we can have a more comprehensive discussion than on the website. I'm sure you would have more feedback at such meetings.  I would hope that we have those meetings again soon. 

There is no question that the localized weather between the harbor and the Sheridan boat launch can, at times, be quite different. More than once I've traveled from one to the other and the difference was night and day. In regards to record keeping, however, I have a pretty good idea of the weather where and when I catch a fish - wind speed and direction, water and air temperature, water clarity, and precipitation, if any. The only thing I might not have is barometric pressure. 

In regards to the predictability of fish activity, I do believe that it is mostly weather based. But those weather patterns most often cover large geographic areas (thousands of square miles). You want to be on the water when a change in the weather is predicted, but predicting the exact time when that will trigger fish activity is almost impossible. The best we can do is make sure we are on the water as a front is approaching and stay on until after it passes. The fish will become active.

In regards to seasonal patterns, I can say that we have been conducting an Angler Diary Study which shows that fish activity is fairly consistent throughout the fishing season. Whether or not the fish are active on any particular day is mainly dependent on the specific day's weather pattern no matter what time of the year that occurs. By the way, when it comes to the Angler Diary Study, a scientific study which governmental agencies have been using for decades, I hear the crickets, too. I stopped begging for participation a long time ago. 

That said, I fully support your proposal for all the reasons you've stated. I think it would be a big draw to our website. I do believe that it needs to be discussed by our membership and according to our bylaws would need to be approved by them.

In regards to the weather at the foot of Sheridan, you're right on. I can't count how often the forecast is for 10 to 20 mph winds and when you get out there it's blowing at and beyond 30mph. 

Tony

SEAN LEARY said:

John I don’t think it’s duplicate data at all. I think there’s a significant difference between the coast guard station and say pirate’s island.
I know I’ve been fishing up in the triangle and looked to the south and see a wall of water that never came my way. The Canadian land to the west does a great job of breaking weather patterns to the south or north.
For the purpose of data keeping and looking and bite windows and such, the difference between Sheridan dr and the mouth of Erie could be hours.

The olcott cam is on Wifi, if anyone has a bright idea on how to get a wifi signal down there, I’m all ears. I’ve repeatedly asked for anyone to put additional research in, and have been met with crickets.

I proposed an idea in the spirit of scientific research, accuracy, and to improve everyone’s chances at catching a fish. I also intended it as marketing effort to drive web traffic and eyeballs to our site- not NOAA.
If the club doesn't want to pursue more accurate record keeping, or drive new membership, so be it- I’m sure I’ll continue to fish regardless. While we fund admirable (and costly) conservation projects I feel they are niche to our pursuit, the musky club and buffalo Niagara river keeper talk about it. Average bass fishing guy doesn't hear or care. I just wanted a project that would help make people aware of us, and hopefully get a foot in the door to educate some people who otherwise wouldn’t have sought us out.
Additionally if you’ve never read a report on wind speed or direction and gotten to the dock to find it severely underrated, or coming from a seemingly different direction, then I feel you’ve been uncharacteristically lucky- as it happens to me 2/3 times.

[John Jarosz]

Sean...Thanks for the info & digging into it. It's much appreciated & very helpful.

We should get together with the membership & talk this over to also answer at least a couple of questions:

1. Do we need it & will it be helpful (I say yes). Others might disagree.

2. How do we fund it? If we really want it, we'll find a way, and it may not be from our own cash drawer, which brings up a suggestion; Should we investigate if any grants are available, i.e. NOAA, NYPA, National Wx Service, Bflo Niag Waterkeeper, etc.?

Fortunately, we haven't had to fund any of our big projects, even though they were totaled $1/4 million. The big ones we did were funded by grants.