by Drew Ziehnert

As a full time fishing guide on Lake George, I always used to be intrigued by the question of “whether we catch the same fish multiple times a year” because we are on the water fishing with clients every day from April to October. Based on the time of year, we fish dozens of different areas, but there are times when we are fishing the same structure and same spots almost every day. Although the everyday angler cannot track or tag individual fish without a permit, the Department of Environmental Conservation and other science research groups are able to conduct fish tagging and clipping programs throughout the year to monitor our fish populations. Lake George is 32 miles long and is filled with thousands of fish so it does seem far-fetched that we would catch the same fish more than once a year, but this year with a tremendous amount of luck, I unexpectedly got our answer.

Just like how every snowflake has a different pattern, it is the same for every fish. Many different species of fish look similar, but can develop different scale patterns, spots, and old injuries that never fully heal and make them stand out. For most fishermen, one of the best parts of landing a fish is that we can observe their beautiful coloration and get a quick picture before releasing them back into the water. Over the last few seasons, I’ve taken thousands of pictures of our clients holding fish, but never went back and looked to see if any looked the same. Some anglers try to piece together photos by looking at a fish’s mouth, the fins, and other external features, but it is still an educated guess. 

Fish Hatcheries throughout the state raise fish yearly, mainly trout and salmon, to stock our inland lakes and streams. At times they will conduct studies where they will remove or clip certain fins, typically the bottom ones or adipose fins, as a way to tell different strains and different generations of fish apart. This can give the fish an identity that fishermen can take note of when they catch them and can then report them to the hatcheries or the Department of Environmental Conservation. The studies sadly don’t typically monitor specific fish, so even with the removal of external fins you can never be sure if you are catching the same fish or multiple fish that were part of the same stocking group. 

So, with this information on how New York State is tracking their fish, it seemed like it was going to be almost impossible to get an exact answer, but this summer we finally did, thanks to some incredible fishermen on my boat. On June 26th, 2024, I was fishing with the Malanowski family on Lake George, when Nancy caught a Largemouth Bass with something metal attached to its bottom lip. It almost looked like this fish had a lip piercing and upon further inspection it was some type of fish tag. Based on what I now know about the NYS tagging program, this metal tag was out of the ordinary. On the tag there was an inscription that read Mctaging@gmail.com and had the number 257 on it. So, Nancy and I took down the length, which was 17” and the weight which was 2.54lbs. After a few photos we quickly released the fish back into the water. Later that evening, I sent a message with the fish’s information to the email and waited for a response. It didn’t take long to hear back and I quickly realized that this was not an authorized tagging, but was instead done out of curiosity by a private individual. We emailed back and forth until the point was made that without proper permits and permission you cannot tag fish for personal research, especially an invasive mouth tag. Then on August 1st, 2024, in the exact same spot, I couldn’t believe my eyes when the Girvin family caught the same bass yet again. Tyler and I measured the bass and to our surprise it was a hair over 17” long and weighed 2.68lbs this time. So the fish was about the same length, but weighed .14lb more than when we caught it a month before. We again quickly got a few pictures and then released this fish back into the water. 

Not only did this answer the question of whether we can catch the same fish more than once in the same year, but it sheds light on the importance of catch and release. If you release these fish and handle them properly, they will be available for you and others to catch again. If you do happen to catch this now famous Largemouth Bass on Lake George, we have now been told to remove his tag this upcoming season.

 If you do happen to catch a tagged fish, you can send the information to your local hatchery (Warrensburg Fish Hatchery for Saratoga County or contact DEC Fisheries).

Drew Ziehnert

Ziehnert Guide Service LLC

Ziehnertguideservice@gmail.com

DFW, Bureau of Fisheries

625 Broadway

Albany, NY 12233

fwfish@dec.ny.gov

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Racers of the American Basketball Association (ABA) hit the road last month after beginning their inaugural season with three straight home games played at Saratoga Central Catholic.

The team avenged a home loss earlier in the season by defeating the Herkimer Originals 124-114 on December 1. Three weeks prior, the Originals topped the Racers 140-120.

Coach Bob Catherwood credited the Racer’s second half defense as a key to the victory.

“They have a tremendous shooter in [Josh] Gregory. He didn’t miss. But we found him in the second half and played much better defense,” Catherwood said in a team press release. “I scouted them in-person last weekend and watched other teams on film against them and decided I was going to go zone and it worked very well. It was a good move for us. The guys played it well.”

Tobias Holmes led Saratoga with 25 points. RJ Rosa added a season-high 22 points including a 5 for 7 effort from behind the arc. Big man Shaheem Sanders contributed a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

With the victory, Saratoga improved to 4-2 on the season.

The Racers will be back at home this Saturday, December 7 when they host the Connecticut Surge at 7 p.m. at Saratoga Central Catholic. All Spa Catholic students will be admitted free to the game with a paying adult.

Racers Nationally Ranked for First Time

Last month, the Racers were nationally ranked for the first time in team history in the ABA’s weekly Power Rankings. Saratoga earned the No. 24 spot out of 150 teams for the week of November 18. 

“Teams try for years to crack the ABA Power Rankings,” said Racers owner Keith Harrington. “We did it in just our fourth game of existence.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Central Catholic boys basketball team vanquished  reigning Class D State Champions North Warren Central 68-50 to win the annual Mike Beson Memorial Tournament last week. 

Senior Tyler Hicks led all Saints scorers with a whopping 30 points, while Jasyn Thompson added 11. Ryan Gillis and David Redgrave each contributed 6 points apiece. For his efforts, Hicks was named the tournament MVP while Thompson made the all-tournament team.

In addition to beating North Warren on November 30, Spa Catholic also walloped Loudonville Christian 51-28 the previous day. In that game, Redgrave led Saratoga scorers with 12 points while Thompson chipped in 11.

The Saints will next take on Berne-Knox-Westerlo at home on Sunday, December 8 at 3:30 p.m. Then they’ll hit the road for a Tuesday, December 10 game at Hoosic Valley.

TROY — The Tri-City ValleyCats have announced that the 2025 Frontier League of Professional Baseball All-Star Game will be played at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy. A Home Run Derby will also be held at the stadium prior to the All-Star game. The multi-day event will last from July 14 to 17, 2025. Tickets will be available for purchase via the ValleyCats website.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Four Skidmore College field hockey players and two members of the women’s soccer squad have been named to All-Liberty League teams after racking up myriad accomplishments.

Field Hockey

In field hockey, Seniors CC Wetter and Kayla Hassett were voted to the First Team, while Victoria Bodnar made the Second Team, and Erin Ohlenbusch received Honorable Mention.

Wetter finished the season tied for fourth in the Liberty League with 12 goals. She appeared in all 21 games, making 20 starts, and finished with a team high 28 points on 12 goals and four assists. Her season got off to an impressive start with six goals over the team’s first four games. She later helped the Thoroughbreds reach the postseason with the winning goal against William Smith on October 18.

Hassett was voted to an All-Liberty League team for the third season in a row. Hassett started all 21 games this season, scoring one goal and registering a team-high six assists. She finished tied for third in the Liberty League in assists. On the defensive end, she helped lead a unit that recorded six shutouts and a 1.81 goals-against average.

Goalkeeper Bodnar went 9-12 with a 1.82 goals-against average, .793 save percentage, and six shutouts. With 146 saves on the season, she moved into second place in program history in career saves, finishing with 386. She also set a single-game program record when she made 26 saves against Middlebury on September 25. Bodnar tied for first in the Liberty League in shutouts, led in saves, and finished third in save percentage.

Ohlenbusch finished with two goals and one assist for five points. She helped lead a team that surrendered one goal or fewer 10 times in 2024.

Women’s Soccer

In women’s soccer, Senior Ella Stone was voted to the All-Liberty League First Team, while first-year defender Olivia Chandler earned a spot on the All-Liberty League Third Team.

Stone entered the NCAA Tournament as the Liberty League’s leading scorer with 13 goals through 17 games. She also sat atop the league in game-winning goals (6) and points (29). Stone had three multi-goal games including hat tricks against Eastern Connecticut State and Plattsburgh State. She scored four goals in nine conference games, and then sent the Thoroughbreds to the conference semis with the winning goal in a first-round playoff game against RIT.

Chandler, a freshman, appeared in all 17 games, making 16 starts, and entered the NCAA Tournament second on the team in minutes played, closing in on 1,400. Chandler had a goal and two assists with 13 shots on the season. She scored her first collegiate goal against St. John Fisher and recorded both of her assists against Plattsburgh State.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — There can be a lot to worry about during the Thanksgiving holiday. Will the turkey be too dry? Will the loose-lipped uncle rant about politics at the table? How bad will the traffic be on 87? No matter what concerns race through one’s mind this Thursday, at least getting struck by lightning won’t be one of them.

Such was the shocking (pun intended) near-disaster that befell Thanksgiving, a racehorse stabled at Saratoga, in the summer of 1937. The story of Thanksgiving’s brush with electric death was uncovered by authors Brien Bouyea and Michael Veitch while conducting research for their latest book, “The Travers: Saratoga’s Midsummer Derby, 1864 – 2023.”

At a November 14 event at the Saratoga Springs History Museum promoting the release of the book, Bouyea relayed the striking story.

“The trainer rushed into his barn and found many of his horses stumbling in a daze and others collapsing. Thanksgiving had been struck by lightning and was unconscious on the ground,” Bouyea said. “Miraculously, Thanksgiving lived and he recovered. He even raced that summer at Saratoga, finishing sixth in the Albany Handicap.”

Thanksgiving returned to the Spa City the following year to compete in the Travers Stakes. He won, and his time of 2:03.60 was the fastest in the Midsummer Derby since Man o’ War in 1920 (who ran a 2:01.80).

Perhaps more impressive was Thanksgiving’s trainer, Mary Hirsch, who was the first female trainer to win the Travers. In fact, she would remain the only woman trainer to win the Travers until Jena Antonucci won with Arcangelo in 2023.

“The story of Mary Hirsch and Thanksgiving was one of great historical magnitude and unique elements, but it garnered only standard newspaper coverage at the time,” Bouyea said. “Many accounts of the 1938 Travers never mentioned the name of the 25-year-old trainer or the horse’s remarkable path to the race. That’s just the way writing was back then. It wasn’t as big of a deal as it should have been.” 

At the tender age of 22, Hirsch was the first woman to earn a trainer’s license. She was also the first to run a horse in the Kentucky Derby, in 1937. She learned much from her father, the legendary trainer Max Hirsch, who was often given credit for Mary’s hard work by members of the press who may not have taken the idea of a female trainer as seriously as they should have. 

Both Mary and Thanksgiving’s remarkable tales are but two of many told in Bouyea and Veitch’s new tome, which is currently for sale at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, where Bouyea works as the director of communications.