Whatever it was just took off, and a battle was on for what Potrzeba thinks was about 15 minutes. He had to be careful, because he was fishing with six-pound test line.

Potrzeba hadn't ever caught a big northern before — he thinks he caught some very small ones when he was a kid — and he made one big mistake, or maybe two. He picked the fish up by the mouth. Finding that was a bad idea, he picked it up through the gills. That's not a great idea, either. Those covers are sharp.

Big northerns are a bit of novelty on Oneida, but seemingly less so each year. The lake is famous for walleyes, and its reputation for bass fishing is growing and growing, but a lot of people don't realize that long, long ago it was regarded as a northern pike fishery as much as anything else. Development and the destruction of swampy shoreline areas that provided spawning habitat help knock back the population. Now, for whatever reason, northerns seem to be making a comeback and every now and then an angler connects with a good one.

It was a tough shot through brush, but Gifford made it with his .308 Ruger M77. The deer had a 21 1/2 -inch outside spread, 197/8-inch inside spread and it weighed 168 pounds field dressed.

It's the best buck ever for Gifford, who said he's been hunting since about the time I began writing this column, which was 25 years ago — I'm pretty sure.

Youngsters and their parents are invited to meet "The Fishing Santa Claus" and his assistant. There will be entertainment provided by a local youth choir. Each child will receive a candy cane and fishing lures from the Department of Environmental Conservation. Parents are encouraged to bring cameras to take photos of their children with Santa.

WKUY-LP formerly competed with a Syracuse station operating on the same frequency. The change will allow the station to be heard over a wider area in the Kuyahoora Valley and additional areas of the Mohawk Valley.

Kuyahoora Outdoors is broadcast at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thurdsays and 2 p.m. on Saturdays. It can also be received through the stations Web site at www.kuylp.net .

This is cache, read story here