As the early goose season is under way, the hot humid days we’re experiencing are not exactly conducive to dressing up in hot hunting clothes.

But if you persist, goose hunting during these tough times can be done and here are a few tips offered by Bob Danenhower of Bob’s Taxidermy in Orefield, to help you bag a few honkers. They are as follows:

* Be observant, early morning flights of geese are usually on a normal routine this time of year. Get permission from the landowner to hunt somewhere between point A and B for a pass-shooting setup.

* Watch for freshly harvested fields that are drawing in geese. This can be done by driving rural farmlands in Lehigh and Berks counties. (The latter has significantly more farmland than Lehigh and geese visiting these fields are predominately from Ontelaunee Reservoir and some from Blue Marsh Lake.)

* If you find harvested fields with geese, get permission to hunt from the owner.

* Hot weather will also cause geese to spend more time on shaded sections of creeks and ponds.

Says Danenhower, “In this early season, even novice decoy setups will draw-in geese. Lots of young, dumb, yearling geese will come into range better than older, educated birds.”

The hot weather is also affecting fishing. Until air temperatures cool, fishing is mainly an early morning, late evening bite.

According to Chris from Chris’s Bait & Tackle in Mertztown, Ontelaunee Reservoir off Route 222 in Berks County, is really off this year because ice was on the lake for over three months and anglers really hammered it then.

As for Blue Marsh Lake in Berks, anglers are doing quite well on crappies using fathead minnows, but they are deep (12-18 feet) as the surface water temperature has been in the 80s.

But Chris really likes Leaser Lake where the Muskie fishing is unbelievable. Said Chris, “We caught and released 16 Muskies in a day with the largest measuring 26 inches.”

He goes on to report that most anglers are fishing early morning and using pike shiners, Storm Thunder Sticks, Rogues and double willow white spinner baits for musky.

Crappie fishing too is good he says as he caught three, none of which were less than 11? inches.

Largemouth bass action is decent as he caught one that weighed two pounds. Of course all fish were released as only trout can be kept at this time.

Willie, from Willie’s Bait & Tackle in Cementon, says the smallmouth action in the Lehigh River is good at Bowmanstown, Treichlers and the falls in Cementon. Most smallies are hitting shiners and Yamamoto worms.

Willie said his grandson and him fished the falls on Tuesday and picked up smallies on leeches plus rock bass, fallfish and bluegills on shiners - but no trout.

He says the river water temperature is 70 making trout very lethargic, plus they got hammered pretty good after they were stocked by the Lehigh River Stocking Association.

But better fishing days are coming. All we need are some cool weather days to stir the fish’s appetite as they put on the feed for winter.