AURELIUS - As an outdoor writer from Syracuse, Joe Sadowski knows the hunting and fishing opportunities that make the Cayuga County area unique.

So Sadowski is an ambassador of sorts to the more than 30 outdoor writers who are in Auburn this weekend to sample what the area has to offer.

“Downstate doesn't appreciate or realize what upstate has,” Sadowski said. “This is a hidden area. It's beautiful.

“I've traveled across the country. I've been to Alaska and Hawaii and I will live out my life right here. I love it.”

Sadowski was part of the New York State Fall Outdoor Writers Conference, which is in Auburn for the first time this weekend. Bass Pro Shops hosted a lunch Saturday of fried fish - purchased from Wegmans - in a room above the food court at the Fingerlakes Mall on Saturday afternoon. The writers hunted in the county, visited the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge and fished Owasco Lake during the conference, which began Thursday and concludes today.

The conference is sponsored by Cayuga County Tourism, Bass Pro Shops, Copper John archery products and Mustad, an Auburn manufacturer of fishing products.

“We're here to promote Cayuga County,” said George Fiorille, promotions manager for Bass Pro Shops, adding the point is for the writers to return home and “tell readers about it and it will increase tourism in Cayuga County.”

With his visit, Glenn Sapir, a downstate resident, was converted to a fan of Cayuga County. Sapir, who lives in the Putnam Valley, just north of New York City, visited Auburn about 10 years ago for a meeting, but never got the chance to see the countryside.

“I was very impressed with the lake, the scenery and the topography,” he said of his latest visit. “It's definitely a tremendous resource for the sportsman.”

Sapir said he also was impressed by the lake access and open woods that make it easier to spot turkeys, his hunting passion. In his home county, the New York City reservoir system is closed to boats, unlike the abundant lake access in the Finger Lakes. Also, much of the land there has given way to development, driving out wildlife.

“I was impressed with the habitat, the woods and the fields,” said Sapir, who writes for Turkey Call Magazine of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

“We don't have the fields and the crops the wildlife will home in on.”

He also writes a weekly column for the Journal News, which serves Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties. Although the column focuses on local issues, Sapir said he'll work in his visit to Auburn.

“I will figure out some way to write about this,” he said. “I draw on my experiences.”

Melody Tennity, president of the writers association and a resident of Honeoye, near Rochester, plans to check out Willard Chapel during her visit.

In addition to the sports fishing and hunting, she said the area offers other attractions to keep sportsmen and their families happy, such as the nearby wine country and shopping at Bass Pro Shops.

“Would I like to spend more time here? Absolutely,” she said.

An avid angler, Tennity said she was especially drawn to Owasco Lake, which offers something that can't be found in the Finger Lakes near her

home.

“You have some of the biggest rock bass I've ever caught in my life,” she said.

She was impressed by the Owasco Lake boat launch because it is protected from the wind and also has a channel that can be fished close to the launch. Plus, children can fish off the Emerson Park pier.

“If you don't have a boat, it's a wonderful thing,” Tennity said.