BP Swing

You do what you want. Your $29 bucks entitles you to kill what you have to (if you say so). I will do what I want (release the big girls so you have Walleye to catch a few years from now.) The Canadians do have the right idea with their conservation license which allows you to fish for them and keep only a limited amount. Whatever pal.

I have been fishing 51 years avidly. I have seen the trends go from catch and keep (that was the norm in the 60s, 70s and most of the 80s to catch and release in the 90s and 2000s, now I think the trend is going backwards towards catch and kill. The exceptions are for Muskies. In the North country of NY, it is all catch and kill like the dark ages. I see it all the time. Is there anyone out there who just enjoys the fight, the sport, a light tackle challenge, personal bests, catch, photo, and release, graphite reproductions??? Or is it all selfish catch and kill and dont care about the fishery and future generations? I just heard about a small lake North of Watertown where the DEC caught some guys red handed at night with gill nets. So selfish.........

Definitely disagree. Keeping 10 year old mature females day after day can not help the fishery and it's not just the charters. Nets don't help either and that is a huge concern if true. Does anybody even care about being a sportsman and conservation anymore or is just catch and kill for meat like the 50's? I have no problem keeping a nice walleye to eat but just not the big girls.

I was at Henderson Harbor Sunday driving through so I stopped at Henchens to see how the fishing was going. I asked the guys cleaning fish how the Walleye was going this year and they said horrible. They said there was only 3 walleye entered in the derby last week and they were just not around. I mentioned that years upon years of the charters there keeping huge stringers of big female walleye was taking a toll and they agreed. This topic has come up before and I realize they have paying customers but what about the rest of us? These "hero" shots of 7-10 huge walleyes kept and on a board for a dock picture is a F### joke. Well they can thank themselves now for the huge decline. Its sad, it really is. These guys cleaning fish had 10 large buckets of fish heads and guts from all the fish they kept and killed every day. Granted most of them were trout and those are replaced over time by stocking but there were bass, pike, etc. too. In the past I have seen large walleye too being cleaned. What ever happened to catch and release? What about catching fish for sport and for personal bests? What about catch, photo and release? Somebody ought to tell the Henderson guys to wake up or it will be too late if it isn't already. I don't feel like the DEC is getting the message out there about the importance of catch and release. If it wasnt for In-Fisherman magazine, there would be no discussion at all of C & R except for some of the Musky clubs. Hats off to them but thumbs down to the Henderson charters and rest of the killers.

Maybe the poachers got em all last year. I know they busted some guys there poaching walleyes at Rossie last year thus the 24/7 patrol. There seems to be alot of poachers in the north country from what I have seen, read, and heard for both hunting and fishing. Not sure why.

I have been asking and posting this question for years (see old posts). I was wondering if anyone got any around the central section in the Rochester area and there was a few guys who claimed they either saw one or caught one off the Genesee River Piers, another charter guy said he got one off oak orchard but seriously they are almost non existent in this section. You might get one on the eastern end or mouth of the Niagara though but its like fishing for a needle in a haystack.

How much rope is required to be attached to a cushion?

What does a throwable lifejacket look like? Do you mean a throwable ring? Thanks

I would be most concerned with the 40" limit. Too small. It should be at least 42" on all waters. A 40" Musky has not reached it's potential. I will voice my opinion to raise the size limit. I can see no reason why anyone would need to keep a 40" musky for mounting or eating. I would like to see even a higher limit like 45" on inland waters and 54" everywhere else. As far as the inland waters go, how many are there in NY? Not many...Chatauqua, Waneta, Lamoka, Bear, Cassadaga, Black, and what else am I forgetting that has pure strain? Black has St Lawrence strain in it so Im not sure how they would handle that, still connected to great lakes via Oswagotchie R. Plus the Susky and Allegany has their own regs I guess. Im not sold on the early season cause there has to be some natural reproduction isnt there? Theres always tigers to fish for in May anyways. It would be cool I admit though but not convinced it wouldnt hurt the fishery.

I've said this before several times to friends and other anglers. Seneca perch fishing is the hardest fishing I will do all year and that includes musky fishing. Like finding a needle in a haystack. Skunks are very common and that can add up$$$. But if you get into them, there is nothing like it on the planet. A huge body of water, usually rough conditions, crystal clear water visible to 35 feet, 2 lb test flourocarbon, tight lipped locals, super spooky perch strain, and finicky too. They act nothing like great lakes perch, yet I keep coming back for more. A glutton for punishment. Seneca will bring the best to their knees!! If you can master that, you are some elite fisherman. Good luck. P.S Some of the best fishing is early May when others have moved on to other species but March-April is bread and butter time.

Wonder if the water level came up any? I heard last fall guys were wrecking trailers cause it was so low. Any improvement or is it launchable? Thanks BP

Hmmm....not sure if this is a good thing or not. Better for more angling opportunity but even if the fish are not reproducing, they would be more vulnerable and predictable location wise (Shallow and on the beds). Which would lead to more catch and release mortality but at least the water would be colder for releases. Also how many inland places are there? Not that many. Another concern is what about the rivers like the susky and Allegany? Those waters have natural reproduction and have been producing fish for years. Chautauqua ans Waneta are stocked so if they say they are not reproducing then I guess it is so but they produce good fish every year so why mess with a good thing? BP

Larry, Was that at typo or are they seriously considering opening the season on the 3rd sat in May in inland lakes as you mentioned??? Sounds like a bad idea to me as I doubt they would be done spawning by then. Tigers ok but not pure.

Docks were pulled last week. I was able to launch but when I got back to load, they were long gone....

Good ole Redeye is an old favorite that used to be made in Rochester by Hofshnieder. Not sure where its made anymore.

What kind of rod was it?

Their reply would be " we don't want to mess with trout lakes" just like all the rest of the lakes in this state. Trout is the #1 priority for them even though I bet most guys would rather have eyes. I approached them once and that is basically what they said. (DEC)

MY research is based on results of the annual Genesee Beer Fishing Contest. I have all the fishing guides from 1946 (1st year) till the contest ended in 1992. Walleyes from Hemlock and Canandaigua frequently were in the top 3 in the 50s and early 60s. My conversations with the DEC showed that their demise started with the arrival of the sawbellies. Sawbellies ate too many of the fry. Sad neither of those lakes is a shadow of its prior self, that is why catch and release is so important. If anyone gets any straglers, they should be released to give mother nature one more shot since stocking doesnt appear to be an option.

If guys would of released a few of the giant eyes there, maybe they would of reproduced and we wouldnt have to worry about the DEC restocking it. What is there not to get about releasing any big female eye over say 7 lbs?? Duh, no release no reproduction..... Yes in the 50s, 60s there were huge eyes there till the sawbellies arrived, same with Canandaigua L.