panfisher

devoknovo..........Wwwhawhawhat?!? Bro, I'll admit I had to take several squinty-eyed double takes at this one. My thought?....Was fishing that bad you had to revert to picking up dead decayed bits of unfortunate critters and string 'em together with junk from the Mid Irondequoit Bay Gyre just to try out that new hand held device you got under the Christmas tree? Ohh! How far you've sunk from the sheepshead heights (U the Man!) of this past summer!!.....Look at the mount on your wall and get a grip! Soon it will be spring.......

Nice! Hopefully a decent meal. When going for panfish, really the only fight comes from using really ultralite stuff.....Then you'll hang that big bass or pike.....or even sheepshead..... that takes the bait. That "bait" could be the panfish itself. To me, white bass fight the best. Through the ice they're all good. By private res, do you mean Deposit reservoir? Nice catch.

Held close to the camera.....photo shopped....2.5lbs.+.....state, world records......alien like fingers.....whatever! Still a nice jack perch! A few (3 or 4) would make a really nice dinner. And make smiles like Tia has on my face as well....!

Nice set of gills and seeds (1seed from the pic). Good meal for 1 or two or three.....or more if really lite eaters!) Where'd u catch 'em? ......BTW, a meal for 1....u'd have to be really hungry....or they just taste soooo good you couldn't stop eating to save yourself!

There is still a lot of "old school" mindset......often with an ignorance based root....in peoples minds out there. The perception that muskies are a "superior" fish than pike. For some, anything that looks like a pike (esocidae) needs to be extirpated at every chance. "Because they'll ruin the walleyes or the trout" is often expressed. Or sharks or wolves. Because they're all monsters and will eat you and ruin everything. What follows is the poor handling of said species because of lack of respect and disregard for its existence. Heck, even really good to eat is hugely better for some fish. We'd like to keep 'em around because they're tasty. And then we over fish and mismanage the resource because of the cash.....This turns into a real lack of foresight...that it all is important. All the different fish and whatever need to be seen as players in a rich and very fruitful balance. We can best enjoy these fruits, prize winning competitions included, when just some plain old all around respect is applied. Then these issues of handling for the affair will become easier to develop (changed as needed) and employ. Long term fun for all the players.

We need and amphibious ice fishing boat for that stuff. What with global warming, such a contraption if well made, and not too expensive, would work....... BTW great work Sk8man

final flight........Superior fortune. Sweeeeet!

allaboutfishing.....Nice....lakers through the ice.....20 mins from Newport...? I'll put my money on Piseco Lake.

final flight....NNNniiiiiiiccceee!! How many days of fishing is here? And were you targeting the carp with carp baits, and thus they were caught on the same days? And the others.....musky 'eyes and smallies....were they.caught with other baits (artificials or naturals) on different outings? Or were you just having superior fortune with some nice minnows or even nightcrawlers.....? (musky and carp on nightcrawlers,,,? ) Looks like great fishing!

Anybody........Where'd that 55 entrants number come from?

Is there such a contraption as a length ruler combined with digital scale that allows the fish to actually be cradled lengthwise while the weight is set? I know this is an old idea, but allowing for fish to be lying on it's side, by the side (inside or outside the boat), in a secure and cradled fashion would be nice. Say a half of a good sized cylinder for the fish, instead of hanging it by the head. In or out of water, on boat or shore, such a device would be far less stressful for the fish. If well made, for the fisherman too. Backed up by camera with all the usual recorded digital data stamps, and with real time info transfer to tourney weigh station(s), it would bring any fishing tournament regardless of species or waters out of the stone ages. The device can be made well and with off the shelf stuff and sold for lower or higher prices depending on options and relative greed factors. Any Rube Goldbergs out there? $$$ to be made...! And millions of fish to be saved (alive and well!). And for those who would "put a finger on the scale" .....in some way... ...that could be dealt with too.

Man o man!! What a person! I know she was a real good mom ......and general person all around. Sorry for you she is gone now. Wish I knew her. She will be missed in the present. But I know she has inspired and continues to do so now and forever for you and probably everyone else too.....!!

"Promo videos showing the proper way(s) to C&R the fish is a good idea, but there are already a ton and from what we've seen, anglers who are concerned will do it properly, others will not regardless what we do to promote it." ......Finders Keepers ... Any of those vids on YouTube..? Specifically winter time ice and/or no ice cold weather catch and release for northerns? If so, if they were concise and good enough, maybe required by contestants to watch them as a prerequisite for entry. This would be moving it to a whole new.....and improved.....level. I know....$money$...But don't think that first. Think what could be and needs to be done and then how to best afford and deliver it.....

Happy HAPPIER New Year!!!!

Esocidae are definitely more durable than salmonids. And maybe not as tough as bass as far as catching and handling. That being said, ham handed handling methods ("it's just a d*** "pickle"...) need to be learned and practiced with any tournament fish. We still have plenty of people who think that fish and other stuff on our planet are an endless resource and through some magic of god and nature no matter what they do there will always be more. How many more dead ends in that regard do we have to experience before we totally understand that we as humans can have an overpowering and negative affect on existing things around us. After reading about and seeing how fish are judged and handled in some tournaments in Europe, I am sure tournaments here can be continually and successfully done without negatively impacting fish populations. Tough and exacting handling and releasing rules need to be applied, with all participants educated and tested before hand on how to handle the fish. Solid musky fisherman already practice these. Also, selected waters, with the emphasis on the health of the fishery, should be used. Fish populations, like any other living populations, can and do go through ups and downs from environmental changes. Some waters are so stable in environment over time they can handle a regular event. Others could not handle it. Same goes for the inhabitants of those waters. It would be up to sponsors and administrators to make sure stable and healthy waters and their populations are somehow monitored and selected. It is, in the end, all about if we care about what we do and how we do it when interacting with others. Does freedom = carelessness? I don't think so......OOPS....There I go ranting. Sorry.... I just think a great fishing tournament can be held for a long time if we do it with thought and learning, rather than blindly taking and having a "carefree" time of it. I know how good the fishing for whatever used to be in several waters around the state....jack perch and crappies in Conesus....smallies along the south shore of Ontario.....all fish in Hempstead Lake in Nassau county on Long Island.....for examples. Some downturns were caused by miss handling of the waters. And others not sure about. Could be invasive species or some natural non man caused regular changes that may come back around in time. It would be a testament to our mastery of our environment to be able to have a good and fun and long term statewide fishing tournament that may actually enhance the fishery....

One thing that may be considered is limiting the waters where contestants may fish from. Lake Ontario trout and salmon derby.....Seneca Lake lake trout contests....etc. Waters where the fisheries have established and known populations. This may be too late for this season's event.....This does make it rather tough to decide which waters would be suitable. Lots of observation and real in depth knowledge of pike living environments in said waters is not as easy as with trout and salmon waters with the attention salmonids receive. Maybe just a handful of places around the state. I don't know, but with pike being slow growers in the wild (news to me), limits on all kinds of aspects of the tournament in order to manage the fishery for the long hall without damage may make the idea of a large money value event, like the above salmonid events, slow to happen until we know what we are doing. Not saying it cannot be done. One of the appealing things about pike is their relative "wildness" as compared to salmonids in put and take waters. It seems that real Great Northern Pike (I like those old school names ) "factories" should be identified and picked as healthy enough environments for such fishing events.....with serious rules of play. Bottom line here is if populations are adversely harmed, a tournament like this would be short lived. Perhaps maybe a serious look at contests in the "old world" (if they exist....I don't know) where pike are bigger, older and often more highly regarded for modelling and guidance.

This is a great discussion.....This is the kind of back and fourth needed to build anything. Issues, problems, differences, opinions, solutions out there and resolved like real and powerful living things. Bringing awareness and developing solutions with passion and concern without denigration, ridicule, name calling and such. Way to go......

I can feel old man's point. Good thing we live in a state (NY) that does appreciate the Esocidae family along with just about all others. Some states (trouty centric......I made that up ,....... but you know what I mean. Esox are no channidae...snakeheads), require them to be killed if caught. And wontonly killing fish for fun is childish and just simply murderous. Not to mention wasteful.....pike taste great. Pike are plentiful around these parts and they do co-exist well in waters with other types. And since they are almost everywhere; from the fingers to bays of the Big O to the canal and it's tributaries, small lakes and ponds like the Mendons and in swampy lowlands, I really do not think their numbers will be adversely affected in any one water body. As long as the win is not determined by total overall poundage of fish, just biggest size, I think the pike population will be OK. That said....how much data actually is compiled on pike populations in waters statewide? How would we really know if populations would or could suffer? There are all kinds of moral and even environmental issues with a tourney based on any living thing's demise. But..... if done with a certain amount of reverence respect and appreciation for the quarry and rules on how fish must be handled and entered.....I think it could be fun as well as good for environments.