Tigerhunter

The meeting has been changed to 1:00 PM.

Over the winter, Justin and I had been throwing around the idea of starting a muskie/esox “club†that was more centralized in the state. There are a handful of us that would like to attend the Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 meetings and events but are unable to do so because of the distance. We had thought of basing the “club†around Otisco as that is a place we both fish regularly with the ability to rotate the location of meetings around CNY (Binghamton, Syracuse, Cortland, Utica, etc.). The legalities of starting and maintaining a non-profit, tax-exempt organization are quite substantial and would take a lot of effort to execute. While we are up for a challenge, we feel that time and money would be better spent focusing on the fish rather than requirements, taxes, insurance, etc. We have decided to further investigate the option of having a localized group within the existing NY Muskies Inc. chapter. Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 President Jim Reynolds has reserved the conference room at Bass Pro Shops in Auburn for us. The meeting will start at 1:00 PM on Saturday April 23rd, 2016. If you plan on coming to the meeting please either PM myself or Justin (this is not required but it will be helpful for us to have an idea of how many people to expect). Also if you would like to attend and are unable, also please let us know and we can fill you in on what was discussed/decided at the meeting. If you have any questions or ideas in regards to the meeting please feel free to ask. Thanks! Trevor

I think there are a few different things to look at regarding the question of keeping tigers versus keeping walleye. The mindset/goals of fishing for muskie/tigers versus walleye has been discussed and I totally agree that Muskie/tigers are typically targeted as C&R trophies whereas walleyes are typically fished for table fare. I don't know many, if any, people that fish walleye to release them. Another thing I think needs to be looked at in this discussion is the number of fishable populations. I can count on one hand the bodies of water in New York State where you can fish and actually have the opportunity to catch a respectable tiger. Now take a look at lakes with fishable walleye populations.....many many more options. I release 99.9% of the fish I catch regardless of species. I've personally only kept one trout and that is because it was poorly hooked and after multiple release attempts it was a floater. I have released many respectable walleye at otisco and plan to continue to do so.

Obviously I didn't learn anything from you then.... Must be those sweet new plastic lures I got!

I mainly cast shallow and have also seen an increase in tigers over 36" since the change. The number of tigers we have caught between 30"-36" has gone up quite well since the change. It could be due to the limit change or it could be us improving our skills....not sure which it is or which I prefer it to be but it sure is nice-haha!

I am not very familiar with Conesus and my knowledge is from reading on the internet but here is my take (info taken off DEC website). Conesus: 3,400 acres stocked with 9,500 8.5" tigers resulting in ~2.79 tigers stocked per acre. Predators of stocked tigers include the same as Otisco plus northern pike, which I believe greatly reduces the chance of the stocked tigers to reach maturity. Otisco: 2,236 acres stocked with 11,000 8.0" tigers resulting in ~4.92 tigers stocked per acre (nearly double that of Conesus). No northern pike predation. I am a shallow water caster so I assume I would be more productive on Otisco rather than Conesus based on the contour maps. With Otisco being 2/3 the size of Conesus with almost double the stocking density, I believe will contact tigers at a higher rate based on numbers alone. I feel that Otisco has been promoted as the trophy tiger lake in NY and therefor sees a lot more fishing pressure, this combined with my thoughts on the size vs stocking densities results in more reported catches. One thing that I think would help all lakes stocked with tigers is to stock them at a larger size. This is one of my personal goals associated with the "CNY Muskie Club" idea since I live 20 minutes from the hatchery and there are numerous lakes around me that are stocked with a few hundred tigers that as far as I have heard, no mature tigers are being caught (possibly nobody targeting them though).

Thanks!

I'm looking forward to getting out there again. I noticed at the last tourney that they still have the old regulations posted on the boards at both launches, what's the best avenue to get them updated/replaced? Contact DEC or can someone from Muskies Inc. take care of it? I'd hate to see somebody take a 30" fish because the signs at the launch don't reflect the current regulations.

I think the fish taste just fine out of Onondaga.....they require less seasoning!

Thanks for sharing, I laughed at the comments that it's not a tiger...

The tigers at Otselic come from New Jersey. I personally believe the color differences come from their environment but I am far from a biologist. My thoughts are that the darker tigers I have seen have all been from darker Adirondack waters. Any fish I've seen from typically "clearer" bodies of water have all looked like lighter. These are my observations as a "casual" fisherman, I don't quite have the experience others on this site do.

WTB: pink banjo minnows!

I went out saturday and got skunked, the tournament should be interesting...

I am hoping to make it this year as well...

Great fish- I love the darker color/markings of the fish out that way, good luck with the 50", hope to see a pic real soon!