muskiedreams

The Fishing Hall of Fame and IGFA each have their own submission rules and procedures. You have to submit to each one individually. For state records, I believe you have to submit to the state. And it may depend on what category(s) you are submitting for. Examples: largest for species, species for Lb test, fly rod, tippet. Just a few years ago, the IGFA added a C&R category (at least for musky, not sure about other species) where weight is not required, just length and girth with pictures using their official measuring device.

Edited out the "fun loving" in my post.

If it was in May during spawning season this is what they were likely doing. The Thousand Island Biological Station (TIBS), which is managed by Dr. John Farrell of SUNY ESF, has been collecting eggs and milt from spawning muskies in the spring in order to hatch the fry in the lab then return them to the nursery locations. Then they will check for young of the year (YOY) at those locations in the fall. Since the gobies have been predating on the eggs, there has been very poor recruitment of YOY in the known musky spawning sites. They are trying this to see if it will help. This is a very big concern which may affect the future of muskies in the SLR. It is great that we have Dr. Farrell and TIBS as well as the OMNR doing this and other important work in the SLR. It is also possible that they may have been inserting a transmitter for a radio tagging study, but that would require quite a lot of equipment for the surgical procedure. The Niagara Musky Association just started a radio tagging study in the Upper Niagara River and Lake Erie this past spring with the help of the DEC. They implanted 10 transmitters in muskies and installed several receivers in the area. This is part of a larger plan with the goal of identifying and improving viable natural spawning sites in the fishery in order to help support the self sustaining fishery for years to come. There are other receivers scattered throughout lake Erie and the river that were installed by other groups that will also help determine the movements of the fish. There is a similar network of receivers in Lake Ontario and the SLR.

Nice B-Day presents. Maybe the musky gods didn't recognize you without the face hair and the backward baseball hat.

Lamoka Outing and Curly Leaf Pond Weed in Waneta Lake This Spring Toothy and I were at Waneta on May 28th, the day after inland musky opener. There was a lot of curly leaf pond weed all the way out to about 10-12 feet. I'm sure some of you were there ans saw this. It was very thick at the north and south ends and tough to cast in less than 10 fow. Last week Jim heard from Zach who was there and said that there was dead weeds floating everywhere in big mats, making it difficult to fish. I was just there on Sat. with Todd and there was 2 other boats that joined me for an outing to try to find muskies in Lamoka (more on that later). In the afternoon we went to Waneta lake. The curly leaf pond weed was all gone. The only weeds we saw was some eurasian watermilfoil in 5 to 6 fow and less. There was also some algae bloom happening. I did some checking on the pond weed. Here is a link to a description of it. https://www.lakegeorgeassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/curly-leaf-fact-sheet.pdf That explains what happened at Waneta. The pond weed came early as explained and died off last week as normal. I just hope this doesn't have a big affect on the native plant population and have a negative impact on years to come. As the summer progresses I would appreciate members reporting on how the plant population progresses. It wasn't the greatest day for the outing at Lamoka, in terms of fish activity. Of the three boats, which each gave it 3 to 4 hrs (2 boats casting and 1 trolling) no muskies were caught or seen. There was only about 4 or 5 pickerel and a couple largemouth bass caught but we might have had the same results at Waneta. The vegetation we saw there was some eurasian watermilfoil in 5 to 8 fow, cabbage in the north half at 5 fow and less and south of mid lake was kind of barren except some lily pads close to shore. The cabbage was brown so I am not sure if it was healthy. We didn't go to the far south end (less than 8 ft). There was also some green snot algae on some of the weeds in the shallows. It would be great if we could document a few muskies out of Lamoka this year. Since the DEC didn't turn up any in the trap netting they did this spring, If we could turn some up, that would help to make a case to possibly start a new stocking program there since it is still unclear if the lake can support muskies. So if any LOU members are inclined to fish for or happen to catch any muskies there this summer, please post the info here or PM me with pics (best if pics show recognizable landscape), date, gender (if possible), measurement, how caught, depth, structure etc. Also if there are any fin clips, that would tell them the age and if it is stocked or naturally spawned. Please no hoaxes. We don't want to see resources wasted on an unworthy cause. Thank you for any support you can provide here.

Is this photoshoped? I see an extra foot, another shoulder and arm and what looks like part of someone's head hiding back there.

Main Line Heavy mono is tough to cast and will not allow you to get your lures very deep because of the resistance due to diameter and it floats which also hinders ability to get lure depth. Also, the more line you have out, the more belly there will be in the line which will add to the give of the inherent line stretch to reduce your hook setting power. Pike and musky have a bony mouth so you need all the hook setting power you can get. Braid has very little stretch and due to the smaller diameter per lb test, there will be less belly in the line so you will have much greater hook setting power. So the best choice for your main line is braid. If you do decide to use mono for your main line for pike, it would be best to not go too heavy and use a leader. This may depend on what lures and depth you are fishing. Leader Fluorocarbon or steel is debatable. One argument is that you will get bite-offs with fluorocarbon. It is definitely not as cut and abrasion resistant as steel, so if you use it you need to check for damage often and especially after a fish or contact with structure. Any damage from contact with structure will weaken the line so it can break easier. So if you are fishing in a way where you are often contacting structure, you might be better off using steel. I like to use single strand steel. You can do a haywire twist to terminate it. Stranded wire can become frayed and crimps used to terminate it can fail. So if you use it, you need to periodically inspect it for damage. If you use single strand wire, it should be replaced if you get a tight kink. Pike and musky are not as line shy as many other kinds of fish. So, often, steel does not cause them to shy away but under some conditions it can be a factor. Using non-coated stranded wire will be less visible than coated. Using single stranded steel will be less visible than both, it is less sensitive to abrasion and being able to terminate it with a haywire twist is more secure. Under some conditions fluorocarbon may be needed to minimize visibility. I haven't used it much because I don't want to take a chance on killing a musky by leaving a lure in its mouth. So some anglers here can give more advice about it in terms of what lb test, what brands (not all are equal), and how to terminate it.

Now he knows why it is worth going for hours or days without a rip.

The can't open accidentally (stay lock) and they are strong.

Zach, Someone who is planning on fishing the south basin was asking if there was any other registration options. Is Mike Sperry going to be doing sign up or are you planning on doing sign up at his store on Fri night? Or is anyone else doing sign up at another launch location? If so, What hours? Also Jim and I may be there but we haven't decided for sure and/or what days yet.

Must be a pocket post

I just got my Waneta and Lamoka Lakes angler diary and results from 2016 back from Region 8 DEC. I want to thank those of you who participated in the angler diary study last year and for that matter, all who have participated in angler diary studies across the state. We all need to do what we can to help keep our NY fisheries healthy. The information is valuable to the DEC biologists in many ways. The diary study is easy to do and the feedback you will get on the results is reward enough for the little bit of time it takes to fill out the diary. For those of you who fish Waneta and Lamoka and have not yet participated, I urge you to do so, even if you only fish there one or two days of the year. See below for info to order a diary. The more data there is in the study, the better. The program is in danger of being terminated if participation doesn't increase. The diaries also support the Region 8 case for continuing stocking in Waneta. Also, since the trap net survey the DEC conducted this May that included Lamoka Lake, did not turn up any muskies in Lamoka Lake, any documented proof of muskies there will help with their current evaluation in consideration of a possible new stocking program in Lamoka. The preliminary trap netting results for Waneta Lake was good. And even though the diary study only returned 6 angler results, the catch rates and size results were better than the previous two years of the program. TO ORDER A DIARY FOR WANETA and LAMOKA LAKES, CONESUS LAKE or OTHER REGION 8 WATERS WITH DIARY STUDIES CALL 585-226-2466 Please consider joining the Diary Club. I know there are a lot more of you who fish these waters. Good luck this weekend and this year and, of course, please handle your muskies carefully. THANKS

Yes the state limit is 36" to keep a fish. The tournament is "catch and release" and for that, the minimum to enter in the points system is 30" which is worth 4 points. For every inch above that, another point is added (33" is 7 pts. and 35" is 9 pts. and so on). Since they are being released, fish under 36" (down to 30") are accepted and it is legal because they are released. If we used the legal size limit, the likelihood of no fish entered would be high. The same could be true at the Chautauqua tournament. Since the legal size for purebred muskies is 40", it is possible that there would be no, or very few, fish large enough to enter if we used the 40" state limit for the minimum size to enter. These size limits for the tournaments are for the purpose of the "catch and release only" tournament and not to be confused with the state size limit for harvest. We understand that there is some confusion, especially in regard to Otisco Lake, since the size limit there is higher than other tiger musky waters in the state. There are exceptions for some waters that have both tigers and purebred muskies so you should check those regions for exceptions. We are currently working on trying to get signs installed in key locations on Otisco lake to inform anglers of the special size regulation as well as proper release practices.

No they can't. There is no dam above the falls. There is a dam on the US side of the river that diverts water through the power generating station and around the falls. So they can only divert water around the falls. You can take a boat from Lake Erie down the river to where the power plant is. The Welland River, slightly further down on the Canadian side, is about as far as boats are allowed. Past there it becomes rapids and rocks. You don't want to lose motor power there.