muskiedreams

Technically even if you were not aware, taking a picture of a fish caught out of season is illegal and posting it could be incriminating. Even though it can be exciting to see a fish like that caught through the ice I want to remind everyone that since the fish was caught out of season while fishing for pike, it should have been unhooked and released immediately. The sooner you release it the better chance it has to survive. And even though it swam away, doesn't mean it didn't die later. That is why the rules were clarified in the 1015-2016 regulations. The revised rule is stated as follows. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose, including taking a picture.

I have heard that stocked hump backed muskies happen quite often. I don't remember what the cause is said to be. Something to do with being hatchery raised. So there could be more than one in Otisco. Some of the Chautauqua guys probably know. I'm not saying it isn't the same fish. It very well could be.

It should have been immediately unhooked released since it was out of season. Weighing and posing for a picture may have sealed it's doom.

They are getting ready to close a nuke plant downstate (two reactors), so I wonder how they will make up for that energy loss. And I wonder who will pay for the demolition and clean up there. There is always trade offs. The trick is to find solutions with the least amount of impact while balancing the cost and practicality over the long term. Not an easy thing to do due to unknowns. Fusion sounds good but it is something that they have been trying to accomplish for decades and nothing of any large scale has emerged with that technology. Unfortunately, us taxpayers often have to clean up the mess left by old energy infrastructure as well as other abandoned industrial sites. Heaven forbid the 1%ers who profited from them having to foot the bill. At least some of the costs are covered by re-licensing fees for hydro-electric plants. We are paying for the plugging of many oil and gas wells, scattered around the country, that have been abandoned for years. But I think companies are being held more accountable these days. Probably not enough though.

The ideal spawning habitat for each species is different. Muskies generally prefer slightly deeper water. A lot of preferred pike habitat in wetlands has degraded in the St. Lawrence due to reduced water fluctuations and invasive species. It has been said that as a result of that, and maybe some other factors, some pike have been spawning in more typical musky spawning sites which can cause the occurrence of naturally produced tiger muskies. There has been a a large project to restore some wetland habitat in the St. Lawrence. It is being funded mainly by the power plant re-licensing fees. They are opening up channels and shallow pools in the wetlands that were previously choked off so the pike can return to those pools to spawn. At the same time they are planting native aquatic vegetation. It has only been a year or two and they have already noted pike and many other species of fish birds and other aquatic species moving into the new habitat. This is a major project that is being managed and monitored by the Thousand Island Biological Research Station. In the Niagara River it may be a little different, especially in the East River. There is a very limited amount of muskie spawning habitat. Shipping and other shoreline development over the years has eliminated a great deal of the natural spawning habitat. There is a considerable ongoing effort to bring back more natural shoreline habitat in the Niagara River, Buffalo River and Buffalo Harbor. Much of it is also being funded by the NYSEG re-licensing fees.

A sharp hook should stick to your fingernail instead of sliding across it. Most new hooks do not. If it doesn't, it isn't sharp. Having sharp hooks is arguably the most important factor in strike to hookup ratio. They can become a little dull over time (due to oxidation) or from contacting structure. It is a good idea to check them often, especially after missing a fish or contacting structure. They also need to have a nice gradual taper for deep and easy penetration. So they can only be sharpened so many times before they need to be replaced. Becoming experienced at using a good flat hook file is the best way to go. Using a power tool can heat up the very point of the hook and compromise the hardness of the steel.

I just finished reading the article. Excellent article. Peter and Kevin did a great job on it. It really brings to mind how delicate the fishery is. I would like to see the article published elsewhere for more awareness. I am hoping that through research they will be able to find a way to reduce the impact of the gobies and VHSV. Since there has just been an agreement to change the water level management practices, it will be interesting to see if it improves spawning success. There is however, a lot of concern and opposition from lake shore communities and businesses about flooding and about low water conditions in harbors. I haven't heard any detail about how they are going to manage those concerns.

This is just some very basic stuff. I don't understand what you disagree with. There are some NMA members who are very successful using jigs. I have had some success with them. Also, about 5 years ago I netted a 50"r caught on a tube and took the picture of another 50"r a couple weeks later that was caught on a Swim Shad. If you look at the NMA catch and release logs for the last 8 to 10 years, ROB tubes have been one of the top baits, and for at least 2 or 3 of those years, the top bait.

LOL. And you can use guitar strings for leaders.

Jigging can be very productive. They can be jigged or dragged in river current 12' to 25'. You must be prepared to loose a few to snags and have a heavy baitcaster with min. 50 lb braid. They can also be cast and jerked around cover or shallow flats. There are various ways to rig them for each task. You can use your imagination. Keep in mind that you will loose more fish while jigging than casting or trolling but the potential to hook more fish is there. Red October Tubes, Storm Swim Shads and Bondy Baits are all good choices. There are variations on all these in rigging techniques and presentation, depending on applications, that will help increase catch rates. You will need to do your homework on that.

Casting can often be more productive than trolling but it requires learning, practice and skill development. But that is also true for trolling. The more time you put in and the more you become familiar with the water you are fishing, the more success you will have.

There was a chapter in Buffalo at one time too. Here is a link to another forum where a guy says his dad was the president of the chapter. There is also a great pic of a spawning pair of muskies. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/171188-buffalo-nywny-fishing/?page=14

Thanks for stating this Mike. I wish I could find some estimates on stocking size, quantities and survival rates to size ranges. I know I have seen such studies but I am sure it can only be so accurate and vary widely depending on the body of water and it's unique circumstances. I know that the survival rates are very low and increases greatly by size range. When you see those estimates, it puts int perspective how special even a 35 inch fish is. I do know that the number of naturally reproduced fish in Waneta is very low. When they stock a musky from the Chautauqua hatchery, they clip one of the pectoral or ventral fins. A naturally spawned fish will not have a clipped fin. I don't know if they might have missed clipping a few stocked fish though.

Because of the nature of the breed, being that they are slow growing, any musky fishery can suffer from an adverse event. I think it is more important for us to promote proper CPR but also not bash someone if they do it wrong or for keeping a fish within the law. You will never change them by yelling at them. It is also possible that several year classes can suffer from event or a string of less than ideal growing seasons. Since the DEC does not do seining or trap netting there very often, all of you who care about the fishery and fish there at least once per year should consider helping them out with data collection by participating in their yearly diary study if you are not already participating. This not only helps them with data that can be used to better assess the health of the fishery, it also helps them to justify with Albany that the investment in the lake(s) is worthwhile. This is also true with all fisheries in the state and all species of fish. This information can not only be used to help monitor the health of the fisheries in the state but also help to determine where and how resources could be best utilized and create the best return for the state and fishing opportunities for residents. It would be nice if the state could come up with a statewide diary study that would work. I have seen the subject come up in the past but I think the biggest concern that they have is making sure the data is accurate. I can understand the concern there. One thing we can do here on the LOU community is to help promote and expand the Anger Diary Study program here and through the various clubs and organization that we participate in. It must be done in such a way so that those who participate will be diligent in documenting every one of their fishing trips. There are diary studies being conducted on many waters by regional DEC offices. I have diaries for three fisheries to fill out. I could add at least two more but I may only visit each of these fisheries once or maybe not at all in a season. As it is, there is one that I sent back last year with no new entries and it will be the same this year. But I could conceivably fish there two or three times next year. Sometimes I wonder if it makes sense to fill out a diary if I only fished there once in a season. I can say that I would much rather have one diary to fill out where I can enter all my fishing trips for the season. I just wonder if it could be done and still keep the data accurate somehow. Maybe it could be done if we can present a practical plan to the DEC. I don't know if there is a way to conduct a poll here on LOU but I would be curious to find out if more anglers would participate in an angler diary study and diligently provide accurate data if they could do it all in one diary.

Need an app that senses and locks on to their phone GPS when they enter your property. Then tracks them from there and sends alert with tracking to police so they can track them down and arrest them. The tracking history is the evidence.

He has all the time in the world to fish there. To him, it is not worth stressing the fish for a picture unless it is near 50" or more.