muskiedreams

John Kelley, Thank you very much for your input. It is very interesting what your friend in England told you about what they did in order to achieve such good trophy fisheries. But I am guessing that they also took measure to preserve and/or enhance spawning grounds and how much (if any) harvesting of smaller fish was occurring. Still, it can be very tricky to maintain a trophy fishery because there has to be enough smaller fish reaching a larger size to take the place of those trophy fish that will eventually die of old age as well as a healthy forage base and habitat. But maybe when there are a good amount of trophy size fish, they will naturally control the numbers of smaller size fish to an ideal level. I am also curious about what the pike populations and size in Minnesota are like now. I know they have invested a lot of effort in muskies for quite some time and they have been quite successful but I am not sure about how many waters are producing trophy muskies and if any of the musky waters there are naturally sustained or have become naturally sustainable following a stocking program. There are always so many things that can affect the balance of a fishery. Even without our influences, I am sure there would be fluctuations due to natural causes. But we are, no doubt, a big part of the equation and we must do what we can based on monitoring, research science and controlled actions in partnership with the DEC to make sure we don't throw the equation out of balance.

Thank you sk8man for posting this topic. I beleive that the diary studies provide a lot of valuable information that the DEC can use in conjunction with other data that they collect in order to assess and manage the health of out fisheries throughout the state. Not only for trout and salmon, but for all species in OUR lakes and streems. I capitalized "our" on purpose to emphisize the importence for all anglers to take part in helping to manage the resources we all enjoy using, so that we and future generations will be able to enjoy all the great angling opportunities that we have in New York for years to come as well as continuing to improve on them. We owe it to ourselves and future generations. Also, Joining conservation minded clubs can be a way to give even more by volunteering to help with projects as well as a way to gain an understanding of what is involved in managing our fisheries. There is also the bonus of making new friends and learning things that will make you a better angler. Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 just started participating in diary studies for Conesus Lake and Waneta Lake last year. Even if you only fish a few times a year, the information that you can provide is helpful. I would like to see more fishing clubs getting involved in participating and promoting the diary studies as well as volunteering to help with field operations and promoting a conservation mindset amongst all anglers. In the state of Wisconsin, there is a great deal of colaberation and cooperation between fishing and other outdoor clubs and organizations and their DNR, and their great resources are testimony to the success of these kinds of cooperative efforts. Working in groups and partnering with other groups can also have an impact on raising more public and private funds and focussed effort for our fisheries while at the same time improving habitat for other wildlife. Another club that I am in, The Niagara Musky Association, has been participating in diary studies for the Niagara River and Buffalo Harbor for many years. I haven't been participating in it but I intend to this year because I usually fish those waters at least 3 or 4 times per year. If you fish wates in more than one region each season, you can contact the regional DEC office to find out if they are conducting a diary study for the waters you fish or you might be able to fnd out on th DEC website. They will send you a diary at the beginning of the season and then they will send you a postage paid envelope at the end of the season to mail it back to them. Even if you don't catch any fish, the informatin is helpful to detemine the average angler hours of effort per fish caught. Also, the more anglers that participate, the more accurate the data will be.

You might be able to get that question answered and more here. DEC Announces State of Lake Ontario Meetings There will be experts from both sides of the pond discussing many aspects about the state of Lake Ontario. It is always very informative. Not to mention the free cookies!

Beautiful fish!! Thanks for the release You are a

Chase0218, If it is possible with muskies (which I am not Positive about), it is likely it is also possible with pike and possibly other fish. Ronix 51, If you are reading this, can you shed any light on this thought.

Funny I just got a spam about an Evinrude offer. Seems like too much of a coicidence.

Chas0218, I believe Larry mentioned that once in reference to catching muskies late in the season on cold days. What his main concern with it was that if the eyes freeze it can cause permanent damage to them. I am not sure if it is true or not. If it is, they might not be able to feed effectively any more.

One thing that I think is important is that whatever you decide on, it is best if the model sells in good numbers and it remains mostly unchanged for several years. This will insure better access to parts and service in the future, including aftermarket parts. You don't want to have to junk it because you just can't find a replacement part.

I have a 1995 Evinrude 15 hp 4 stroke on a Grumman 18' aluminum boat. It is mounted on a heavy duty kicker bracket that I can raise and lower. I had a brace installed inside to strengthen the transom behind the kicker. I use an EZ steer for steering leakage. I have to use a tie down to secure the motor from bouncing around on the road. I would have perferred to have a transom wide enough to mount the kicker directly on it and I wish I had a throtle at the helm. I typically troll at 3 t0 4.5 mph but it will go down to about 1.5 and up to about 8 or 10 mph. The 10hp at that time was only a little lighter (same block) and I got a deal on the 15 hp in 96'. What I don't like about it is that some parts are no longer available. It hasn't been an issue yet. I think you should do ok with a 9.9. The 15 hp did come in handy for me a couple times when the main motor failed.

All Muskies Inc tournaments are C&R tournaments. Most are only one or two days on a specific body of water. I'm not sure if any of them involve substantial prizes but some are several hundred $ but less than $1000. Fish are varified by witness and photo of the fish on a bump board. Many of them follow the MI points system. Fish Must be 30" or larger. 4 points for 30" and one point for every inch over 30". A 35" fish would be 9 points. 35.5" would be rounded up to 36" (so 10 pts.). Between 35" but less than 35.5" would be rounded down to 35" (so 9 pts.). Winners would be determined by total points. Tiebreakers are largest fish, then second largest and so on. Multiple day tournaments can be determined by total points over the entire period or best day's catch per angler (this way an angler does not have to fish all days to be in contention). Sometimes there is a longest fish prize or a longest fish pool which you have to enter separately to be considered. You can have other prizes such as for youth which may be more for recognition. If it is not a catch and release tournament, having a minimum lengh to enter and keeping an updated leader board, as Larry mentioned, are probably the most effective ways to keep the number of fish killed to a minimum. It would probably be best to not have daily, weekly or monthly prizes for pike unless they are just for catch and release and drawn from all releases for that period of time. Maybe there are other rules you could use to minimize number of fish killed. If you want to have them brought to weigh station for entry, maybe you could use length instead of weight to determine leaders. That way, anglers would be able to determing quickly if they have a contender. You could use weight as a tiebreaker only. Just some thoughts to consider. Steve VP MI Chapter 69

There is one thing I would like to bring up that may be worth considering. I have heard that on very cold days in the winter, a fish that is caught through the ice and exposed to the cold air, may not survive if released. Maybe it depends on how long they are exposed. Maybe there are things that can be done in the release process to increrase their chances of survival. Maybe it is best not to target them if the air temprature is below a certain level. If this is an issue that needs to be taken into consideration, what can be done to minimize this type of mortality. Maybe not allowing entries when air temps are below a certain level. Maybe promoting techniques in the release process to maximize likelyhood of survival. Maybe have a limit on the number days an angler can submit fish during the course of the tournament. They would have to register at the start of the day as one of their alloted days. Catch and release will not provide any benefit if there is limited survival after release. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences on this?

nasc620, I believe the DEC is trying to restore many native species,such as sturgen and also some native baitfish. With many of them they are hoping to see them get to a point where there will be naturaly sustainable populations. The theory being that in the longrun, a better and more geneticly resillient population will develop that way. Sturgen will take a while for their numbers to expand into a sustainable population due to their slow very growth rate. They can live to over 100 years. There has been success in other states. Once that happens, they will probably open the species to limited angling. Hopefully we will eventually have some exciting angling opportunities for sturgen. I think the promotion of catch and release and raising the legal limit for northerns makes a lot of sense. With muskies, if the size limits were not raised and catch and release was not promoted, our musky fisheries would be in very poor shape right now. Northers do grow faster and have the potential to produce trophy size fish again. If nothing is done, eventually it will be tough to even catch a 25 incher. We have to decide if we want to catch big ones or if we just want to eat them.

One thing is that you have to be very careful about the words you use when you want to make an opinion about something or about what someone said or did. Take the time to read over what you have written (also because there is no spellcheck and sometimes as I write, whole words or letters are missing that I know I entered). Keep in mind that they can not see your face or hear your tone of voice. If you come out shooting (or come across that way) you can only expect them to shoot back. Keep in mind that a picture may not tell the whole story and that you may missinterpret (hope I spelled that right) what someone said. So it might be good to make sure of those things. Take a deep breath, think about it. Also be aware that even if you are pasionate about the subject and/or what a person said or did, it would be better try and talk them into understanding your point of view. Then maybe you will sway them into ageement (or understanding your point). Or at least agree to disagree without hostillity.

Very nice!!