Juvenile Landlocks

[chowder]

Gonna preach to the choir about targeting the juvenile LLs on the FLX again cuz there are a bunch of new guys getting into trolling this spring; So remember guys this is the best fighting fish in our lakes- let's let as many of them grow to be adults as possible. How about keeping one, two or 3 legal fish per boat? ON CAYUGA THEY MUST BE 18" OR BETTER and it should be 20") Also remember that releasing a skipper is no guarantee it will survive. I eat as much fish as anybody but the browns & lakers eat good this time of year too.

We all need to keep in mind that the juvenile fish are aggressive & naive and they will continue to keep hitting surface presentations especially in shallow water even with lots of boat traffic but that doesn't mean we need to keep hammering them. Unfortunately catching & killing some of the immature LLs is unavoidable but seriously most of the time the bigger LLs are out & below the skippers after a few boats have worked the shallows. You might not get 30 fish in 3 hours but the ones you will get will be much bigger & better and the fishery will get better too!

[tcon]

Great post Andy.

Tom

[Splitshot115]

Right On Andy.

Scott

[Dirty Goose]

I DONT KNOW IF YOU WERE TAKING A SHOT AT ME OR NOT. THE 27 FISH WE CAUGHT 3 WERE SKIPPERS THE REST RANGED FROM 17-26 INCHES. 2 OF THE 3 SKIPPERS CAME ON THE MINI DIVER RODS. THESE FISH WERE DEEPER THAN THE LARGER LL'S WE WERE TAKING. ALL FISH LIKE I SAID BEOFRE WERE RELEASED AND WILL LIVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY. TIGHT LINES CASEY

[chowder]

The only point I'm trying to make is that the LLs can be very vulnerable during Jan, Feb & March, and even into April. Because the adults of this species are a fairly small proportion of the total trout /salmon population of the lake and because a lot of state resources go into attempting to maintain & grow this population, I think we owe it to the fishery to approach this species in particular with as much respect as we can muster. Let's all just remember that our posts have a profound effect on all other anglers and on less experienced anglers in particular. -Andy

[spoonfed-1]

Good point and good post Andy.

Used to piss me off to no extent what guys would do to those little LL to post big numbers on the message boards.

Thanks

Glen

[Mower]

Andy, i read your post and you beat me to addressing the topic. You also posted a more politically correct post then I would have. I have fished this lake for years and do everything I can to preserve the fishing for years to come. My two cents on this topic "if your catching and keeping illegal fish and your dumb enough to put your pictures on the web you deserve everything you get". And I will be the first one to drop a quarter to make sure they do get what they deserve.

Common guys lets step up and be a steward to these lakes!

Mower

[OldTex]

Excellent post Chowder.Thank you..My son and I have been beyotching about that very thing for YEARS...Heck ...ANYONE can catch those stupid juveniles...If that's all we are catching....we move out or down...

[traveling man]

cig187, I don't think he was taking a shot at you. Andy and I went to Cayuga yesterday and those shaker landlocks were a pain. I think the topic was on his mind because of our trip to Cayuga. Thanks for the trip Andy!!!

It was a cold foggy morning on the lake, the waterfalls were frozen in time. Hows that for a start of a book Andy.

[silver bullets]

I was probably one of those guys for a very short period.However as I have posted in speacial thanks,I owe it to ALL who have TAKEN THE TIME to post thier technique and the time to chat at the launches,send PM's,Phone calls and invite a total stranger to join them aboard thier boats to teach more effective ways to someone that didn't really know any other way.I feel that if it wern't for all of you,I would still be performing that way in hopes that eventualy we would find a good one on occasion.But because of all of you that is not the case for me any more.I can not thank Jason,Andy,Nick,Ray and Sean enough for there help and encouragement. It is this that will aid in the success of our fisheries and I will continue to instill in the people that I introduce to this sport.

To all the advanced gentlemen out there keep the great reports comming and there will be more like myself that will learn as well.

Matt

[perch predator]

even us shore guys try to avoid them if possible or if not stop fishin

[ac holmes]

I am trying to be careful about killing the little LLs. I have caught 10 inch fish on a four inch spoon...those little guys are aggressive. I don't know how to "selectively" avoid catching them. I will leave that task to fishermen more skillful than myself.

The one thing that I feel good about is changing all my lures to single hooks (even stickbaits) because it seems to me that when those little guys are hooked on a treble, it is much more likely that they cannot recover from the more extensive tissue damage inside their mouths and gills. I also like the single hook plan for other reasons, including less tangles in the net. For myself, it is always easier to carefully remove a single hook with minimal damage to the fish, big or small. It is however, more likely that some fish will get off a single hook, I believe.

[quality time]

Great post Chowder. I think we sometimes forget that teaching conservation is sometimes harder than teaching people how to catch fish. This is not to slam anyone. We all go through phases but we eventualy learn that these fisheries are delicate resources and as we become better fisherman the responseablity is even greater to protect the sport that we all love. I have always been a catch and release fisherman but still love to eat fish. We try to only keep the fish that are hooked deep or in the gills. The rule in my house has always been to keep no more than you can eat in one meal. I have found that fish that go in the freezer never seem to come out or get lost and freezer burnt. I lived next to an old timer that pulled copper and caught tons of fish. He didn't eat them and was always giving them away. That used to make me mad as heck because that same fish if released could have been caught again by some kid who never caught a big fish. I love to derby fish and I am going to try to keep my fish in the livewell this year so that I can release them after weigh in. The picture that goes with my post is one from a derby last year that I kept after gettting the results of the leader board. It got bumped out by a few ounces and every time I look at that pic. I wish I let it go. The other thing that I learned to help release fish is do not net them. We have had better results unhooking alongside the boat. Wes

[Hookedup]

Good points by all Like you say Wes with Lakers let them go in the water, once they hit the net and the floor of the boat its hard to get them to stay down. As for the livewell it probably wont work in the summer for Lakers, Salmon, or Bows. With most of my clents we will keep a big Laker to pass around for pics then let the rest go at the back of the boat. They all look the same in photos anyway. I have also started a one Bow limit on my boat for Seneca and Cayuga this year. As for the small salmon I don't get into them down to deep that often. They also will hang out together in the same spots most of the year. So you can usually avoid them after you find them. Just about all the big salmon we put in the boat were caught in areas where we were not catching little guys. I have had better luck letting them go on a small cranks with small trebbles, then I have when they suck down a stinger spoon. You are always going to have some that don't make it thats part of the game. But its nice to see you guys are concerned about the fishery and are spreading the word . Thats what makes this Forum great.

[quality time]

Sean I agree about the small trebles.We were fishing spoons with single hooks and the small fish were getting hooked in gills with the big single hooks. Like Chowder said if you are in small fish move. I'm thinking of keeping a block of ice in the livewell to keep the fish in the livewell later in the year. Hope it works! Wes

[rshubuck]

The only thing I can add to this post is to check your lines often! The small LL's are very agressive and usually strike often at the lines hooking themselves but on the surface we might not notice it everytime and could potentially be dragging them for miles. This usually kills the fish! When your dragging them you are not catching any more fish so it pays to check your lines often. I do not think I'm off on this estimate but checking your lines every ten to twenty minutes should be routine!

Also, follow the regulations. I'm certainly not going to bust on any one who takes a salmon that is 18 inches as long you follow DEC's regs. Now personally I do not like to keep salmon any less then 22 or 23" nor do I like to keep too many trophys. I do keep my far share of fish that do not go wasted. I tend to throw all wild fish back when I can. Anyway's there are a lot of personal views out there and we should respect them. We all need to do are part in connservation. Have fun and enjoy your time on the water! I will be posting Pictures and detailed reports when I get on the water. Good luck to all! Rob

[LongLine]

Atlantics for NYS stocking are raised at the Adirondack Hatchery. At the State of the Lake meeting a couple weeks ago, DEC lake unit mentioned that Adirondack got hit the hardest of all hatcheries re staffing by retirements & budget cuts. They said it wouldn't affect stocking levels throughout the state this year, but it would the following year.

So a word to the wise, if you're not going to eat it, learn how to release it so it lives.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[ac holmes]

Yes indeed, sad but true...if the gills are damaged, no matter what kind or size hook, the fish will likely die if released. I don't understand how treble hooks are better than singles at preventing this. I don't how to get the 3 tine hooks out easily. It seems to me that there is usually more twisting, pushing and pulling with the pliers to pull out the 2 or 3 tines of a small treble, than just one, single hook tine. Sometimes 1 tine will be in the top of the mouth and and 1 or 2 tines in the bottom and side. How to remove those without twisting and tearing the fish's mouth?

[quality time]

The problem we had with single hooks was that the fish would grab the spoon sideways and the longer single hook would fowl hook the fish in the gills. The point of Chowders post was to move deeper when you start getting into the little ones. Mortality rate is higher on these smaller fish when released. The bigger fish are tougher and easier to release unharmed. I would much rather catch 5 large trout than 40 shakers. Maden voyage in the morning for us. Wes

[jason]

quality time beat me to the explanation of chowder post.....if you're catching tons of hitch hikers just move deeper or pick up and run a mile or 2 down the lake....with all the budget cuts and recent sales of lifetime licenses you're going to see the stocking program going down the tubes...so its the responsibility of us as fishermen and women to start policing our waters and not killing off all the little fish.....

like me or hate me i don't give a ****...but its time for a real change......not just the phony catch phrase from a guy who's bankrupting our country....

[lakebound88]

well, no reports for me!! Despite a sudden job loss, boats not gonna leave the dock

And this is a true post. But you know what, we had a great winter and enjoyed ourselves. People need to learn to practice cath and release as much as possible. I try too. I do nott keep a native laker unless he cant be burped. Also, I agree with Rshubuck. Singles and tripled can be argued all day long, but it will never be settled. And to anyone on the water, you can come visit at the dock. Bullhead will be in soon.

[rshubuck]

Sorry to hear the bad news Lakebound. Hope everything works out for you. I will have to invite you out on my boat as much as possible.

[lil' troller]

must be that cough didn't work out for you Nick. Sorry to hear that. although i'm sure you'll still have your boat out. hit them hard capt.

[ERABBIT]

Well a lot has been said here on more than just than just the “Juvenile Landlocks†so I’ll start with just that.

I run into them stacked up just after they are stocked in the fall 10†to 12†fish. (I don't fish for them after the 15th of October or till after April 15th of this year (camp is closed) Posted reports of such didn’t get any negative replies or PM’s from anyone so figure what I was doing was OK. The one thing I had planned on doing this year was going to single hooks on ALL spoons when they were stocked in late September. Now (after what has been said so far here) I think I’ll just go to singles on regular size spoons and larger for this reason. The first thing I did last year and will continue this year was I went to releasing them in the water not bringing them in the boat and didn’t MAUL as many except one’s that hit a regular sized spoon with a treble hook with ALL three hook-points in its mouth had to bring them in the boat and as AC said tough time getting hooks out either tore them up or squeezed them so hard they were most dead going back in the water . Seemed to shake off the small spoons small trebles in the water OK so the single hook on larger spoons or drop the bigger spoons out of my spread and I really don’t want to do that but will if the single idea doesn’t work. I’ll also go a bit deeper to see if this gets me out of the little guys. Now I’m not 100% sure what you guys were getting on this. If I’m into the juveniles ( more than 3) working say south on the west side of the lake running 4 rods and they hit the a riggers with slider down 50’ would you take the slider off and change it to a fixed cheater 40’ down or leave everything where it’s at and move out over deeper water ??? I’m thinking move my spoon deeper first either by dropping the rigger deeper or changing it to a fixed. In Andy’s post I think he was also pointing at NOT working the same water you just hooked up with the juveniles running stuff the same way just to catch a bunch of fish. I agree with that 100% , last year I did run back thru them set up the same way ONLY if I picked up a keeper first time thru. This year I’ll make the above adjustments before I make that run. I guess that’s it on that for now. So to some of the rest of what has been said.

I’m a Ole fart that keeps a lot or most of what I catch as long as it’s legal sizes and in the total limit numbers( 5 fish of which no more than three can be landlock or laketrout. I give over half away some to older folks down here that don’t fish but love eating them and the rest to my family. I like nothing better than going out on Seneca by myself banging say three legal lakers in short order head in take care of fish, the boat gear and then me. Cook up the fish I just got kick my feet up and look out at the lake……………… or fish my butt of picking up a few ( Seneca has a way of putting me back inline)……doing the same as above but take a nappy when done……….

Nick if you need a ride give me a yell in a few weeks I’ll have the camp open after the 15Th.

Jason be talking to ya all season I’m sure buddy !!!!!!

Andy hope we hook up this season either here or your pond…….

Thanks in advance for everyones fishing report in the past and the next one you post and taking time to help each other out this coming season and many,many more to come.

[jason]

well put rabbit