A Pro Am thought...

[bbolger]

Fished the Orleans Pro Am for the second year. It was a tough bite for us despite good fishing the previous three weekends. While fishing (waiting!) we discussed the size limits for these tournaments and all aboard thought there might be merit to open discussion and consideration of upping the sizes for fish to ones similar to LOC sizes. We felt bad keeping 18 inch fish that might otherwise become "trophy" fish in future years.

Just a thought than may well have been kicked around in the past unbeknown to me.

This is a well organized Tournament and the spirit of the sport shines in most cases throughout. Thanks to the organizers!

Bruce Bolger

[skipper19]

Would be nice not to see so many "undersize fish" in the back of a pickup truck....just a thought

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[ray koziatek]

Almost tuff to answer .....15in is min size for salmon by reg book ,,,,(cept atlantic) so as i understand the 18 in was used for min fish kill or stress from releasing and still adding a 3 or 4 lb s to weight, yes many fish are removed and highly visable at one place during the pro ams but this is only 60 to 70 boats for 1 weekend imagine the fish removed from charters and recs. who fish 6 to 7 days a week x 1000pluss boats lakewide you do the math....Ok Ok ill try to answer the loc size limit with a straight face,imagine how many fish would be left floating if 10lb brown,laker,steelie,were persude ,let alone 20 lb salmon.....also that would be targeting the "prime spawing fish"(max number eggs and genitics) gotta get some coffee brb...........................

[Paul Czarnecki]

From what I could decipher from Ray's response I "think" it was a good one. The ProAm tournaments are a very small part of the annual take of salmon and trout from Lake Ontario. The Niagara (especially) and Orleans tournaments saw some pretty big catches so its understandable for people to feel the way you do. We saw the same response when a similar situation occurred in Niagara a few years ago. However, keep in mind, as Ray said, the tournament minimum size is 3 inches above the state's minimum and the tournament only involves 60 - 80 boats on a particular weekend. In the big picture it is nothing when compared to the entire take lakewide on a daily basis---its just that during a tournament you see it all in one spot.

[Tim Bromund]

From what I could decipher from Ray's response I "think" it was a good one. The ProAm tournaments are a very small part of the annual take of salmon and trout from Lake Ontario. The Niagara (especially) and Orleans tournaments saw some pretty big catches so its understandable for people to feel the way you do. We saw the same response when a similar situation occurred in Niagara a few years ago. However, keep in mind, as Ray said, the tournament minimum size is 3 inches above the state's minimum and the tournament only involves 60 - 80 boats on a particular weekend. In the big picture it is nothing when compared to the entire take lakewide on a daily basis---its just that during a tournament you see it all in one spot.

And to add to Paul's thoughts, at least this year, the 1 YO's didn't make up a majority of peoples boxes like they did that Niagara Pro Am 3 or 4 years ago (or was it 4 or 5 years ago), when everyone was boxed out by 8:00 with 6 (AM) or 12 (PRO) with mostly 19-20 inch skippies. Most of the boxes this year had predominantly 2 YO 8-16 lb teenagers.

Would it be nice to be able to release those little guys, sure, but remember, some years when the fishing is tough (typical June conditions), you'd kill to have those fish in your box or you wouldn't have much to weigh in.

Tim

[larry]

Also consider that you have to keep an 18.5 inch as part of your catch instead of putting it back to get a 20 lb fish, that's a swing of 18 pts that make up your box and your stuck with it cause you caught it. A big fish only set could be your strategy but you still need the most fish you can get and you may only get a few with that strategy (better for LOC big fish derby), so IMO it's all part of the game and makes it more interesting and more competitive. If you still feel bad about taking a small one think about how many alewives, smelt and mooneyes you are saving by removing it from the lake, 6-10 per day, everyday for the next 1095 days =6570 tinier baitfish are saved. Those little kings are eating, killing machines and will not stop till they spawn.

[TOP SECRET]

One more thing to consider is if you release all thosr small ones it doesnt mean they all live... Especially if you didnt notice them on a line for a while.

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