Otisco Lake 7/14/13 ~ Tracy's first Tiger & first post!

[Tigerhunter]

Yeah I hear ya- you can't help it that they occupy similar areas now. As far as releasing it sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what should be done, main points being and somebody correct me if I'm wrong here:

-don't overplay the fish

-never hold the fish vertically

-unhook them in the water if possible

-try to do water releases when the water is warm

-if a picture is necessary, have the camera all ready so you can snap the pic quick and return to the water

-when holding the fish waiting for it to take off don't pull it backwards and aim it into the waves if possible

-there are physical attributes such as color and etc. that let you know if they are over stressed but someone else will have to get into that because I don't know enough about it to write it

Good luck out there and maybe I will see ya when the water cools down some....btw- awesome fish guys!!!

Trevor

[justtracytrolling]

I was rereading some old posts trying to find a few things to tweak in my spread and I realized I still haven't actuaIlly tried to measure any Tigers this summer.  We have caught close to 20 over 36 at least and only 5-6 have been taken out of the water and none measured.  Im gonna try to start measuring them as the water temps are down and hopefully by next summer Ill be good enough at it that I can consistently get a photo and measurements AND a good release.  Im convinced the next state record tiger will come from Otisco, and you cant catch a 50 if they don't live long enough.  Id like to see the size raised to at least 40" like it is in the rivers...anybody out there know if they plan to raise the size restrictions more like they have in other waters?  Is this something Muskies Inc is involved in?  I haven't joined as the meetings and events aren't really possible to attend for me, but I prob should join just for the cause.

justin

[Tigerhunter]

The minimum was just raised within the last year from 30" to 36". I would have preferred higher too but I will take 36" over 30" any day. The sad part was/is the lack of education with some anglers.....this past winter we were talking to a few guys that setup in between our shanty and our tip ups (go figure) and we told them we caught a few small ones in the upper 20" category. They asked if we kept them and we explained the rules and how we are catch and release, not looking for a meal. They proceeded to tell us the day before they kept a few low 20"ers and they thought the rules were the same as pickerel.

As far as the measuring, I made a bump board out of a 1x6 and a 48" metal rule from Lowe's. they make folding plastic ones which are nice but a little pricey in my eyes for what it is (I understand the price behind it but I would rather buy more lures). The bump boards are probably the most accurate but you have to wet them first and you have to take the fish out of the water.

Also available are measuring sticks you hold next to them as your are releasing. Basically looks like a 1" piece of PVC marked up. I feel they aren't as accurate because you are potentially/hopefully 40-50" away from the nose where the measurement is being taken. I may go this route because as long as I'm within an inch it really doesn't matter to me and they take up next to no room.

I've also thought about making some sort of marking on the side of my boat where I could get a quick measure while releasing.

Good luck, hopefully they will start putting the feed bag on soon!

[justtracytrolling]

I want to see 40" as the limit at least, but 36 helps. I see boats dragging boarderline tigers several times a year, and saw a couple taken that didnt make 30. Always gonna have a few people that see what they think is huge and keep it when in reality its an immature sub legal fish. As far as putting the feedbag on goes i dont think they stop eating! They are such an awesome fish when they are allowed to mature.

Justin

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