Little salmon

[Patriot]

I've been seeing a lot of people at the fish cleaning stations keeping small fish. Remember that these fish won't be showing up 2-3 years down the road.

Yea, I know, but it was bleeding. If I get a hook caught in my hand, I'm not going to die, am I? If you throw it back, it has a chance. No chance in the cooler.

Charters are just as bad with this. They're just hurting them selves by keeping the small ones. If I chartered, I'd make it a rule "no small fish will be kept".

And you think the fishing was bad this year! Here comes the snowball effect

[Nemesis]

And your customers might not pick you for their next charter. It should be up to the customer if it is a legal fish.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[tiogafishaddict]

You'd be surprised on how many of these 12 lb fish are gonna run the rivers this year. Late spring cold year = smaller kings. But it is a put and take fishery... I honestly like eating smaller fish....

[G-Daddy]

This thread is exactly why I clean fish on the boat whenever wave conditions make that possible.

[BSmaster]

Patriot, While I agree with your sentiments including your future projections, I disagree with your suggestion.  This is and will be the state's issue.  They do not consult me or take my suggestions so I shouldn't have to take the responsibility for their mistakes or misfortunes.  If I chartered I would educate my clients and make suggestions.  A small fish to you may be a fish of a lifetime to someone else.  It is not my place to dictate to anybody what is appropriate except in my own house. 

 

BTW, I don't keep very many trout if any from LO.  When I do I lok for a small brown female so I can have fresh eggs and can enjoy the meal.  I keep salmon because I know so many people that just crave those black mudhens.

 

Joe

 

 

This thread is exactly why I clean fish on the boat whenever wave conditions make that possible.

This thread is why I keep my strong feelings to myself.  Hot thread  before you know it.  Except for Littering.  Litterbugs should be flogged.

[Patriot]

I'm talking about 1-2 year old fish. Yes, charters should educate their clients about the fishery. It would probably make them think differently about the whole fish cycle. I too only keep just a few fish every year. This year I kept four fish all season.

[Whitetail Crazy]

If that was the case the snowball would have started about thirty years ago.Those few small fish the captains are keeping isn't a problem.

[Patriot]

WTC, I hope you're right. With the year we've just had, it just seems like charters and regular fishers are keeping everything they catch, big or small. I can hardly wait to see what's left for Brown Trout this Spring on the east end of the lake. No salmon to be caught makes it bad for the trout population. The DEC better sharpen their pencil for stocking numbers this coming Spring

[skipper19]

Maybe the state will see the potential of what you say has merit and might cause a few thousand less matures a year or two later. I often think about the size limit of 15 inches on the kings. I never keep salmon that small unless mortally wounded and would not survive. In fact I usually only keep kings that are generally over 25 inches long. A limit of 15 inches is quite small considering the king has the potential to reach 35 to 40 inches or more. There are even competition events that require a box everything format as a rule, meaning 15 inches and you have to box it. If the law was changed to a longer keep in size then more fish would return to swim if not damaged or mishandled, leading theoretically to more mature salmon in the end cycle. I don't believe most people keep salmon that small (15 inches to mid 20 something). Kings are very hardy. I know if you try to revive them by live well or cooler holding until they swim upright they can swim away strong. I even had one (16 inches) this weekend I thought was a goner. It wasn't hooked badly but came from a 400 copper haul and then unhooked and squirming, landed on the deck from five feet. I put him in the live well and circulated clean water for a few minutes. Then swelled the water around and got him swimming against the swirl. 10 minutes later he was back in the lake and digging for the bottom. They are tough. Steelhead need a little more finessing even at 21 inches, but if ya gotta keep him cause he won't swim, 21 inches is a respectable catch for eating.

I agree, but it's just my opinion, I'm not that educated on size limits and how they contribute to population. In some ways it seems logical, the kings should be allowed a little more growing room. I don't know how much, but seems a bit of a solution. However in past I have not noticed any decline in matures as much as this one this year. Time will tell next year.

Mark

Cent frum my notso smart fone

[tiogafishaddict]

There have been many years around mexico bay the kings were late and Lakers/browns got hammered on. The last few years we have been spoiled with kings from June on. I use to worry about the same with trout but they seem fine.

[Patriot]

Maybe the state will see the potential of what you say has merit and might cause a few thousand less matures a year or two later. I often think about the size limit of 15 inches on the kings. I never keep salmon that small unless mortally wounded and would not survive. In fact I usually only keep kings that are generally over 25 inches long. A limit of 15 inches is quite small considering the king has the potential to reach 35 to 40 inches or more. There are even competition events that require a box everything format as a rule, meaning 15 inches and you have to box it. If the law was changed to a longer keep in size then more fish would return to swim if not damaged or mishandled, leading theoretically to more mature salmon in the end cycle. I don't believe most people keep salmon that small (15 inches to mid 20 something). Kings are very hardy. I know if you try to revive them by live well or cooler holding until they swim upright they can swim away strong. I even had one (16 inches) this weekend I thought was a goner. It wasn't hooked badly but came from a 400 copper haul and then unhooked and squirming, landed on the deck from five feet. I put him in the live well and circulated clean water for a few minutes. Then swelled the water around and got him swimming against the swirl. 10 minutes later he was back in the lake and digging for the bottom. They are tough. Steelhead need a little more finessing even at 21 inches, but if ya gotta keep him cause he won't swim, 21 inches is a respectable catch for eating.

I agree, but it's just my opinion, I'm not that educated on size limits and how they contribute to population. In some ways it seems logical, the kings should be allowed a little more growing room. I don't know how much, but seems a bit of a solution. However in past I have not noticed any decline in matures as much as this one this year. Time will tell next year.

Mark

Cent frum my notso smart fone

I agree Skipper

Maybe the state will soon come to the conclusion that there needs to be a size limit on ALL Lake Ontario fish?

Sure, I know its a put & take fishery but if we take more than the state puts???

[tiogafishaddict]

I guess when there is evidence of fish populations being hurt by fishermen following the laws then they will change it.

[ifishy]

whats the difference if you keep it when its 1 year 2 years or 3 years old your still keeping it before it runs the rivers if you keep it smaller that means there is less compitition for the remaining fish so they can feed easier and get bigger.

[TOP SECRET]

I read an article years ago that recommended keeping the smaller fish... hear me out....

First item it said was they taste better.

Second, it said that young salmon are feeding machines... thinning them out allows the older salmon to feed better and build the fat they will need to run the river and spawn. Now with the amount of bait we have this year, perhaps that isn't as large of an issue.

Third, keeping large fish reduces the amount of fish spawning and therefore natural reproduction, which is believed to contribute more to the fishery than originally thought.

All of that being said... if you are really afraid of people hurting the fishery by keeping fish each day... head to the Altmar hatchery in October. Unless this year is different, you will see thousands of fish and perhaps begin to understand a bit of the true magnitude and numbers of fish the lake holds.

I fish more than many and less than some, perhaps 16 weekends a year and average at most 3 trips per weekend... 48 trips overall. Let's pretend I'm a fabulous fisherman and catch my limit every trip along with Theresa... that's 48x6= 288 fish caught. Even if we pretend there are 1,000 other fishermen that fish that much and limit every trip... that's only 288,000 fish.

The DEC stocks over 3 MILLION fish each year!!! And that doesn't take into account natural reproduction.

Lastly, the legal size limit is 15", period. People a lot smarter than you or I make that number and that's the law whether you approve of it or not. To give someone a hard time for keeping a legal fish that they paid their hard earned money for on a license, not to mention gear, boat, gas, etc is completely and utterly distasteful.

If you choose not to keep small fish, big fish, dark fish, or no fish, that is your legal right, just as it is the legal right of someone to keep three 15" salmon if they so choose.

[tlr426]

I would rather see a hundred small fish eaten the one fish thrown on the shore to rot during the spawning runs

[Patriot]

What "Sport" does anyone see in keeping a 15" Chinook Salmon? For most of us here its the thrill of catching big fish. Considering the size potential, a 15" Chinook is a skippy in my eyes.

I’d be totally embarrassed to bring a 15†salmon out of my cooler

I say "let it grow".

Edited September 3, 2014 by Patriot

[tiogafishaddict]

Not much better after a day of fishing then a 20 inch king stuffed with lemon and garlic over the camp fire.....

[Fishin fintastic]

I've been seeing a lot of people at the fish cleaning stations keeping small fish. Remember that these fish won't be showing up 2-3 years down the road.

Yea, I know, but it was bleeding. If I get a hook caught in my hand, I'm not going to die, am I? If you throw it back, it has a chance. No chance in the cooler.

Charters are just as bad with this. They're just hurting them selves by keeping the small ones. If I chartered, I'd make it a rule "no small fish will be kept".

And you think the fishing was bad this year! Here comes the snowball effect

[Has Been]

Those smaller ones are the Best ! Limejuice & butter w/ some Italian Seasoning on the Grill, DUDE!

 

 I paid my licence fee, if I want to keep a fish, I'm going to. And I don't blame anyone else who does.

[LongLine]

If you got a license, keep your legal catch if you want to.  No problem there.

 

Ruff Rider -  of the 3 mil fish, only 1.5/1.7m are kings.  Unfortunately survival rates are not even close to 100%.

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[TOP SECRET]

If you got a license, keep your legal catch if you want to. No problem there.

Ruff Rider - of the 3 mil fish, only 1.5/1.7m are kings. Unfortunately survival rates are not even close to 100%.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

Agreed Tom, but even at 50%, there are a LOT of fish out there

[Silver Fox]

I had thought survival rates were around 10%. I could be very wrong though.

[Patriot]

Well.... if you need to keep a 15" fish, either you don't fish too often, don't have many years of fishing under your belt or you don't catch many fish! Or, you need to bring every fish back to the dock, to show your buddies that you're the great white hunter.

Lets face it, it's all about the thrill of catching a big fish.. A 15" fish doesn't do it for me. Let it grow a few years and it will.

After 20 years of fishing these salmon, you'll get over it.

[TOP SECRET]

Well.... if you need to keep a 15" fish, either you don't fish too often, don't have many years of fishing under your belt or you don't catch many fish! Or, you need to bring every fish back to the dock, to show your buddies that you're the great white hunter.

Lets face it, it's all about the thrill of catching a big fish.. A 15" fish doesn't do it for me. Let it grow a few years and it will.

After 20 years of fishing these salmon, you'll get over it.

Hmm perhaps in my next 20...

It can be hard for some people to understand others have different wants, needs, and opinions than themselves.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Ruff Rider

[momay4000]

Well.... if you need to keep a 15" fish, either you don't fish too often, don't have many years of fishing under your belt or you don't catch many fish! Or, you need to bring every fish back to the dock, to show your buddies that you're the great white hunter.

Lets face it, it's all about the thrill of catching a big fish.. A 15" fish doesn't do it for me. Let it grow a few years and it will.

After 20 years of fishing these salmon, you'll get over it.

 

Patriot,

 

With all due respect your logic in this post is flawed:

 

1.) You assume that people keeping a 15" fish have little fishing experience or don't catch many fish

 

2.) You assume that all charters are keeping 15" fish

 

3.) You assume that keeping 15" fish will have a lake-wide negative impact on the fishery down the line

 

Personally, I do not keep the little guys. However, the law allows you to keep 15" fish, so unless you can show me scientific proof that keeping the little guys will have a SIGNIFICANT impact on our fishery, then don't knock folks who are only following the law. The economy is tough, and some of the guys keeping these fish might just be doing it to feed their families.

 

Just my 2 coins,

 

Chris

 

PS - I've been doing this for 28 years, I'm not over it