--Joe

IMG_20250928_204305.heic IMG_20250928_111521.heic

Anyone know if its running...if its open....or where the launch/signups are?

I plan on using a 8" Believer to a C90 Williams spoon. Is a jointed believer better or a one-piece? Do you remove the back hook or leave it in place? How long is the leader to the spoon and what material do people prefer? I plan on running two riggers, two boards, and possibly long lines. Where in the spread is this rig best placed? What surface speed is best? 

Any info is very much appreciated and I do have all the proper gear for proper catch n release. 

Without musky catch and release practices that are commonly practiced today, considering that fishing pressure has increased on many bodies of water, partially due to the internet, we would not have the musky fisheries we have today. Just because a body of water is stocked with muskies or tiger muskies, doesn't mean that catch and release is less important. Since they take many years to become trophy size and with the increased pressure, we need to be as diligent as we can about releasing them to fight another day and spread the word about this subject if we want the prospect of catching trophy fish in the future.

Good catch and and release practices have been proven to be significant in maintaining a quality musky fishery including all of the following.

1. Using more than adequate rod, reel, line and leader and keeping them all in top condition in order to keep the fight short and to minimize the possibility of the line breaking and the fish swimming off with a lure in it's mouth.

2. Have all the release tools you may need to release the fish with minimal trauma.

• Large coated net: this is your boatside live well for the release process.
• Jaw spreaders: sometimes they are needed
• Quality hook cutter: Knipex is the best
• Heavy duty long nose pliars: best for hook removal. the longer, the better. Available at any hardware store.

Keep the fish in the net at boatside and keep its head below the surface as much as possible while removing the hooks. You can attach wrist straps to the tools to keep from dropping them in the water. Be careful to avoid being impaled by a hook if the fish starts to thrash. Especially with multiple treble hooks. Always be ready to get your hands out of the way. It is no fun if you and the fish are hooked to the same lure. This is one of the reasons to have a good set of hook cutters. The other is if there are multiple hook points embedded in the fish, it is easier to cut the hooks and then remove the pieces from the fish. Have some replacement hooks handy to replace them. Use jaw spreaders when needed to aid in gaining access to remove or cut the hooks. If the fish has been overly stressed, you might want to consider releasing it without removing it from the water. If this is the case and you still want to get a picture and/or measurement, letting it rest for a few minutes and moving some water through it's gills first would be a good idea. It can be a judgement call though, under these circumstances.

3. If you want to get a measurement and take a picture, it should be done as quickly as possible to minimize the amount of time the fish is out of the water. The girth can be measured in the water with a flexible measuring tape made for tailoring. If you only want an approximate length measurement, a floating measuring stick can be used. To get an accurate measurement with minimal trauma to the fish, a bump board is best. There are many commercially available ones and you can easilly make your own. It is best to have one where the length markings show up well in a picture. Wet the board before you put the fish on it to keep slime loss to a minimum. It takes planning and practice but you should be able to measure on the board and take a picture or two in 20 sec. or less. Before you remove the fish from the water, have the camera ready and position the boat with the sun position in mind for best picture. Remove the fish from the net with one hand holding the gill plate (being careful not to damage the gills) and support the body of the fish horizontally with your other hand. Never hold the fish vertically by the gill. That can damage the gills or rip the jaw. Get in position and have your partner snap a picture or two. If you want to get an accurate measurement, position the fish squarely on the board to make the measurement and snap a picture if desired. Never lay the fish on a carpeted floor or any similar type of surface as it will remove the protective slime from the skin.

4.Now it is time to get the fish back into the water. Support the fish in the same mannor as above and and carefully lower it into the water. Hold onto the tail and slowly work the fish forward and back to get water flowing through the the gills. Another(and probably better) way is to face the fish ino the current (if you are in current) or get the boat moving very slowly forward. Ideally you want to feel the fish kick its tail to let you know it is ready to go. Be patient.it may take some time, depending on how stressed the fish is. Please do the best you can and try not to let it go until you are sure it can swim away strongly. If you are not able to revive the fish, it happens sometimes but if you have done your best, the only thing you can do is think about what you can do the next time to keep it from happening again.

Always check the condition of the last several feet of your line and leader after catching or loosing a fish. Replace the leader or cut and re-tie the line if either are even slightly questionable.

I have heard of several cases where a tagged fish or a fish with a distinctive marking from an old wound was caught again by one or two other anglers. Very often it is still in the same neighborhood. Even a year or two later. So practicing good catch and release techniqies really does provide angling pleasure for others in the future.

I would like to encourage others to post any information, pictures, videos, questions, experiences, etc. pertaining to this subject.

2 Savage gear real eels 10$ for both 

Shallow bulldawg 10$

Or 15 bucks for all 3

Also, any observations on trends in regard to fishing quality for musky as well as other species, including success rates, size trends, fish health or other fishery quality concerns and observations, especially as related to loss of vegetation over time.

There has been very little recent talk about the lake on LOU. I don't know if it is because of closed mouth fisherman who don't want to give up secrets, everyone went to Facebook or some other platform or maybe some other reason(s).

Thanks a lot!

Open water summer Pike fishing, where are they?

Lake Ontario is a fairly flat bottom. Shore to 200ft is about 5 miles.

- Bay water is too hot. Mid 70's.
- No structure.
- No crazy ledges / quick transitions.

Casting the mouth of Bays and channels in late fall and ice fish Bays we pull up lots of good Pike, some in the 40's inch. Pike move in once the water is cold and the breeding starts.

I know they are coming from the Lake but where? 

- Are they belly to bottom in 50 degree water? Which could be 100ft down.

- Are they migrating from different river systems traveling 100's of miles away?

The salmon trolling guys never pull up Pike when trolling spoons / flys in open water.

Last new moon before ice

Practice for when retirement on slr

Sent from my SM-G975U using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Show hours start at 9am Saturday and we have lots of door prizes, raffles, guides, tackle and free seminars.

Come enjoy a fun filled event with vendors from across the country and Canada!

Here's a link to the FB page.

https://fb.watch/pS4evjwbhf/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Plenty of good sized perch in the river; and everyone knows about the world class smallmouth fishery here.

Really had a good time out there with the family chasing anything that would bite just to watch the excitement on the kids face.  My youngest daughter Caroline was especially funny to watch as she would literately lose control with excitement and start screaming half the time.... and sometimes it was just over the sea weed she snagged... haha.  Either way, it was good to get away from the computer for a while in this new age of Artificial Intelligence; who knows where the next gen of fishing equipment and fish finders will evolve too.  One thing that I do know is that it can be fun to generate some funny fishing images with AI..... this is what was rendered when you type in "Crazy old fisherman" :

As for musky fishing this year, pretty good all in all.   I think the highlight of my muskie year was getting to watch my long time friend and college roommate catch his new personal best during the Gananoque Muskies Canada event.  What a thrill that was!  Congrats again to him   The awards banquet afterwards was equally as fun getting to sit with some of my NMA buddies and catch up with some of my Muskie Canada friends.  The raffle table was especially kind to our table that night  

Overall, I thought the river looked pretty good with respect to the muskie population in general.  I saw a bunch of fish in that low-to-mid 40" range:

and then a couple that stretched into that mid-50 range, including one of the heaviest I think I've ever caught (red october tube given to me by Hans > thanks Hans!); unfortunately I was fishing alone that day and didn't get a girth on her as my focus was on a nice clean safe release, which was accomplished on all fish this year and I encourage everyone to release the beast!  Did not see a lot of fish from 46-52" range which is different from previous years.  Might have just been luck of the draw this year.  All fish I caught looked pretty healthy and clean overall and certainly like they weren't having any problems find food.

Happy New year everyone and best of luck to each of you in 2024! 

tight lines everyone!

A  friend who fishes a lot for musky's told me about  this crank-twitch bait(s), made by Mr. Crane. Well after I got  over the price ~ $26/ea depending on bait size and color some colors re more expensive. Anyways these things are great and I wish I had known about  these little fish catching marvels. The trouble is that  they are hand-made and they  only make  so many annually. Wondering if  anyone else has had luck with Cranes.

8” fat a z raptor custom painted chain pickerel 30$

8” fat a z raptor custom painted alwive 30$

8” fat a z raptor gold rapala 20$

5$

10” phantom glide 20$

10$

12$

12$

5$ real eel

5$ real eel

10$ regular bull dawg

OR 150$ for all

Registration 6-7 am at launch or pre-register online @ nymusky69.com 

Tournament 7-3//  4pm cookout and awards at waneta boathouse. 

**Dont forget our lure drawing each month for all registered fish by Chapter 69 members** We will draw June's at the meeting so please register your fish for a chance at a lure every month!

Ny Muskies inc Would like to invite everyone to the Chautauqua Lake Muskies inc catch and release tournament next Saturday on June 24th 7am-4pm. Weigh in, awards, raffle table, and cookout at Chautauqua Reel Outdoors following.

Cost is $35 per angler for Muskies Inc Member and $45 for non members with a $5 for the big fish pool option. You can pre register online at 

https://nymusky.com/tournaments/

Hope to see you there! 

  Was planning a trip to Chautauqua Lake sometime in July. I have never been there as I normally fish the finger lakes. I will be targeting muskys. Requesting info regarding where to launch and which areas in the Lake to target? Not looking for anybody secret spot, just general info.

Thanks!

Max

https://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing-hunting/topic/100512-jefferson-county-suprise/

GENESSE VALLEY 
HENRIETTA MOOSELODGE 
5375 W Henrietta Rd, West Henrietta, NY 14586 
Saturday APRIL 1st
1p.m. -5 p.m.
Lots of club projects in the works, votes needed on multiple endeavors, and tournament planning help needed. 

Please make this meeting and show your support! It's gonna be a great time! All members encouraged to attend this very special Seminar. 🎣 Meeting is open to all muskiesinc chapters as well as public. 
See you SATURDAY APRIL 1ST!!
#muskiesinc