Ronix 51

you have a pm nitro!

if it were up to me id give the record to dale macnair just bc he was that much of a sportsman to release such a beautiful monster. thats a class act right there

i say keep the record as is just to avoid what nitro was talking about...no one should have to kill a fish especially of that size just to have their name written in a book especially in waters where the muskie population has taken such a big hit recently. you want a record go to wisconsin or minnesota and try and get a WORLD record from waters where the populations are doing well (even then I think the fish should be released) These monster beauties are just too important for the sake of spawning to take them from the waters.

So me and my girlfriend are looking to rent a summer place and she lives north of syracuse and I live in victor and I looked into cross lake and made the decision thats where i want to rent(entirely bc of the pike and tigers haha) but how crowded is this lake? i understand its only like 4 miles long and just a widening of the seneca river but i think it would be an excellent place if i could fish it every day or so. its either here or conesus any recommendations?

well...both

thanks nitro, do you know where the fish go when this happens? do they just scatter over deep water or do they hold tight to structure and just have lock jaw?

im sure it has already happened but do any of you know when the fall turnover is for most of the smaller finger lakes? Conesus in particular? I know the smaller lakes have their turnover sooner than the larger ones and ive read post turnover fishing can be really difficult so for future referance itd be a good bit of knowledge to know!

catch and release is the way to go in my opinion, let em get even bigger

i agree with believer either inrease the creel limit or decrease the # limit

thanks guys! gambler thanks man i appreciate it, and dont worry im entirely catch and release

i need to get my esox fix even if theyre small! i live in victor and am willing to make the drive but i am not sure of where i am going at all up in that part of the city. not asking for any honey holes just areas where i can go to where i might run into a northern or 2...also i will be walking along the shore idk if thats possible to get to good spots or not? any info is greatly appreciated gentlemen

i remember i used to walk on the ice while my uncle was panfishing and saw guys ice pike with no intention of eating them...their explanation was that they eat their precious panfish or bass, i found that disgusting

what are the odds of this??

personally it disgusts me when someone takes nice sized northern or tiger...(35 inches and up) these big girls a crucial part of spawning and by taking all the big ones it seems as though the once excellent trophy waters (conesus for example) are dwindling down to just hammer handles bc of over harvesting. i understand too many of them can throw off the food chain but i dont understand especially how some people ice them just for the sake of decreasing their numbers for the sake of their prized panfish or bass. so im with the CPR practice i practice it with every esox i get!

and when i say population i dont mean like exact number but more so an excellent, good, fairly healthy, bad, or struggling type answer

Can anybody tell me or give me some sort of idea as to how the northern pike populations are in the finger lakes? Not so much the larger ones like seneca or cayuga but I guess ill use Conesus as an example since its where I fish the most. Im curious bc I sometimes wonder if they take a big hit in the winter (and not just northerns but any fish for that matter) when any angler can stroll out onto the ice and have better chances of pulling a 40' northern through the ice and simply clock it over the head rather than put it back so it can spread its genes come spring time. I know there are limits/regulations and all but i hate to think of too much over harvesting of the big girls especially when any of us esox anglers would happily release these fish after a quick photo so she can A. spawn come spring time and B. get even bigger.

yeah ive got some 10 inch sluggos i will deffinately start throwing those, now how deep? bottom? weedlines? float em over deep or drag them shallow this late in the fall?

i use 20lb on my spinning rods but for my baitcasters i use 65 a. for the benefit of the fish and b. so i dont lose too many of these expensive lures!

yeah idk how you go about stumbling on the bite in the fall, my aunt has a camp right on the other side of the point to the left of the launch right on a nice 35 foot dropoff that comes up to about 6-10 feet with weeds thats in easy casting distance so im thinking it might be a good place to cast suckers and jerkbaits from shore but im not sure where they locate themselves now in the water column

What do you guys generally use as your setups for piking and tiger fishing? do a lot of you musky guys use your MH rods with the super lines? I feel like when im on conesus throwing my 8ft st. croix med heavy with 50-65 lbs braid people look at me like i either dont know how to play a fish(which is not my concern id rather just get them in efficiently without exhausting the animal too much) or like there arent big fish in there which i know there are ive seen them. I use a 8ft st croix premier musky medium heavy rod with abu garcias ambassadeau 6601 c4 on one and the ambassadeur record high capactiy on the other(favorite reel ive ever used by the way its amazing and wont require a loan to get it either) with 50 lbs braid on one and 65 on the other

First off hello all im new here but ive been fishing conesus on and off until recently i decided to start taking advantage of my aunts camp out there and its healthy population of northerns and tigers. Im addicted to these fish and theyre all i really have any interest in going out after, even when im forced to fish canandaigua all ill do is try and catch the biggest pickerel i can. Went out on conesus this past monday amidst the downpour and wind only to get skunked but i still enjoyed it. I thought the northerns were really suppose to turn on come late fall especially with slow presentations? I was casting 1.5 oz spinnerbaits with a nice slow retrieve and ripping suicks with a nice loooong pause in between in about 15-6 fow with not even a follow. ill try and keep going even until first ice out on the water. I didnt get any this time but managed to catch and release this beautiful fish 2 weeks prior on a big Northland Tackle 1.5 oz spinnerbait: Anyone else been trying conesus or is everyone too busy with deer season just opening?