tmag

As I started to look at this thread, I thought: this guy must be a pretty good fisherman... then I realized it was *that* Chad (lol)

just wow

that largemouth is a beast, too

As someone that also finds themselves fishing alone a lot, another thing that can help is a tripod and a remote shutter control. The remote controls for a digital camera are aftermarket products but not too expensive at all. Then, you can take a nice picture of yourself holding the fish. I even have a tripod now along with a time control app on my smartphone.

bump boards like these help prevent the slime from getting rubbed off on carpet & boat floors: https://www.muskiebumper.com/ https://muskychasers.com/product/60-muskie-bumper-musky-bump-board/ https://muskyfool.com/collections/bump-boards-measurement There are also floating measuring sticks.

Get a soft tailor tape for measuring girth. As for calming the fish, if they are brought into the net a bit too green, so to speak, they will remain feisty. Play them enough such that they are docile. I have a bump board for measuring; one hand gently near the shoulders and the other back towards the tail. Hope that helps

Yeah, if they see a fish in distress, sometimes they will attack. You see it in saltwater more.

Congrats! And thanks for puttin' 'er back.

what does "culling the small pike" mean when they've been out of the water and laying in snow? @muskiedreams

@NPike, I've had that happen! I use lanyards on all of my tools. Either a carabiner that I attach to a lanyard like those that Cuda makes.

If you carry jaw spreaders and bolt cutters, the hooks can be cut out. One might be surprised. I've released some very deeply hooked fish. Need a good net, some long pliers and Knipex cutters are the best - spring-loaded. Nice fish, though. Tight Lines

Still a good fish, tho. I've never caught one anywhere near that size. Congrats - good fish!

Got ya... then, for sure, those fish are certainly small for that body of water but. I believe, the St. Lawrence pike fishery has declined significantly since the Seaway was built as pike would historically lay eggs in areas that had great flooding / higher water which is now controlled.

Not sure where on the Seneca River these were caught but for Seneca Lake proper, the fishery, and especially the pike fishery, of Seneca has suffered a great deal in recent years. Meanwhile, I don't believe anyone on here is criticizing anyone personally for taking legal fish. It's more about NYS regulations that are not really favorable in spite of many waters that would & could support trophy fish if there was a proper slot limit such as those in the Upper Midwest and Canada.

so true...

Water clarity / turbidity would also factor in.

congrats

Most excellent!

What @justtracytrolling and @White Wolf is sound advice. Knipex are great and I 2nd that recommendation. Releasing fish without pics is also a good idea especially if you already have plenty of pics of similar fish. For my part, I always approach a fish from the tail first (i.e. fish don't swim or jump backwards). You can avoid getting hooked yourself this way and, yes, I've ended up with hooks in my fingers or hand because it's natural to reach towards the head first. If you turn a fish to its back, they will become more docile. From there, you can usually get hold of the fish with one hand using a gill hold. There's plenty of info out there demonstrating / detailing the gill hold technique. https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/fishing/2010/02/gill-plate-grab-catch-release-pike-without-net/ https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/proper-hold-for-pikemuskie/ https://www.outdoorhub.com/how-to/2017/03/10/video-properly-hold-muskie/ I tap most of the barbs down on my hooks. It's much easier to unhook a fish as well as to unhook yourself. However, you will still find circumstances wherein a fish is deeply hooked & may require the cutting of the hooks. For example, if a treble is somehow wrapped up in the gills, just cut the hooks. The smaller pieces usually drop out the sides of the gills and the lure / main hook shank is released. As such, having jaw spreaders can also be very helpful.

That's a nice one. Congrats! I like the 2nd picture better than the first. Trying to be helpful: https://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=96369 scroll down to the pike photo / section: https://www.northernontario.travel/northeastern-ontario/how-to-properly-hold-a-fish https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/proper-hold-for-pikemuskie/ and from (https://www.sageflyfish.com/redneck-musky): "Musky need to be kept horizontal. The vertical, gill plate hold that we see in so many old faded pictures is not good for the fish. A big heavy fish is not supposed to be held that way; it puts a ton of stress on all the internal organs and can lead to killing a fish."