Ivan

I agree Mike, but actually, generally speaking, smaller muskies release easier than larger ones. ThAnks Joe...you are wise (haha) As far as the teams, you dont have to limit anything or you can make a max anglers per boat...2 or 3. Or limit the number of rods per boat to say 6. What happens at waneta or chq tourney with a 40" minimum? You have 15 teams in one of those tourneys. 5 teams catch multiple fish between 36 and 39"s. You would randomly draw winners and potentially award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place to people that didnt even catch a fish?

Im not in your club so dont count my vote, but I'll give my opinion anyway. MI counts 30"+ fish for their release contest. I would want a club tournament to match that. Total points per team/boat is the best format for deciding the winner. Anybody can luck into a big fish and too many potential issues with individual winners as opposed to teams.

Thanks guys. The kids had a great time...that's mainly why we go. I have a buddy that owns property on a canal in the south end of the lake. GO PENS!

We caught a mess of crappies this weekend at Chautauqua. They came in spurts but had alot of dead time. I think it just got going the last week. Mostly just a jig and minnow under a float. Kids had a blast and caught some slabs.

Yeah...i have to make up for some lost time with the 4s Zach. I didnt have any last year. Now that I have a few, I got a fish on one Saturday after running it for a whole 5 minutes. I knew Pat and his buddy did well on them last year. I think those two bought all of them as soon as the doors opened at the 2015 Muskie Max. I also had heard they got those fish last year, but don't believe I saw the pics. Nice OH fish. I only tried two of them so far. They both ran the same...very nice. If i wanted to calm the walk down a bit for faster speeds, can I accomplish that by pulling the tow eye wire down closer to the lip?

Thanks guys. It's great to get out again. Im looking forward to some more good prespawn fishing. I'm always anxious to get back on the water, and its the best time for heavy fish. Its nice to have states like OH with good muskie fishing opportunities this time of year.

Holoform orange tiger. Color didnt seem to make any difference today though.

Dad and I got out one day a few weeks ago casting from the little boat and we each got one and missed a couple. Got the Lund out of storage and did some trolling today. Went 6 for 7 before the sun quit. All fish in less than 6 fow. A couple 40"ers, couple high 30"ers and couple low 30"ers. Caught fish on 3 new baits. 4" Baker, 22 short, and crime boss. A nice start to the season. Took a pic of this 38 for my buddy Paul, since we got it on one of his new crime bosses.

Yeah. I guess it's just how the majority of fisherman view the fish. Walleye are thought of as good eating fish by the majority of people, and muskies are released by most people that target them. Maybe those lakes need something different though. I release my incidentally caught walleye every year. I just dont fish the lakes you are talking about. It takes time to change people's ways. Muskie fisherman didnt always release their fish. Ive heard plenty of stories from older guys in the sport about when they used to keep all their muskies. Then at some point in the 70s and 80s they started releasing some if their fish because they knew it was going to be the future of the sport.

So are you just saying that the walleye stocking/fishing could be improved and you wish more people released them? Or are you suggesting that the release of tigers, or tigers in general, have something to do with poor walleye fishing? Not being argumentative, i'm just curious what your angle is. Are you disappointed catching the tigers?

I've never fished Otisco, so I couldn't comment specifically on that lake. I'll probably never make it there either, because of the drive time. Too many places with better size potential that are the same distance or closer for me. My comments are more generalized and not for one specific lake. Maybe Justin will chime in...he fishes both walleyes and tigers on Otisco I think.

"So why isn't the catch and release mentality the same for the walleye as the tigers?" I think your question is for the walleye fisherman. Don't forget... walleye population can sustain more harvest because there are more of them. Any muskie kept hurts more, because there are fewer of them.

For me, it has little or nothing to do if the fish are sterile or not. If they are sterile then obviously the population needs to be maintained through stocking. The difference between muskies and walleyes are the population densities and the mentalities of the anglers targeting them. Muskies are stocked or exist in densities much lower than walleye. Muskie fisherman (people who actually target the species) fish for the enjoyment of the hunt/catch, not to eat them. 99% of muskie fisherman release their catches. I'm not a walleye fisherman, but I'd venture to guess that most guys targeting walleyes keep the majority of what they catch to eat. I'm sure that's taken into account when stocking numbers are determined. It's really a difference in philosophy between the two species and what's needed to properly manage them. What we, as muskie fisherman, want to avoid is the killing of fish caught incidentally by anglers not targeting them. This gives us a better change to catch and release them again. We also don't want to see small fish kept that aren't even adults...increased size limits can help there. A 36" muskie really is a small muskie. If you want to catch fish to eat, target a species that can support the harvest because they have higher population densities. Fish like panfish, walleyes, etc....not muskies.

That's great! Glad you are coming around. Walleyes, perch, and crappies are the best eating anyway.

Next time just shake that little 36"er off with pliers in the water and let it swim away instead of stringering it. [emoji6]

Looks like an awesome trip again. just curious....What kind of system did you use to weigh 400 pound fish in the jungle?