muskiedreams

I know. It was brought up a couple times. Our secretary, Clint takes notes. I got the impression from him that that he would have a lot of rewriting to do to make them understandable and relevant.

Zach, did you get the email for the November meeting? We did elections at the November meeting. Below is a copy of an email I sent out to the membership on Nov 16th.The current officers were all willing to go another year and there were no new nominations. Also I just sent out an email for the meeting this Monday. Sorry for the short notice. This coming Monday, November 21st is the final membership meeting of the year. The meeting is at the Henrietta Moose Lodge at 7pm. Zach Baker's award: Back in April at the Banquet, we voted for the Mark Troy Memorial award and Zach Baker was voted, almost unanimously, to be the recipient. Unfortunately there have been some delays in having the award made. That is currently being rectified and Jim should have it for the meeting on Monday to present to Zach. We have been discussing changing the name of the award for some time. Jim and I recently just came up with a new name for the award that better describes the meaning and purpose of the award. We decided to call it the "Outstanding Member of the Year" award. We will be having nominations and elections for Officers and board members. For anyone who wishes to be nominated for a board position or an officer position, please contact me or Jim Reynolds and/or come to the meeting to get your name up for nomination. Also, for anyone who wants to contribute as and be named for nomination for a new board position, or you would like to contribute your time in another way, this will be a good time to bring it up. Your support can be very helpful to grow the chapter. You can reach me at XXX-XXX-XXXX and Jim at XXX-XXX-XXXX. There will be no guest speaker so we will just have an open fishing forum. So bring your questions and concerns or news and interesting topics for discussion. And bring you pics and stories from this season's adventures. The season is winding down fast. I hope you have all had quality time on the water this year and some successful C&Rs. If you are not fishing or doing anything else on Monday, please join us at the meeting. Stephen Glassic VP, Muskies Inc. New York Chapter 69

I wouldn't do it without having permissions. That said, I think it is an eye opening article that highlights some very real concerns that the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes are facing and the importance of having people like Dr Farrell providing sound research and management. I think the article deserves more public exposure.

Muskies are just not as hearty as bass or walleye and many other species. Also, they take much longer to reach a mature spawning age. That fish in the picture took more than 20 years to get to that size and it was probably the only one of several thousand fingerlings (8" to 10") that made it to that size. As most muskie anglers on this forum know, regardless of what the regulations are, these fish need to be respected in order to sustain their future survival. The main reason they are still around now is because forward thinking anglers realized years ago that the only way to sustain the fishery was to promote proper catch and release, including proven methods to maximize survival. See Musky Catch and Release - Reasons, Tips, Questions and Experiences. If they hadn't there would be very few, if any muskies left today. and they would average much smaller. In the winter with below freezing temps, the longer you keep a fish out of the water in the cold air the more you are reducing their chance of survival even more so than normal. Eyes and gills can get frostbite damage. They may swim away but their remaining hours or minutes could be limited. Some muskie anglers won't even take most of their fish out of the water (they do a boat side release with or without a big coated net) especially late in the season when temps are below freezing or in the summer when water and air temps are high. Some will not fish for them when water temps are above 75 or 80*F. Without this kind of dedication, that guy probably would not have caught that fish. Holding or hanging a musky vertically can cause internal organ damage and subsequent mortality. so almost all musky anglers measure the length and maybe the girth. I am not saying that you should not fish for them. I am not trying to rip on the guy or say that he should be ticketed or prosecuted. I am just saying that they need to be handled as carefully as possible. Many people just don't realize how precious and vulnerable a muskie that size is.

That isn't what I said. Just read the regulations. They are there for good reasons, not to be joked about. That doesn't mean someone can't take a picture while a hook is being removed. This is a posed picture which increased the time the fish was out of the water and also reduced it's chance of survival. When you hold a fish out of water, it is the same as suffocating it. And if it was weighed, especially if hung vertically, he may have sealed it's doom. The rules are there to help sustain the fisheries for future generations. It takes many years for a musky to reach that size. It deserves better consideration. I guess if you don't understand that, you never will. I have said what all respectful anglers understand. Why do you think this post didn't get a lot of congrats responses. I mistakenly did and will edit it to read different.

Technically even if you were not aware, taking a picture of a fish caught out of season is illegal and posting it could be incriminating. Even though it can be exciting to see a fish like that caught through the ice I want to remind everyone that since the fish was caught out of season while fishing for pike, it should have been unhooked and released immediately. The sooner you release it the better chance it has to survive. And even though it swam away, doesn't mean it didn't die later. That is why the rules were clarified in the 1015-2016 regulations. The revised rule is stated as follows. Fish caught during the closed season must be unhooked and released immediately. They may not be handled for any other purpose, including taking a picture.

I have heard that stocked hump backed muskies happen quite often. I don't remember what the cause is said to be. Something to do with being hatchery raised. So there could be more than one in Otisco. Some of the Chautauqua guys probably know. I'm not saying it isn't the same fish. It very well could be.

It should have been immediately unhooked released since it was out of season. Weighing and posing for a picture may have sealed it's doom.

They are getting ready to close a nuke plant downstate (two reactors), so I wonder how they will make up for that energy loss. And I wonder who will pay for the demolition and clean up there. There is always trade offs. The trick is to find solutions with the least amount of impact while balancing the cost and practicality over the long term. Not an easy thing to do due to unknowns. Fusion sounds good but it is something that they have been trying to accomplish for decades and nothing of any large scale has emerged with that technology. Unfortunately, us taxpayers often have to clean up the mess left by old energy infrastructure as well as other abandoned industrial sites. Heaven forbid the 1%ers who profited from them having to foot the bill. At least some of the costs are covered by re-licensing fees for hydro-electric plants. We are paying for the plugging of many oil and gas wells, scattered around the country, that have been abandoned for years. But I think companies are being held more accountable these days. Probably not enough though.

The ideal spawning habitat for each species is different. Muskies generally prefer slightly deeper water. A lot of preferred pike habitat in wetlands has degraded in the St. Lawrence due to reduced water fluctuations and invasive species. It has been said that as a result of that, and maybe some other factors, some pike have been spawning in more typical musky spawning sites which can cause the occurrence of naturally produced tiger muskies. There has been a a large project to restore some wetland habitat in the St. Lawrence. It is being funded mainly by the power plant re-licensing fees. They are opening up channels and shallow pools in the wetlands that were previously choked off so the pike can return to those pools to spawn. At the same time they are planting native aquatic vegetation. It has only been a year or two and they have already noted pike and many other species of fish birds and other aquatic species moving into the new habitat. This is a major project that is being managed and monitored by the Thousand Island Biological Research Station. In the Niagara River it may be a little different, especially in the East River. There is a very limited amount of muskie spawning habitat. Shipping and other shoreline development over the years has eliminated a great deal of the natural spawning habitat. There is a considerable ongoing effort to bring back more natural shoreline habitat in the Niagara River, Buffalo River and Buffalo Harbor. Much of it is also being funded by the NYSEG re-licensing fees.

A sharp hook should stick to your fingernail instead of sliding across it. Most new hooks do not. If it doesn't, it isn't sharp. Having sharp hooks is arguably the most important factor in strike to hookup ratio. They can become a little dull over time (due to oxidation) or from contacting structure. It is a good idea to check them often, especially after missing a fish or contacting structure. They also need to have a nice gradual taper for deep and easy penetration. So they can only be sharpened so many times before they need to be replaced. Becoming experienced at using a good flat hook file is the best way to go. Using a power tool can heat up the very point of the hook and compromise the hardness of the steel.

I just finished reading the article. Excellent article. Peter and Kevin did a great job on it. It really brings to mind how delicate the fishery is. I would like to see the article published elsewhere for more awareness. I am hoping that through research they will be able to find a way to reduce the impact of the gobies and VHSV. Since there has just been an agreement to change the water level management practices, it will be interesting to see if it improves spawning success. There is however, a lot of concern and opposition from lake shore communities and businesses about flooding and about low water conditions in harbors. I haven't heard any detail about how they are going to manage those concerns.

This is just some very basic stuff. I don't understand what you disagree with. There are some NMA members who are very successful using jigs. I have had some success with them. Also, about 5 years ago I netted a 50"r caught on a tube and took the picture of another 50"r a couple weeks later that was caught on a Swim Shad. If you look at the NMA catch and release logs for the last 8 to 10 years, ROB tubes have been one of the top baits, and for at least 2 or 3 of those years, the top bait.

LOL. And you can use guitar strings for leaders.

Jigging can be very productive. They can be jigged or dragged in river current 12' to 25'. You must be prepared to loose a few to snags and have a heavy baitcaster with min. 50 lb braid. They can also be cast and jerked around cover or shallow flats. There are various ways to rig them for each task. You can use your imagination. Keep in mind that you will loose more fish while jigging than casting or trolling but the potential to hook more fish is there. Red October Tubes, Storm Swim Shads and Bondy Baits are all good choices. There are variations on all these in rigging techniques and presentation, depending on applications, that will help increase catch rates. You will need to do your homework on that.

Casting can often be more productive than trolling but it requires learning, practice and skill development. But that is also true for trolling. The more time you put in and the more you become familiar with the water you are fishing, the more success you will have.

There was a chapter in Buffalo at one time too. Here is a link to another forum where a guy says his dad was the president of the chapter. There is also a great pic of a spawning pair of muskies. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/171188-buffalo-nywny-fishing/?page=14

Thanks for stating this Mike. I wish I could find some estimates on stocking size, quantities and survival rates to size ranges. I know I have seen such studies but I am sure it can only be so accurate and vary widely depending on the body of water and it's unique circumstances. I know that the survival rates are very low and increases greatly by size range. When you see those estimates, it puts int perspective how special even a 35 inch fish is. I do know that the number of naturally reproduced fish in Waneta is very low. When they stock a musky from the Chautauqua hatchery, they clip one of the pectoral or ventral fins. A naturally spawned fish will not have a clipped fin. I don't know if they might have missed clipping a few stocked fish though.