muskiedreams

I was thinking along the same lines as far as stocking. Even if the numbers stocked are less, if they are stocked at a larger size and if we can get anglers to help with stocking to spread them around in protected areas, that might translate to increased survival to adulthood. This might have a larger impact at Conesus than Otisco. I was also wondering if pen raising after they reach a certain size would be a practical alternative. I'm not sure how much work and/or expense would be involved. Maybe bait to feed them could be trapped in the lake. In the case of Conesus, I was wondering if SUNY Geneseo students could make it a project.

What limit are you referring to? The only recent change for tigers that I am familiar with is the 2012 size increase on Otisco to 36" from 30". Since 2012 do you think that had a significant impact there? And in waters that have tigers and purebreds, size limits for tiger was made the same as that for pures. The statewide limit for tigers is 30". So the min size at Conesus is 30". I think it would be good if they make the statewide limit 36" and maybe eventually 40", depending on future assessments. But I also want to talk to the DEC about current Conesus Lake stocking sizes and methods to see if changes could be made to help reduce early mortality. I am not an ice fisherman but I am wondering about best catch and release practices dos and don'ts for ice fishing including tackle, hooks, tools and concerns about protecting fish from sub freezing air exposure.

Musky Road Rules (Tony Grant and Greg Thomas) has teamed up with Muskies Inc. to help increase membership. They will be offering a free Grandma lure for the first 25 people who sign up or renew their membership at the show.

This is all interesting and worth discussing but I would like to get back to the original topic and my intention of this discussion. My intention for this discussion was: 1) To try to identify possible reasons why the Conesus Lake tiger fishery has not shaped up as well as that at Otisco. This includes discussions of observations and thoughts as to why and if more data needs to be gathered. 2) Discussion of ideas that could practically be proposed and implemented to help improve the Conesus Lake tiger fishery. 3) Ultimately having the same discussions with regional DEC Fisheries Managers and to find ways to bring the angling and local communities together to work with them to help create a trophy tiger fishery at Conesus. This might include learning about details of current stocking, monitoring and other relevent management activities, bringing volunteers together to help with research and other field activities, raising funds, seeking donations and soliciting help from SUNY Universities for research and management expertise. This discussion is just the first step. I want to take the ideas and thoughts I gather here to regional DEC Fisheries Managers to have a discussion about if this is a goal they are willing to support and how Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 can help to reach this goal. For those of you who are not members of Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 and are interested in becoming involved in an effort to improve the Conesus tiger musky fishery, I invite you to join us and pitch in to help us make it a reality.

Congrats! That is a PB that will be hard to top. But in the St. Lawrence it is possible. I know of one other 56"er caught there this year. I'm sure there were more over the minimum. I bet the best part of the experience was watching her swim away.

These things are all easier said than done but having discussions is the first step. Solutions might be more complicated than it seems. Even if more hard water anglers start releasing their fish or if increasing legal size makes them release more, if there is a lot of delayed mortality there may not be much positive impact. It is harder to determine if the fish swims away strong when you drop it into a hole in the ice. So releasing fish in ice fishing might not be as positive of a practice as it is with open water fishing.

Fluctuating voltage could be the culprit. When the motor runs, the voltage at the downrigger could be dropping. The voltage drop at the downrigger will depend on the wire gauge and length from the battery to the downrigger. It will also depend on how much current the downrigger will draw based on the amount of torque required to lift a particular weight (load). When the voltage drops at the downrigger, components on the control board may draw more current to compensate for the drop in voltage and cause premature failure of the board. CLICK HERE for guidelines on what your minimum wire gauge should be FOR EACH DOWNRIGGER based distance to battery and back and maximum current rating of the downrigger. If your wiring is up to par based on the guidelines, you should check the voltage at the downrigger and see how much it drops when you raise the weight. Even if you have the proper wire gauge, you are dealing with a marine environment and a device that draws a substantial amount of current. If there is a poor connection somewhere, it can cause a substantial voltage drop. Every connection needs to be clean, not corroded and tight. Another thing I was wondering about is if you are running off of a battery that is being charged by your boat motor charging system, the downriggers could be seeing a higher voltage from the charging system. That voltage could be as high as 15 volts. I would think the downrigger should have been designed to operate with under low or high voltage conditions to a certain extent but maybe a combination with a heavy weight as well is more than it can handle. I would imagine that trolling speed and bouncing on waves could also create added stress.

It is just some waters that the min.size for pile is 22". The statewide regulation is 18". That is what pickerel should be. Even at 22" you aren't going to get much meat. A pike has to be well into the mid 30s before it has shoulders.

I think in Canada, the limits are a lot more strict. You aren't allowed to transport any more than a day's catch, even if frozen. I think they even have rules about how many fish you can have in your freezer at any one time.

Wow I didn't know about the walleye stocking. The walleye stack up like sardines in the Conesus inlet at the south end of the lake. I don't know if for sure there is actually any natural spawning success but I think there is. I have heard that there are a few other smaller creeks they run up too. Is there any natural spawning success for walleye happening at Otisco? According to the 2014 stocking info for tigers that I mentioned above, Otisco got 11,000 at 8" and Conesus got 9,500 at 8,5" (1/2'larger) but Conesus is probably at least 5 times the size of Otisco. I have heard about tiger stocking programs in Ohio where they stock them at 12 to 14 inches. I believe that is the baitfish fund that Mike Money started. From what I understand, they had determined that it greatly increased the survival rate. If they scatter stock the tigers in open water at Conesus, it seems like the majority of them would end up as pike food and bird food. That just doesn't make sense to me. There are many good weed bed areas that would make more sense to stock them in. Unless they are also concerned about the largemouth eating them.

That is more something that would have to be done with management which might involve changing regulations such as size or creel limits. They don't stock pike in NY. Over harvesting might be a big factor but another question might be if there are any issues with the spawning/nursery ponds south of the lake.

Do you think it might be worthwhile to stock larger fingerlings and do you think pen raising also might help them to acclimate to their new environment so they can be more successful at avoiding predation? Also , do you think this is something that would be worth bringing up with the DEC. If so, who do you think we should talk to? I have no idea what they have done in regard to monitoring the tiger population or if it is something that would have to be done before considering a change. It sure would be nice if Conesus tiger fishing could be improved.

I have been very curios about answering this question and finding out if something can be done to improve tiger fishing in Conesus. It could have a little to do with number of anglers targeting them but I think it is more than that. There are quite a few locals who target walleye at night early in the season but I have never heard about them catching tigers while targeting walleye like at Otisco. Of course those guys seem to be somewhat quiet. The only stocking records I could find on the DEC site is from 2014. 11,000 8 inchers for Otisco and 9,500 8.5 inchers for Conesus. One thing I noticed that I was curious about, is that there was no listing in the Onondaga County table for walleye at Otisco. The Livingston County table showed 65,000 at 1.5 inch for Conesus. Does anyone know anything about that? Back to the question. Does anyone have any thoughts on why Conesus is not as productive? Are there any other differences between the lakes that could help explain why this is so. Is there any census or study data available from each lake that could shed some light. I am just thinking that it would be nice If something could be done to try to improve the tiger fishing there. It is deeper and much larger than Otisco. Also, it has pike and not pickerel and Otisco is the opposite. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I am wondering if maybe stocking them larger there would help. Maybe it could be done by pen raising. If so, maybe a program could be done by involving SUNY Geneseo students or local anglers.. Does anyone else have any thoughts or ideas on this subject? Maybe we can bring this up to the Region 8 DEC office for consideration and get their thoughts on the subject. Since I can't go fishing now I might as well talk fishing. Sort of like Talking Dead. By the way, I don't watch Talking Dead or Walking Dead.

I have an EZ-Steer (outboard to outboard). It works ok with my kicker on a motor bracket that raises up. I can leave it connected while using the main motor. I just raise the kicker bracket all the way up and tilt the kicker motor up to shallow water position (slightly tilted up). It doesn't hamper the main motor steering this way and once I am on plane, it is mostly out of the water. If your setup is such that you have to tilt the kicker all the way up when operating the main outboard or IO, it might hinder steering or be cumbersome. You might even have to disconnect the linkage when running on the main motor. If kicker is mounted on transom next to main outboard, you might be able to put a link across the front between the two motors. A friend of mine, who is handy with machining, made his own. There may be something commercially available but I am not sure. I am not familiar with electric options.

They have those little fish that will swim up your urethra if you relieve yourself while you are in the water.

How has the el nino affected the areas you fish? I heard that there has been a lot of flooding in some parts of South America.

Senseless.