muskiedreams

All Muskies Inc tournaments are C&R tournaments. Most are only one or two days on a specific body of water. I'm not sure if any of them involve substantial prizes but some are several hundred $ but less than $1000. Fish are varified by witness and photo of the fish on a bump board. Many of them follow the MI points system. Fish Must be 30" or larger. 4 points for 30" and one point for every inch over 30". A 35" fish would be 9 points. 35.5" would be rounded up to 36" (so 10 pts.). Between 35" but less than 35.5" would be rounded down to 35" (so 9 pts.). Winners would be determined by total points. Tiebreakers are largest fish, then second largest and so on. Multiple day tournaments can be determined by total points over the entire period or best day's catch per angler (this way an angler does not have to fish all days to be in contention). Sometimes there is a longest fish prize or a longest fish pool which you have to enter separately to be considered. You can have other prizes such as for youth which may be more for recognition. If it is not a catch and release tournament, having a minimum lengh to enter and keeping an updated leader board, as Larry mentioned, are probably the most effective ways to keep the number of fish killed to a minimum. It would probably be best to not have daily, weekly or monthly prizes for pike unless they are just for catch and release and drawn from all releases for that period of time. Maybe there are other rules you could use to minimize number of fish killed. If you want to have them brought to weigh station for entry, maybe you could use length instead of weight to determine leaders. That way, anglers would be able to determing quickly if they have a contender. You could use weight as a tiebreaker only. Just some thoughts to consider. Steve VP MI Chapter 69

There is one thing I would like to bring up that may be worth considering. I have heard that on very cold days in the winter, a fish that is caught through the ice and exposed to the cold air, may not survive if released. Maybe it depends on how long they are exposed. Maybe there are things that can be done in the release process to increrase their chances of survival. Maybe it is best not to target them if the air temprature is below a certain level. If this is an issue that needs to be taken into consideration, what can be done to minimize this type of mortality. Maybe not allowing entries when air temps are below a certain level. Maybe promoting techniques in the release process to maximize likelyhood of survival. Maybe have a limit on the number days an angler can submit fish during the course of the tournament. They would have to register at the start of the day as one of their alloted days. Catch and release will not provide any benefit if there is limited survival after release. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences on this?

nasc620, I believe the DEC is trying to restore many native species,such as sturgen and also some native baitfish. With many of them they are hoping to see them get to a point where there will be naturaly sustainable populations. The theory being that in the longrun, a better and more geneticly resillient population will develop that way. Sturgen will take a while for their numbers to expand into a sustainable population due to their slow very growth rate. They can live to over 100 years. There has been success in other states. Once that happens, they will probably open the species to limited angling. Hopefully we will eventually have some exciting angling opportunities for sturgen. I think the promotion of catch and release and raising the legal limit for northerns makes a lot of sense. With muskies, if the size limits were not raised and catch and release was not promoted, our musky fisheries would be in very poor shape right now. Northers do grow faster and have the potential to produce trophy size fish again. If nothing is done, eventually it will be tough to even catch a 25 incher. We have to decide if we want to catch big ones or if we just want to eat them.

One thing is that you have to be very careful about the words you use when you want to make an opinion about something or about what someone said or did. Take the time to read over what you have written (also because there is no spellcheck and sometimes as I write, whole words or letters are missing that I know I entered). Keep in mind that they can not see your face or hear your tone of voice. If you come out shooting (or come across that way) you can only expect them to shoot back. Keep in mind that a picture may not tell the whole story and that you may missinterpret (hope I spelled that right) what someone said. So it might be good to make sure of those things. Take a deep breath, think about it. Also be aware that even if you are pasionate about the subject and/or what a person said or did, it would be better try and talk them into understanding your point of view. Then maybe you will sway them into ageement (or understanding your point). Or at least agree to disagree without hostillity.

Very nice!!

Thanks Mike for your .02. I would like to say it is worth more than that.

Looks like the night time is still the right time!!!

New York State should use some of that surplus money they have to hire more conservation officers and surveilence equipment to enforce the regulations. And then they need to require Judges to impose substantial minnimum mandaitory sentances.

I am not too familliar with the Susquahanna except that when I was a kid we used to go to visit my grandparents in Shamokin PA. This was in the mid to late 60s before all the highways were built. The roads were all one lane on each side. It was always a nail biter every time my dad went pass a truck going up a long steep grade. We used to follow the river for quite a while and cross it a few times. It was probably pretty poluted then.

1dogshy, I would imaging that every section of the river can be considered, to a certain extent, a different fishery.

As you can see in the study, there were several flowages and a river or two involved in the study. It is true that every fishery is different and there is a fine balance of all factors including stocking, forage base, fishing pressure, birds, weather events (especially in conjunction with flowage changes), pathogens, algae, aquatic vegtation, various types of runoff from farming, mining, industrial activity and other human activity. Even the presence a certain bug can have an affect. When a fishery changes, there are usually multiple factors involved. If you look back at the recorded history of events, conclusions, and actions taken by your state DNR fisheries specialists, you will probably find some answers. It is possible that muskies were a factor if there is in fact a change in forage base or other gamefish populations, but I doubt it is the sole factor. One thing about tigers is that they do not reproduce. So, if they become a problem, they can be eliminated from the system by simply ending stocking. The fisheries biologist are our best bet in managing our fisheries. They are not perfect. They can make mistakes. They are sometimes slow to take action but they can't just react without analyzing a situation detemining the best course of action. There are also sometimes other roadblocks and hurdles they have to overcome. It is by no means a perfect system but it is the best we have. The best thing you can do is to work with them, let them know what your concerns are and learn what they are doing to address your concerns. But you should never take matters into your own hands. That can get you in trouble and maybe cause other problems. By the way, How many walley do you harvest per year and how many other anglers are also harvesting them? How much baitfish harvesting activity is occouring? Is there any significant numbers of fish being taken by Native Americans? If you are on the water that many days, your observations (and that of others) while on the water may provide significant data that can be used to better manage the fishery. Ask your DNR what you can do to help them.

final flight Here is some reading for you. Read this first http://www.stcloudmuskies.com/uploads/1/3/6/2/13626227/_______________what_do_muskies_really_eat.pdf http://www.northlandoutdoors.com/event/article/id/173464/publisher_ID/40/ http://www.mi22.com/Diet_study.pdf

Darrell. I guy I know, Jim Kinner, who dives and shoots video in the Niagara River was just showing a video he made this year at this month's NMA meeting. He said he was using a filter (for the first time) that worked very well to filter out the green. In the past he was not able to get the videos to look as clear as that one did. He could only do so much in the editing before he would loose brightness. It was like night and day compared to many of his previous videos. If you want, I can ask him what the filter color was. I think it was a particular shade of green.

Looks like red spots. Or is that just the picture?