muskiedreams

Eye Spy, I think they need to show a little leniency. I can see if there is someone who is continually violating the rule, even after they have been informed and educated. Obviosly it is not good to hold a fish like that but pike fisherman who normally keep pike, might not be aware of the potential of causing harm. I don't know if he could have sucessfully released the fish without removing it from the water or if he even knew it was a musky until after he removed it. The best thing here might be to try to educate the angler and appeal to him to try to be more carefull in the future.

Ivan, Here is my take on the regs. I beleive what they mean by catch and release angling is purposly fishing for said species. I think there would have to be very clear evidence of intent. I think they are planing to reword the regs a little to avoid confusion. The main intention here is that if you unintentionally catch a fish out of season or a protected species, you must release it without causing any unnecessary stress or harm. This would include not bringing it in the boat unless, for some reason, you have to in order to release the fish safely. That technically would mean not taking a poto while holding the fish out of the water. Even if there was a valid reason to remove the fish from the water, that type of photo would increase the amount of time the fish was out of the water beyond what would be considered necessary. You should be very careful if you take a photo like that about who you show it to and not posting it on line. I believe there have been some people prosecuted from photos but in this case, I don't think it would happen. A boatside picture is probably the safest for you and the fish. Steve

Thanks Brad.

Cool looking fish!! Does anyone have an info on them, such as their history and habbits?

Good luck this weekend!! See you at the Mark Troy tournament. I will be there Fri. afternoon through Sun. Steve G.

I would never use a Boga grip for any freshwater fish. Maybe it can be useful with some saltwater fish. I have seen some videos of musky fishermen literally yanking them out if the water with a Boga grip and then releasing the fish. You can easilly damage the fish's jaw that way.

Maybe it is laying it's eggs by your pool because there is no suitable habitat by the canal.

It is at Darian Lakes State Park at Shelter 1. Brad said in an email that the picnic is at 3PM. I'm not sure if that means we will be eating at that time or what but I am going wit Mark and his wife and I think we will be there at least an hour or two earlier. Below is a link to the park's website. Their map has a lot to be desired. The shelters are not shown on the map. It looks like there are only roads near the lake (pond) and the campsites. The rest is just trails. http://nysparks.com/parks/144/details.aspx Here is a map to the location. It looks like you have to enter on Harlow road. Take 77 south from the Pembrook exit of the Thruway. Go past Reynolds Rd. and take a right on Summer Rd., Then take a left on Harlow Rd. The entrance will be on Your left. http://mapq.st/16WVVAm Steve

Ha Ha!! I hope it's a catch and kill tourney.

Nice pictures Justin. What is the water temp. there now.

Who's going to be at the picnic this Sunday at Darian Lakes State Park? I'm planning on going with Toothy.

Nice!! Even though it would have been nice to land the big pike, it would have been worse to loose the musky. And landing it alone always presents a challenge.

Yes, the hooks don't get caught up in the net as bad.

No problem with winds at Waneta. It was decemt weather. A little sprinke in AM then cloudy to partly cloudy. 12 anglers, one low 30s fish. Eddie got a couple for his clients but they were not in the tourney.

I am planning on being there with Mark although I am concerned about water temps. Any word on who else will be there?

I'm glad you all appreciate this post. I just thought it would be an important topic to cover on this forum. Thank you Chad, for pinning it to the top. Justin. I understand what your are up against with catch and release from a pontoon boat. I admire you persistancty to do the best you can considering the circumstances. With a good net, you should be able to do better. You can always hold the fish in the net for a few minuets to give it (and yourself) a little breathing time if it has been overly stressed.

I realize that many of you are aware of catch and release procedures and their importance but I thought I would start this thread for the benefit of those who are new to musky fishing or are thinking about trying it. Without musky catch and release practices that are commonly practiced today, considering that fishing pressure has increased on many bodies of water, partially due to the internet, we would not have the musky fisheries we have today. Just because a body of water is stocked with muskies or tiger muskies, doesn't mean that catch and release is less important. Since they take many years to become trophy size and with the increased pressure, we need to be as diligent as we can about releasing them to fight another day and spread the word about this subject if we want the prospect of catching trophy fish in the future. Good catch and and release practices have been proven to be significant in maintaining a quality musky fishery including all of the following. 1. Using more than adequate rod, reel, line and leader and keeping them all in top condition in order to keep the fight short and to minimize the possibility of the line breaking and the fish swimming off with a lure in it's mouth. 2. Have all the release tools you may need to release the fish with minimal trauma. Large coated net: this is your boatside live well for the release process. Jaw spreaders: sometimes they are needed Quality hook cutter: Knipex is the best Heavy duty long nose pliars: best for hook removal. the longer, the better. Available at any hardware store. Keep the fish in the net at boatside and keep its head below the surface as much as possible while removing the hooks. You can attach wrist straps to the tools to keep from dropping them in the water. Be careful to avoid being impaled by a hook if the fish starts to thrash. Especially with multiple treble hooks. Always be ready to get your hands out of the way. It is no fun if you and the fish are hooked to the same lure. This is one of the reasons to have a good set of hook cutters. The other is if there are multiple hook points embedded in the fish, it is easier to cut the hooks and then remove the pieces from the fish. Have some replacement hooks handy to replace them. Use jaw spreaders when needed to aid in gaining access to remove or cut the hooks. If the fish has been overly stressed, you might want to consider releasing it without removing it from the water. If this is the case and you still want to get a picture and/or measurement, letting it rest for a few minutes and moving some water through it's gills first would be a good idea. It can be a judgement call though, under these circumstances. 3. If you want to get a measurement and take a picture, it should be done as quickly as possible to minimize the amount of time the fish is out of the water. The girth can be measured in the water with a flexible measuring tape made for tailoring. If you only want an approximate length measurement, a floating measuring stick can be used. To get an accurate measurement with minimal trauma to the fish, a bump board is best. There are many commercially available ones and you can easilly make your own. It is best to have one where the length markings show up well in a picture. Wet the board before you put the fish on it to keep slime loss to a minimum. It takes planning and practice but you should be able to measure on the board and take a picture or two in 20 sec. or less. Before you remove the fish from the water, have the camera ready and position the boat with the sun position in mind for best picture. Remove the fish from the net with one hand holding the gill plate (being careful not to damage the gills) and support the body of the fish horizontally with your other hand. Never hold the fish vertically by the gill. That can damage the gills or rip the jaw. Get in position and have your partner snap a picture or two. If you want to get an accurate measurement, position the fish squarely on the board to make the measurement and snap a picture if desired. Never lay the fish on a carpeted floor or any similar type of surface as it will remove the protective slime from the skin. 4.Now it is time to get the fish back into the water. Support the fish in the same mannor as above and and carefully lower it into the water. Hold onto the tail and slowly work the fish forward and back to get water flowing through the the gills. Another(and probably better) way is to face the fish ino the current (if you are in current) or get the boat moving very slowly forward. Ideally you want to feel the fish kick its tail to let you know it is ready to go. Be patient.it may take some time, depending on how stressed the fish is. Please do the best you can and try not to let it go until you are sure it can swim away strongly. If you are not able to revive the fish, it happens sometimes but if you have done your best, the only thing you can do is think about what you can do the next time to keep it from happening again. Always check the condition of the last several feet of your line and leader after catching or loosing a fish. Replace the leader or cut and re-tie the line if either are even slightly questionable. I have heard of several cases where a tagged fish or a fish with a distinctive marking from an old wound was caught again by one or two other anglers. Very often it is still in the same neighborhood. Even a year or two later. So practicing good catch and release techniqies really does provide angling pleasure for others in the future. I would like to encourage others to post any information, pictures, videos, questions, experiences, etc. pertaining to this subject.