EsoxOnly

Good luck everyone! I'm interested in seeing the results.

Thanks very much for the info and the compliment! I am going to get some ordered up tonight

Good fishing old man. Thanks for sharing! Nice to see that you found a couple. I was out there Saturday and Sunday and saw only one other boat each day. Saturday was a little nasty but I picked one up at 730am trolling 60 fow, about 37 inches. Then trolled for 11 hrs trying every trick i know without a single strike. Sunday I trolled the deep again from 11-3, no bites. I finally went up to the narrows and pulled some smaller higher baits and almost instantly stuck a lmb and my buddies first tiger. It was a smaller one around 28 inches but he was happy to get it in the net. Where do you find the eels for 10 bucks? Justin has shown them to me and said that you do really well with them but I haven't been able to find them at gander, dicks, or field n stream.

I did see one with its head out on Sunday at otisco but was trolling and didn't give chase. I think it was in about 10 fow. Was that at otisco fishinNY? If so what were the measurements? I have never tried or heard of anyone catching a tiger that was swimming with its head out oldman that's interesting. I once cast towards one and spooked it. Actually it was the first one I had ever seen do this which is probably why I never tried again.

Wow that's shallow. I was at the Mark Troy derby this past weekend at Waneta Lake and from what I gather all of the 11 musky caught were also in the shallows. Makes me wonder if the larger tigers and musky are moving higher in the water column now that the temps are dropping down a little?

Nice to see you got one in the net. I fished there Sunday with my father in law but no tigers for us. Lost one walleye and landed one walleye that was almost 7 lbs. Thanks for the report.

Congrats to the winners. We stuck it out until 3:00 but decided to head out and get the drive over before the dark set in. It rained the whole way home. Great time and awesome chilli boys. Thanks for putting it on!

Thanks!!

Go get em old man. I'm still oogling over that hog you caught on the real eel in July. Wow!

Thank you guys! It was one of those trips that all of our dreams are made of. And I hope that by me sharing this that others are motivated to get out there and get a line in the water! Keep em tight!

Thanks for the ideas and the input guys. I do not like to lift the fish out of the water in the net really but I had thought of that. I do have a digital scale and may consider buying a mechanical due to what you mentioned Muskiedreams. I have also considered buying a cradle but worry about the fish slipping out of the open end and falling onto the boat floor while I am trying to read the scale. I had never thought of using a bathroom scale, that's a great idea and would also make things speedy for the fishes sake. As I take a quick photo I will be on the scale, release the fish and then weight myself. I probably wouldn't have came up with that idea. This forum and the helpful anglers that it is made up of is great! Thank you again. Problem solved and I'm sure mama will be thrilled to see the bathroom scales go! Lol Its a win win

I am a big fan of knowing the weight of fish. Length is great but if you have length and weight measurements you can really understand the size and heartiness of the fish. If a fish is at a low stress level and will allow it I like to put them on the scale. But I don't like hanging them vertically regardless. Does anyone have a tried and true method of weighing the beasts? I have thought about some kind of bag like the bass anglers use to transport fish in, with drain holes added obviously. Any have any experience with this?

Absolutely. Good luck!! If you see a white spectrum trolling around out there give me a yell Smeltz

I was able to get out of work early enough friday to head to the lake and try some of the tactics that kept me up at night all week long. I trolled the up the east shore line in 60 fow with my buddy and six rods in the spread. Found one large mouth bass just before my buddy hooked into a nice suspended tiger at 4:30. We boated it got a quick picture and measurement to find that it was his personal best to date. 38.5 12lbs. I'm not sure who was happier about that but I do know it was great to be a part of. We continued our troll after it was safely released to the depths. One hour later at 5:30 one of my rods started screaming and after a great battle and two solid runs we were barely able to net the fish just before the hook popped. Didn't even have to remove it as it hit the net at the same time as the fish did. Without a second to spare. Turned out that I also boated my personal best tiger of my career at 39.5 inches 16 lbs. So close to the 40 incher I have been hunting for but the hunt continues. What an awesome evening it was. To be able to share a day of both catching out biggest tigers ever with each other was awesome. Can't wait to get back up there and get into them again!

I think it's great how seeing and hearing about one anglers first makes us all reflect on that one memory that we each know was when the "addiction" got its grip on us. I love being a part of others first expirience with these awesome fish for this very reason. Nobody ever forgets the first time they came in contact with a musky.

Couldn't agree more and couldn't have said it better myself. If you want change the first step is to be that change. Justin is the apitomy of that. Now if we could all just follow suit we will see anglers (and people in general) can be a much tighter knit. Which leads me to say,that is just another bonus of taking a trip with his guide service. Not only will you step of that pontoon with rocket launchers more knowledgeable about walleye, tigers, and the waters of Otisco Lake. You will have a better understanding of the way the sports community can all benefit from just being a kind respectful person towards one another. One hand washes the other and the more we can allow ourselves to feed off of one another the faster we will all advance. Thanks for sharing that pap. Very well put.

Justin Okrepki New York State Licensed Guide #7324 (607) 349-1750

Thanks for the info guys. We will check out Vinehurst in the morning and if worst comes to worst we will have to stay in Bath. Looking forward to meeting everyone this weekend! And donating our monies to the winner lol

My wife and I will be coming in on Friday night and are looking for a close by hotel to stay at for the night. Can anyone tell me a few places to checkout and/or the name of the boat launch or the road its on so I can get my directions and plans figured out? We have never been to this area. Thanks in advance we are really looking forward to it!

Awesome, Congrats on your first! Nothing like the powerful strike of an Esox. At least not in the areas around me. Good luck on your future hunts!!

My wife and I took a few trips around the lake with Justin this weekend. Even though the bite was slow we were able to produce some nice results with a total of 6 small mouth bass, 1 mid sized tiger musky, and 2 walleye (one of which had a beautiful blue tint that I had never seen before). A few were dropped as well which we already knew is part of the fishing game. We learned in a few hours what it would have taken us YEARS to figure out on our own. From tackle and gear to fishing methods to fishing areas and times of year to try all. If you want to become a more successful angler I would highly recommend spending a day or two with this guy. Just make sure you bring your notebook because you will walk away with your head spinning as the steady flow of quality information just doesn't stop!! Awesome time and we cant wait to put our newly found knowledge to great use in the future! We will definitely make at least a annual trip with him a tradition from now on.

Thanks Blueeye! It was one I won't soon forget. Would love to talk with some other anglers that fish for pike in Tioghnioga.

Nice catch!

Awesome. Thanks for the report! It must have been a mad house out there.