NPike

Never heard of any DEC sponsored effort "or there Canadian counterparts" to purposely eliminate the Burbut otherwise known as the lingcod? As mentioned I've caught a few fishing for walleye in deeper waters in some shields lakes in Ontario. I do know some people purposely target them. http://www.in-fisherman.com/burbot/how-to-catch-burbot/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4dp807nQZBq6sJSTSgjMY1y/10-fishy-facts-about-burbots

Caught in Ontario. Very ugly go 2 to 8 pounds

be very careful when walking on such thin early ice? Bring a pole test the ice (they actually make something specifically for this for testing the ice). Good luck

Besides depending on where you fish Musky's have to be at least 40" to keep, or longer in some waterways. And the season for musky's is closed until the last in May. Tigermusky's or Norlunge have the same season as pike. But a larger size limit 30" in NYS, 36" for Otisco. I believe any adult member of any member of the Esox family should be respected and valued not just Musky's or Hybrids. It takes a Northern Pike often over 10 years to reach 10+ pounds

From what I hear coming form the guys that fish Otisco it's similar in winter to what goes on at Conesus, once it ice ups. Tents and windbreakers blanket the lake with many fishing for Esox. Most of the guys out on the ice are meat fisherman and even if they aren't many improperly handle the fish on the ice, thus insuring the fish will likely die. I wish they had some way to better control the slaughter of (10 to 15+) pound fish. Yes it's legal, just perhaps not ethical. Some of the largest fish in the lake come out thru holes in the ice and they usually don't go back. Big pike grow relatively slow as well and 20 pounders have been taken thru the ice.

Zack I have found Owners and Gamakatsu’s trebles to be sharper than VMC’s chemically sharpened cone cuts or say Eagle Claws laser sharpened hooks. Not saying these aren’t good solid hooks, but if I use them I touch them up just a little, that’s all. Also Owner and Gamakatsu charge a very high price for their hooks.

Agreed with smaller sized it doesn’t seem to be as critical. However with the larger hooks it is very critical. For size 1/0 to 5/0+ only a few brands are sharp out of the box: Owner, Gamakatsu and a few Mustads like their ultra points. The rest of the larger hooks made by VMC, Eagle claw, most Mustads, Tyrant to name a few need touching up when using larger baits.

Key points are to sharpen the sides of the point, then just touching up the outward pointing edge. The angle used during sharpening should be keep very narrow only a few degrees. When the sharpened hook digs in (makes a scratch) when run across your finger nail it's sharp enough. Simple but effective test for hooks after sharpening. One can over sharpen a hook point thus ruining it's point which is often tempered steel. Once a hook effectivly losses it's point it will never hold the point the same way.

Welcome! Gotta love those toothy critters.

Agreed I’ve come to learn sharp hooks are important as a safeguard against lost fish. My lost fish ratio has gone down by using sharp hooks. It doesn’t seem to be so much an issue with the smaller baits. But with larger hooks “for me 1/0 to 5/0â€, it seems to make a big difference. As mentioned many out of the box baits: DepthRaider’s, DDD’s, large Rapala’s, to name a few come with hooks that just aren’t that sharp. The issue it seems to get worse with larger hooks. Personally I like the chain saw type of file, as sold by Smity. But to each their own. The key is to file off enough material to give it that needle sharp point. This should be performed so the tip is not filed at too steep an angle. Also not to take off to much material, thus ruining the point or misshaping it to a nub.

Many larger types of bait come with hooks that are not very sharp. Do you replace the hooks with out of the box needle sharp hooks from Owner or Gamakatsu, etc? Or do you use the often relatively dull large hooks that come with these baits and sharpen them yourselves. Say using the Smity file or other file.

Pike as well as Musky's can also be some of the most tight lipped fish out there when they want to be.Bass can usually be enticed to bite. Take Conesus as an example many more bass are caught then are pike, at least by x3. It all depends on the mood, weather, solar lunar pattern, time of year etc.. BTW a large pike will take a swag at a smallmouth, seen it happen more than once.

All the baits I mentioned earlier were or can be used as Jerkbaits, I.E: DD's, DDD's, DepthRaider (a new suspending DepthRaider has been out), Saltwater Rapala, Suicks, Swim and Jerk, etc.. I use 75% Jerkbaits and 25% spinners - jigs. Does anyone else rely heavily on Jerkbaits? I find them to be very versatile allowing you to work different techniques and different areas of the water column from (2 to 12) FOW? Next year I'm going to try the Ripper, anyone ever use the Ripper by H2O? We do get the occasional boat side hits on Jerkbaits, but often they hit 70 to 20 feet from the boat which allows for a better struggle. What's been your experience with Jerkbaits? They fall into the category of casting lures. Thanks,

We've got a few jigging for walleye on Chautauqua in 40 to 60 FOW so they are down there.

Nice fish Ivan. I'm well over 2 hours way and typically get there maybe 2ce a year. Great lake when I do.

Although my MPB from Chautauqua is 39". I've been in the boat when my buddy got a 48". Perhaps some of you have done better? From what I here from Mikes and other fisherman they take plenty of big fish out of Chautauqua. The DEC nets giant fish each spring. It's good to see the fishery remains so healthy for Musky's in both size and quantity.

I do troll on occasion but the trill of getting them on the cast is hard to beat. Guess it's a matter of preference. BTW speaking about Musky baits Rollie and Hellen's is running a X-mass speacil.

names your favorites whether they are used as crankbaits, twitch baits or pull baits. Here a few that have brought me some success over the years. Double and Treble D's from Esox Research Corp. Depth Raiders from Bucker 4 Play Lip Lure from Savage Saltwater Rapala

I believe pike and pickerel breed sooner than musky’s thus making it difficult for the musky’s to get a start in waters containing other species of esox. This could be a problem for introducing pure musky’s into Conesus, Silver, Hemlock, Honeoye, etc. There are a few "usually large" waterways like the St. Lawrence where they have completely separate breeding grounds and don’t interface at all when spawning, but often the spawning habit is similar. Personally it would be great if they swam in most of our lakes.