NPike

If the fish is injured (gill hooked and bleeding, belly up, etc) or if you just take a few odd fish each season “injured fish making up the major portion of theseâ€. This is what I try to encourage folks to do as we let by and far most of our Esox go, >>95%. It concerns me that on Conesus how many pike and tigers are keep. Look at the Facebook website and you will see how many people are yanking them out of that lake. A large % of these are not released (you can often tell by the photo) and I’m surprised the fishery still stands up to it to tell you the truth.

Excuse me if I'm off topic

I would say that muskies caught on lines not intended for them most likely have a higher mortality rate and as a guide who introduces people to the sport, should offer more esox equipment.

As for me saying that to your face, don't know how push came to shove but we all know Ur mentality. Thanks for your input but I wasn't educated on anything other than your many years of fishing license purchases.

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In what way would pike – musky’s caught while trolling for walleyes – trout, etc be more likely to suspect to higher mortality rates? Say a big pike or musky grabs a Sutton Spoon or a Rapala’s Taildancer, why would this be more injurious to the fish than if it were a trout or walleye. The only difference I could see if the fish were caught at a very great deep say like you were trolling for Lakers at 90+ FOW. Very few if any Esox are caught at these depths, so I don’t follow this line of logic.

I troll very little (by choice), but the few Esox I’ve caught on downriggers did just fine as far as I could tell and were fished for the same way as one would trout or walleye. Generally between (15 to 40) FOW. The only difference is the use of higher test leaders.

However this is basically the only way to catch them on Conesus once the lake heats to a certain point. Since you really can’t reach them casting until the water cools down. So I switch to fishing for LM_Bass until September-Oct. That is why I found it interesting that on Otisco a somewhat similar deeper water lake with ample alewives that one could cast for tigers in the 30’s†during this record hot summer.

Casting is still producing plenty on Otisco but not any big fish, 40 plus, that I know of... trolling is very slow but if you hook one it will be decent.

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That’s interesting. I wonder why they bite reality shallow on Otisco and not Conesus (say >= 16 to 17) FOW or less? They are both deep lakes with plenty of alewives. On Conesus BTT the surface temp reaches 75 degrees you can forget about casting for tigers.

I’m surprised people are catching Tigers anywhere during the course of the last month by Casting with this extreme heat. You won’t get them by casting on Conesus with surface water temps at 80 degrees. Conesus has deep water and they are getting a few (not may, BTW) by trolling 20+ FOW.

9.5 LP monster? Photoshop

That looks like the biggest one I've ever seen a picture of Wow

sorry for confusion, I already have an 55 lb Minn Kota with size 29 Interstate.

In regards to muskiedreams questions the BF20D3LH is rope start only, no electric start option, helps keep the weight down. I am really impressed with the motor also how easy tilt works, a kid could lift it. So much easier than my 9.9 2002 Yamaha and the longer tiller handle is very handy.

My toothy critter boat. I own a 14’ Polarkraft 1470 utility boat rigged up with fish finder and trolling motor, pretty basic. I just upgraded my outboard to a BF20D3LH “a Honda 20 HP, Long shaft, rope start, tiller drivenâ€. This was upgraded from a 2002 Yamaha 4-stroke 9.9 HP. I can’t believe the boat now reached speeds of 28/mph on plane. I expected the speed to go up to perhaps 20/mph, but this surpassed my expectations. May not keep up with the bass boats (not that I care) but nice increase over 11/mph.

What a great fish! Congrads

It's ridiculous....We caught 4 more pickerel today, this time in Guffin bay.....That makes 11 pickerel in 4 days for us....Now let me put this in perspective for you, we have been coming up here since 2005, and have NEVER caught a single one, this year already caught 11. Also the pickerel have been huge, the size of Walleye. Averaging around 3 1/2 pounds but as large as 4 1/2.

When I used to fish Hemlock the pickerel were 3 to 5 pounds, I thought this was the norm. Even up to 7+

Nice fish!! Man they are dark in the hills - mountains.

My fault NPike - we lost those a couple hours of posts when I had to do server restore yesterday.  My apologies - wasn't too happy with hosting company on this one.  Will be looking into alternative options moving forward.

 

Thank you Blue Eye at least I'm not seeing things.

Not a good idea, use state launch on East Lake Road

Wonder what happened to the great feedback from Fishing NY and old man? They had been there.

I’ve been fortunate to catch a few nice sized pike - tigers this season, However I’ve run into a frustrating phenomenon. It only happens with larger fish in the ~ 15+ to 8 pounds range.                                                                                      

As the jerkbait comes within 6’ to 3’ of the boat the fish seems to come out of nowhere and take a whack at it, (sometimes really nailing it). My problem is that I don’t always set the hook in time since the fish is so close and the whole thing is such a startle. Then off swims the fish after a short sweet battle. Anyone else been there done that? I’m sure it doesn’t help that I use totally 1.5 to 3 oz. jerkbaits. A reality check thanks guys, happened both today and yesterday.   

Although these are all from Conesus and were all caught before tis year. I thought you guys might find the color difference interesting. Sorry for posting last years pictures.

Thanks guys, it was my big fish of the year to date. It was actually hard to judge weight since it was wiggling in the net, I was conservative. About the bass Conesus is a LMB factory with many nice smallmouths as well.  So far I've caught a 31" and 31.5" pike and a 32" tiger as well. But I fish there regularly.

caught this morning on a Jerkbait

Last Tuesday I was checking out the Long Point Marina launch. The usual guys fishing from the docks, a Starcraft boat came in two guys, Ohio boat reg., muskie rods and baits for sure. I watched an older guy fishing from dock ask the guys in boat " Whatcha catch " reply " Fish " Older guy " What are you fishing for " Guy in boat " You wanna know a lot " I thought they were fishing for muskies, with their equipment and baits it sure looked like it to me.

Earlier this year on Conesus they were running rigs for walleyes well before the opener. It was obvious from the planer boards and downriggers they weren't fishing for early season (catch and release) bass.

Very easy. Get yourself a go pro or sony action cam. Once the fish is netted and the hooks are out, turn the camera on interval shot. There's your pics while fishing alone, as I do 90% of the time.

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I'm not interested in that kind of investment it's not that important to me

Pics or it didn't happen!!

That's Bull I fish alone and release some big fish. Ever try to get a good shot of a big essox trashing while alone.

Be mid - late June for me can't wait! My guess is that unless it warms up a lot (the water) it may be slow. water was below 60 last weekend.

I caught x2 ~ 5+ pound pike that were severely mauled similar to that bass on Conesus this year. both wwere at least 28+". Could have been a pike or a tiger.

Most fish, like bass and smaller muskies have mouths that are softer than a larger muskies mouth, and they are easier to hook.

I guess you are referring to 8-10" wood, dive and rise, or even gliders. Like a Latiano, Leo, LungeLumber, Suick, Bobbie, etc. Id say if you have sharp hooks, a cranked drag, and a good hookset then thats the best you can do. Sometimes "T"ing your hooks can help. Theres alot of wood on some of those baits. Some fish can get a pretty good grip on the wood when they bite and its hard to move the bait in their mouth to set the hooks. Plastic baits may be more bite resistant...like a jerko or a sledge. Sometimes they just dont get it. Not going to get them all. Dive and rise are usually pretty good hookers though. Gliders can get more misses but also attract alot of fish. A jerkbait will never have as good of a hooking percentage as a bucktail, but they are much more fun to fish.

Thank you Ivan for the feedback. Baits I use anywhere from 5.5" to 9": some wood some plastic: Salt Water X-Rap, Shine and Glide, Treble-D, etc. I've often thought they got the bait in their mouths grapping the body without really getting the hooks in a position that allows for a solidly hooked fish. You seem to have gotten the nail on the head. My partner fishes with blades I defiantly get more hits. We both catch fish.