BassMrs.ster

My fish not my gosh


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Ok. I caught one tiger in 63 years of life. I was proud of how I reeled him in and that I still have the strength to do it with the physical shape and injuries that I have. My grandfather always told me if you don’t have something good to say keep your mouth shut. So with that I will shut my mouth and I understand that all of you good old boys want to see all the fish get over 40 inches it all comes down to it was my boat. My pole and reel. My gosh. My decision. Will I keep another. Most likely not. This fish was just about dead after I got him untangled from the net. End rant


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Second walleye this whole summer. Monster and pretty proud I reeled him in. [emoji476][emoji476][emoji476]

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Congrats on the beautiful fish!!!! Happy birthday as well! Seems like we can’t make our own choice, possibly it’s their fish? Kinda like deer hunting nowadays... [emoji20]


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Wow everyone took it easy on her..... Next time think about letting it go so someone else can catch their first tiger and be as excited as you were, and catch a few more pan fish to eat 

Cool...that's what I normally fish for (pa fish) but fish Oneida for walleye occasionally. Have never fished otisco on soft water only iced fished it. Are the walleye hard to find on otisco? and do you jigor troll?....I may try it one day.
John

Icejohn is correct. There was absolutely no biological reason not to keep this legal fish.  Congratulations on a great catch and being a good and ethical angler!  
Also, thanks for getting your kids involved in fishing and I hope your season continues to be productive!

Mrsbass..don't be bothered by the negative comments...as some have said you did nothing wrong...the put a "keeper size limit" on fish to KEEP. Besides they are a hybrid so they are not going to reproduce....they are a put and keep fish....having said that I don't have a problem with catch and release either. Most of these negative nancies are trophy only deer hunters and complain when someone shoots a small 6 point buck...congrats to an awesome grandmother fisher person...I'd loce to be in the same boat!

First off, BassMrs.ster, I am not trying to bash you or anything like that. Us musky anglers are just concerned about muskies and tiger muskies being kept because there are so few waters in NY that hold them, and there is an increasing amount of angling pressure on them. This makes it increasingly important to do what we can to minimize their mortality.

 

The point is that tigers are stocked and maintained in that lake as a sport fish. The size limit was recently raised in order to discourage keeping them and to help the lake become a trophy tiger musky lake. It also helps relieve the angling pressure on the few waters in NY that support purebred muskies because they take a much longer time to reach trophy size.

 

Anglers come to Otisco lake for the experience of catching those fish and that helps justify the cost and effort of stocking them in the lake, because they spend money locally while they are there. That helps support the local businesses as well as the local tax base which in turn helps the residents.

 

Fortunately, the greater majority of anglers who fish for them take great care not to harm them or cause excessive stress and do their best to release them unharmed so they live to grow and provide another great experience for another angler. Many of those anglers are youths who will have a very memorable experience.

 

I know it is completely within your rights to keep and eat a legal size fish. But it looks like you also are thrilled and proud to catch such a large fish since you posted a picture of it on this board. And it is true that there are a lot of them in the lake but not so many of that size or larger. And I bet you would be even more thrilled if one day you catch one that is 48 inches. That is a big reason why most musky anglers release all their muskies.

 

There are a lot of walleye in that lake which are stocked by the state in much greater numbers and they grow to legal size faster than tiger muskies. Walleye, as I am sure you know, is a better eating fish and it is a primary reason why they are stocked and people fish for them. So could you please consider trying not to keep tiger muskies for food if you are able to catch enough walleye to feed your family? Then someday, who knows, you may get that 48 incher and post a picture of it here and a release photo is even more satisfying.

 

Also, if you need to increase your success with walleye, I am sure Justin or others on this board or the Otisco or walleye boards can give you some tips.

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Had to be pretty exciting. Congratulations!


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Don’t be ashamed to be proud of a legal catch.  You had every right to keep it. It’s when a fish is kept just for bragging rights and foolishly wasted afterwards that is shameful.

Too bad it will never make it to 40" or greater.

How was it?


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Nice fish. Congrats. Are you getting a skin mount or did you eat it?


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Nice job!!


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That’s a good one. How big?

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Trolling??

First Tiger Muskie ever. Just shy of 38” 7-21-20

17 inch. First trout ever