Fishboyz

18 hours ago, muskiedreams said:

In St. Lawrence County, it is illegal to fish for bass until 3rd Sat in June. In al other NY waters of the Great Lakes it is legal to fish for them while they are spawning. That is also true for the finger lakes and other waters of NY. The VHS disease was the big reason for the die off. But now, because there are so many gobies in the Great Lakes, when an angler removes a bass from it's nest, the gobies will move in and eat up all the eggs in a frenzy before the bass can be released and return to the nest. So IMO the best thing the DEC can do for SMB is re-enact the old season start date and enforce no fishing for bass until the 3rd Sat in June. This will at least give them a fighting chance to hatch and survive. But my guess it that they are greatly influenced by tournament organizers and their sponsors in the name of profits. This video shows gobies on a nest.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWt_uffYZ4M

Love this idea - that's how we do it up here.

On 12/28/2021 at 6:44 AM, jimski2 said:

Watching local Lake Simcoe anglers catch whitefish, a trip to the local library revealed their secrets.  They salt the bottom below their hole with salted emerald shiner minnows on the bottom. They build a brass rod and solder treble hooks on it, drop it to the bottom and lift it sharply to catch whitefish attracted to their bait pile. Legal? I do not think so. But lifting jigging plugs and spoons may work.

You are right, using salted minnows to bait the hole is against regulations. I honestly haven't heard of anyone doing it for years.