Notes

Images

Keep in mind that I am always looking for images for our newsletter; fish, sunsets, sunrises, other anglers fishing, equipment, anything fishing related. I can use them all.  Large, unedited images are best. Thanks.

Created by Scott McKee Oct 31, 2018 at 1:09pm. Last updated by Scott McKee Oct 31, 2018.

Thank you, Jay!

This site is sponsored by NMA Member Jay Nannen.

Here's a vile display of over-handling a musky. (This sort of display seems to dominate musky videos on YouTube.) The farther you get from the Niagara the less important proper C&R seems to be.


Board Member
Comment by John Pensyl on December 21, 2012 at 8:11am
Couldnt agree more that its tough to think about how this sets an example. I'm sure the photo shoots that take place on every musky DVD on the shelves don't help the cause either. Gregg Thomas's last DVD really opened my eyes how much more respect we give these fish than most. I couldn't imagine running a 10 rod spread, fighting the fish in at 5mph, hand lining the last 20 feet and then bringing the fish on board for a few minutes. Thank goodness for those new release live wells as I'm sure they are saving a ton of fishes lives out there on st. Clair. I just can't agree with bashing captain Walters, someone who spends much of their time here in wny, someone who may have very well taken your friends and family out on lake Ontario, someone who could be invited to a meeting and maybe just take a thing or two away from the time spent with NMA members. Once you bash someone and they put up that wall your chance to help change or educate is lost.

Board Member
Comment by jojo wilczewski on December 21, 2012 at 8:47am

Good Day and Happy Happy Holidays

I do not think anyone in the  this club would intend to harm , slander or wish ill forturn on anyone. I did not see any violence or harm in our words. Only  educational statments on improving handling  and fishing for Musky.  Which is the basis of the club.

I think he would be a good speaker for us and I bet he could also teach us a thing  or two. Does he live here in the winter?

ALA BALA BALA

jojoout


Board Member
Comment by John Pensyl on December 21, 2012 at 10:40am
I'd actually love to see how he rigs and tunes his Berger king setups. He tunes them with an underwater camera so the spoon will rise and fall perfect behind the believer. Pretty cool to see the underwater footage. Maybe if we voiced the concern that his release footage may influince less experienced anglers to try the same thing and they will most likely not be so careful or gentle he'd agree and refrain from putting it on YouTube. I read last night about a 59x28 that wrapped its gilplate in the leader and didn't release a couple years back. Sounded like it ruined the whole experience for him,

Board Member
Comment by John Pensyl on December 21, 2012 at 10:42am
Expose him to the passion this club has for quick release first hand and there is no way he walks out the door without his brain thinking about his tactics. Guarantee it may help a few fish get back to the water a little faster next fall.
Comment by Bob Piazza on December 21, 2012 at 8:06pm

I found that video disgusting. The fish looked like it was out of the water 6 minutes. It came in like a dead weight upside down while the boat was still moving. Anybody who does business with this guy is doing the fishery a disservice. Sorry my opinion to bash but if you are a professional guide, arent you suppose to act professional? He is going to put himself and others out of business with many more releases like that one. I actually felt sorry for the fish and was amazed he would put a video like this for the world to see. Can it be he doesn't know better? Shocking.....


Board Member
Comment by Frank Stachowiak on November 20, 2013 at 9:54am

I don't think that the comments made can be considered "bashing" someone who "makes $$ from the great fisheries". I looked at the video he posted on the internet (where everything is true, I'm told) and thought I was watching guys fishing for walleyes, dragging their baits and pulling in drowning fish. That musky was belly up yards behind the boat.  No fight in the water and motionless in the boat.  A towel probably wiping all the protective slime off the fish, or was it soaked in chloroform? I was also surprised to see how fast she took off, probably wanting to get the hell out of there. Did it survive??? Who knows.  I doubt any of our comments will hurt his business because his customers look at the video and don't read our comments. His website for Water Wolf Charters states "We promote and support the Muskie Release Program". True that he released it . I don't care for his program.

Comment by Stephen Glassic on November 20, 2013 at 12:50pm

I would just like to say that things are not always what they seem in a video.

I met Bob Walters a few weeks ago where he and his first mate, Daryl Raate did a program at the meeting we had at O'Brien's  Restaurant in Clayton. A big part of his program was dedicated to catch and release. He REQUIRES all fish to be released on his charters. I saw the mount of the 59.5 X 28 fish mentioned above and it was awesome. The only reason why it was mounted is because it got wrapped up in the line during the fight and he was not able to successfully release it because of that. He also stressed the argument for having a replica made and he had a beautiful table top double musky replica as an example for the argument.

I do wonder if the Berger King rig contributed to the problem. I would like to ask him about that because I can see the possibility of the fish getting wrapped up if it hits the spoon. The leader between the Swim Wizz and the spoon could wrap around the fish or through the gill and then the hooks on the Swim Wizz could embed in the body of the fish. For this reason, I am thinking the rig could be dangerous for the fish.

The way this video was edited, there were multiple camera angles shown which created the impression that the fish was dragged in over the surface for a long period of time. It wasn't as long as it appeared to be. Also, the reason it came in that way is the lure was hooked in its lower left jaw. Even the time it took to clear the lines was less than it appeared for the same reason. The fish was out of the water longer than I would have liked to see but in reality it was probably no longer than 2 min. Part of the problem with that is that with a boat of that size, it is difficult to impossible to work on the release at boat side. My guess about the towel is that since it was caught in mid December, and the air temp. was possibly well below freezing, he used the towel to shield the fish's eyes from freezing.

Comment by Jerry Miller on December 16, 2013 at 2:28am

I watched the video, and I was well into upset...at the "reeling in part"! To see that fish seemingly exhausted and mouth a-gape. I thought it would gonna be DOA when it hit the deck! I love these fish, truly do love them! They are not my "bread and butter" to me-but if they were, I would still put "our girls" first! My Brother John, perhaps the worst guy in the world, to ever, not be, prepared for a release with (I know, I hate to admit this, because the first Musky that I caught was a 36 incher that was fresh and as strong a python. I wasn't mentally prepared to get that fish back in the water, quickly, but my Brother tore me a new one, about 20 times(I'm sure it was more!) and he explained the fragileness of the fishery, and how this fish, although big, is prone to being surprisingly delicate, and the tough love he provided me, has made me a better "Catch and Release" fisherman, not for myself, but for the sake of the Musky! So much so that when I caught the 50.5, she was almost a release shot only, and almost didn't have a picture of me with that beauty. I always look to be on point with the net and move as fast as I can with the release tools, just as a nurse, during open heart surgery; every time that I catch or I am helping release our "Girls", no matter what the size. My Bro. was the first to teach me the right way to release these fish, and then many other members of this club reinforced it! As the video continued, I was yelling, move the poles, get out of the way, why aren't your release tools at the ready, and how long are ya gonne take to get that "Lady" back in the water?! I know that I'm a "short timer" in this game, but does that give a lifer, more room to potentially hurt a delicate fish, and endanger a fishery that as I understand it, was never pounded to death by amateur fisherman with horrible release practices? That's the unfortunate risk in today's world of Social Media! If you give a guy permission to be a sloppy releaser because he's caught big fish, and he's been doing it since the 70's, then he shows it to everyone and because he has a good name they follow his suit in all the waters in the country, I don't think any of our fisheries would be safe for long. It's because the great fisherman of the past learned that their past practices were depleting the fishery, and they also learned that you have to handle this majestic giant with care, in order to maintain her numbers and keep her around! With breeding and rearing, habitats on the decline, not to mention invasive species that are just plain "over every thinging" and the huge mortality of the Musky Fry, every fishery needs all it's females producing that one female could be the one that is able to find a spot to breed, and that disruption could kill an ageing population. So you could still have plenty big girls out there, but if they die or are over-stressed, takes is one disruption in a If it wasn't for the passionate and over zealous-can you really be with today's extinction rates? We seen that fish bolt, but the tape ends there, did it belly up and surface a few feet later? If that fish was fine, then I am happy, but that fish could have esily went the other way out of camera shot. Let's teach at every opportunity get! I'm sorry, but this lesson needs to be learned!! There is no need to argue with me-right is right!

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