musky hunter article

[John Pensyl]

Anybody else see the 4 page article in musky hunter about the Niagara? Apparently the fishery is better than ever with fish averaging 44-52 inches and monsters being found from the mouth of the niagara right out to the bar. I remember the day the author was fishing here last september. It was the first temp drop when all the fish went shallow. We moved a ton of fish in less than 10 fow for a few days and apparently he did too and thinks it's always that way.

[John Jarosz]

Steve...you make a couple of good points.  I'll ask Tim DePriest of the DEC if visuals are useful & we'll see if there's anything we can do to help.

I remember well in the 70's the DEC was stocking salmon in L. Erie tribs.  Shortly after that, there was a big campaign about stocking Skamania salmon which make their run in August.  This way we would have steelhead in the Spring, Skamania salmon in Aug & steelhead & cohoes in the Fall.  Shortly after that, it was just steelhead.  I read a report that the catch rate of salmon was so low, that people stopped fishing for them.  Therefore no economic payback.  That's when the salmon stocking stopped.

I do give the DEC credit, though, for at least trying.  If everything they try had to be a 100% success, then very little that's new would be tried.  To me, you can't let the fear of failure guide any new initiatives.  You just have to go about it the smart way.

[Tony Scime]

I read the article. Other than the fact that it was about the Niagara River, I didn't think that it was all that bad.

[John Pensyl]

The part that bothered me about the whole thing is that guy hasn't actually had the success he claims using all those tactics. He's full of bs, I watched him cast that orange spinner bait in an area no bigger than a football field for a week solid last fall. He's a joke and a fraud. His success on the niagara is minimal and now he's going to guide clients on a regular basis? Anybody that will claim that the niagara is a better numbers fishery than st. Clair and has bigger fish than the st. Larry and the Ottawa is an outright liar or a complete moron.

[Jim Kinner]

Fishermen seek fish. Guides fish for people willing to book a charter. You don't fill the your charters by saying you only hook up one out of three trips, and your average fish is 34 inches. 

[Tony Scime]

John:

You're likely correct on most counts. But I don't know what kind of success he's had so, although I may question it, I really don't know. I don't know what he's stated elsewhere, but the article does not suggest that there are more and bigger fish on the Niagara than St. Clair, St. Lawrence or Ottawa.

I'm not defending the guy. I'd like to know what, if anything, he's ever done to improve the fishery. My experience is that other than a couple guys like Larry Jones, most guides are just there for the picking.

Tony 

[Capt. Larry D. Jones]

My position on this whole issue is if he is miss handling fish and fish are floating dead, then as a club we should be speaking up! But as a fishing club to go after his ability to catch fish and to call him out on an article he wrote, is not what we should be doing, looking like the muskie police will only turn other fishermen away from us.I by no way back the guy in anyway, by bringing him up we are only putting him in the lime light!

[3r18sb1ehgc6k]

That wasnt in the article, it was in one of the links a put up from a post he made in the local fishing forum.

[104pbcexobzwh]

Larry, you are right.
I haven't fished up there enough to say too much about the fishery not having the time spent that you guys have.
Word spreads like wildfire nowdays, he'll burn himself and word will get out.
Making a stink about him will just get the attention he wants.

Have any of you ever boated a triple trolling?
I didn't think so.....it happens at St Clair, it happened to me so I know it does. Hard to compare ANYWHERE to St. Clair

[104pbcexobzwh]

Triple? Heck most any/all of us are happy with a 3 fish day for the entire day...lol

[Scott McKee]

I know you do Riley.  I just like touting Knipex.