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| Seems local fisherman here in Indiana have aquired a taste for musky. Especially ice fishermen. What would be a good proven tactic to stop this? And not talking of anything in the way of violence. afterall they are by law allowed to keep a36 incher. |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | shoot for an increase size limit,some people do still fish for food no matter what they catch. |
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Posts: 20218
Location: oswego, il | A closed ice fishing season for muskies would be great. |
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Posts: 906
Location: Canada | CASTING55 - 1/24/2011 10:48 AM
shoot for an increase size limit,some people do still fish for food no matter what they catch.
Some of our zones here in Ontario saw a new size limit last year.
ToddM - 1/24/2011 11:20 AM
A closed ice fishing season for muskies would be great.
Our season ends middle of Dec and doesn't open again till June. |
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| Alas Rick---there's nothing you can do. I know a guy who bbq's a musky over 40 inches every spring up in Hayward WI as a "tradition". As long as they're caught by legal means----people will just keep fileting them up---unfortunately! I can think of many other BETTER tasting gamefish out of the Indy musky waters. I've been fishing Indy since the early 90's and people were doing that back then too. There's just NO stoppin' 'em. Good luck though---Jobu |
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Posts: 158
| Is there a Local Muskies Inc club??
Those guys should get active in pushing the DNR, to instate new size limits, or closed seasons.
It seems to me the least popular management tactics, are the ones that produce the best fisheries. |
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Posts: 1080
| As much as we'd like to see all muskies released back into Indiana waters, that's just not realistic. Not everyone is a musky angler and not everyone knows of or subscribes to catch and release. There's that population of anglers out there that are flat out against muskies being in those waters too.
A legal fish caught by legal means is able to be kept by that angler as long as they adhere to the daily possession limit too.
Being Indiana doesn't have natural reproduction happening within those lakes...or...at least...not enough natural reproduction to sustain the fishery...those fish are all planted by means of stocking efforts and money donated to the cause. It's a "put and take" fishery. The DNR will tell you that as well.
The reason the size limit is so small in Indiana waters is to encourage people to fish there which brings people in to the area and creates tourist dollars being spent in the area.
I would be all for an increase in the size limit. A limit of 40...or even 42 in Indiana would probably do wonders. I know this has been a topic of conversation amongst the two Indiana Muskie Inc chapters and the local DNR for some time now.
A closed ice fishing season would be interesting as well, however, our Indiana waters aren't always guaranteed to freeze over every winter. Then that would lead you back to a closed season for the spawning of the fish, but then you're back to the fact that there's not a lot of natural reproduction (immeasurable) within these waters.
Indiana has some interesting politics about it's fisheries, that's for sure.
If those anglers are keeping legal sized fish, catching by legal means, adhering to the possession limit....then there's nothing you can do to stop them. Now...if they're keeping sub-legal fish, witnessed spearing and/or keeping more than the daily possession limits...then you call the poaching hotline number or the local DNR. Get a good visual I.D. on the people, their gear, location and any vehicle they might have with them, ie, ATV/snowmobile and maybe even watch them to their car/truck. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | I feel for you...catching & keeping fish of that size certainly does affect your fisheries. I can justify fishing long hours w/o a bite just for the chance that when I do get one it is a good sized fish. I cannot see the logic that smaller fish you can keep would make out of staters come to fish there. The best thing you could do is raise your legal lenght either by the state or as a special regulation on specific waters. But them if they wanted to really see the difference they would make "certain waters" C & R only and see what the size does on the population. Nothing is simple when it comes to stocking, or saving muskies or special lakes. One trophy fish released...say 56" or so would be worth more than a truckload of 36" fish as far as my interest in a body of water. |
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Posts: 556
| My dad keeps 1 every season for a cookout---He has been doing it for years--has a place near Boulder Jct , WI and legally catches many musky every sason. He always keeps 1 for a family cookout either 4th of july or labor day. What are you going to do--I have asked him why he needs to keep a Musky ( as he knows I am catch and realease only )--His answer---I catch it legally and I pay for my license--own property in the state and pay my taxes--AND I LIKE THE TASTE OF IT ONCE IN AWHILE. What are you going to do--hard to change a 70+ year old mentality I guess. He usually just keeps Walleye and Crappie for eating, but he does take that 1 Musky every season--Usually around 34-36 inches as he claims they taste better than the bigger one's--His lake he is on has a 34" minimum I believe so he is well within his rights to do so. I will keep working on him but I am sure it is going to fall on Deaf ears. |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | 911,
I think you would do real well to leave you Dad have his 1 Muskie a yr. Don't you see its a special day in his life that's important to him?
He won't be here much longer......Embrace him, and his traditions while you can !
It's only a Fish,... Enjoy your Papa.
Jerome |
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Posts: 426
Location: Perryville, MO | I too release (CPR) every fish that makes it in my net. I take all every reasonable precaution to ensure the health of the fish I'm blessed to catch. But, H20 offers perfect advice for that situation. Enjoy your Father. He knows how you feel about it and that's enough. Heck, this year make sure you eat some of his fish and do so with a perfectly clear conscience. |
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Posts: 1060
Location: Palm Coast, FL | Indiana also has a possession limit of twice the daily bag limit. It this individual is keeping more than that in his/her freezer...that would definitely be a way to take care of that problem for at least a while. Has the WLMC voiced their opinion to the DNR about these instances and if so, what was their response? |
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Posts: 158
| One thing that is hard to do for some of us, is to realize, just like deer fish are a renewable resource, and some harvest won't hurt.
That is a generalized statement, as fish, does not include all fish.
I've seen lakes affected by over harvest of BLUE GILL even.
Truth is, states don't have enough money to manage lakes as they should be. By that, I mean that LOTS of lakes require individual management. This isn't something that is affordable, especially in states with lots of lakes like MN, WI and MI.
Now, it would be GREAT if the DNR could team with local clubs, and they work together to help in individual lake management.
I've gone from turning EVERY fish I ever catch loose, to planning to keep a few Northern Pike, Crappie, Blue Gill, and Walleye.
Until the DNR can more completely manage fisheries it's up to us to manage these lakes ourselves.
With that said, I think the best option 'might' have been to talk to them. Work around your words carefully because an alienated person is a shut off person, and you would be wasting your words.
We have all been in this situation....And many times we just let it go. To both keep fishing, and to avoid conflict. But in the future, I think I may take a few minutes of my time to help educate folks on, in this case, the management of Musky.
The last time I went out, a home owner of a small local lake yells to me, catch all them you can. They just eat everything in sight anyway. I let it go to keep fishing. Possibly not the best decision on my part. |
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| Hey Rick---maybe John Gillespie could toss those guys some Johnsonvilles to try and persuade them to toss the muskies back---just a thought!---Jobu |
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| Many good ideas. To an extent unfortunatly it seems most of these avenues have been done. Mack I believe explained the situation well. Both clubs in Indiana have spoke to the DNR about this. Dave Cates, Kenton Smith, and Chae Dolsen have all talked to DNR Regional Biologist Jed Pearson and the answer is that it is stocked as a put and take fishery and that raising the size limit will probably not happen, although last year it seemed like they would consider it but have heard nothing. In my opinion a greater size limit would imeadiatly result in more large fish, therefor bringing more interstate travel to the North Webster area. And Vince you knew this so why would you ask the question you asked? |
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Posts: 1023
Location: Lafayette, IN | Rick, how many "ice" muskies do you estimate are being caught and kept each season? I can't imagine it's a very large number. Just curious since I know you live there and spend a lot of time on the lakes. -Steve J |
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Indiana Muskies