Posts: 419
Location: Selkirk, Manitoba | I found this whole discussion very interesting with regards to rec. fisheries management. I've linked it to start at the handling stuff, but overall I left feeling empathetic to folks that chase the really big stripers and and their concerns for the future of their fishery.
https://youtu.be/fAZ7u9orueQ?si=kyPGp-Ap_mlBr2tr&t=3274
The release mortality and handling suggestions particularly relevant to musky: reduce number of hooks for quick release/barbless, keep in water and so on. The key point: fish size affects handling time (bigger=more time handled), and handling time is the most important predictor of survival. So bigger fish get handled more and therefore have higher potential for mortality. The takeaway is collectively anglers need to embrace reducing handling. Pete Maina and "Musky Man" Larry Ramsell spoke about this in a recent Ugly Pike podcast.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-273-pete-maina-larry-r...
The absolute most significant point in the Striper vid from my perspective for our native reproducing muskies in Canada is around the 30:43 point. Muskies have evolved to grow and reproduce to a certain maximum reproductive age and size without fishing mortality. As said in the discussion, we need to ensure we don't add too much fishing mortality - what that is has been reached in some systems in that past and we've managed to halt it to some extent with regulations relevant to the technology of the time (1990s). As I've posted before and Larry and Pete allude to, recent technology developments are potentially taking us to that breaking point, and we need to do something about it.
It is only going to get worse:
https://muskyinsider.com/blogs/past-newsletters/45lb-nj-musky-sonar-...
Edited by Angling Oracle 4/6/2026 1:18 PM
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