MUSKY.....THROUGH THE ICE ????

[Bruin]

Well put.....to each his own

[RJ]

It was a great choice last year to avoid the bashing of guys who posted pics....kudos on FH for realizing that....

Can someone point me to somewhere on the MNR site of regs where it actually says the line

"it is unlawful to target closed season fish and if a fish is accidentally caught during closed season it must be released immediately (forthwith) into the waters in which it is caught. Taking pictures, or any other activity which interferes with the return of the fish to the water, would not meet the threshold of “forthwith”. The real driver here is the term in section 13 “release it in a manner that causes least harm to the fish”, the objective is to get the fish back into the water with the best possible chance of recovery. "

I can't find it anywhere...

Thanks
RJ

[SCUBA_STEVE]

well i think everyone just sjould get out and fish

this thread already went to far!

poor guy had a great day with his first musky,ok ok oos one but hey he wasnt targeting them it happened it happened!!!

myself i would of taken a pic for my own happiness and send it back!but thats me!

things happen out of your control and if you get one very exciting and a pic oh well some people do some dont!

cant everyone just get along and have fun??place id all fighting and not enough fishing!

be happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!be happy!!!

zort

[Seaweed]

Well isn't this a nice discussion string.......

I got hooked up with something big last weekend while ice fishing for eyes at Petrie. I was trying a technique that Big Jim showed us the night of the Fish-Hawk.net Christie Kids camp fundraiser. You know where he showed us how to get a glide-bait to do wide circles under the ice.

Well I wasn't that awful sure that it was going to produce anything, (Sorry Big) but I was in my portable where no one could see me so I thought I would give it a whirl. Well let me tell you I am a believer now. Something hammered my jigging rap a ton. I had light line... well twelve pound light... and on the small rod the fight was on. This had to be the Walleye of my dreams I thought as I desperately tried to gain some line on this fish. It wasn't budging too fast but I wasn't about to horse it and snap the line... I just kept cranking then sure enough I had about five feet in... and out it went four feet... in eight more and out six.... well this scene played out for about five minutes and then I just couldn't take it any more... I had to share this with someone.... so I reach down and pull back the awning on the Clam and push it over my head.... I look up and the Oriental fella fishing near me sees me working overtime on something.... "Big Fish!" he screams and I nod my head vigoursly vowing not to lose concentration on the job at hand.... "Could you come over and pull out the fishfinder cable for me.... I don't want to get it in the way...." so over he comes .... well in a couple of minutes I notice that this guy is almost jumping up and down... as I kept trying to gain ground on this fish and then lose some as it surges back to the bottom... well it finally feels like it is coming up so I slow up the retrieve and figure that I am pretty close to the ice so I know that I don't want to knock it off at the hole....

The line went slack and out popped my lure out of the hole.... "Too bad that nice fish...." says the guy and strolls back to his holes.

Looking back I realize that I was probably hooked into a musky.... a big ole walleye doesn't fight that hard. I did end up with five fish that day. But all night and even still a bit today .... I can still feel the fight of that fish. A nice way to put the final touchs of an ice fishing season.... yeah I will be out a few more times but I have a funny feeling that I won't get another fight like that through the ice for awhile.

Awesome feeling... be it an OOS fish or not.

[Trophymuskie]

It was a great choice last year to avoid the bashing of guys who posted pics....kudos on FH for realizing that....

Can someone point me to somewhere on the MNR site of regs where it actually says the line

"it is unlawful to target closed season fish and if a fish is accidentally caught during closed season it must be released immediately (forthwith) into the waters in which it is caught. Taking pictures, or any other activity which interferes with the return of the fish to the water, would not meet the threshold of “forthwith”. The real driver here is the term in section 13 “release it in a manner that causes least harm to the fish”, the objective is to get the fish back into the water with the best possible chance of recovery. "

I can't find it anywhere...

Thanks
RJ

I don't believe you. anyone else would go out of their way to get this information would not be getting the treatment that I am.

AND RJ WHERE DID YOU SEE THIS BEEN ABOUT MUSKIES, IT'S ABOUT OOS FISH SO YES I WOULD DO THE SAME FOR BASS OR ANY OTHER FISH OUT OF SEASON. Poaching is poaching.

The phrase you quoted above is a cut and paste from an e-mail I received from the head of reinforcement or the boss or all CO's. He basically explains the law in plain English. That law was also in my post and he just wanted to explain that taking a picture is not releasing a fish forthwith or an immediate release.

Here's another law that was included in his e-mail.

Angling Close Times

25. No person shall engage in angling for or catch by angling and retain a fish of a species set out in Column I of an item of Part I of Schedule III from the waters set out in Column II of a subitem of that item during the close time set out in Column V of that subitem.

I'm sure you can understand it all but me as a dumb French full time fisherman I would need it to be written in plain English to comprehend.

And yes as a professional fisherman I make it my duties to inform all of the laws as well as educating all on C&R and other important factors in the protections of our fisheries ( the entire fisheries not just muskies ) as well as donating a lot of money and time to the conservation of all fisheries. And been an information partner is just a small part of that.

RJ I'm sure you donate 5-10 % of your work time and hundreds of dollars as well as an additional 70+ hours a year volunteering to the bettering of our fisheries like I do, but if you're not leave me alone.

Once again the good guy gets bashed.

[RJ]

Hardly a bashing Richard.

Thanks.

I hope they word the news regs diffrently, something to the effect of that email as clearly the CO's don't have that message yet.

Thanks again.

Thanks for Everything.

RJ

[Spoonman]

[Edit - unwelcome interpretation of regulations retracted]

To answer the original question that started this thread, I have never had the privilege of catching a muskie while ice fishing (or any other method for that matter). I have, however, heard plenty of secondhand/thirdhand reports of muskie occasionally being caught through the ice on the Ottawa River.

[Edit - unnecessary remark about postings and resulting controversies retracted]

[Lookinforlunkers]

The thing I don't understand is why anyone would want a picture of an ILLEGAL fish. To me a pic is another form of a trophy and why would you want a trophy you can't be proud of. Would you shoot a deer out of season and put it's head on your wall, I would hope not cause it is ILLEGAL. Save your pics for a fish you can be proud of.

Hypocritical Musky Guy Out

[Spoonman]

If someone chooses to take a photo of an OOS fish, then it's their choice. Personally for me, I used to do it, but don't any more. I try not to even touch or take the fish out of the water....but that's my choice and I hold no disrespect for anyone who chooses differently. That's their choice.

I second that. According to Suddsy, this muskie apparently went back in alive and kickin', so no real harm done. If it was me, I'd probably be getting over the adrenaline rush right about now!

[Swamp-Donkey]

An issue I would like to raise here is, fortunately the day sudsy was out was mild. If it had of been -20 however, this fish would have suffered irreversable damage from the freezing effects on fin tips, surface of the eyes and gills. The extra time taken to snap a photo could definatly have been the difference between the fish being returned safely and suffering potentially fatal injuries. The colder it is, the quicker the fish should be returned to the water. I see so many people that catch fish through the ice, haul them up and let them roll around in the snow for awhile and then release them. They might as well just kept the fish by this point.

As for open water seasons, wolfman made a comment regarding catching a lunker bass during closed season and snapping a photo. He claimed the extra time required would not harm the fish. No it may not harm the fish in your hand while youre smiling for the camera. But do you have any clue as to what is happening to the nest/eggs/fry that it was guarding?
I would really like to hear a justification for this, I really would.
A school of hungery rockbass or bluegills can devour a bass' nest in less than a minute.

The regulations clearly emphasize "return immediately",,, No admiring, no measurements, no photos. Anything other than this to me, implies targeting of the species, or at least lack of respect for the fact that the season is closed.
,

[gussser]

Last year I was fishing the Juniata River here in Pa. Caught 51 inch Musky OOS. Pa. Fish Con. Officer was nearby checking liscenses. He came over, Helped with release, AFTER HE TOOK PICTURES & MEASUREMENTS. Obviously our regulations differ with yours. The fish was SAFELY returned to be caught again. Although I come to your neck of the woods every year to fish, Those of you not finding Muskey PLENTIFUL are welcome to come down this way. I would be more than happy to assist you in locating these great golden fighters.

[Suddsy]

I suspect that I am not the only one who has grown sick of this discussion. I can think of all kind of responses to the closet lawyers and wannabe conservation officers that are interpreting or quoting the law on this site. But then that would only prolong the debate and disagreements. Whether or not a law has been broken will be a decision of a judge and not the law enforcement officer or the members of this site. I have fished for almost 40 years and have never, ever had an infraction of any kind under the game and fish laws. I also retired a few years ago after working for 30 years in law enforcement, have issued many charges and spent many hours testifying in court and am quite familiar with how enforcement of the laws are applied. So pleeease lets quit the judge and jury process on this site and get back to supporting one another in our fishing efforts and let people make there own judgement calls on how they will conduct themselves in their daily lives. I have asked a question at the start of this thread that was very much in keeping with the spirit of Fish-Hawk's purpose. Fortunately a few (very few) made the effort to simply respond to the question and for that I thank you. For those of you who want to argue, debate and judge the morals and behaviour of other members please accept the fact that most of the membership on this site are not going to accept that their partricipation on this site granted others the right to judge and criticize based upon their own personal feelings and beliefs. This type of behavious drives good members away from the site and discourages too many existing members from even wanting to post on the site. I know.....because although I try to contribute to the site I personally am seriously considering if this site is right for me.

[OBD]

This type of behavious drives good members away from the site and discourages too many existing members from even wanting to post on the site. I know.....because although I try to contribute to the site I personally am seriously considering if this site is right for me.

I agree with ya... Threads like this one are not too good to the eyes of a new member

[Badger Shark]

I feel your pain Suddsy. I too contemplated leaving this site. I only stayed because of the friendships I developed. All else is now secondary. I will still post reports and reply, unless it gets completely out of control.

[Lookinforlunkers]

1-Spare us the hollier than though bull
2-If you don't want to go under the scope don't post on a public forum
3-The laws are quite clear, regardless if you and others want to acknowledge them or not

Later Mark