“Use whole bait to catch them”
Not a good idea. Most people don’t use the right equipment using this method. In 2000( i think), i found 19 dead tigers with treble hooks and whole perch stuck in their throats with 6 and 8# mono hanging off of it. Too much can go wrong. If you know how to catch them otherwise, you don’t need whole or even pieces of perch.[;)]
Sorry Lunkerhunter,
I did not know people were killing the musky’s because they used whole baits. Maybe if they knew how to release them it would not be as bad.
I can catch Northerns , but I have never caught a Musky, Yet!!
The only place I have ever fished for them is at Cottonwood Res.
I would love to try Pineview.
Wait, I also tried Johnson’s with no luck.
Thanx, Buzz
No harm. The reason they were dying was not the release, but the hooking part. The tigers slice through mono like the knife/butter thing and they just swallow the perch(or try to) and end up choking, bleeding, or starving to death.
Pat,
This post makes the best sense yet. If’n ya want a backup @ any upcoming RAC meeting, gimme a call.
wow i just found out off google that the life span of a tiger musky is only 7 to 10 yrs. growth rate is unbeleivably fast. to 36 inches in 3 yrs. so anything over 48 is getting close to being craw dad food. musky live from 25 to 30 yrs. didnt look at pike. pritty cool what i can lern on the net. lol
I personally would like to see a slot limit on Channel Catfish implemented state wide, with the exception of community fisheries. Channel catfish are harvested in huge numbers from every fishery they’re in, and most times it’s the largest breeding stock of fish which are taken. Protect fish between let’s say 17-28", 3 fish under 17", 1 over 28". Channel Cat numbers would rise, and fisheries like Utah Lake would be all the better. After all, large Channel Cats are the prime preditor for the dreaded carp menace.
No state wide slot limit on bass. Too many fisheries are blanketed which do not need to be regulated. All Tooele County bass fisheries, for instance. I know I’m out there more than any biologist or warden. They need to have some harvest or they get a ton of 10" fish. Many fisheries need to be relaxed. Take Pelican Lake. 10 fish limit, one over 12". Bass numbers and size would get an aweful lot better.
I would agree with letting anglers keep trophy bass at Utah Lake, Deer Creek and Jordanelle. From my POV at Utah Lake, the bass populations have droped severely since trophy regs were implimented. Too many small fish harvested, not enough large fish taken out of the gene pool. One over 18" would suffice.
If anglers in tournaments will be allowed to bring fish which are illegal sized into dock, and come onto dry land with the fish, it needs to be allowed for all anglers. Not a good idea. You need to treat all anglers equal, or some will quit fishing Utah. Guarenteed. Tournaments don’t create enough revinue to cover those lost licences. What concerns me about allowing bass to be live welled, though, are the number of fisheries in which Smallmouth are popping up. Grantsville, East Canyon, Strawberry. To name a few. It’s obvious bass anglers are behind the illegal stockings. After all, it’s bass nuts who’d like to have as many fisheries as possible to fish for them in.
Another reg I’d like to see is Scofield’s trout limit dropped back to 4, slot limit regs with the keep of only one of either Tiger or Cutthroat trout. Chub numbers and sizes are increasing expanentially. Mark my words, within 5 years that reservoir will have to be treated without new regulations being implimented.
Immediate catch and kill regulations on all illegally planted species, including bass. And if anglers are seen releasing illegal fish, mandatory major fines, including licences being removed. I’ve personally seen bass anglers releasing Smallmouth on Grantsville Reservoir this year. That needs to stop. Imediately.
Use of live bait if the bait species are caught from that water. Exclude all game species, along with the two major neusence species of Utah Chubs and Common Carp. That takes all risk of transplant for those species away.
That’s all I can think of for now. I’m sure I’ll have more to contribute here soon. And I do believe I will attend the meetings this year.
There are a lot of different studies on tiger muskies, each done by different states under different conditions. The one I recently posted for Pennsylvania shows that tigers live between 15 to 20 years. Utah has not completed any long term studies yet.
hmmm? do you remmember what yr they planted them ?
I really didn’t “Opine” very much on these issues when I started this thread, so here goes.
I am in favor of keeping the trophy regs present in places like Jordanelle and Utah lake. These places can and do grow trophy fish and are currently excellent fisheries that are doing well. There may be other fisheries that could benefit from trophy regs. I do not have an objection to allowing the keeping of one trophy fish but I feel the standard should be very high, say 20-21 inches. Many bassers would keep the fish in the livewell , bring it in, weigh it and release it. The true harvest in such a situation would be quite low IMO.
I also feel that if trophy regs are used, the water should be capable of producing big fish. A place like Deer Creek that has forage problems and a slow growth rate should not be placed under “trophy” regs.
The reluctance to harvest small bass in waters that need it is a cultural one and not a regulatory one. Education, not regulations may change this.
Scofield is too good of a fishery to let it get overrun with chubs. A slot limit for at least the tigers and maybe the cutts sounds like a needed move. Tigers should not present much identification trouble (compared with rainbows).
Temporary C&R only for the tiger muskies is the right move under the circumstances. I am confident that a safe supply of muskie brood stock will eventually be found.
If the community ponds are being cleaned out too fast, then drop the limit to 2 fish. That is plenty for the kids, and will slow down these “harvesters” some. The ponds around here still seem to have decent bass populations so I don’t feel they need to change them to C&R only. Most of the anglers are after the trout and cats anyway.
Tiger muskies were planted during the years I was out of Utah. Not sure when.
I will do some research.
-Birch Creek-
I would like to see a slot limit on the Tigers up at Birch Creek. That place has become way too popualr and needs some regulations put into place before it starts going down hill. I was thinking that a 15-20 inch slot would be perfect. Two tigers under 15 inches and 1 over 20, standard limit for other trout species in the lake.
All lakes in Utah are not the same…
Catch rate and fishing hours are not the same, so to make the same bass regs. all over the state will not work…
And to let people keep a big bass will hurt most lakes along the Wasatch front… Lakes like Jordanelle get so much fishing after the big bass that a lot die cause of improper release and handling…
Small mouth grow slow only about 2" to 3" per year in Jordanelle and in others even less.. Deer creek has even less bass and smaller bass then Jordanelle, and lakes in utah that has had no size limit have for the most part only small bass in them and are very poor bass fishing…
Trout are planted and they still need the regs. for slots on some for a better fishery, Look at East canyon last year in the spring there was 5 lb and 6 lb bass being caught by many, this year very few if any and none weighed in this year like last year…
Many people “do the big eye” on lots of fish when they get a fish of only 3lb and only want to bragg about the big one and will not put out the money to have a mount made…So why let them kill the fish like bass, or any other fish that could get to trophy size…
I justed wanted to say thank you for all you ideas. I will be summarizing all your comments this week. If there are any other ideas please let me know as soon as possible.
Thanks again
Drew
Thanks Drew. I am sure many of us would appreciate knowing the general reaction to any of these suggestions, and whether or not they are viable options for the future…and what we need to do to advance our individual agendas.
I
3. Temporary C&R only for the tiger muskies is the right move under the circumstances. I am confident that a safe supply of muskie brood stock will eventually be found.
.
Several people have suggested this idea and I couldn’t disagree more…like has already been mentioned, tiger musky are generally a short-lived fish with fast growth. I think it is a true waste to mandate that fishermen return trophy sized tiger musky only to have them die that same year. Normally, trophy-sized tiger musky are at the end of their lives and will not grow too much larger.
IF fishermen are concerned about the tiger musky populations dwindling to nothing, mandating C&R on all fish caught will NOT necessarily assure a future for this fishery. I don’t believe that restricting fishermen from keeping a trophy musky will harm or speed up the process of losing these fish.
For the TM porgram to continue the DWR must find a disease-free source of musky; otherwise, we will lose this program regardless of whether or not fishermen return trophy fish to the water. I strongly believe TM regulations should remain as they are now…
I would also be strongly opposed to any regulations that allow the use of live bait or game fishes to be used as bait…I believe both of these regulations will ultimately cause much more harm than what they do good. We already have a huge problem with the illegal planting and moving of fishes from one body of water to another…changing these regulations will only compound this problem.
I strongly disagree with the assumption that tournament anglers are somehow responsible for illegal stockings of Bass, the truth is quite different. We abide by the laws not like the average angler I encounter constantly on our waters not paying attention to regs. We pay the same for our license as you so why shouldn’t we be able to enjoy the resources our own way? Tournament bass anglers care more about the environment and fisheries than most thats for shure.
Drew we need to try a few Special regs tournaments, create a tournament permit for lakes with special regs that you can generate additional revenue let the biologists decide how many tournaments they will allow on any given body of water.
I keep hearing about the DWR “taking” a lot of bass out of Mantua for transplanting in other areas. Is this going to continue and is it too much? Bass fishing seems to be dropping off there.[:/]
Leaky and the Sparkinator
They take bass and blue gills out for planting in other lakes and ponds…
They have for years…
That’s obvious. Didn’t answer ny question did you? Is this becoming too much? Should it be curtailed because of a dimished bass population/ fishing success?
Leaky and the Sparkinator
**Until DWR brings their warm water hatchery on line, the only other source of bass and bluegill is to buy them. No budget. **
It really does more good than harm for Mantua. Plenty of bluegills and bass in there. The only potential downside is taking the larger fish that are caught by angling and moving them out of the lake. That leaves more of the little ones.
Mantua needs more harvest…not less.