thinking about trying to catch some pike But

[skinny]

thinking of going out for a pike or two this week only issue is the location I'm thinking of is also heavy with bass how do I avoid them or do I just go and release what ever bass I get.

[Sudzy]

Don't use bass specific baits, and of course release as quickly as possible any bass you get.

 

Some times it unavoidable, had the same problem getting smallies while going for pike a couple weeks ago.

[BillsTheBassMan]

If you get into Bass that are out of season you need to move. Period. Simply pulling lots of Bass out and releasing them is against the regs. There are ways you can avoid Bass - like lure selection or using larger minnows.

 

A guy in my neck of the woods lost his entire boat, trailer, rods, and tackle for keeping an OOS Bass within the last few weeks.

 

It sounds to me like your spot is better situated for June 26 as opposed to June 19.

 

Ryan

[alexcba]

If you get into Bass that are out of season you need to move. Period. Simply pulling lots of Bass out and releasing them is against the regs. There are ways you can avoid Bass - like lure selection or using larger minnows.

 

A guy in my neck of the woods lost his entire boat, trailer, rods, and tackle for keeping an OOS Bass within the last few weeks.

 

It sounds to me like your spot is better situated for June 26 as opposed to June 19.

 

Ryan

 

agreed. you don't wanna stress them out while they are spawning, could damage the fishery, and land your self in hot water even if you aren't keeping them.. 1 or 2 fine but when you start landing more than that your kinda just asking for it lol. pick a different spot, or use bigger spoon's and what not just to avoid them (hopefully).

 

EDIT: damn i cant spell today.

Edited June 15, 2010 by alexcba

[JohnF]

agreed. you dont wanna stress them out while they are spawning, could damage the fisher, and land your self in hot water even if you are keeping them.. 1 or 2 fine but when you start landing more than that your kinda just askin for it lol. pick a different spot, or use bigger spoon's and what not just to avoid them (hopefully).

 

I understand that sometimes just pulling them off the nest is enough to do the damage. The Rock Bass etc are hovering just waiting for the nest to be momentarily abandoned. They can clean it out in no time while the mummy/daddy is getting unhooked.

 

JF

[DanD]

If you get into Bass that are out of season you need to move. Period.

 

Not to start a pissing match; it’s not my intension and I’m just curious but is that your opinion or is that stated in the regs?

If the latter, can you direct me to the page where this is printed.

I was always under the impression that you can fish anywhere other then designated sanctuaries; just as long as you immediately release any OOS fish?

Let’s not get into presentation, lure selection or the morals of it; just the writen legality of it.

I’m talking about the body of water that you're legally fishing in; that happens to hold OOS bass; along with a number of other in-season fish; do the regs actually say that I must leave the area?

Remember this is just a question not a statement.

 

Dan.

[alexcba]

dan i dont believe bassman was at all trying to be rude about it. he's a nice guy.. you know that the written word has no emotion behind it unless you put emoticons right beside it lol.

[DanD]

dan i dont believe bassman was at all trying to be rude about it. he's a nice guy

 

 

As am I not trying to be rude; it’s an honest question. If the regs say I must stop fishing that area I’m out of there. Worked to hard for the stuff I have and I’ll be dammed if I’ll let a fish ranger take it away from me for being uninformed.

 

Dan.

[alexcba]

good point.. that would blow! i've looked over the regs before and i never saw anything in there about that but im sure that if a warden wanted to he could give out a charge simply based on the fact that you are just catching an OOS fish. even if you are fishing for something else entirely. catching the OOS species more than a few times could give him a loop hole to charge you with if he wanted to i suppose.

[DanD]

The reg's say you can't intentionally target an OOS species, even for the purpose of catch and release.

 

If you're onto bass every other cast, and you do not move, then that is pretty much the same thing as intentionally catching them, and could be considered a chargeable offence.

 

Good enough for me; I’ll move around enough so it doesn’t look like I’m pouching.

 

Dan.

 

PS: Please understand that was meant as a joke.

[alexcba]

lol!

[OhioFisherman]

Just my own personal experience, if there is a big pike or ski hanging in an area you won`t find bass there. A struggling bass on a hook can be enough to attract them, seen bass that were attacked while being brought in.

[TC1OZ]

If you get into Bass that are out of season you need to move. Period. Simply pulling lots of Bass out and releasing them is against the regs. There are ways you can avoid Bass - like lure selection or using larger minnows.

 

A guy in my neck of the woods lost his entire boat, trailer, rods, and tackle for keeping an OOS Bass within the last few weeks.

 

It sounds to me like your spot is better situated for June 26 as opposed to June 19.

 

Ryan

 

The guy in your neck of the words was KEEPING the bass... theres a big difference between C&R and C&K.... They can not give you a ticket for catching and releasing an OOS fish.

 

I use live bait, pike love worms and minnows... so do all the other fish.

 

Leave the internet arguing to the people who don't actually fish.

[splashhopper]

Not to start a pissing match; it’s not my intension and I’m just curious but is that your opinion or is that stated in the regs?

If the latter, can you direct me to the page where this is printed.

I was always under the impression that you can fish anywhere other then designated sanctuaries; just as long as you immediately release any OOS fish?

Let’s not get into presentation, lure selection or the morals of it; just the writen legality of it.

I’m talking about the body of water that you're legally fishing in; that happens to hold OOS bass; along with a number of other in-season fish; do the regs actually say that I must leave the area?

Remember this is just a question not a statement.

 

Dan.

 

there is the law.. and there is the "spirit of the law".

 

The spirit of the law, in my view, is to protect the fish during their spawning season.

 

Unfortunately, we have unscrupulous fishermen out there and a lack of CO's to prevent this.

 

The question I would POLITELY put back to YOU is, do u want the fish to have the chance to spawn and raise their young or not.

 

I have only been fishing bass for two seasons now and I can tell if I am in an area in a very short time with fish on the nests.

Even if the nests are abandoned, I move out of that area and look elsewhere for the pike.

 

Splashhopper

[splashhopper]

thinking of going out for a pike or two this week only issue is the location I'm thinking of is also heavy with bass how do I avoid them or do I just go and release what ever bass I get.

 

Stick a 6-12" wire leader on your line....bass usually leave my lures alone

[bare foot wader]

They can not give you a ticket for catching and releasing an OOS fish.

 

YES, they can....

 

however limited they are in Ontario just because you don't see a CO doesn't mean he's not doing his job....one of my fav lakes is great for bass and pike and because it's a bit hard to get to a lot of guys are bass fishing before opener

 

every time I've encountered a CO on this lake (after pike opener but before bass) they have all said the same thing at some point during the interrogation...."I watched you for a while and saw that you've mainly been catching pike/you've caught a mixed bag - what are you using for tackle"

 

I caught two big prespawn largies back to back casts earlier on that day....CO stopped our boat, after I hand him my licence, "have you caught any bass today?"

 

"Yes"

 

he pulls out is book, "I saw that you did as well, at 10:15 and 10:17, looked like big spawners...blah, blah, blah....I can see your tackle here so I do believe you are going for pike but if you get into numbers of bass please move on"

 

if a CO believes you are targeting an OOS fish you're getting the fine and possibly charges and tackle confiscated

[BillsTheBassMan]

I was going to mention the "spirit of the law" earlier, since 99% of the bass in southern Ontario lakes have already moved off of their nests thanks to the early ice-out and very warm spring...

 

That may be true this year, but if you allow the season to open early once it causes huge issues.

 

"Oh, it was the second Sat in June last year, thought it was the same this year!"

 

or mass demands to open the season early every year. It just isn't doable.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

 

The regs are setup so that the most basic intellects and people who don't speak English well can understand them. That's why they try and keep the regs as consistent as possible. Trout is April-Sept. Bass opens 4th Sat in June. Etc. Consistency is their goal. This is also why they do not allow special seasons on many rivers that could accomodate them.

[BillsTheBassMan]

Stick a 6-12" wire leader on your line....bass usually leave my lures alone

 

Amazing suggestion!

[smally21]

YES, they can....

 

however limited they are in Ontario just because you don't see a CO doesn't mean he's not doing his job....one of my fav lakes is great for bass and pike and because it's a bit hard to get to a lot of guys are bass fishing before opener

 

every time I've encountered a CO on this lake (after pike opener but before bass) they have all said the same thing at some point during the interrogation...."I watched you for a while and saw that you've mainly been catching pike/you've caught a mixed bag - what are you using for tackle"

 

I caught two big prespawn largies back to back casts earlier on that day....CO stopped our boat, after I hand him my licence, "have you caught any bass today?"

 

"Yes"

 

he pulls out is book, "I saw that you did as well, at 10:15 and 10:17, looked like big spawners...blah, blah, blah....I can see your tackle here so I do believe you are going for pike but if you get into numbers of bass please move on"

 

if a CO believes you are targeting an OOS fish you're getting the fine and possibly charges and tackle confiscated

 

 

check it out - a reply based on actual experience this is the stuff we need to hear about!

[BillsTheBassMan]

Not to start a pissing match; it’s not my intension and I’m just curious but is that your opinion or is that stated in the regs?

If the latter, can you direct me to the page where this is printed.

I was always under the impression that you can fish anywhere other then designated sanctuaries; just as long as you immediately release any OOS fish?

Let’s not get into presentation, lure selection or the morals of it; just the writen legality of it.

I’m talking about the body of water that you're legally fishing in; that happens to hold OOS bass; along with a number of other in-season fish; do the regs actually say that I must leave the area?

Remember this is just a question not a statement.

 

Dan.

 

I don't see any harm in this question and I don't take it as argumentative.

 

This is kind of a paradoxical reg situation. It isn't stated that you have to leave, but if you don't leave and a CO is watching you, you can and would most likely be fined. It comes down to the Spirit of the Law that everyone is talking about. Now, if you were to stay BUT changed your bait that you were catching multiple bass on, then I suspect you'd be doing right (unless you changed your bait to something that clearly targets bass).

 

In my opinion, it also comes down to being an ethical angler.

[BillsTheBassMan]

The guy in your neck of the words was KEEPING the bass... theres a big difference between C&R and C&K.... They can not give you a ticket for catching and releasing an OOS fish.

 

I use live bait, pike love worms and minnows... so do all the other fish.

 

 

Hahaha, funny twist to the story, guy got caught with the bass in his live well. The CO says "and what do we have here" because the guy wouldn't initially open his live-well. CO says "I'm going to have to impound your stuff." Guy says "but I just wanted to transfer this bass to my pond." Co says "you better just stop talking now."

 

They can give you tickets for catching and releasing OOS fish - that was already addressed by someone else.

 

And Pike like worms like I like Tofu. I'll eat it if there's nothing better to eat and there is always something better to eat.

 

Cheers,

Ryan

[the-instructor]

well the way I see it is this, your going out for pike and you hook up with bass you let it go. does that mean you gotta move spots? no. mnr can fine you based on w/e they want to say you did. just like cops..

 

there maybe the odd nest that still needs protecting but most bass have spawned long ago... very warm this season Every time I go out fishing for muskie walleye or pike i always get some bass through the day. to this someone can fine me for that is retarded.

[bare foot wader]

IMO a CO isn't out to nail guys to the wall and issue a fine for every tiny thing....but there is a big difference between an incidental catch and targeting an OOS fish...where you draw the line between incidental and targeting is up to that CO on any given day but you can take precautions on your end of it....

[Black_Blade]

however limited they are in Ontario just because you don't see a CO doesn't mean he's not doing his job....

 

MNR has their own satellite...

[irishfield]

Yep.. I was targeting Bass...

 

 

..they'll hit anything and consider what their invading numbers are doing to other game fish fry counts on many lakes!