jedimaster Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 After getting swarmed by a school of ciscos on the weekend, catching and release a dozen or more of them while perch fishing, what is the story behind these? I presume they were once endangered or were never there and are being reintroduced? I am not too sure what if anything would feed on them as these ones were pretty damn big. skinny, but long. At lest 20inches or longer.
BillM Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 Lakers will gobble them up. I hear there's plans to open them up in the next year or so.. Millions of the buggers out in the lake.
4x4bassin Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 Ya , lakers will eat those guys no problem . I was fishing on Joe last year and a friend of mine caught a big laker (15lbs) and it had a 20" laker sticking out of its mouth .
jedimaster Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Posted February 28, 2012 Do people eat them? What would them compare to? Didn't look like alot of meat on them, but you would get some really long fish sticks I guess. I would compare them in shape and size to a typical hammer handle pike for anyone that hasn't seen them. Were they re introduced or something?
DoubleDigits Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 I got into a big school the other day on Cooks. Come to think of it, I caught my PB Cisco! Or, wait...did I? lol
kickingfrog Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 Pike and musky will also prey on them.
kickingfrog Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 Do people eat them? What would them compare to? Didn't look like alot of meat on them, but you would get some really long fish sticks I guess. I would compare them in shape and size to a typical hammer handle pike for anyone that hasn't seen them. Were they re introduced or something? Good eats. Ciscos on Simcoe were victim to over harvest and habitat change (sound familiar?). The numbers seem to be coming up the last number of years.
BillM Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 I got into a big school the other day on Cooks. Come to think of it, I caught my PB Cisco! Or, wait...did I? lol This guy.. LOL!!!!
DRIFTER_016 Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 They are a freshwater herring and eat like them. I use them for pike and laker bait. We net them during the fall spawning run and freeze em up. :good: Ours don't get huge like the ones on Simcoe do though.
jedimaster Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Posted February 28, 2012 The ones I was catching were easily double or triple the size of those. I would have taken a picture but I was afraid to as the mnr was buzzing around, and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to since your not allowed to posess them.
johnnyb Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 Biggest cisco I pulled in was around the 20" mark...from a small stocked lake trout lake. Plenty of big ones in Nip too
DRIFTER_016 Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 The ones I was catching were easily double or triple the size of those. I would have taken a picture but I was afraid to as the mnr was buzzing around, and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to since your not allowed to posess them. I know how big they are as I spent my youth jigging them up through the ice on Simcoe. Nipissing has some big'uns too. The biggest I have seen here so far is in the 7"-8" range. If we want bigger bait we use whitefish.
BillM Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 Dave, send me a dozen of those badboys! Spring pike will love them.
misfish Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 The ones in Simcoe are getting real big.getting up to the 2.5 pound mark. Their a real pain when down rigg,n. They hit everything.LOL
Nipfisher Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) Sorry to hijack the post. Biggest cisco I pulled in was around the 20" mark...from a small stocked lake trout lake. Plenty of big ones in Nip too I would say the Nipissing average is around 16 - 20". Lots of them too. Rarely hit a staionary bait but jig it and they come. Here is one from this winter. 16.5" A couple NAW caught last year at the Callander Bay GTG And finally, the magic of the pink gloves. Edited February 28, 2012 by Nipfisher
Nipfisher Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 They are a freshwater herring and eat like them. I use them for pike and laker bait. We net them during the fall spawning run and freeze em up. :good: Ours don't get huge like the ones on Simcoe do though. Look alot like the 6-9" smelts I caught with Rod Caster and Joey "Tiger" last year.
captpierre Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 They are considered an oily fish and in lakes that have them, the muskies get huge. I don't think they are found in the Kawarthas. Would give those Skis the weight I miss. The Simcoe muskie fishery should yield some monsters eventually.
Mike Pike Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 I remember guys fishing for 'em in the 80's as schools of them would pass below the hut. Once the population dropped, I hadn't seen one caught in years. I actually forgot all about the buggers until last year when I caught a couple once again. Well, I guess the moritorium on fishing for cisco is working. Lots more reports of them being caught and seeing schools again. That's cool. As for table-fare, I never tried 'em back in the day when you could keep them, but more than one person has told me they are an aquirred taste and a little oily.
NAW Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 A couple NAW caught last year at the Callander Bay GTG They where real good eats for sure!
asdve23rveavwa Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 The latest word from the MNR is that there are only two strong year classes of herring right now in Simcoe. They are waiting for complete proof that the population is self sustaining enough to allow an open season. They have also cut Lake trout stocking in half, and, are hoping that the herring as well as the smelt continue to contribute to the well being of this fishery.
Rod Caster Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) I didn't completely enjoy the Nipissing Herring as tablefare and found some big worms in the meat. My parents couldn't stand the flavour and said "this is the worst whitefish we've ever eaten" haha. I no longer keep them. If I had a smoker, I'd reconsider. Edited February 28, 2012 by Rod Caster
JoshS Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 I think it's the kind of fish you want to pickle or smoke.
NAW Posted February 28, 2012 Report Posted February 28, 2012 I didn't completely enjoy the Nipissing Herring as tablefare and found some big worms in the meat. My parents couldn't stand the flavour and said "this is the worst whitefish we've ever eaten" haha. I no longer keep them. If I had a smoker, I'd reconsider. Two of them that I tried to eat a few years ago where full of worms. The two from this winter did not have any.
camillj Posted February 29, 2012 Report Posted February 29, 2012 Ya , lakers will eat those guys no problem . I was fishing on Joe last year and a friend of mine caught a big laker (15lbs) and it had a 20" laker sticking out of its mouth . Heh .. I wonder if that would count as a daily limit
crappieperchhunter Posted February 29, 2012 Report Posted February 29, 2012 Tried them out of Nip and Simcoe. Might be Ok pickled or smoked but they where gross and bony. I love fish..but you will never catch me eating another herring...EVER.
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