EC1 Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 In 80 - 90 FOW I ran into a couple of schools that made my finder read 22FOW. The school was so thick they were about 50% snagged and 50% hooked. When I snagged one on its side, I was so excited thinking that I had caught the laker that came across the school to eat them. LOL. I cannot wait until we can keep them from simcoe. They look kind of tasty, and these fish don't get very old do they, since they're a baitfish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 I cannot wait until we can keep them from simcoe. They look kind of tasty, and these fish don't get very old do they, since they're a baitfish? The Blue Back herring are not a typical "baitfish" to get to full spawning size they do require a fairly long life cycle. I believe they live around 6 years or so, but I will double check. The herring population on Simcoe is in rebound for sure. As already stated the MNR has only found evidence of 2 year classes of steady reproduction so until they are completely sustainable don't expect to be keeping any. The reason they are so important to the Lake Simcoe watershed is they are the main forage in the lake for big lake trout. Herring represent a very important part of the lake trouts reproductive cycle on simcoe. The same weight of bait in herring contains 3 times the essential nutrient that lake trout require to properly develop to mature spawning age then the same weight in smelt. With the lower phosphate levels in the lake the algae has subsided enough to allow for the herring to again spawn successfully. The spawning shoals the lake trout use are also able to hold enough oxygen to allow natural lake trout reproduction over that last 10 years. Basically the natural reproduction of both herring and Lake trout on Lake Simcoe is still in its infancy. I wouldn't expect to see an open season on herring in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 I just want the damn things for spring pike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickOnt Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 Ryan As these Herring in Simcoe, are getting big, at least long and skinny, to what I remember. I would think a 15-20lb Laker would likely have no problem taking one down, but what about the smaller 4-8Lb Laker would He still tackle a 20" Herring? You said their Life Cycle is about 6 years. How long does it take them to get full size say 20"? I am guessing they grow fast. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldphart Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 ~~~~Sorry I hope they keep it closed for many more years to come. I grew up in the 50s, and can remember guies taking bussel baskets home to fertilizer in their gardens, and that how we almost killed them off. Lets leave it closed, and keep it C/R only. (my $0.02 worth) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 (edited) Ryan As these Herring in Simcoe, are getting big, at least long and skinny, to what I remember. I would think a 15-20lb Laker would likely have no problem taking one down, but what about the smaller 4-8Lb Laker would He still tackle a 20" Herring? You said their Life Cycle is about 6 years. How long does it take them to get full size say 20"? I am guessing they grow fast. Rick Rick You would be surprised what a little laker can get in that yap LOL Once caught a 8 lbs laker with a 2-3 lbs laker half digested in its mouth! They are pigs!LOL The main reason for the large cisco is an aging average population, the lack of competition of food among cisco has allowed them to grow rapidly. If you notice the large schools are now made up of a good mix of sizes so we are starting to see new year classes and should get new spawning classes each year now. Sorry Rick I was a little off, the herring live between 6-8 years in total. Males take around 3-4 years to get to maturity and are usually smaller then the females that can take up to 6 years to get to full reproductive maturity. Edited February 29, 2012 by troutguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 CPH and I were out on Simco last year looking for perch and we hit into a school of them, it was nuts, you couldn't get your line down through them to get at the perch. We finally gave up and moved. I would love to see the season opened up on them again even if the limit was only a couple of fish. I've had them smoked before and they were delicious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted February 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 This has been one of the more interesting threads in a while, as far as I am concerned they can keep it closed, There are enough type of fish available to catch and eat in Ontario. Perch, Whitefish, crappie, walleye, ling, Pike and of course the multitude of trout species. I just thought it was amazing to see a large school of them literally attacking our baits right under our feet like a swarm of sharks. it was very cool to see. Looks like the record for an ontario cisco is 4.33 pounds. Now these were not 5 pound fish, maybe 2 pounds, they seemed to have the length but were so skinny. I wonder if there is enough food for them, perhaps similar to kawartha musky, long and lean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 This has been one of the more interesting threads in a while, as far as I am concerned they can keep it closed, There are enough type of fish available to catch and eat in Ontario. Perch, Whitefish, crappie, walleye, ling, Pike and of course the multitude of trout species. I just thought it was amazing to see a large school of them literally attacking our baits right under our feet like a swarm of sharks. it was very cool to see. Looks like the record for an ontario cisco is 4.33 pounds. Now these were not 5 pound fish, maybe 2 pounds, they seemed to have the length but were so skinny. I wonder if there is enough food for them, perhaps similar to kawartha musky, long and lean. Simcoe is loaded with aquatic life! If you want to see something really cool when your in your hut look really really closely at you line in the water... there are millions of little white specks in the water. If you move your line toward them they shoot away! The water is totally alive out there and loaded with zooplankton. The main forage for herring on lake simcoe. Although they will often eat.. well pretty much anything they are very aggressive. The main food source for them is micro organisms. They are also eating up spiny water fleas, which also feed on zooplankton. Its unknown what the effect of the spiny water fleas will have on the herring after consumption but so far nothing has been observed that is dangerous. I 100% agree, there are plenty of other fish that people can catch and eat. The herring are extremely important to the lake Simcoe ecosystem and they should be protected and likely will be for the next 3-4 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 I think that having a healthy population of herring is not only good for lake trout but also for Musky, bass, wall-eye and pike. Herring aren't just 1-2lbs in size, they will also school up as smolts and will provide good forage food for the smaller predators like bass. I hope they do allow people to take herring, 1 to 2 fish is adequate, the days of a bushel full are well behind us, but limiting what people can take is fine. Rob C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Farmer Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 I had my Permanent hut in Lefroy in the late 70's through till 2005 and started to go portable. Any herring that was caught came home, they have to be one of the best tasting fresh water fish. There used to be 4 old guys that drove there car out, parked there car in a circle and jig for herring. We used to jig with a Williams spoon with hook removed and about 10" of line attached to the split ring and on the end of the line was a small treble with a Pearl. Worked great, we caught them by the dozen. Fry them as you would a small Speckle in butter. Can't wait till they open the season. The fine bones are like hair, you can eat them. Just take out the back bone and ribs. Eat till you look like Me Of course I'm from N.B. Known as a Herring Choker NUFF Said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nipfisher Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 Grabbed this off another board Shows one huge school of Cisco in Simcoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted February 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 hmm, that seems pretty daring to post a vide like that. I would be scared of the MnR pounding my door down. I didn't even want to take a picture of them. These ones in the video were not nearly as aggressive as the ones that were attacking us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 Of course I'm from N.B. Known as a Herring Choker NUFF Said Right on. Like I have said before,I was one of those guys that took 30-40 in a day,but they were all consumed. NOT THROWN IN THE GARDEN. I did mine in the oven with salt/pepper and smoke drips. I would cook them til they were dried right out. The sweetest fish you,ll ever taste that way. Well,next to a nice slab of fresh cod and cheeks. I bye,now I got me mouth watering. I say open with a limit. Say, 6 per day. Hell,I throw back lakers. Darn oily things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIFTER_016 Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 Grabbed this off another board Shows one huge school of Cisco in Simcoe. There was a lost perch in the midst of that sea of chrome. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted February 29, 2012 Report Share Posted February 29, 2012 Grabbed this off another board Shows one huge school of Cisco in Simcoe. seems you have the perfect evidence of fishing for a fish that has a closed season I bet the MNR could use it to prove they were breaking the law I don't know this GoFishOnt but they have nerve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster Posted March 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2012 Terry, I find I don't often agree with you but I am 100 percent in agreement with what you said. I watched it a few times now, and I think the final shot of where they took the time to catch one and set the camera up to watch the release is enough evidence for me. I was a bit shocked when I saw it. I mean how many threads have been started debating even the legality of taking a single picture of an oos fish. let alone a video of a release and capture and in my eyes pretty blatant jigging of a fish with a ban on it. Just seems like they are asking to be nailed up to a post as a posterboy for stupidity. IMO this is EXACTLY what people should NOT be doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Right on. Like I have said before,I was one of those guys that took 30-40 in a day,but they were all consumed. NOT THROWN IN THE GARDEN. I say open with a limit. Say, 6 per day. Hell,I throw back lakers. Darn oily things. Eaten or thrown in the garden why on earth would there be a need to take 30-40 in a day? unfortunaty thats the reason you won't be able to keep 6 a day anytime soon. Even with a low limit like 6 with the amount of people fishing Simcoe daily it wouldnt't take very long to distory the population. Remember they are not stocked and there is very limited brood stock to continue reproduction. The majority of the fish you are seeing won't reach spawing age for 4 more years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) Eaten or thrown in the garden why on earth would there be a need to take 30-40 in a day? One trip a year and back when the family was 7 and we ate fish. Smoked an pickle bottled. It,s like asking,why would one guy need to take 5 deer in a hunt,even though he dosent need it,but is allowed? On a side note,,,,,,,,,I wouldnt take that amount again. Im a sea foof/fish guy now. Edited March 3, 2012 by Misfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limeyangler Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 And finally, the magic of the pink gloves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 One trip a year and back when the family was 7 and we ate fish. Smoked an pickle bottled. It,s like asking,why would one guy need to take 5 deer in a hunt,even though he dosent need it,but is allowed? On a side note,,,,,,,,,I wouldnt take that amount again. Im a sea foof/fish guy now. Lot's of people had to live like that I can agree. Didn't mean anything personal by it of course By the time you split those 5 up with the group there isn't much left for the year anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeytier Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 I'm about to dive into some fried herring as we speak... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Lot's of people had to live like that I can agree. Didn't mean anything personal by it of course None taken. It was the way. No worries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Bob Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 I'm about to dive into some fried herring as we speak... You're actually going to eat them things....their the #1 reason trout and salmon taste like ...but let us know if you enjoyed them....maybe you have a completely different pallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 You're actually going to eat them things....their the #1 reason trout and salmon taste like ...but let us know if you enjoyed them....maybe you have a completely different pallet. You gotta stop eating salmon and trout from Lake O BB!!! Anytime I fish the southern shore of Lake E, I'll bring the oldman home a few small shakers (2-3lbs) he absolutely loves them. Actually everyone I've given those fish to says the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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