Other Species Latest Catch Pics Thread

[casts_by_fly]

On 4/24/2022 at 12:30 AM, A-Jay said:

By Catch is getting a little bigger ~ 

A-Jay

 

very pretty gold coloration. Is that the normal color for you?  Ours are more bland brownish. 

 

Thanks,

rick

[A-Jay]

On 4/26/2022 at 8:04 PM, casts_by_fly said:

 

very pretty gold coloration. Is that the normal color for you?  Ours are more bland brownish. 

 

Thanks,

rick

 

Yes ~ 

 

A-Jay

 

[casts_by_fly]

Very cool .  I like it. 

[Bluebasser86]

Crappie are getting ready to spawn and getting aggressive

This poor catfish was in rough shape.

[Luke Barnes]

17 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Has to be released.

A-Jay

Ok so it's not a major crime if you catch something out of season, you just cant keep it. Seems fair enough. 

[thediscochef]

Not my first bycatch of the year but by far the most notable. Good times. I was not equipped for gar fishing today. Ate a KVDJ300 in sexy shad. Neat

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Luke Barnes said:

Ok so it's not a major crime if you catch something out of season, you just cant keep it. Seems fair enough. 

You need to check your states laws.  There some rules where you can't target the out of season species, so tossing a senko into a bass bed outside the open season in Franklin County, NY would be an offense.  Catching a bass there fishing with a small crappie jig would not.  

[TnRiver46]

On 4/27/2022 at 3:10 PM, thediscochef said:

Not my first bycatch of the year but by far the most notable. Good times. I was not equipped for gar fishing today. Ate a KVDJ300 in sexy shad. Neat

Yes sir!!! Love those 

[gim]

On 4/27/2022 at 2:20 PM, J Francho said:

You need to check your states laws.

Michigan does not have a closed bass season. Some states do. It’s closed right now and does not open until May 14 here. Walleye, pike, and muskie season are also closed. The only open season here right now is for panfish. You can get in big trouble here if you even have tackle aboard that would be used for gamefish.

 

Should you be panfishing, and catch a bass or walleye, it’s the same rule: immediately release. My point is that you don’t target panfish with mega bass jerk baits or senkos. So your tackle better match the target.

On 4/27/2022 at 12:41 PM, Luke Barnes said:

Ok so it's not a major crime if you catch something out of season, you just cant keep it. Seems fair enough. 

There is some crossover in tactics when targeting walleye or smallmouth. That’s not always the case when it comes to certain species that have a closed season that coincides with an open one though. It’s something we deal with every spring here because there are actually closed seasons to protect spawning fish.

[Luke Barnes]

14 hours ago, gimruis said:

Michigan does not have a closed bass season. Some states do. It’s closed right now and does not open until May 14 here. Walleye, pike, and muskie season are also closed. The only open season here right now is for panfish. You can get in big trouble here if you even have tackle aboard that would be used for gamefish.

 

Should you be panfishing, and catch a bass or walleye, it’s the same rule: immediately release. My point is that you don’t target panfish with mega bass jerk baits or senkos. So your tackle better match the target.

There is some crossover in tactics when targeting walleye or smallmouth. That’s not always the case when it comes to certain species that have a closed season that coincides with an open one though. It’s something we deal with every spring here because there are actually closed seasons to protect spawning fish.

I think I understand now. If you have baitcasters loaded with 20lb flourocarbon you obviously arent targeting bluegill. But if say walleye season is open and smallie season is not and you are targeting walleye and catch then release a smallie its ok. 

[gim]

26 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

I think I understand now. If you have baitcasters loaded with 20lb flourocarbon you obviously arent targeting bluegill. But if say walleye season is open and smallie season is not and you are targeting walleye and catch then release a smallie its ok. 

Yes, that’s pretty accurate. If you start hammering smallmouth when the season is closed, you better move though. I would at least.

[Luke Barnes]

8 hours ago, gimruis said:

Yes, that’s pretty accurate. If you start hammering smallmouth when the season is closed, you better move though. I would at least.

My understanding of the reason for seasons is to allow them to spawn and keep populations stable while they get hammered the rest of the year. Is that accurate?

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, Luke Barnes said:

My understanding of the reason for seasons is to allow them to spawn and keep populations stable while they get hammered the rest of the year. Is that accurate?

That's pretty much the reason here in MN.

 

Course your example of side-catching smallies while targeting walleye doesn't hold here...both species have the same closed season period - end of Feb to middle of May.

[N Florida Mike]

A buddy brought his grandson over and got some bream and a bullhead…

[gim]

11 hours ago, Luke Barnes said:

My understanding of the reason for seasons is to allow them to spawn and keep populations stable while they get hammered the rest of the year. Is that accurate?

Not all of our game fish species get hammered all year outside of the closed spawning season. For about 3-4 months, we have ice. Certain species like bass and muskie receive no pressure in the winter because they are hibernating under the ice, more or less. While other species like walleye and panfish get beat into a pulp during ice fishing season.

 

You must realize that walleye is king here. Our regulations are essentially set up to protect them as a priority.

[hokiehunter373]

Took the kids out for a few hours. Bass fishing was rough so we decided to slay some giant sunnys instead 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

 

You must realize that walleye is king here. Our regulations are essentially set up to protect them as a priority.

They should make them taste bad, that’d do it 

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

They should make them taste bad, that’d do it 

And watch our economy go into the toilet.

 

Fishing has a 3 billion a year impact on the state...and most of those that come here as fishing tourists are after walleye since they're heavily managed here.

[gim]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

They should make them taste bad, that’d do it 

I know you were being sarcastic, but that's actually true.  95% of the walleye anglers are meat hunters.  There are a few out there that do it because they just enjoy it, but virtually all of the ones I know would not fish for them if they released them.  Its kinda sad actually because their measurement of success is based on how many filets they can pile into their livewell or freezer.

 

The state DNR also stocks them in so many lakes where it makes almost no sense to do so from a scientific stand point but because that's what the majority wants, they still do it.

[desmobob]

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I know you were being sarcastic, but that's actually true.  95% of the walleye anglers are meat hunters. 

 

I know it's just semantics, but I look at it from a slightly different direction and don't single out walleye anglers: a certain percentage of all fishermen are meat hunters.  If you're fishing for food, you probably target the tastiest fish...  walleyes, yellow perch, etc.

 

I don't know if this is even relevant to the conversation!  ?

 

[gim]

1 minute ago, desmobob said:

I know it's just semantics, but I look at it from a slightly different direction and don't single out walleye anglers: a certain percentage of all fishermen are meat hunters.  If you're fishing for food, you probably target the tastiest fish...  walleyes, yellow perch, etc.

I won't argue that.  Its true that a certain percentage of all anglers are only it in to harvest fish.  Here in MN, the walleye crowd simply dominates that demographic.

[J Francho]

It's a similar thing with salmon and steelhead.  It's funny how those species aren't protected at all during a spawning run, and the summertime deep trollers keep everything.  Yet, we still have the notion that fishing for bass during the spawn is a bad thing.  Something about talking out of both sides of the mouth comes to mind.

[desmobob]

11 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I won't argue that.  Its true that a certain percentage of all anglers are only it in to harvest fish.  Here in MN, the walleye crowd simply dominates that demographic.

 

There is a good walleye population in my local lake.  I'm not a meat hunter and very rarely keep any fish other than maybe some yellow perch in the winter when ice fishing.  But if I get a by-catch walleye, the odds are good I will empty the gear out of the live well (which I normally use for storage) and it will go home for eating.  

 

Your state is a dream destination for freezer-filling anglers!

 

To get back on topic, here's an "other species" catch photo of a fish that bit my spinnerbait.  Hey!  It's a walleye!  ?

 

[gim]

7 minutes ago, desmobob said:

Your state is a dream destination for freezer-filling anglers!

The one nice bonus of this is that there are far less anglers that target bass than compared to many of the southern states.  So the pressure is minimal on many of the lakes/rivers I routinely fish.  Unpressured fish are often easier to catch.

[DaubsNU1]

Eastern Nebraska, 29" / 6lb-2oz Pike

 

KVD 1.5 square-bill, bluegill colored.

 

47 degrees, North wind at ~20MPH. Water temps 53-54 degrees.

 

Fish was up shallow, in 4' of water.