NEED some opinions

[Johnnybasssss]

In years past I've noticed this sometimes but this past weekend I was out on a lake and there was probably a good dozen dead pickeral laying on the ice next to old holes, i myself don't like or enjoy catching pickeral but I think it's a little ridiculous doing that to a fish, what are the legality of doing that because if I saw someone doing that in the act, I would probably say something, makes us ice fisherman look bad. What are your opinions on this and have you seen this before? Thanks

[spanky1]

My "opinion" is that killing a fish for no reason is ignorant.

That being said, I've seen guys throw stunted perch on the ice and leave them there in the name of "selective harvest". In my opinion this is also a bit wacky even if intentions are honorable. Eat what you kill (or don't kill) is pretty simple.

Hopefully some animal will get to them before they freeze rock hard and go completely to waste.

[weneric]

i practice selective harvest. i fish a private pond that is overun with stunted bass. i keep them alive and release them in a pond that can use them. i won't kill what i don't eat. bass, and other fish populate ponds by ducks that pick up fertilized eggs on there webbed feet, so i'm not introducing an invasive species.

[Johnnybasssss]

I agree with that, and some places I notice is just over run with pickeral and I feel like people kill them to help the bass population

[NorthEastFisherman]

A fish is a fish. Should be happy just catching one. I don't get people sometimes.

[keith411]

I dont know about you guys but i really enjoy catching pickerel and i dont understand why people think they're a nuisance. They put a good fight and are fun to catch. What more do people need?

[adkRoy]

In NY, alot of idiots think by leaving the pickerel on the ice to "feed the birds" it helps the yellow perch population in a lake.   

[kpd145]

If it was a private pond and I was asked specifically to do it if the fish was obviously stunted, ok.

That scenario has never happened

Other than that I always throw the fish back unless they are going home with me or someone I am fishing with.

Throw them back, it's the right thing to do.

[NorthEastFisherman]

In NY, alot of idiots think by leaving the pickerel on the ice to "feed the birds" it helps the yellow perch population in a lake.   

I've actually heard of this. But they said they were feeding the "eagle". Not sure if this "eagle" actually existed.

[68 TROUT]

Johnnybasssss....
I go by what Mom taught me, "if you hunt it, kill it, you need to clean it & eat it" !!!
We all are selective, in our harvest.
If I want pickerel, then I target them, harvest a feed and take them home.
It goes that way for all fish & Fowl, Deer, etc.!!!
That is just plain waste of God's creature and not acceptable...
AND, you wonder why the anti's hate us.........
Be Safe-Tight Lines

[icetilt]

In my point of view it's ignorant. It's not going to cut down the population it's just killing fish because someone got annoyed catching pickerel. I really can't stand ignorance.

[Holstein]

Ever since my brother caught one in NH years ago I wanted to catch one.  A fish is a fish and they all fight and provide different benefits. Taking it upon yourself to kill a fish for no reason other than the fact that you don't like them is foolish. I suspect the argument is that they eat what pike eat so it will make the pike bigger. With that logic small pike should be thrown on the ice too. 

[rj1623]

 One time these guys where doing the same thing on a lake i was fishing. Guess who showed up? The game warden. Game warden asked what those fish where. They said pickerel don't belong in this lake. Well that game warden told them they arent allowed to do that. Next time there getting ticketed for every fish on the ice.

[Deepwaters]

Last spring I was fishing the Fenton end of mansfield early in the morning. I was in waders, and it was pretty foggy, I had a "hardcore" bass guy roll up to me in a boat. We started chatting. He noticed I was throwing big baits and asked me if I was bass fishing. I told him I was looking for pike and he went off, telling me that every time he catches a pike he throws it in the woods because "they have destroyed the bass population" I told him I thought that was strange because that morning I caught back to back 5 and 6 pound largies on my pike baits. Some people are just uneducated and ignorant. If anything is hurting the bass in that lake it's the bucket brigades.

[JBO112394]

Last spring I was fishing the Fenton end of mansfield early in the morning. I was in waders, and it was pretty foggy, I had a "hardcore" bass guy roll up to me in a boat. We started chatting. He noticed I was throwing big baits and asked me if I was bass fishing. I told him I was looking for pike and he went off, telling me that every time he catches a pike he throws it in the woods because "they have destroyed the bass population" I told him I thought that was strange because that morning I caught back to back 5 and 6 pound largies on my pike baits. Some people are just uneducated and ignorant. If anything is hurting the bass in that lake it's the bucket brigades.

I have heard that from a couple other bass guys as well. I find it pretty ridiculous that most of them don't think having a 25 boat tournament on a 250 acre lake during the spawn won't hurt the bass populations, yet pike stockings managed by the state biologists will. 

[V Menzone]

In my opinion lakes with pike populations tend to have the biggest bass as well. Just something ive noticed over the years.

[JBO112394]

In my opinion lakes with pike populations tend to have the biggest bass as well. Just something ive noticed over the years.

I would have to agree with that. Pike help reduce the number of smaller fish, which reduces competition amongst each other, allowing for more resources to become available for each fish, which leads a larger average size.

[staggerin]

I agree 100%. Pike and bass together makes for a larger fish. They eat a lot of the same bait fish and pannies

[kpd145]

One time these guys where doing the same thing on a lake i was fishing. Guess who showed up? The game warden. Game warden asked what those fish where. They said pickerel don't belong in this lake. Well that game warden told them they arent allowed to do that. Next time there getting ticketed for every fish on the ice.

I spoke to a DEEP guy last weekend, nicest guy in the world. He said that at a certain lake in CT, he was livid when he walked upon a group of ice fisherman that were throwing pickerel on the ice and letting seagulls eat them, or pick at them because he said some were way too big for a gull. He promptly gave them all citations.

This guy was so nice, we were 4 but only 3 were ice fishing, we were all legal but my buddy left his wallet at home because I drove. The DEEP office checked to make sure he was legit and went about his business. Never checked our catch or checked our tip ups, he was just a really nice guy who was doing his job.

[PikeKing23]

One more "opinion" about bass and pike coexisting: 
You will never see a stunted bass population in a lake that contains pike.  It is true that pike eat the small bass, but once the bass reach 3 lbs or so, they are no longer on the pike's menu. 
THIS ACTUALLY HELPS THE BASS POPULATION!

Here's a little tip for the bass guys:
The reason most bass fisherman think that pike eat all of the catchable bass in lakes where both reside, is because they are not catching as many as they normally would in lakes where pike do not have an established population.  The key here is that they are fishing during the day.  Try fishing those same lakes for bass at night and you might have a different opinion.
You see, pike are primarily sight feeders and are only active during the day.  The bass know this and are very adaptable to a nocturnal existence.  The bass choose to come out at night because they are not in competition with the larger pike for food, and there is less chance of getting eaten if the bass is borderline size.

So next time the thought enters your head that "The pike in this lake have ruined the bass fishing", go home, sleep for the day, and come back after dark.  You may just catch the bass of your life!!!!

[DAM123]

  Just a couple of questions. If you use 10-12 inch suckers for pike bait and they eat them, wouldn't a pike eat 10-12 inch bass also? If they eat the small bass what replaces the big bass when they die off? If pike and bass are eating the same baits then one or the other doesn't get as much food as needed and does not get as big. And if it's the bass that are not getting as big then the pike could eat even more of them.

[saxmatt]

Suckers are much easier for a pike to eat compared to bass. They are skinny, have no spines, and less scales. The places where the DEP stocks pike have an abundance of bait and panfish, plenty to support both species.

[kpd145]

  Just a couple of questions. If you use 10-12 inch suckers for pike bait and they eat them, wouldn't a pike eat 10-12 inch bass also? If they eat the small bass what replaces the big bass when they die off? If pike and bass are eating the same baits then one or the other doesn't get as much food as needed and does not get as big. And if it's the bass that are not getting as big then the pike could eat even more of them.

I do not think it is an issue on a larger body of water or a healthy body of water. Bass and Pike share the same food sources and those food sources need to be abundant. If that is the case, both species could grow to very large sizes. Pike eat everything, bass eat everything. If it can fit in their mouth, they eat it. As long as what both species eats is a large enough variety and has healthy populations, well, you know the rest....

Bass fisherman look at only bass when they hit the water, while fisherman and ice fisherman look at many more species when they are on the water.

I agree with what others have said, good pike fisheries increase sizes for bass also.

[Jfishermann]

Go to Mansfield hollow and tell me the pike didn't affect the bass population

[Pike Guy Matt]

Go to Mansfield hollow and tell me the pike didn't affect the bass population

I have been fishing there for over 15 years, and I don't believe the pike have had a negative affect on the bass population. It has always been one of the toughest places to fish for both bass and pike. There are plenty of big fish of both species in there, and there always has been, you just have to be there at the right time in the right place to hit them. The increased fishing pressure on the pond hasn't made catching big fish any easier either.

[kpd145]

Go to Mansfield hollow and tell me the pike didn't affect the bass population

I don't know, I open water fish that place off shore all the time and I get a lot of bass and pike. Bass on the boat lunch side, pike on the opposite end where the embankment is with all the rip rap.

I have caught many a slab perch out of there as well.

I think, I am not positive that the hollow was first a pike management water (1990ish?, then re-introduced in 1992)
before it was considered a bass management water.

Now I will agree that with slot limits in place at Mansfield that someone is concerned about it enough to want big fish to be released.

[saxmatt]

Go to Mansfield hollow and tell me the pike didn't affect the bass population

When I went to UConn from 2000-2005 I did great for bad there, had some 20 fish days. I heard a 10 pounder came out of there too.

[DAM123]

  A 4 lb bass eats how much? A 20 lb  pike eats how much? Is it five times as much? If so then wouldn't the math say that 5  bass at 4 lbs for each 20 lb pike. Don't know if the math works that way or not. Seems it would but I'm not a fish guy or a math guy.

[Deepwaters]

Go to Mansfield hollow and tell me the pike didn't affect the bass population

.    Throw something other than a sinko. Or like someone else said fish it at night. I've fished there my whole life. Before and after the pike program! If you're not catching bass, you're doing something wrong

[PikeKing23]

Just a couple of questions. If you use 10-12 inch suckers for pike bait and they eat them, wouldn't a pike eat 10-12 inch bass also?

I have never caught a 12" bass that weighed 3 lbs.

Anyways, easy to solve this debate.  The experts (fisheries biologists that spend their whole life studying this kind of thing) say it works.  I'm pretty sure us armchair quarterbacks do not have the same understanding of the ecosystem in a given body of water.  I second guess my football teams coach all of the time based on the limited information that I have (only what I see on game day).  That doesn't mean I can coach a team.