Unethical??

[Red Childress]

I had not planned on posting this story but here goes.


I had 2 very cool clients (father/son) in the boat on Saturday and fishing was kinda slow......had a few follows from some smaller muskies and then the dad hits a 20-22 inch pike and as he is bringing it to the boat, the son looks down and sees this big musky following the pike along the side of the boat.......2 seconds later, the pike is closer to me in the front of the boat and I see this big/wide/long musky within an inch of this pike right beside the boat flaring its gills. So out of habit, I scream "figure-8, figure-8" so the guy fig-8's this hooked up pike and the musky goes around once then dropped out of sight.

Immediately after this happens, I finally had time to actually think about what the heck just transpired. Had I really just told my client to figure-8 an already hooked-up pike in hopes of catching a musky? Yep.

What would we have done if the musky latched on to this pike and we were able to scoop both into the net?? It is probably illegal since the pike was under the 24" limit and we were using it for bait.

What if the musky just sliced up the pike and killed it while he intentionally figure-8ed the sub-legal pike hoping the musky latched on? Bad ethics possibly?

It was just an instinctive reaction on my part to tell him to fig-8 the pike and if we would have landed both fish, the musky would very likely have been the largest musky we had ever boated on the river.

I think I am kinda glad the musky just swam off.

[ttabaleulb]

Thats a pretty wild story Red. I have no idea about the legality of the situation, but I do believe this just goes to show how deep the Musky affliction can run. Back when I was strictly a Trout Bum, my feelings on this type of situation might have been quite different. However, now that these beasts rule my mind, those lines that I once thought were black and white are now solid gray. LOL That had to be something to witness that happenin right at the side of the boat. And seeing how I end up doing a boat-side maneuver with EVERYTHING on the end of my line anymore, I probably would have been thinkin the same thing. LOL

[lowbidder]

Red,
Nobody is perfect and nobody is pure. I think Karma points are like a bank account. You do some things to gain karma points and others to lose karma points. I'm sure you've done enough to protect and preserve the fishery over the years, that sacrificing a young pike to land a monster musky would be acceptable (in my book anyway). I guess I'm trying to say your Karma point balance would probably still be in the black if that makes any sense.

I probably would've done the same damn thing (instinctively) without even rationalizing it first. It's a split decision scenario and while some people would freeze up and stare into the water... the guys with the hunting instinct go for it (musky hunting or otherwise).

BTW... I would've loved to have been in the boat to see that!!

[toothyfishman]

Can anyone say "Quick Strike Rig"............................

That must of been cool to see!

[Red Childress]

Regarding the Karma points, I sure have not lost any sleep over the split second reaction request to fig-8.



Let's hypothesize for a moment and say the fish ended up being a state record musky caught on a "firetiger Shallow Invader/live 22-inch pike" lure.

1) Would the record stand if the musky had gone for the front of the pike and managed to get a real hook into her face?

2) What if the musky held on to the pike long enough to get a net under her.....would that count as a legal catch??

3) Would the guys in the boat even mention anything about the Shallow Invader having a sub-legal pike attached to it at the time of the catch??


Just a few thoughts of mine I had on the way to work this morning. It sure makes for some interesting discussion.....at least in my mind.

[Pescatore]

Boy, I bet you could cast that bait a Country Mile

[Red Childress]

BTW, I am in no way inferring that this fish was a state record caliber fish because it was nowhere near that size. My best guess is she was in the 52-54-inch range and definitely spawned out.

[ppalko]

I wonder if the musky was actually "thinking" of eating the pike or just "stealing" the meal it had just eaten.....the lure. Bass do this thing a lot and I've ended up with a double on the same lure a few times. I've also caught larger bass that were chasing another hooked fish. Larger fish will often intimidate a smaller fish into dropping an easy meal to them. I'd guess the Invader was very visible in the pike mouth.

I'd think the fish would be only legally caught if a hook was actually stuck into it when it was netted.

Phil