Syracuse.com - Like catching big fish through the ice? Try Otisco Lake for tiger muskies

[HuntingNY-News]

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Otisco Lake has well-earned reputation for its big tigers. Ice fisherman Tom Boise, of Lakeland, set a a world record with his 27-pound, 5-ounce lunker in 2009

<span class="video_icon_left_small"><a href="http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2013/02/tiger_muskie_fishing_through_t.html">Watch video</a></span>

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<p>Kasey Fellows sat in a seat on his plastic sled on the Otisco lake ice Wednesday, jigging for bluegills and keeping a wary eye on five, nearby tip-ups he had set up.</p>

<p>He’s been targeting the lake’s tiger muskies for years and he’s good at it. That morning he hooked and released four, the largest measuring nearly 34 inches.</p>

<p>Fellows readily admits that getting out on the ice in sub-zero weather with a stiff wind blowing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. However, Otisco Lake has well-earned reputation for its big tigers. Tom Boise, of Lakeland, landed a real big one here through the ice in 2009, setting a world record with his 27-pound, 5-ounce lunker.</p>

<p>Boise's fish was 45 1/2 inches long, with a girth of 22 1/2 inches.</p>

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<span class="caption">Tom Boise and his world record, 27 pound, 5 oz. tiger muskie.</span>

<span class="byline">Submitted photo</span>

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<p><br />A tip-up is an ice fishing rig that is set up over a drilled hole in the ice, with a spool of line attached to the bottom. There’s no pole. Once a fish hits the bait below, a flag goes up as a signal to the angler.</p>

<p>“It’s kind of addictive when you have one on the other end of the line, and the only thing between you and fish is the line. It’s quite a rush,” he said.</p>

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<p>Tiger muskies are a sterile cross between a muskellunge and a northern pike. The ones stocked in Otisco Lake are raised by the state Department of Environmental Conservation hatchery in South Otselic.</p>

<p>Fellows and other tiger muskie ice fishermen mostly use 4- to 5-inch shiners or suckers purchased at local bait stores. Fellows said he also likes to use shiners caught in the lake as bait.</p>

<p>“They tend to get much bigger ... 6, 8, 9..even 10 inches,” he said. “They seem to work the best.”</p>

<p>Fellows said there’s “a photo floating around somewhere” of a huge tiger muskie more than 40 inches long that his grandfather caught on Otisco Lake back in 1986. Fellows was a toddler at the time.</p>

<p>“The picture shows me standing next to that fish and my grandfather holding it up by his hip,” he said. “It’s much longer than I am.”</p>

<p>His grandfather has since passed on. Fellows, 27, said the fish’s trophy mount is at his home.</p>

<p>“One of the main reasons I’m into fishing as much as I am for tigers, is that if I get one 40 inches or over, I’m going to get it put on the wall so I’ll have a couple of them,” he said, adding his biggest to date through the ice is 36 inches.</p>

<p>Angler techniques vary and Fellows said his methods aren’t embraced by all. He said some anglers let tigers run a bit with the line, letting them chew on it for a bit, before setting the hook.</p>

<p>“Everyone has different quirks,” he said. “ I don’t like to watch him spool out line. That’s giving him a chance to get into some weeds. If that fish feels any tension at all, he’s going to try spitting out that bait.”</p>

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<p>Fellows said he’s “more pro-active.</p>

<p>“If I see he’s pulling line, I’ll slowly pull out the slack first. If I feel a little tension, I’ll just give it a little pop to make sure I get a good hook set. If he’s there, he’s there,” he said.</p>

<p>The smaller ones can often be pulled easily through the ice. The bigger ones, though, require a little help, said Kem “Gator” Blowski, of Marcellus, who was fishing alongside Fellows and sporting a gaff.</p>

<p>“I’m the one who gaffed Tom Boise’s (record-setting) fish,” he said. “The paper made it seem like he caught it all by himself.”</p>

<p>The DEC recently changed the size limit to keep a tiger muskie caught on Otisco from 30 to 36 inches. Fellows said anglers he’s talked to have had mixed reactions. Some say it will ruin the lake’s fishery for the other species, which the tigers feed on. Fellows said he likes the idea of catching larger fish.</p>

<p>Fellows said Gaige, his 3 ½ year old son, always greats him at the door when he comes back from tiger muskie fishing on the ice.</p>

<p>“Whenever I come home, he asks me if I caught a ‘lion fish.’ All he knows is that they’re big.’ “ he said.</p>

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View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog