Conference wahoo::fishing

    I should also add that people have been taking some pretty decent bass
    out of the lake.  A neighbor caught a bass that came close to 8 pounds
    about a week ago.  Most of the bass I've seen taken have been in the 4
    pound range.  
    
    So, even though the tournament is for kibbies only, you might find
    time to chase a bass or two.
    
    Kevin McDonough
     

    One question ,,  What will be done with the kibbies???
    
    Has anyone contacted the local fish and game?   you folks could
    get in trouble if you just dump them to die..
    
    BOb
    

    We have a contractor lined up to take the fish away in barrels. 
    The Greater Lowell Fly Fisherman held a similar tournament on the
    lake 5 years ago and took about 4000 out in 1 day.  They also had
    the fish hauled away.
    
    
    
    I contacted the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and told them
    of our plans.  I even asked them to help us!  They responded that
    they had no plans of their own to reduce the kibby population but
    they did support our tournament.  They even referred another fishing
    club to us for support.

    Kevin McDonough
    

    
    
            Sounds like someone is using them for fertilizer.
            I don't see why they don't introduce Pike or Muskie
            into that Lake like they do to other lakes to take 
            care of kivers,perch,and crappies over population.
    
    
                                       The Keg

    This seems to be a perfect time to ask for a defintion of 'kibby'.
    I am under the impression that a kibby is a catch-all term for little
    nuisance fish, including perch and sunfish. Correct?
    
    Also, why do they become such a problem for a lake? What are other
    ways to control their population? How about more Pickerel and Bass
    to eat them - or even a tiger muskie or two? 
    
    Ed    

    We asked about that, too.  The Division said that because of the
    good population of larger bass in the lake, they had no plans to use
    pike or muskie.  I guess they figure that the kibby population isn't
    preventing the bass from doing OK.
    
    The Division's data on the lake is from 1980, so it may be out of date.
    We figure that if we get a good turn out we can take 5000+ kibbies
    in 1 day.  
    
    Kevin
     

    Re .5
    
    kibbie is a catch-all name for sunfish, bluegills, etc.  They seem to
    have different names (brim?) in different parts of the country.  We are
    not considering perch a kibbie, and all of the fishing clubs that we
    asked about this agreed. This might be debatable, but for the
    purpose of the tournament we had to draw some lines.  There also
    aren't many perch in the lake.
    
    They are a problem just because there are so many of them.  Toss a
    piece of bread into the water and it looks like piranha in the Amazon.
    They eat more than their share of the available food in the lake, which
    make it more difficult for other species. 
    
    Kevin
    

    
    
        How will the winners be determined ( total weught number of
    fish ect.)? Will the fish have to be kept alive ? I would like 
    directions to the lake please I think my son would enjoy this for
    his first tourney.
    
                                                 Thanks
    
                                                  Dave
     P.S. If you don't want to post the directions here you can send
    them to LEDS3::CAMPBELL
    
    

   I seem to recall reading about the kibby problem in this lake a couple of
   years ago in M.O.O.D..  The ecosystem was/is very much upset due to the
   overabundance of these critters.  Seems that two fellows devised a
   productive way to harvest them.  They waded with a white bucket attached by 
   a rope.  They used a spinning rod, and if I remember correctly, a piece of
   pork rind on a barbless hook.  The technique called for the kibby to grab
   hold of the pork rind and in one smooth motion the guys would yank the
   critter into the bucket and wiggle it off.  One of the guys took 45K of
   them the matter of a few weeks thus giving the other species in the pond a
   better shot at survival.  Ponds get like this due to lots of reasons. One
   is the removal of predators like the larger bass.  It takes a lot of kibbys
   and a few years to restore the status quo. 
   
   editorial comment follows.....  the more tournaments, especially through
   the ice, and the greater the pressure on the larger fish and this type of
   thing will be commonplace.

    Last year, there were some magazine articles (InFisherman, I think)
    on this sort of thing in Europe.  Over there, it is called "match
    fishing" -- can't remember if it is because it is a fishing match
    or because the ultra-light bobber commonly used looks like a
    matchstick.
    
    Anyway, it seems to be popular, and they have developed special
    tackle: 20' poles, 1lb line, special presentation, etc.  The goal
    is to catch literally hundreds of 2"-6" fish!
    
    I wonder if match fishing developed due to lack of bass, lack of
    large fish, overpopulation of small fish, or what (feedback from
    over the pond?)
    
    Let's just hope that this isn't the future for tournaments here!

    Re .8
    
    The winners will be determined by the heaviest total catch.  We
    will weigh the fish and make sure that they are all kibbies.  We
    felt that it could take too long to count the fish individually,
    especially if people catch 50 or more fish.
    
    The fish can be dead or alive.  If someone catches 100 kibbies in
    the course of the day it would be real hard to keep them all alive.
   
    We decided to have a lot of prizes rather than a few expensive prizes
    to reduce the incentive for someone to cheat.  Also, the kids have a
    better chance to win a trophy. 
   
    I will enter directions to the lake as a reply to this note.
    
    Re.9
    
    I know that a man and woman fishing team took 6000 kibbies out of the
    lake over the course of one summer, but they used fly rods. I would be
    interested in a copy of the article if you have one or could point me
    to one. 
  
    The lake asssociation's main focus is to solve the excessive weed
    problem in the lake.  We get involved in tournaments, beach cleaning
    days, etc to improve the recreational use of the lake and make people
    aware of our goals.
     

Directions to Lake Mascuppic


    Tyngsboro is located off Rt 3, just south of Nashua N.H. 

    From Rt.3 north or south, take the route 113 exit for
    Tyngsboro/Dunstable.  At the end of the exit ramp, follow the signs to
    Tyngsboro. 

    Follow route 113 to a set of lights.  The Tyngsboro bridge is directly
    in front of you; the Shurfine market is on your right.  Proceed over
    the Tyngsboro bridge. 

    After the bridge there is a fork in the road.  Bear right at the fork.
    This is Shurburne Rd.  You stay on Shurburne Rd for a couple of miles.
    You are looking for Willowdale Rd, which is a left turn.  There may or
    may not be a sign. You will see the following landmarks: 

                Public golf course on both sides of the street
                Notingham St, which will be on your left
                Another street on the left with a house up on a hill.
                           
                WILLOWDALE ROAD, which is what you want.

               *If you see a street on the left called Bridal Path Way 
                and a big red barn, you have just passed Willowdale Rd.
                                            
    Take a left on to Willowdale Rd. and follow to the end.   The name of
    the street changes to County Rd as you cross the town line into Dracut,
    but the road stays the same. As a landmark, St Mary Magdalene church is
    on the left. 

    At the end of what is now County Rd, take a left onto Tyngsboro Rd.  50
    yards up Tyngsboro Rd is a left turn for the public boat ramp and the
    tournament registration.  There will be signs for parking (free). 

    Hope to see you there! 
    
    Kevin
    



    

    Mebbe we send op dere two cajuns an a sportmen cooker op dere an
    tak care ob de problem!! Mebbe chew need anuder cajun cafe?? If
    deres too many ob dem breams we bring also allegater, huh??
    
    Coonass

    
    The CRAWDAD WIZARD and ERIK the KIVER MASTER (age 6).
    will be there.
    
    Look for the CRAWDAD with the conning tower and kiver outriggers
    
    

       Hey Wiz, no drag nets?
                                                   Denny

    Hay wiz you think you can catch a fish in this one?  
    
    or are you going to play I was only there for bass..
    
    See you sunday!!]
    Bassin Bob
    

    re .13
    You need to bring some of dem 100+ pounds Garfishes .  They would
    clean out the fishermans and the fish.

    FWIW, the kibby tournament was yesterday.  We had approx 175 entries,
    with 80 of them under the age of 10.  A lot of dads brought their
    kids out for their first tourney.
    
    Top finisher in the 16 and over group was 52 1/2 pounds.  That's
    a lot of kibbies.
    
    Top finishers in the 0-10 and 11-16 groups were right around 20
    pounds.
    
    I haven't added up the total weights yet, but we filled two 55 gallon
    drums.  Had the weather been better in the morning, we might have
    doubled that.
    
    For the Lake Association it was a lot of work.  We tried to (and
    succeeded, I think) run a well organized tourney.  There were two
    payoffs.  First, we took a lot of kibbies out of the lake. Secondly,
    there were lots of kids with trophies and major league smiles.  Almost
    everybody caught something.
    
    
    Kevin

    
    Kevin, the kibby derby was VERY well run.  My son age 6 (the kibby
    master) loved it!  BTW we were on the way to your derby when all my
    stuff was stolen.  other than that it was a great day.  we were
    the team in the CRAWDAD with the gas in back and electric on the
    front and the kid yelling "I GOT ANOTHER ONE DAD!"
    
    Thanks for the great day
    
    TBDW & KIBBY MASTER
    

    Thanks for the kind words and sorry about your gear.  I was the
    guy with the bull horn.  (I'm not sure if I should admit to that
    or not. 8-) )  We were very happy with the way things turned out.
     Could have done with less wind, though.  Our tent just about blew
    into the parking lot.
    
    BTW, next time, tell someone you're from DEC!  I kept asking the
    tourney crew if anyone mentioned DEC or NOTES and everyone said no. 
    
    Kevin
    
    

    So wen is de fishfry????
    
    Me, I'm hongry!!
    
    Coonass
    

    No fishfry this time.  We did take 847 pounds of kibbies out of
    the lake.  We didn't count them, but were are guessing at 2000+.
    
    Not bad for one day!
    
    Kevin
    

    Shoulda hada Fish Fry.
    
    Get one big wash Kettle made of cast iron.  fill about half full
    with cooking oil and get fire going (for you yankees, the fire is
    under the pot).    when you catch the fish, clean them and drop
    them whole into the boiling oil.  When done they will float to the
    top and you can catch them again with a long handled pop corn popper.
    
    Bones come out easily.

    Hello Again.
    
    
    The Lake Mascuppic Association and the Merrimack Valley Bass Masters
    are holding another kids kibby fishing tournament on Lake Mascuppic on
    this Sunday, June 4th, 1989 from 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon.
 
    The tourney will be about the same as last year.  The notable exception
    is that we have eliminated the adult age category.
    There are three kids age categories: 3-6, 7-10, 11-15.  
    
    Adults will be allowed to fish with the kids. Last year we found that
    some adults were helping their kids anyway, so we decided to make it
    official.
    
    The entry fee is $2.00. 
    
    Sign-in is from 7:00-10:00 at the boat ramp.  See reply .12 for
    directions to the lake.

    We had a really good time last year and the kids had lots of fun.  We
    will have trophys for the top 5 finishers in each age category.  The
    first place winners in each category win a Nintendo game.
    
    
    Kevin