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Posts: 1275
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | From the Fishing Wire:
Indiana DNR Concerned Over Muskie Egg Supply
March 24, 2017
A decline in the number of adult muskies at Lake Webster in Kosciusko County has DNR biologists worried about a potential shortage of eggs to use in the state's muskie stocking program.
Traditionally, Lake Webster is where biologists have caught adult female muskies to harvest eggs for Fawn River State Fish Hatchery in Orland.
"We need 15 to 20 ripe female muskies each spring to get enough eggs for hatching," said Tom Meyer, assistant manager at Fawn River. "From these eggs we are able to produce about 15,000 muskie fingerlings to stock 13 waters throughout the state."
Last spring at Lake Webster, the DNR caught only 11 females that were "ripe" with eggs. To supplement the egg supply, biologists set traps in nearby James Lake, where six more female muskies were caught and provided additional eggs.
If necessary, the DNR will return to James Lake again this year, Meyer said.
What caused the muskie decline at Lake Webster?
Meyer isn't sure but says steps have been taken to rebuild the population, and they seem to be working. Anglers are reporting catching more young muskies.
"We increased the amount of time that muskie fingerlings are fed minnows before stocking," Meyer said. "We also started a study to see if stocking muskies in the spring, when more natural food is available, can increase their survival."
To deal with the potential shortage of muskie eggs, hatcheries may be able adjust operations to prevent a drop in the number of fingerlings available to stock.
Lake Webster provided some of the best muskie fishing in the Midwest a decade ago.
"We'd like to restore its reputation," he said. "Our stocking program and muskie fishermen depend on it."
To view all DNR news releases, please see dnr.IN.gov.
Media contact: Jed Pearson, fisheries biologist, DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, (260) 244-6805, [email protected]. |
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Posts: 70
| Maybe if they stopped killing all the weeds out there survival rates would be better |
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Posts: 1080
| Weed control: that is only one of a long list of reasons for the decline over the past decade.
I will agree, that with smaller fish being seen and caught more often again, is a great sign for the future. For years, the absence of smaller fish being caught was a big indicator of what was to have become.
Also just toss in the fact that all lakes go through cycles. However, the list of man-made reasons for the decline is long.
Wouldn't surprise me if in the next 5 to 6 years, with cooperation from all anglers as well as home owners, Webster's musky fishery will be back to what we remember it being back in the late 90s, through mid-2000s....
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Hmm... reliance on Webster as a broodstock lake and being concerned with the limited number of adult females kinda screams 48-50" minimum size limit. |
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Posts: 1080
| They did raise the size limit (up from 36") on Webster within the past couple of years. But not to a 48-50" size limit. I believe the current size limit on Webster is 42". |
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il | If anyone is wondering what they can do to help as an angler, please consider fishing or supporting the Indiana Muskie Classic. This is not just a tournament. It is also a fundraiser put on by the Hoosier Muskie Hunters, to raise money that goes directly to the DNR for the Musky program. Its also a really great time and lots of great products to win and take home. If you fish Indiana waters please consider doing your part in helping out.
Edited by muskihntr 3/24/2017 6:58 PM
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Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | Did they decrease the stocking? If they didnt that would be alarming. Predation perhaps? One thing to consider and maybe this is why lake shelbyville seems to be in decline is a very big gar population. Just a thought. I have seen large umbers of gar feeding like wbite bass on webster. I look forward to the lake coming back.
Edited by ToddM 3/24/2017 7:34 PM
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Posts: 470
| MACK - 3/24/2017 10:52 AM
They did raise the size limit (up from 36") on Webster within the past couple of years. But not to a 48-50" size limit. I believe the current size limit on Webster is 42".
45" limit
I agree about the weeds too, they decimated all the main feeding shelves last year.. |
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Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | They used to spray but left the deeper weeds on the breaks. I had a home owner a few years ago and he told one 9f the total weed kills took out the zebra mussels. He could once again be barefoot in his channel working on his dock. |
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Posts: 1080
| Sorry....I was incorrect on my earlier comment about the DNR raising the size limit on Webster from 36" to 42". The new size limit is 44". Posted at the Backwater Launch.
Yes...the two big weed kills from four and/or five years ago...give or take, (not administered by the DNR) not only wiped out every weed in the lake, but they also managed to kill every Zebra Mussel in the lake as well. Those years, the water was nearly as dark as coffee...which the darker waters really increased the water temps those years and with the oxygen producing weeds gone, was not a good thing.
I'll never forget that first Fall of the first big weed kill back then...usually in the Fall when we're pulling our Piers and Boat Lifts from the water at the end of the season, the pier post and lifts typically would have been fully encrusted in Zebra Mussels. Well...that year...they were clean as a whistle. Not one single Zebra Mussel on any of them. I was shocked seeing this. I knew something drastic was going on that year and that was the icing on the cake to confirm it all. That following Fall...the same scenario repeated itself...zero Zebra's on the pier posts and boat lifts.
Zebra mussels have made their way back in to the lake now though. They're on the comeback....good or bad. Pros and Cons to them. They filter the water, clear and clean the water up, allowing sunlight deeper into the water column, promoting weed growth deeper, etc, but they are invasive and yes can do some damage to boat's engine's intakes and they get all over everything and will slice open your hands and feet. We knew it wouldn't take long for the Zebras to come back with as many transplanted boats go in and out of that lake. The weed kills have not been that drastic since though. Sure...the DNR is still spot-treating for the Eurasian Milfoil, etc.
I see both sides of the fence on the efforts to find balance with weed control...both as an angler on that lake as well as a part-time resident. It sucks to be at the end of the pier and have your kids look in the water and see the thick, dense weed masses that turns them off from being able to enjoy a weekend at the lake by jumping in and swimming off the pier and they hate tubing and skiing in it as well. But then as an angler, we of course know the important role the weeds play in the ecosystem and the food chain and the oxygen supply. The DNR always has their work cut out for them to try to find balance and perfect harmony to keep everyone happy. Being that Webster has so many shallow flats and the tremendous amount of boat traffic ripping through those flats with their props, it's like lawn mowers buzzing through there and a lot of that floating dead weed masses end up along the shorelines and in and around the piers and lifts and rotting along the seawalls which then stinks to high heavens and brings in the bugs.
To find the right balance of keeping the wanted and beneficial weeds to a lakes ecosystem, but not too many...to try to please the masses...oh man....tough, tough job... |
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Posts: 462
Location: Syracuse, Indiana | Kudos to the Indiana DNR. Their report from day one of Muskie production 2017: Had a good day yesterday – 39 muskies, including 4 ripe females that gave up 389,000 eggs (8.75 qts). Had two large females almost ripe that were put in the cage overnight. I heard the largest was a 47". |
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