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Posts: 202
| Just got off the phone with Doug Welch who is the fisheries Biologist for southeastern Wisconsin. He is in the works at trying to get support for stocking muskies in Lake Geneva (Walworth county). What do you guys think? Any feedback can be emailed to Doug Welch at [email protected]
He would like everyones feedback on this and the reasons for you support or not.
Doug Kloet
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Posts: 186
Location: West Chicago, IL | I can not think of a more fantastic lake in Wisconsin to stock.
All I can say is PLEASE use leech lake fish!!
E-mail has been sent! |
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| Let's see...
-strong and growing pike populations.
-strong large and smallmouth bass populations.
-so crazy crowded with pleasure boaters that you basically cannot fish after 9AM any weekend after Memorial Day and probably until mid to late September.
Sounds like a great plan! Go put baby muskies in to be lunchables for big pike and bass onto a lake you probably can't fish anyways because of the crowds! Why not just go buy suckers to feed the pike and bass. You know, get some in that 4-6" range and let the predators go wild.
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Posts: 8717
| It would be a zoo on weekends, but think of the quality of fish Lake Geneva could produce...
On a side note, isn't it funny how a muskie club from IL puts so many fish into WI? And they never seem to thank us when we're up there... |
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | Wouldnt the pike population being what it is be too detrimental to the stocking and potetial reproduction of muskies in Geneva? |
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| Lunchables - 10/10/2008 3:44 PM
Let's see...
-strong and growing pike populations.
-strong large and smallmouth bass populations.
-so crazy crowded with pleasure boaters that you basically cannot fish after 9AM any weekend after Memorial Day and probably until mid to late September.
Sounds like a great plan!
Where do you think you are going to find a local metro lake that doesn't fit this profile? I do agree that the small fingerlings will be food in that lake. Same was true with Tonka until TC chapter started using 2yr olds. Can you guys use 2yr olds? |
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Posts: 203
Location: Germantown, WI | I can see why some would think it might be a good idea to stock muskies in Lake Geneva. Deep water and a good forage base. Yeah predation on stocked musy fingerlings will occur, but there are a lot of Bass and Northerns in Okauchee and that is a good musky fishery. We don't have any reason to believe that natural musky reproduction/recruitment will occur since it does not seem to occur anywhere else in Southern Wisconsin.
As far as boating pressure, I don't boat on Geneva, but I can say that the other lakes I fish in Southern Wisconsin have plenty of boating pressure. That is why I now do most of my local musky fishing before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. How about night fishing? Geneva has clear water doesn't it? It should be a good night fishing lake.
The thing that gives me pause is the size of the lake. I wonder if it is possible to stock enough muskies in there to make a population worth fishing for. I know that it is theoretically possible, but is it practical? The DNR usually does not stock more that 2500 muskies in any lake in any given year, unless there are surplus muskies to distribute from the hatcheries. Club stocking alone is unlikely to create a quality fishery because buying muskies is cost prohibitive beyond a few hundred a year. The DNR has been stocking Big Green Lake for a number of years now and by most accounts it is a pretty low density fishery.
Stocking Lake Geneva in my opinion could very well result in a low density fishery with significant trophy potential. If that is what the DNR and the musky clubs involved are looking to establish then I see no problem with it. I'm sure there will be resistance from the bass, walleye and panfish folks. That is to be expected. |
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | Lake Geneva is big and deep! Require lot of muskies and cost is high! I think same amount of muskies into 3 lakes around Lake Geneva would be better than just one large lake as Lake Geneva!
I am not sure which 3 lakes but just make sure that we able to fish there as public ramp and park!
Delavan , Silver plus 3 new lakes total 5 muskie lakes less than 2 hours from Chicago area would be cool! |
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Posts: 8717
| ILmuksie, our club stocks Delavan every year. |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | esoxaddict - 10/10/2008 3:44 PM
On a side note, isn't it funny how a muskie club from IL puts so many fish into WI? And they never seem to thank us when we're up there...
Lake Geneva is not Wisconsin Jeff ... it's part of the "occupied territory" |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | it`s like this,if the rich want muskies in that lake,they will get them,if they don`t,no way it will pass.I say no because chances of the lake being great for muskies are slim,put more in delavan,thats the fishermans lake in the area. |
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Posts: 556
| This is a great fishing lake, and I can only Imagine the trophys that could come out of it. The think I hate about the lake is the boat traffic--but it can be fished at night very successfully---But the cost to launch is insane!! If they are going to use any state funds to stock it then they have got to come up with a way for anglers to access it without it costing them an arm and a leg. If they use private club funds then what can be said----Even with the cost I would still give it a shot---That lake grows awesome fish of all species in it. |
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Posts: 40
Location: United States | esoxaddict - 10/10/2008 6:56 PM
ILmuksie, our club stocks Delavan every year.
Which club and how many per year?
P.S. - Thanks. My family has had a cabin on the lake for years. I for one, would love to see Delavan turn into a good muskie lake. |
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | I like to know how many muskie in Delavan every year? Wisconsin rated it as Class C but I think new update that would be Class B! Do they have rent a boat? I plan to get my own 14 ft boat soon!
Add 3 more new muskie lakes around Lake Geneva would be nice! |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | what jonnysled said |
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Posts: 20179
Location: oswego, il | Fox River Valley has been working with Doug Welch for a couple years now getting more muskies into delevan and muskies into lake geneva. You can thank muskyboy for his dilligence on this. We have not directly stocked but have put money towards other areas to get this to happen. The main reason we went north is because we could not stock fish anywhere in illinois without the dnr taking fish away, thus resulting in the same number of fish stocked. We would hwever stock fish in shabbona if the state does not meet their quota in that lake. |
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Posts: 202
| Here is some more information about Doug Welch proposed introduction of muskies into Lake Geneva. This gives a lot of great information about the lake.
Doug Kloet
Doug Welch would like to introduce muskellunge into Geneva Lake. In order to do this he needs to complete an Internal Analysis of Proposed Fish Introduction through Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Channels. Part of the process includes getting input from fishing clubs.
His purpose in introducing musky into Geneva Lake is primarily to provide an additional angling opportunity within my management area (Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha Counties). Other benefits include the addition of another predator that would add stability to the fish community and help control rough fish like carp. There is also the potential for natural reproduction.
Another important consideration for me is that such an introduction not negatively impact other fish species in the lake. His experience with musky stocking has led him to believe that such populations have little or no negative impact on fish communities. He stocks Silver Lake (464 acres), and Delavan Lake (2,072 acres) every year at the rate of 2 - 4 fingerlings per acre and have seen no impact to other species. Geneva Lake is 5,262 acres and supports naturally reproducing populations of smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, northern pike, grass pickeral, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, rock bass, pumpkinseed, white bass, mimic shiner, white sucker, bowfin, golden shiner, bluntnose minnow, fathead minnow, creek chub, banded killifish, iowa darter, least darter, bullhead, and carp. Stocked fish are walleye, lake trout, and brown trout. Cisco are also present. Geneva Lake's size, water quality, and diversity of fish species all point to its ability to support good survival and growth of musky.
His musky stocking plan for Geneva Lake calls for stocking large fingerlings at the rate of 2 per acre (10,802 fish) every other year. I would also like to pit tag and finclip 2,500 of these fish. This will allow me to monitor survival and growth over time. The walleye, and trout stocking programs will continue as before.
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | 10,802 is a lot for one lake! It would be good for 3 smaller lakes plus Silver or Oakuchee get some!
I remember years ago that Lake Geneva don't get walleye Wisconsin DNR for a long time because of lack public and ramp fee is too high! I don't know about today! |
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| I would say $10 to launch isnt that bad especially when you take into consideration some of the ridiculous launch fees in IL. |
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Location: Madtown, WI | I know for a fact the amount of muskies avail in WI for stocking is way down..and most likely will be for some time. Not sure how they will justify trying to start up a new lake (which requires HUGE stockings...especially for this size of lake) when the normal lakes are not gettting the quota of fish they need.
The priority needs to be to maintain the lakes that are being stocked first before starting up new. In the work I have done with the DNR on the Madison chain I can tell you its not likely to happen...but there is always a chance.
Cory |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | If I was to take a position on this one, it would exactly parallel Mr. Painter's. |
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Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | 10,802 muskies for a 5,262 acre lake?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
If this lake has as much deep water as I gather from the post the plan would stock about 4x more fish then the MNDNR would on the same lake. I don't want to turn this into a MN vs. WI argument, but that seems like a lot of fish to stock if you want a trophy fishery. For example, Minnetonka which is 3x bigger get's about 1/4-1/2 that number of fish (even if you extrapolate out 1 two year old = 3 fingerlings). The proposal for Pokegama is for 2000 every other year for 10 years stocked every other year and that's around 6600 acres. I'm no biologist, but that seems high in my limited experience.
If WI is short of fish and the local clubs want to help I'd look at reducing that stocking number. It may fit into everyone's budget a little better. Keep us in the loop and you'll get our support.
Edited by Muskie Treats 10/13/2008 12:53 PM
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Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Being that I am an FRV Member I would say without question I oppose the decision to take this money and put it into Lake Geneva. For all the reasons above it just seems very misguided to be dumping money into a lake that will take many years of dedicated stocking to establish a fishable population, that is nearly unfishable on the weekends (and to say that at night or weekdays isn't an argument, being that the FRV chapter membership is at least an hour drive's time away from the lake) because of boat traffic is a horrible decision. I understand that I could more openly oppose this decision if I were to be more active in the club, but I did want to at least make my opinion known here. |
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| jonnysled - 10/10/2008 7:10 PM
Lake Geneva is not Wisconsin Jeff ... it's part of the "occupied territory"
Heh. Heheh. hehehHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
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Posts: 8717
| Slamr - 10/13/2008 10:20 AM
Being that I am an FRV Member I would say without question I oppose the decision to take this money and put it into Lake Geneva. For all the reasons above it just seems very misguided to be dumping money into a lake that will take many years of dedicated stocking to establish a fishable population, that is nearly unfishable on the weekends (and to say that at night or weekdays isn't an argument, being that the FRV chapter membership is at least an hour drive's time away from the lake) because of boat traffic is a horrible decision. I understand that I could more openly oppose this decision if I were to be more active in the club, but I did want to at least make my opinion known here.
The same could have been said at one time for many of the lakes in Southern WI and Northern IL. If "not fishable on weekends because of crowds" was a consideration, we wouldn't have Silver Lake, the Fox Chain, Delavan, or probably even the Yahara Chain. So where do we focus our efforts? We can supplement the small crowded shallow weedy lakes that already have "good" fisheries established, or we can look to expanding the fisheries in S WI to include a lake that not only has great potential, but there exists the possibility of a self sustaining muskie population. I think stocking a lake like Geneva is exactly the forward thinking long term approach everyone has been asking the WI DNR for.
If muskie fishing keeps on growing like it has been, 10 - 15 years down the road we're going to need some more places for all of them to fish, or it won't matter how many fish we stock in the lakes we already have, it will be a merry go round out there every where you go.
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Posts: 571
| I agree with Cory and Steve. First and foremost, the lakes with established fisheries which require stocking should be given preference. I'd be very disappointed if, for instance, the Mad Chain quota was diminished to accommodate stocking Geneva. Given the budgetary constraints, that would possibly be a reality if Geneva was put on the list.
With that said, IF (and its a big "IF") it can be done, I LOVE the idea of expanding Southern WI muskie waters, and Geneva sounds like it could be a dandy. With our current limited options here in S WI, having another viable population would ease the increasing pressure currently being directed to the Madison chain, Pewaukee, Okauchee, etc. |
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| Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States.
JonnySled... What map are you looking at?
Anyways, Musky in Lake Geneva is a great plan. Every lake contains a source of predation on fingerlings of all species, and regarding esox species, that explains the differential by a week or two between pike and musky spawning, as well as their spawning depths (pike up shallow by weeds and musky out deep). I can understand most of you who fear that the already advanced northern population could desecrate the young musky, as we all know a lake is either a musky lake or a northern lake, but rarely equivalent because of the competitiveness of the two species, however, such is life and this lake stands as good of a chance as any with regards to stocking efforts of musky into it's depths.
Let's do this, the more musky water the better. Regarding your negativity, MuskyAddict, assumably you frequent Wisconsin's waters throughout the season, as I've seen your posts on several, including Wingra... Different chapters of Muskies Inc. are spread throughout the midwest, as well as many Wisconsin based musky clubs and DNR efforts including some private lake associations and all aid in the stocking of our Wisconsin Lakes. I believe if you ignore the border drawn on a map between Wisconsin and Illinois, your feelings would differ with regards to your illinois club helping fund Lake Geneva with a resource such as musky.
Let's help create more musky fisheries throughout the midwest, and if we can all start small by supporting this proposal and perhaps it's all we can do, than send Doug an email showing your support towards a valuable resource that we all enrich our passion of musky fishing with.
Think about it, many of us travel the midwest to chase these fish.. I see Illinois license plates in Wisconsin and Minnisota's Northwoods all the time at public launches. We travel to Michigan to fish the Detroit River, Illinois to fish Lake Shelbyville and Fox Chain, Cave Run in Kentucky, Lake Chautaugua in New York and Pomme De Terre in Missouri. . . I've never fished felt like, "Hey, these out of staters are infringing upon the musky territories that the people of my state funded stocking efforts into..."
PUT MUSKY INTO GENEVA! |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | Guest - 10/13/2008 12:45 PM
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States.
JonnySled... What map are you looking at!
the one that shows stress line = hwy 8
the beginning of wisconsin = madison (formerly beloit but no longer)
with the southwest still held by wisconsin but everything inside the quadrant bounded by 39/94/43 taken over by the stress of the occupation. |
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | I don't know that Wisconsin have low muskies for stocking then good idea to take care of lakes that already have muskies.
When get some more and project.......if Lake Geneva is too big then several other lake like
Powers Lake...459 acres, max 34 ft
Mary Lake...315 acres, max 38 ft
Elizabeth Lake...638 acres, max 32 ft. Maybe Illinois musky club help stock this lake because 32 acres is in Illinois.
Camp Lake...461 acres, max 19 ft
Plus Silver and Delavan Lakes
Ohhhh boy! Cool! |
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Posts: 8717
| Guest, if you read my post above, you'd see that I actually DO support stocking lake Geneva.
Fundamentally, though, I believe chapter stocking funds should be allocated to the states in which those chapters reside. Building fisheries close to where our club members all live just makes more sense. Knowing that the DNR will happily reduce their stocking numbers by whatever we provide makes doing that kind of a waste. I think we're making the right decision based on that, but I'd rather see our efforts concentrated closer to home. We all fish in WI because the fishing is better. If it was better here, we'd stay here.
Sled, you're killing me!
We're not invaders, we just drive a little faster and make a little more noise. Ok a lot more... 
Edited by esoxaddict 10/13/2008 1:27 PM
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