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Posts: 2024
| Not sure what forum to put this in, but here goes. There seems to be very limited numbers of musky waters in Canada directly north of Lake Superior. Less than 100 miles west, you have the LOW and all the other musky lakes. In planning a summer trip, I started looking around and couldn't find any lakes Wonder why?
I also wonder why they call it Northwestern Ontario, when that area is actually in southwestern Ontario. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Some good muskies east of Toronto, also. m |
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Posts: 1279
| ARmuskyaddict - 3/14/2022 12:33 PM
I also wonder why they call it Northwestern Ontario, when that area is actually in southwestern Ontario.
I think it is because it is northwest of where all the people in Ontario, live. |
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Posts: 2024
| Ya, east of Superior too. Just an interesting thing. I know there are muskies in the Duluth Harbor and right outside of it, and many other places along WI and the UP. But no info is easily available for muskies in Canada north of Superior. |
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Posts: 639
Location: Duluth | It is curious, you'd think black bay would hold a few. |
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Posts: 205
| Just a guess but I suspect it is due to the lack of connecting rivers and waterways. Perrault, Cedar and Wabaskang are good examples all musky water and all connected by the same river |
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Posts: 355
Location: Selkirk, Manitoba | There are over 250,000 lakes in Ontario - probably a large percent contain pike. There are only about 300 lakes and their associated river systems that contain musky in all of Ontario (all natural, not stocked). Dispersal after glaciation determined where they were able to go, and their habitat preferences, their biological requirements and northern pike determined where they wound up. Dispersal is determined by connected waterways - yes, however there are vast areas where muskies have unfettered access to down or upstream lakes of the same river and they do not colonize (see: Rainy, Winnipeg, English, Upper English and Lac Seul itself, which is a reservoir, the subpopulations of Georgian Bay). This is due to pike, and also likely due to homing behaviour and phermonal cues. Muskie densities are so low that biologically it makes little sense to roam into new waters away from others of your kind if your primary purpose for existence is to reproduce. There might be feeding forays, but ultimately they will likely home back to their natal waters. Expansion of range over generations would be possible and likely in many of the waters listed if not for pike (see the St. John's River in Maine/New Brunswick => no pike, dispersal - caveat being these are originally stocked fish).
Edited by Angling Oracle 4/8/2022 12:40 PM
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Posts: 639
Location: Duluth | Does anyone have a clear answer on whether these Ontario fish are sympatric or allopatric |
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North of Lake Superior