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Posts: 388
Location: Northern Illinois | Say you raise a big fat girl. Or, in my case lose a big fat girl (struck Suick 10 ft from boat and torpedo'd under boat for deep water and got off). She was a violent f### BTW.. How far do they go in say a few day period?
Kept going back for her over the next 3 days and never say her again. Checked shallow, deep, probably 150-200 yds all around and then some.
Edited by mm3 9/18/2022 9:49 AM
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Location: Athens, Ohio | CLENDENIN, W.Va. — When a Kanawha County angler landed a nice musky on the Elk River near Clendenin in mid-February, he noticed something about the fish was odd. It had a tag hanging off one of the dorsal fins. It was just a colored plastic stick hanging by the same kind of plastic tag you find when you buy a shirt in a clothing store.
The angler removed the tag and reported it to the DNR as the tag instructed. Turns out the fish had a history.
“We executed an Elk River musky project from 2008 to 2012,” said District Fisheries Biologist Jeff Hansbarger. “It was one of the 200 or so muskies we tagged. He was tagged on April 29, 2009 near Procious.”
Hansbarger estimated the fish was about six years old when it was tagged, which would make it about 16 years old for its second capture. Aging and movement were both parts of the study which has been officially concluded, but the data like the information from this fish, keeps trickling in as anglers continue to catch and report the tagged fish.
“The age was the interesting point. It’s a male, which we could tell by examining it when it was tagged. Males generally don’t get over 40 inches,” said Hansbarger. “It was 35 inches when it was tagged and was about 40 inches when it was caught at Sandy Creek near Clendenin. A male over 40 inches is very rare.”
The movement was not all that surprising. The fish was about 15 miles downstream from where it was originally caught and tagged. Hansbarger said the musky survey had data revealing some muskies traveled up to 70 miles between captures and Ohio biologists have tracked them over 110 miles.
Another interesting fact, the fish clearly survived the 2016 flood on the Elk River. Nobody will ever forget the historic high water which was so costly to homes and businesses along the Elk River in Clay and Kanawha Counties. Such events are often dangerous to aquatic life as well. Fish will swim into flooded areas and becoming trapped in a landlocked spot away from the main river when the water recedes. This musky managed to stay out of the danger zone at the most critical times.
Today, the fish still swims the Elk. The angler released him, but removed the tag, making it unlikely the fish will be reported again. He still has the implanted “PIT” tag applied by the DNR during the study which is located under the skin. If he’s ever captured in a shocking survey, the transmitter will alert biologists. But the PIT tag is not visible to fishermen who may catch him in the future.
“There was one fish in this project who had a noticeable birthmark on his dorsal fin,” said Hansbarger. “He was caught five times and released by anglers during the survey period and we caught him three times in our electrofishing sampling.”
Clearly some of the fish were better than others at evasion.
Capture reports are critical for DNR to study data and trends which enable them to know more about the musky. Biologists crave that information since the fish is deemed a high level of interest by fishermen who expect it to be properly managed.
“They a re slow, long-lived fish and mature later in life,” said Hansbarger. “To have them around in the larger sizes which anglers prefer, it takes them a long time to get there.”
2019 from "MetroNews" m |
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| About 15 years ago, the DNR did a season long survey of fish stocks on the chain where I live. Started with fyke nets, right after ice out. Followed up later in the spring with electro shocking, noting percentage of shocked fish that had fin clips. Then all season they had a fisheries tech on the lake talking to anglers, doing creel survey. Last time I talked to him was late October.
On the first day of the northern zone musky season, I caught a low 30s musky. Would not have measured but noticed it had a fin clip, so I measured and contacted the DNR as we had been asked to do. At first the guy said they had not clipped that fin but after looking at the data he said it had been captured and that it was one of a couple they could not determine gender, hence the different clip. He told me where they had placed the fyke net and the fish was caught no more than 100 yards from there and at almost the same depth as the net was set.
My wife upon hearing this said, "figures, it was dumb enough to go in the net, dumb enough for you to catch".
Edited by North of 8 9/18/2022 12:36 PM
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Posts: 716
| How far do they go...as far as they want. Leech lake studies showed massive numbers of fish leaving the weeds in Portage bay and showing up on the rocks (early fall location)10-15 miles away the same day ...they would generally all pull out at about the same time. A fish "on" a spot could be there minutes, hour days or months depending on if it's needs are being met...and can abandon that area in seconds if it feels threats to its survival are present. We have pictures of number of fish caught in exactly the same location fall after fall so they obviously like that area for that time of year BUT are not there in the warm water months. So like most questions in fishing the answer should always start with "in general". |
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Posts: 205
| The Manitowish Chain study done by Weeks some years back suggested the fish moved throughout the chain during certain times of the year but tended to use a 4 to 5 acre home ranges with 41% preferring vegetation, 18% sand and rock and 12% spending most of their time in open water. Not suggesting this is set in stone but certainly food for thought
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Location: Athens, Ohio | The answer really goes back, I think, to Buck Perry: the deep water is the home of the fish and they move up to various levels to feed and breed along well-established routes. m |
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Posts: 1392
Location: Brighton CO. | In the big Canadian Lakes the home range could be miles, in say a Chain Of Lakes in Wisconsin the fish can move between lakes. The largest fish I've ever seen was in Canada we saw it on a reef and it was caught a released before the season the next year a mile and half away. (I'm sure it was the same fish due to it's size) When I was a teenager a local Muskie fisherman was working a Hybrid he had seen on a point and the neighbors pointed out to him there was a Hybrid living under there dock. The fish was feeding on the point and resting under the pier. This was a natural Hybrid I'm sure it was the same fish. 200 yards between the point and the pier. |
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Posts: 8781
| We've had several different days on Eagle where we were moving multiple fish. (we lost count at 24 in one morning) Every one of them did the same thing: Followed out of an expanse of weeds, never turned on a lure, and kept right on going. It was flat and bright that day so you could see them plain as day. "Here comes one! Annnd there it goes. Yep. Still going..." They all appeared to be heading out into the main lake basin from what we could tell. Later that afternoon we found them all piled up in a shallow bay. They were moving on everything but no takers. We decided to grab a quick bite and head back closer to sunset/moonrise. Maybe an hour passed. We went back thinking we were gonna score big time. Not one single fish showed itself. So not an answer to your question necessarily, but it's happened enough to convince me that they move from place to place with a purpose, they do it all at the same time, and anybody who thinks muskies are solitary is wrong. My catch rate definitely went up after those experiences when it occurred to me that if there's one in there (wherever "there" is at the time) it's there for a reason, it's probably not alone, and whatever its doing the other ones probably are too. |
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Posts: 1276
| Our chapter has helped pay for transmitters that the DNR has implanted in a number of different species, on the St. Croix. They have receivers all up and down the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers. Every time a fish goes by a receiver, it pings the fish. They have recorded some interesting data. One muskie was recorded going all the way up the northern section, and back down through locks, way down the Mississippi, and back. Frequently making these long treks. Others barely leave a one mile stretch of river. These fish can go wherever, whenever, they want, and I think there are a variety of factors that may stimulate a fish to go to certain places at certain times. Some of these stimulants may be recurring, and others one offs. I think it's crazy how they can totally learn how to navigate the locks, and regularly use them. |
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Posts: 57
| However far they want or need to go , muskies caught off Milwaukee last summer in 150-200’ ???? That’s a hell of a swim from anywhere they’re stocked . How many musky get pulled out of Green Bay chasing schools of alewives or whitefish, we don’t know and may never . Look at it this way, how far will you go for a good or favorite meal ? |
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Posts: 504
Location: Ludington, MI | Man, you guys get all our brown trout and now all our muskies from Michigan rivermouth lakes are heading over there too? Lol. |
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| They DO get around... A joint Michigan/Ontario muskie tracking study acoustically-tracked fish #007 (named him Bond – James Bond, of course) from lower Lake Saint Clair to Buffalo, NY and back, TWICE now. Each round trip in less than one calendar year. https://www.mlive.com/news/2021/06/with-tag-007-james-the-muskie-travels-hundreds-of-miles-in-great-lakes-helping-dnr-along-the-way.html
Edited by Chemi 9/18/2022 7:52 PM
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Posts: 2325
Location: Chisholm, MN | Looks like everyone has this topic covered. The only way to know is to actually track it. Different bodies of water will be completely different. Small lakes, obviously the fish can't go far. But big lakes, and rivers - the possibilities are endless. The only thing you can do is keep fishing the spot. It held a big fish for a reason and if you don't catch the same one, you may have another shot at a different fish. Time of year will play into it as well - like stated above. |
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Location: PA Angler | From what I’ve heard and read in some articles is that once you hook or cause them to say warm up and move fast they get hot so they move to cooler waters to cool down.
Another one is if one is there than more will come in it place. Who’s to say the same one won’t come back. If you try a couple days and don’t see it again my guess would be it cool down and went on to it’s next hunting grounds. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | The other possibility is that some crappie fisherman came in and hooked her before you got back. m
Edited by mikie 9/19/2022 11:51 AM
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Posts: 57
| tundrawalker00 - 9/18/2022 6:29 PM
Man, you guys get all our brown trout and now all our muskies from Michigan rivermouth lakes are heading over there too? Lol. Not sure there’s any evidence that either of those things are happening, Wisconsin stocks a ton of brown trout all over Lake Michigan. And fin clips of said musky indicated they were of Green Bay origin stocks . Now who knows if that’s hearsay ??? But it’s entirely possible! |
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Location: Northern Illinois | Do you guys go back after her later when that happens or just let it go? |
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Location: NW WI | mm3 - 9/19/2022 8:12 PM
Do you guys go back after her later when that happens or just let it go?
Ohhh yeah u bet your bottom I'm going back buddy. It's personal at that point, it haunts me if I don't go back. If you go back 1-infinite times and don't see her, we'll at least your pride and personal creed is intact. If you don't go back, than how can you expect to see her ever again?
Granted travel convenience has a roll in how easy it is to go back on her. But if she's worth it to you, than she's worth fighting for.
I should be a counselor ha!
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Location: PA Angler | mm3 - 9/19/2022 8:12 PM
Do you guys go back after her later when that happens or just let it go?
Doesn’t hurt to try if you have the time. At least you can say you tried. |
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Posts: 390
| Telemetry study for GB, pretty cool stuff
https://www3.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/wicfru/Pages/Musky-Maps-.aspx |
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Posts: 2269
Location: SE, WI. | I remember a Study done, think it was LOTW’s, where muskies were tracked by transmitter anywhere from 7-13 miles a day. A Guy named John Kraker that recruited me into M Inc. and I used to tag muskies in Pewaukee lake, SEast WI. back in the 80’s, then a couple of years later the tagged muskies were caught in the Fox chain in Illinois… JD |
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Location: Ludington, MI | Very cool link, thanks! |
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Location: oswego, il | Each fish is unique in how and where it moves within the lake or lakes that it lives in. There was a fish in pewaukee that pretty much circled the island out in front of Smokey's. There's a fish on lake Erie that travels from up the Detroit river to the east end of Erie. There's no real way to know where that fish went other than checking back especially in successive years around the same time frame. |
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Posts: 552
Location: deephaven mn | Nolen Ryba caught a 52 7/8 on a Deep weed edge on a hump on thursday before the PMTT on Minnetonka
Jason Hammernick caught a 52 7/8 on a deep weed edge on a hump on Friday that was a mile and 1/2 away.
same fish? quite possible as the number of multiple 52 7/8 's many not be more then one. hmmmm.? |
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Posts: 268
Location: Central Pennsylvania | I can't say much for in a days period but yesterday during a tournament I had a 33" not get hooks on a bucktail and came back later in the day and hooked it again same, on a glide. I can tell you fish do travel far, I raised a mammoth size tiger 20 miles downstream from where they are stocked originally in the lake. This fish had swam way down river and apparently gotten big. |
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Posts: 415
Location: MN | kap - 11/7/2022 7:54 AM
Nolen Ryba caught a 52 7/8 on a Deep weed edge on a hump on thursday before the PMTT on Minnetonka
Jason Hammernick caught a 52 7/8 on a deep weed edge on a hump on Friday that was a mile and 1/2 away.
same fish? quite possible as the number of multiple 52 7/8 's many not be more then one. hmmmm.?
I remember that well! It's certainly possible that the fish swam that distance in a day. The part I find harder to believe is that it went through or around a few structures en route; it's not a total straight shot or down an obvious edge to get from A to B. I kind of think they were different fish, but the length comparison makes you think. Comparing pictures didn't really settle it either.
I had a similar experience on same water when I caught my PB. I had a report that Thursday night a friend of a friend was "camping on a legal" (54+ in MN) that was using the sand on a major point. They apparently had seen it several times but couldn't get it to go. The following night I drove past the spot (there was a boat on it) on my way to another shallow sand spot about 3/4 mile away (as the crow flies) where I caught a 55.5". The deep edges of those spots are connected by a relatively straight line about 1 mile long. To me it seems very likely that the fish left the first spot, swam down the line over the next 24 hours, and then popped up onto the second spot that evening where I caught it. If that fish was roaming like that over one day, it could plausibly be anywhere in that section of the lake within a few days. |
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Posts: 390
| According to telemetry some fish swim 60 miles in 3 days! I have also witnessed the same fish caught 2.5 years apart on the exact same spot, once in spring, once in fall... I have no idea how far or fast each fish will move, which is why I always immediately circle back a couple times on an active fish. |
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| Some of these travel statistics are amazing. You have to wonder what drives it. Supposedly in nature, critters conserve energy, they use energy moving and do it for safety, feeding or procreation. Why would a musky swim 60 miles in 3 days? Big expenditure of energy. |
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| North of 8 - 11/19/2022 3:04 PM
Some of these travel statistics are amazing. You have to wonder what drives it. Supposedly in nature, critters conserve energy, they use energy moving and do it for safety, feeding or procreation. Why would a musky swim 60 miles in 3 days? Big expenditure of energy.
That remains a mystery... Seasonal movements aside, there's really no reason for them to travel father than they need to to find food, a place to digest said food and somewhere to sit undisturbed. Perhaps since they are river fish there's some built in instinct to migrate? |
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Posts: 526
Location: NW WI | esoxaddict - 11/20/2022 5:53 PM
North of 8 - 11/19/2022 3:04 PM
Some of these travel statistics are amazing. You have to wonder what drives it. Supposedly in nature, critters conserve energy, they use energy moving and do it for safety, feeding or procreation. Why would a musky swim 60 miles in 3 days? Big expenditure of energy.
That remains a mystery... Seasonal movements aside, there's really no reason for them to travel father than they need to to find food, a place to digest said food and somewhere to sit undisturbed. Perhaps since they are river fish there's some built in instinct to migrate?
Looking at alot of other examples in the world; Communication/Courtship might have a role. Only so much can be learned from a tag. Pretty neat to think though, that we're only going to learn more as time goes on. |
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Posts: 759
| Don't know how many of you seen the shark week episode of the big great white shark that swam from islands around Mexico all the way, over 2000 miles of open ocean , to the coast of Hawaii. Why did the fish swim that far? The hosts of the show had no answers. To compare, both fish are apex predators and basically can swim and go wherever they want. Kdawg |
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| kdawg - 11/21/2022 8:32 AM
Don't know how many of you seen the shark week episode of the big great white shark that swam from islands around Mexico all the way, over 2000 miles of open ocean , to the coast of Hawaii. Why did the fish swim that far? The hosts of the show had no answers. To compare, both fish are apex predators and basically can swim and go wherever they want. Kdawg
And the Humpback whales that spend the spring and summer in the waters off Alaska go to waters off Hawaii to have their young and basically don't feed until they return to Alaskan waters. The biologists have known that pattern for decades. They feed constantly when in the coastal waters off Alaska to build fat reserves for the journey across the Pacific. Not all do, my sister has one that frequents the inlet she lives on in SE Alaska. They call him 'no-tail' because when he dives he normally does not show his tail, unlike most. Saw him in early April when I was there to build a shed for them.
I think it is kind of neat that we don't know just why all these creatures do some of the things they do. |
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Posts: 1291
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | On November 24th, 2014, we caught a 43 inch male on the St. Lawrence River. Last week, on the same date, my buddie caught him again in the same spot. He is now 47 inches.
Conversely, we got one a few years ago that had been tagged in another river 9 years previously and when we recaptured it, it had traveled 2 rivers away and about 14 miles!
Edited by Larry Ramsell 11/29/2022 10:13 AM
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| We all know that some fish hang out in the same areas for days, weeks, or even all season. We know about seasonal migrations, spawning areas, and how they respond to temperature (seeking warmer water when it's cold and colder water when it's hot)... In smaller inland lakes there's really nowhere for them to go anyway. But where they can, some fish travel remarkable distances for no apparent reason. If not to spawn, find food, or a place to sit and do what muskies most often do (which is nothing) what's the pull? From an evolutionary standpoint, they should be able to remember where to go when they need to eat, but you don't leave food to find food.
I have read some studies that say they will instinctively return to the place there they hatched in order to breed, so that explains some of it. What does that mean for hatchery fish? Are they the ones that travel huge distances because they're trying to find their way "home"? That would make for a fascinating tracking study. |
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How far do they go?