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| I'm a little over the top with my passion for muskies. Not only do I love catching and studying them, I also raise them and am currently stocking my 2.5 acre pond with loads of forage so that one day maybe I'll get to live my dream - crossbreed (synthetically) a great lakes or leech lake fish with a northern strain. I was wondering if anyone out there has ever heard of the results of such a cross, or if anyone has seen what they thought was a cross in nature. There are not many areas where the 2 species co-exist, but there are a few out there. A while back, probably 1999 or 2000, there was a retired Wisconsin DNR fisheries biologist who had a similar pond to mine with the 2 strains, and he reported some of his interesting observations on the old muskiecentral forum (I think his name was Bill Synder). I remember he got good natural reproduction, but did not think they did any crossbreeding as far as he could tell. Since it seems a general trend in nature, as with the other fish I have crossbred, that the more genetic diversity the more vigor the offspring typically have, I am especially curious about what results such a "mini-hybrid" would have. Any info that folks have out there would be greatly appreciated! Thanks. |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Since hybrid Pike and Spotted happens, one has to wonder about the possibility. I did catch a few barred muskies very early in the 80's on the Goon, but never saw a cross I could identify as such. After about 88, I have since not caught a barred fish there either. |
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | unless I'm off, isnt this what he's asking about?
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| i think he's asking about a hybrid between spotted/Leech strain and northern strain muskies.
ie., not a tiger like in the picture (muskie x northern pike), but a hybrid of muskie types. |
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | OH |
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Posts: 236
| Cool Pond. What do you mean when you say northern strain? |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | Wisconsin strain...aka the barred musky |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Michigan DNR often refers to their true Muskellunge as Northern Strain(our barred fish here in WI). I am pretty sure that is what he has referenced. |
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| Yeah, the "northern strain" nomenclature was adapted from Wisconsin and Michigan DNR's terminology. A synanom would be "riverine" strain. Pretty much it's the general term for muskies that are not Leech Lake, Great Lakes, or otherwise spotted strains. Some folks like to call them "barred"...geez that's a lot of ways to say the same thing. There are only a handful of areas where they coexist with each other, some of which are thanks to stockings. In some areas that I'm thinking of the big spotteds have striking poka-dot coloration, while the riverines have typical clear/barred olive coloration - a cross between those types should really stand out...if anyone ever happens to snap a photo of one!
Thanks for the response so far. |
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