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Posts: 714
Location: Rhinelander, WI | Before I go rummaging around the internet looking for this info I thought I would post it here, as somebody may be able to direct me directly to the correct location.
I there any studies done that show growth at age on Wisconsin Muskies. Muskies currently being used in the hatcheries or natural reproducing lakes.
Also any date on age of sexual maturity.
The information could be very helpful in some size limit research I am trying to put together.
What are your opinions on this subject, does the current state wide 34 inch limit give fish ample time to spawn before they are eligable for harvest?
Thank you!
Nail A Pig!
Mike
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| Mike,
send an e-mail to me at [email protected] and I'll try to find a way to share all the data I have.
Thanks,
Bob | |
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| Dave,
as to your question: My OPINION is that the 34 inch and 40 inch size limits are adequate to allow small slow growing muskies to reproduce numerous times before being subject to harvest. My OPINION is that they do not protect the truly large fish for even a single spawn.
I've had "experts" (No, I won't name them) that manage populations of large growing fish tell me that they seldom see females under 43" in their spawning sites, because they are not mature until they get that large. There is public information out there that shows this also.
Let's say you have two fish:
Fish 1 (female) matures at age 4 and 29 inches.
Fish 2 (female) matures at age 6 and 43 inches.
which fish do want in your lake? which is more likely to pass on it's genes in a lake with a 34 inch size limit?
Bob
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Data on Length at Age, & Age of Sexual Maturity?