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Posts: 80
| Just spreading the news (I didn't see this posted already) those in support of this (why wouldn't you be) please send an email to the Brainderd Fisheries office:
-John
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Brainerd Area Fisheries Office
1601 Minnesota Drive
Brainerd, MN 56401
218-828-2550
218-828-2735
[email protected]
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From the Brainerd Dispatch
Gull may be stocked with muskies
By VINCE MEYER
Outdoors Editor
The king of freshwater game fish might be coming to Gull Lake.
Muskellunge, which can grow to 50 pounds and are revered by anglers for their fighting ability, could be stocked in Gull Lake in the fall of 2007 if a DNR plan is approved.
Gull has the makings of a good muskie lake, said Tim Brastrup, DNR area fisheries manager in Brainerd. It's big, has clear water, varied habitat and large numbers of ciscoes and white suckers, the muskie's preferred prey.
The stocked fish would number 2,500 and measure 12-14 inches. They would come from Leech Lake or another lake with the Leech Lake strain of muskie. Brastrup said he doesn't expect the survival rate to be high and that northern pike will always be far more abundant in Gull Lake.
"What it would provide is another trophy fishery," Brastrup said. "Muskies get big, live a long time and get recycled a lot."
Presently, the Mississippi River is the only body of water in Crow Wing County with a sustainable population of muskies. Rice Lake was scheduled to be stocked last fall, but the ponds with fingerlings froze too early and the plan was put on hold until this spring. Gull would be the second lake in the county to get muskies and Brastrup sees the lake as a good fit.
"There's a lot of fishing pressure on other lakes that are managed for muskies," Brastrup said. "Having a big lake with muskies in the middle of the Brainerd area would be good for everybody."
Not everybody embraces the idea, however. Marv Koep, founder of the Nisswa Guides League, said he enjoys muskie fishing but he doesn't see the need for muskies in Gull.
"The DNR's done a great job on Gull as a walleye fishery," Koep said. "Why change anything? If I want muskies I can drive 30 minutes in any direction. I'm not anti-muskie, but Gull is such a good lake right now why mess with it?"
Len Hodgson, a fishing guide since 1974 and an avid muskie fisherman, also doesn't see the need for muskies in Gull.
"Stock them in Gull and they could get into Round, Margaret, Roy, Spider and potentially the Cullen chain," Hodgson said. "Gull is well known as a walleye lake. It's not like we're starved for good muskie lakes."
Bill Rickmeyer, president of the Gull Chain of Lakes Association, had no comment on the plan and said it hasn't been discussed formally at an association meeting.
Muskie stocking has run into opposition around Minnesota in the past. A group called No More Muskies lobbied for the end of muskie stocking in Lake Carlos in Douglas County. Property owners on Lake Alexander have voiced their opposition to muskie stocking in that Morrison County lake.
Most opposition is based on the belief that muskies are such voracious predators that they reduce other game fish populations. Jim Lilienthal, DNR area fisheries manager in Little Falls, said there's no evidence to support those claims.
"The effects of stocking muskies in Lake Alexander has not been very pronounced, other than producing a very good muskie fishery," Lilienthal said. "We were concerned at first that they would impact other species. But all the surveys we've done - and there have been a lot - have not indicated that we have a problem with walleyes or crappies."
Added Brastrup: "Some of the best walleye lakes in Minnesota - Mille Lacs, Winnie, Lake of the Woods - have muskies."
Gull already has a few muskies. During a Northerns Inc. tournament last summer four muskies were landed by tournament fishermen, including two that measured 46 inches and 42 inches. Brastrup said the fish probably were among walleye fingerlings that were stocked in the lake. He added that Gull might have suitable habitat to sustain natural reproduction of muskies.
For now, however, Brastrup said he would be happy to see the stocking plan follow an orderly process.
"I want to be honest with people about doing this," he said. "Nothing will be done below board. I hope we have cooperative, respectful meetings where anybody who has anything to say will say it."
The first public meeting to discuss the stocking plan will take place this summer, Brastrup said.
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BRAINERD, Minn. (AP) – The muskellunge, a ferocious freshwater game fish that can grow to 50 pounds, could become part of the food chain in northern Minnesota’s Gull Lake.
The Department of Natural Resources has proposed stocking the lake with 2,500 muskies measuring 12-14 inches in the fall of 2007.
Gull Lake has qualities that would allow muskies to thrive, said Tim Brastrup, DNR area fisheries manager in Brainerd. The lake is big enough, has clear water, varied habitat and sufficient populations of ciscoes and white suckers, the muskie’s prey of choice.
Brastrup said he doesn’t anticipate a high survival rate among the stocked muskies and that northern pike will continue to be much more plentiful in Gull Lake.
“What it would provide is another trophy fishery,” Brastrup said. “Muskies get big, live a long time and get recycled a lot.”
Marv Koep, founder of the Nisswa Guides League, said he doesn’t think there’s a need for muskies in Gull.
“The DNR’s done a great job on Gull as a walleye fishery,” Koep said. “Why change anything? If I want muskies I can drive 30 minutes in any direction.
I’m not anti-muskie, but Gull is such a good lake right now why mess with it?”
Some believe that muskies’ voracious appetites can reduce the numbers of other game fish. Jim Lilienthal, DNR area fisheries manager in Little Falls, said there isn’t evidence to support those beliefs.
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | This is going to be a huge battle with a lot of opposition. Gull Lake could be a world class type of musky fishery. If you spend anytime fishing in MN for muskies, it's very important that you speak up and voice your support. If everyone in favor of this voices their support (and that's a huge if), there's no reason that this won't go through. Unfortunately, those in favor of issues such as this are usually the ones that remain silent and the people opposed show up in huge numbers.
Please make sure you contact the appropriate people to voice your support. Tim Brastrup of the Brainerd Fisheries department is the one leading the way on this proposal. The first public input meeting for this proposal will be in July sometime. It's at this meeting that we will need as many people as possible to show up to support this. If they have the meeting and it's 75% against and 25% in favor, this could have a huge negative impact on the future of Minnesota's musky fishery. At the very least, it would make things much more difficult when it comes to future stocking efforts. Let's show the DNR our support and show that there are many more people in favor than those that are opposed.
Aaron | |
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| It is funny how the MN DNR asks everyone and there uncle when they want to stock muskies but when they stop stocking muskies they could care less about anybody's opinion. I also find it amusing that the head of a guide association would be against stocking muskies that would increase guiding opportunities on that body of water. Finally, MUSKIES DON'T EAT WALLEYES IN ANY SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS PEOPLE every study on muskies diet has lead to the same conclusion. I hope the stocking happens but if the DNR is going to listen to the uneducated the plan is doomed from the start. | |
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | DJS,
As musky fishermen, we can't take the approach that it's "doomed from the start" if they're going to listen to the uneducated. They're going to listen to everyone, educated or uneducated. The DNR will listen to concerns. But they will also have to weigh how legitimate these concerns are. If we want the stocking to go through, we have to do something about it. We can't sit back and just hope that it happens. We actually have to take action and make sure that everyone that supports it either shows up or voices their support to the DNR in some manner. If it doesn't go through I only see that as a sign that the musky fishermen failed themselves.
There is going to be opposition to everything no matter what it is. And there are going to be people whose minds you aren't going to change. Those aren't the people that we have to be worried about. It's the people that are open minded or are on the fence about which side they are on...those are the people that we can educate. If you approach things the right way, most people will be receptive to what you have to say.
If you back your stance up with factual data and present it in a professional and civil manner, it's going to go a long way. If the people in favor are civil, present factual data, and show that they care about the resource.....and then you have opposition that gets worked up and throws out a bunch of off the wall ideas, who are the people on the fence more likely to side with?
When I discuss this issue with people that are opposed, it's really interesting to me what happens. They end up going away.....
Seriously, if you have someone that's opposed for various reasons that can't be backed up, call them out on it. But do it in a polite way. Make sure that they know that you can understand their concerns. Ask them questions (again, politely) as to why they feel a certain way. And if you have the factual information that goes against their claims, bring those facts up. The opposition can only debate something so long when they don't have facts to back up their claims.
If this stocking proposal doesn't go through, we as musky fishermen will only have ourselves to blame.
Aaron
Edited by AWH 3/31/2006 8:40 PM
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| The MPLS sports show just got over this weekend and our club had a booth selling raffle tickets,, during the course of the show I heard a few guys talking about this both favorable and against,,,we HAVE to make an effort to be there when the public input meeting happens,,hopefully we can get a big carpool organized for TC area anglers to come,, | |
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Gull Lake, Brainderd MN Musky Stocking