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Posts: 79
Location: West Virginia | Just read where DNR stated that out of 1000 muskies stocked, 99 make it 30", 26 make it to 40", and only 6 or 7 make it 50". And people wonder why we preach "CPR" so much. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | On top of that just think of the guys that are putting in the time & effort to get it done and will most likely never be able to see the fruits of their labors! I mean the guys that deal with the politics to get new Muskie waters, the MMA, the HC Becker fund that accounts for the wise spending of the funds entrusted making sure that progress is on-going. These guys all volunteer all their time, make the trips to the meetings and to the politicians to speak up and be the voice heard. To push for new waters and help encourage new studies and arrange funding. Each state has an organization, and each organization has these great people working endlessly on ours & our grandchildrens behalf & this Great Fish we call Muskie. Hard to say thank you enough to you guys out there!! |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | 6-7 might even be a little high 3-4 wouldn't surprise me at all. Then consider the thousands of dollars it takes to rear those 1000 fall fingerlings, it makes those big girls worth a lot of money! |
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Location: Chisholm, MN | How old or how big are they when they are stocked? |
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Posts: 2361
| I believe the actual survival is quite variable and that figure comes from Couderay back in the day.
I don't really think this has been studied very well. |
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Posts: 123
| Are those WI or MN stats? I'd say the ratio of larger fish would naturally be higher in MN because of the higher length restrictions throughout the state. In all actuality though, you'd probably have an easier time determining how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop than finding out the REAL numbers.  |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Actually, if this data is from the documents I think it's from, those estimates are without any angling pressure at all.
In many Wisconsin waters, due to water chemistry and many other environmental factors, none will make it to 50". |
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Posts: 79
Location: West Virginia | I cant find the website that I was on when I read this article. The article wasnt really based on stocked Musky survival but leaned more toward the cost of stocking. I just pulled that quote out of it. I have no idea the validity of it. |
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Posts: 2361
| Those are probably WI stats. They had done a breakdown on predicting an outcome per 1,000 fingerlings.
Might be able to google it. I may be wrong but the 90% loss the first year was striking and I believe that is going to be the source. Study was ? late 50's and to 60's, and 10 year study I believe. |
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Posts: 2361
| "For example, one fall a Swan Lake resident reported finding 7 floy tags from recently stocked FFT musky that were defecated on his boat lift canopy by a Great Blue Heron, and other lifts were noted as having “resident” herons"!!!!!
Dug this comment out of some studies done on fall vs spring stocking cost effectiveness, wow, tough life being a little musky. I never have had any love lost for blue herons. There ought to be a season on them and on cormorants, imo.
Edited by firstsixfeet 3/2/2011 8:14 PM
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Posts: 149
| http://www.milwaukeemuskiesinc.com/PDFs/musky_report.pdf |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | It's roughly 10% of fingerlings and around 35% of yearling fish from everything I've heard. We're currently doing a study in the metro to learn what the yield of stocking these two sizes of fish would be. |
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Posts: 1247
Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | Here in NY State,years where the ice is off early and the muskies go into the spawning ritual a little earlier means the eggs are collected earlier as well.By getting an early start at the hatchery means musky fry get an earlier start on growing before stocking.But then you can get that year where winter was much more harsh,thicker ice,later melt off and later collection of the eggs,getting your musky fry started much later then normal.Muskie fry survival is much improved on the years where there is an early start,when the musky fry are moved outside ealier when the water temps are still at the highest temprature.The musky fry will feed more in warmer water temps and slowdown on feeding as the water gets colder.Some years you have other problems that may cause you to loose a large number of musky fry in their early stages.The fishermen here through benefit raffles and tournaments raise funds to purchase extra fathead minnows to add on top of what the state hatchery feeds the musky fry.The extra fatheads are added at the warmest water period when the musky fry are outside in the ponds,for extra growth before stocking.Numbers stocked are great but I believe the bigger the musky fry are when they are stocked,the better the survival rate.We also loose close to 30% to gulls and heron once the musky fry are moved outside,the hatchery raises extra musky fry so at the end they have the numbers alocated to be stocked.So those years where everything starts late due to climate conditions,the musky fry can be moved outside after the water temps are already cold and getting colder and there is not much growth and not very good survival rates from those years.Increased size limits will not help waters that have to many muskies per acer vs. forage base,better off with a slot limit some where in the middle so there is some thining in numbers while protecting large fish to get to trophy size.
Capt. Larry |
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Posts: 581
Location: deephaven mn | typically fry grow to around 10" to 14" in ponds the first year when then are stocked in lakes just before freeze up.
if they are left to winter over and grow the next full summer around 24'' can be expected, how ever there are
many variables that can effect growth
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Posts: 1247
Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | I do not know where you are getting your info from on musky fry growth.Average growth for musky fry from Prendergast Hatchery on Chautauqua Lake on a normal year,with no extra fathead minnows added to the outside feeding,is 9 Inches! With the musky fry making it off brine shrimp,then pellets inside,getting to outside ponds by late July and then getting extra fathead minnows on top of what they normaly get,you may see 10.5 to 11 Inchers by stocking time in late October.
Growth rates are not much from fall cold water through winter freeze up to spring thaw.Young of the year musky fry from spring electro shocking studies only show about 2 inches growth to a total of 11" on normaly stocked fry and 13" on extra minnow fed fry.We have thaught about holding musky fry over the winter inside for extra growth,but unless you warm the water up to 60 degrees +,you will not see much growth for all the money the project would cost.I could see somewhere like Cave Run Musky Hatchery getting eggs much earlier,hatching way earlier and having more growing time in the outside ponds,ending up with maybe 12 to 13 inch musky fry before stocking.Those released fry would get waters warming earlier in the spring to get an earlier start on growth for the year and may reach 17 inches by the fall of that year. I would like to see a fishery that can have muskies that grow from stocked fry to 24 inches in one year!
Here is a good read on Wisconsin Musky Fry Growth,avearge after 1 year is 14" tops! http://www.milwaukeemuskiesinc.com/PDFs/musky_report.pdf
Capt. Larry
Edited by LarryJones 3/4/2011 3:05 PM
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Posts: 540
| pretty sure his information is based upon the way the Minnesota muskie farm does it wich his information is correct, they dont feed pellets anymore they found the survival rate was much higher when feeding them sucker fry instead, I believe leech lake strain fry are from half inch long to one inch in May and then harvested in september at 10-12" and the tiger muskies are 12-14" |
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Posts: 540
| oh and they do say something on there mn muskie farm site about buying adult fish wich I believe there are saying yearlings at $35 a piece and it said average length was 24". The minnesota muskie farm was bought buy another outfit not too long ago and things may have changed, it has been awhile since I have been on there website. |
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Stocked Musky stats