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| What do they do?
Has there been a study on this? |
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| Jason, I would think that it depends somewhat on what the base temperature of winter might be in your area. In northern states where the lake is frozen up I am not even sure what the water temp would be under the ice. My guess is that there is a temperature at which the fish eventually shut off feed wise but where they spend their time would be an intersting question.
Down where the lakes do not freeze or stay frozen I think we see a different metabolism than what you view on lakes that are icebound.
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| I fished alot in a large ice shack on Pelican for years, with 6 holes drilled in the front. We covered the windows if we were not Tip-Up fishing, so we could see down the holes in about 7 feet of water. Muskies would cruise through all the time on the weededge we were parked over, and would stop and look at the bait but rarely take it.
One thing for sure, when one of the big girls approached, the gills 'vaporized.'[:bigsmile:] [:bigsmile:] |
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| I think that last winter, they spent their time monitoring MuskieFirst.com![;)] I'm quite convinced they read every post of mine, figured out my pattern, and proceeded to keep the new boat skunked for over 2 months![:0] [;)] [:bigsmile:] |
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| The smart ones hop a plane for warmer weather, the dumb ones freeze their a$$e$ off with the rest of us dummies. Only 6 more months til the opener.[:knockout:] |
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| I think they have lectures on all baits that anglers lost on snags or due to backlashes. They examine them closely and then add them to a database. By springtime all muskies have been alerted and they are extremely tough to catch. [:bigsmile:] [:bigsmile:] [:bigsmile:]
either that or they play checkers [:praise:] |
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| As to the question about what the water temp. would be under the ice, it works opposite in frozen situations. Water is most dense (and heaviest) at 4 deg C (40 deg F). This 4 deg C water therefore sinks to the bottom, with colder water layering up to the surface where 0 deg C water (32 deg F) meets the ice. Coldest at the ice, warmest at the bottom. My guess would be that muskies would prefer to be in the warmest water (closest to their preferred water temp), which is at the bottom. From what I've read, they are not very active under the ice, but will eat if an easy meal presents itself.
Keep your hooks sharp. |
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| I think the shutdown on musky feeding is probably some type of time/temperature coefficient in that an extended period of time under the ice, which would entail a stable low temperature, shuts them off. If it was temperature alone they would shut off in the south too, but that does not seem to be the case. My theory is that the temperature variations in open water fisheries keep flipping the turn on switch for musky feeding. Without this warmer/colder variation my theory would postulate that even with open water, long periods of cold stable temps knock out the feeding circuit.
It is interesting to wonder also if a fish has a choice of warmer temps, possibly 5-7 degrees in winter, and is not feeding and is basically dormant, would not the laws of energy conservation predict fish location in the COLDEST water, and thus most metabolically stable, than for the fish to locate in the warmest water, which might make metabolic demands that really aren't easily fulfilled by this particular species in cold water? |
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| FSF,
I find that interesting and I see you have put some thought into it. Neat observation!
We do catch muskies...not as often..but we do on shinners fishing for walleyes thru the ice with tip ups.
I wonder if its just a cold water presentation thing. Most ice anglers use wax worms on tear drop jigs. Not the most exciting presentation for a 30lb muskie. Now if it were legal to shove a 8' rod in a hole and twitch a minnow baits or do figure 8's you have to wonder what would happen. Opening day temps are really only 5 to 10 degrees warmer then now. Under the ice its a constant 39 degrees. |
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| Well I am not overly tied to my theory here but this was my line of thinking.
Most, not all, but most musky catches are on early ice.
Musky do not grow through the winter appreciably, as opposed to the northern pike which do a lot of growing UNDER the ice. Or at least that is what I read in a magazine.
The sea run salmon also strike at things in front of their nose as they come into fresh water although they are consistently found with empty stomachs, but once again that brings up feeding behaviour or striking behaviour, and who wants to dig into that one this early in the winter. Maybe the musky system is shut down to the point that hunger translates into a minnow rather than a full grown sucker, or the presentation of a minnow so close to the mouth overcomes the metabolism and the musky has a little treat to tide him over.
I am interested in why the water temperature under the ice would be consistently 39 degrees? There should be some variation top to bottom with the bottom maintaining the 39 degree temps, if that is how it works. I am unfamiliar with the thermal behaviours of water under ice. Does the spring thaw come because of radiation warming of the water below or a loss and evaporation of ice from the top?
The 5 degree difference you are talking about makes a tremendous difference when you talk about chemical reactions(ie digestion)and genetically may be keyed in to the musky system to tell the fish that it will soon be in an energy deficit situation if it does not begin to feed soon. The genetic coding could also turn the feeding light on to produce an energy surplus as temperatures drop.
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| Has anyone that was involved in a tracking study ever track through the ice to see what the Musky's were doing and what their movements were, or do they hang up the transmitter till spring.
Would be interesting to know. |
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| I know they tried on Pewaukee. But the ice was a problem recieving a signal Dr. Anderson said. They could but only on foot and they had to be real close. The engine on 4-wheelers messed up the signal he said.
It would have been interesting to see more of that. But bad ice and weather also play a factor in gathering that type of data. |
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| I mostly catch muskies while fishing for walleyes in deep water, some come early ice on the weedlines but most are deep. last Saturday a friend of mines partner iced a fat 49 inch muskie while fishing for walleyes, care to guess how deep she was? Well I know the spot well and considering he had his tip-ups set 6 to 8 inches off the bottom that puts her at 30 foot. I think they hang out between 20 and 30 foot because I have seen them on a camera last year from 22 to 30 foot both times I had the camera out. [:praise:] |
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| The large telemetry study done on the BigO in the early ninetys showed that muskies spend their winter in shallow bays near their spawning grounds. They could be found on the same bays year after year. I was surprised as to just how shallow of water they were hangning around in.
During that study they would use boats to track in the soft water season and planes for the hard water time. |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | What would make a muskie go shallow in the winter on rivers? To avoid current I would guess. |
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Posts: 1430
Location: Eastern Ontario | I think current is only one factor, food must be another. Even tho they do not eat much in the winter I am sure they don't want to chase anything whenever they do. |
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Posts: 743
| i just want to test my new pic. |
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Posts: 743
| pic test |
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Posts: 1291
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | According to a tracking study done by Mike Dombeck in the Hayward area, the muskies showed maximum movement in the fall and the spring and minimal movement in the winter. One fish left its winter home range when oxygen levels became depleted and returned when they recovered.
Muskie regards,
Larry Ramsell
www.larryramsell.com |
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Found a super tanker 41.5 inch muskie in 28 foot of water last Wednesday, this fish ate a golden shiner 27 feet down at sunset. She must have hung around that area because we didn't catch a single walleye that night. This was one of the largest girth 41.5 inch muskies that I ever caught, she must have went 20#, her stomach was over stuffed with something large, good to see them eating in the winter. Lots of small muskies caught this winter on the weed beds but all the big fish were caught in deep water. |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Unlike most of what is written I feel muskies still feed reqularly in the wintertime. I have on several occasions seen muskies chase food under my hole, and one time chased a bluegill I had on. This past weekend my bro and I saw a musky chase a smaller northern while we had the OVS camera oyt. Pretty cool. I guess I don't understand why the general thought is that muskies don't feed in the winter. Maybe it's because not many get caught in the winter, but that could be from multiple reasons.
1. Seasons closed in WI so they are not really targeted.
2. Big enough baits are not being used.
3. It's hard to catch them in the summer when I'm persuing them, why would it be any easier to catch them in the winter. Don't cover the water like we do in the summer for the most part.
This is just speculation, but I don't think they feed much less than they do in the summer. |
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How do muskies spend there winters?