Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???
doubledeuce
Posted 4/19/2013 10:47 AM (#635995)
Subject: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Posts: 9


http://heartlandoutdoors.com/lakedoc/story/super_fat_muskie_and_a_n...

Go about 1/4 of the way down this page and check out what these mopes are doing to the muskie they caught.
tcbetka
Posted 4/19/2013 10:54 AM (#635999 - in reply to #635995)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Location: Green Bay, WI
Yeah, it's call necropsy...although obviously crude in this case. I'm not sure why they aren't making the fish available to be stocked (transplanted) elsewhere though--maybe by working with some of their local biologists? Maybe they have and the biologists weren't interested, who knows. It doesn't really talk much about it there, but his writing suggests that maybe this is a private pond, and they've just stocked whatever they wanted to in that water body?

TB
doubledeuce
Posted 4/19/2013 10:58 AM (#636000 - in reply to #635995)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Posts: 9


I suppose they can do whatever they want on a private lake, but this kind of caught me off guard a little I suppose.
Guest
Posted 4/19/2013 11:09 AM (#636001 - in reply to #635995)
Subject: RE: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???


Actuall DNR departments do this to study the fish as well, they will keep a couple from netting to inspect.
tcbetka
Posted 4/19/2013 11:27 AM (#636006 - in reply to #636001)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Location: Green Bay, WI
Sure--there's a lot to learn from necropsy. In medical school we completely dissected a cadaver...COMPLETELY. And autopsies are routinely performed to find cause of death under suspicious circumstances. The point is that there is MUCH information to be gained from dissection, so to see someone do this is nothing of great concern. If the fish was harvested legally, then it is what it is. There's nothing of great concern to me there. However what I was most concerned about from that article, is that the author made it sound as though he simply no longer had a use for the muskies in that body of water, so they would all be harvested. Seems like a waste to me...

TB
joemsanderson
Posted 4/19/2013 6:01 PM (#636120 - in reply to #635995)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Posts: 150


Location: Central Minnesota
I hope they get mercury poisoning. Just kidding I guess they can do what they want as long as they follow the law. Just tough for us Muskie nuts to see.

Edited by joemsanderson 4/19/2013 6:31 PM
leech lake strain
Posted 4/19/2013 7:38 PM (#636141 - in reply to #635995)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Posts: 536


he says harvest all over 28" put em in and take them out after they are no longer needed! makes no sense why did they put pure strain in there in the first place, they could of just put the right amount of tiger muskie in there instead?
tcbetka
Posted 4/19/2013 7:57 PM (#636147 - in reply to #636141)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???




Location: Green Bay, WI
leech lake strain - 4/19/2013 7:38 PM

he says harvest all over 28" put em in and take them out after they are no longer needed! makes no sense why did they put pure strain in there in the first place, they could of just put the right amount of tiger muskie in there instead?


That was my point...

Maybe those fish could be transplanted in another body of water, if the local biologist(s) could be consulted. They don't taste that bad, but they don't taste that good either. It's not like they are a gourmet fish by any means. We baked a few 28-32" muskies when I was a young lad. Sure they were edible, but we would much rather have had walleye, perch or even smaller pike.

Seems like a waste of good musky, and your idea of putting in tigers would seem to be a good one...

TB
Beaver
Posted 4/19/2013 7:59 PM (#636148 - in reply to #636141)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???





Posts: 4266


Judging by the size of the bluegills in the pictures, I think they want the skis to keep the gills from getting stunted. They also said that they were worried about smallies being in the fish. If they want them in until 28"' they should work with the DNR and do spring nettings and remove the fish that they don't want and transplant them.
That is quite a sizeable 'private pond' from what I can see. It must be deep and spring fed to have Rainbows in it. One thing for sure, I'd love to have permission to fish it! Three bluegills would fill me up 8P
ToddM
Posted 4/19/2013 8:14 PM (#636151 - in reply to #635995)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???





Posts: 20216


Location: oswego, il
odd that a muskie would be useless after it reaches 28". I cant imagine they are anything but stocked. would be interesting to know the whole story.
gunnr
Posted 4/19/2013 8:46 PM (#636157 - in reply to #636151)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???





Posts: 110


Their business is setting up and managing ponds. If you see some of the pics of the bluegills, perch, bass, etc. that the ponds produce, you can tell he knows what he's doing. As far as the muskys go, just a guess, but he probably doesn't have the numbers to make it worthwhile for transplanting and just throwing them in another body of water is too risky as far spreading disease, parasites, etc. BTW, the picture was tough for me to look at too, but it is a private pond and the fish were paid for with private funds so they can pretty much do what they want with the fish.
Beaver
Posted 4/20/2013 4:15 PM (#636344 - in reply to #636157)
Subject: Re: Seriously? Opening up a muskie for curiosity???





Posts: 4266


I can see the 28" thing. Fish that size probably eat lots of bluegills. One they get bigger, their appetitive might change to trout or other suspending fish and their bluegill diet would change making them less usefull as a bluegill eating machine. If all of those fish are from the same private lake, it must be somewhere with warm water because of the Stripers. Don't they need warm water? Why not stock Pike to keep the gills from stunting, or do they do too good of a job at eating. My nephew hunted a ranch in Kansas that had two "tanks" on it. He asked if he could fish it between morning and evening sits and got permission. The first tank he fished, he caught 50 Bluegills that were 12". He asked if he could keep them, and the rancher told him to get the sheet fresh out of there, he wanted the big gills out so he could fatten up the fish he wanted in there on the small gills. Fish of choice? He wanted Catfish in the tanks and said it was hard to catch them once the gills got big, so he would throw them in the bushes. My nephew caught more than 500 12"+ Bluegills out of the two tanks. He ate gills and venison while the rancher ate beef and catfish. Different strokes I guess. Heck, if I could have a lake that size, I'd want gills....but not that big, I'd eat 'em when they got to 10"......I'd have Largemouth for predator fish, Catfish and Bullheads to help keep it clean, and Muskies that I would let grow and grow. I'm sure that they would keep the Bullheads in check, but I used to eat Bullheads like an Eagle when we would catch 16"ers in The Mississippi River in March and April. They were yummy. Haven't seen any of them in years.