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Posts: 193
Location: Mayer, MN | One day I am excited to read a news story about a good ol' boy from back home catching and releasing a muskie out of a little river that no locals would ever imagine holding such a fish and species. Muskies must be escapees from the Webster area. All connected to the St. Joe River too, which leads to Lake Michigan. Maybe some day there will be a very fishable population. The fish caught and released was just below a waterfall on the south side of the St. Joe and the illegally taken fish was in a park where a creek dumps into the St. Joe, so maybe there just is fish throughout the system and nobody fishing them.
"Bristol man finally lands ‘Beast’ of Elkhart River" (Picture of a nice fish too)
http://www.elkharttruth.com/article/20130505/NEWS01/705059977
Par for the course. Then a few days later I am brought back to reality about another local good ol' boy.
"Elkhart man accused of shooting big fish faces misdemeanor charge"
http://www.elkharttruth.com/article/20130510/NEWS05/705109964
Edited by lots of luck 5/10/2013 2:52 PM
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Posts: 13
| Just a quick clarification to this story.
The Joe and Elkhart water sheds are far from connected to the Webster area.
In fact the St. Joe system is north of the North/South continental divide flowing to the Atlantic and the Webster area is south of the Divide flowing to the Gulf of Mexico.
The St. Joe River has yielded some very nice Muskie thru the years and a 48" or larger fish seem to be caught about every 2-3years.
Indiana Fisheries Biologists noted a few years ago that a over 50" ski was viewed slurping up Steelhead fingerlings being released in the South Bend fish ladder.
maybe a Rainbow Trout crank bait is in order? |
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Posts: 193
Location: Mayer, MN | If they are not connected as you stated, then can you explain to me how they may have found their way into the river above the Mishawaka Dam? Below the dam I could understand, from Lake Michigan and then up the fish ladders. Comments by Dnr officials in the article I have attached suggest they very well could be from stocked Indiana lakes.
http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-06-26/news/29707440_1_nic...
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| There's a creek that flows out of skinner lake to the little Elkhart river |
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Posts: 193
Location: Mayer, MN | Guest - 5/11/2013 12:51 PM
There's a creek that flows out of skinner lake to the little Elkhart river
Thank you guest for the confirmation. Doesn't look like more than a judicial drainage ditch in places. That's quite the journey to the Elkhart River into the St. Joe River.
http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2012-10-14/news/34453924_1_mus... |
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| I believe dallas and waldron lake have muskie as well ehich is north of the dive and flow directly into the north branch of the elkhart. Maybe they came from there?
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Posts: 81
Location: Van Buren, Indiana | If there are/were muskie in Dallas or Waldron it would be from a very old stocking they have not been on the list for the last 5 years or more. Probably pike in those two lakes. More likely from Skinner as it has been stocked for 10 years or more at 5 per acre with 8-11 muskie fingerlings which could easily navigate a small ditch or creek!  |
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Posts: 13
| lots of luck - 5/11/2013 1:48 PM
If they are not connected as you stated, then can you explain to me how they may have found their way into the river above the Mishawaka Dam? Below the dam I could understand, from Lake Michigan and then up the fish ladders. Comments by Dnr officials in the article I have attached suggest they very well could be from stocked Indiana lakes.
http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-06-26/news/29707440_1_nic...
Coming from a Wisconsin stocking on Lake Michigan is possible. But I am at a loss to believe them traversing the multiple fish ladders to get to Elkhart-where there is none.
I also have a hard time believing that the Elkhart River has the oxygen and cool enough waters to support any Muskie movement.
Just my thoughts!
Edited by lakes 6/12/2013 5:21 PM
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Posts: 13
| What saddens me most is the fact that all of these trophys end up with a filet knife on their sides, BBQ grilled or pan fried success stories for the papers.
Glory has been had by anglers and little research is ever approved for this fish on the Joe and DNR does know they are there.
No Interest by the state, it is a non-specie on non-stocked waters. |
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Posts: 1887
Location: syracuse indiana | ok lets get this straight. the ones in the elkart river did not come from the Webster area at all. those fish can only come from skinner which does over flow into a creek that goes into the elkart river eventually the webby lakes do not go into there at all they all run south not north. now they have been catching skies at the #*^@ on tippy river where lake shaffer is started in Monticello now thoise fish had to come either from the webby/tippie barbee lakes or bruce as all of them flow into the TR...bill |
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Posts: 538
Location: northern indiana | Thanks Bill for the insight. I have a buddy that hits that river hard. Never even thought about Bruce flowing into it. |
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Posts: 1086
| Muskies: They are a river fish.
They have the natural, inborn (DNA) ability to sense, smell, seek-out current and find their way into a river system, no matter where they come from.
I don't think it's odd at all that these fish are showing up in rivers around the state....unplanned...unmanned, etc. Flowing water goes in all sorts of odd directions and these fish will follow it.
Just simply take a look at the travels of the devastating Asian Carp and where all they've made their way into nowadays, originating from some farm pond in the deep south.
I lived in Elkhart for seven years in the mid 80s through early 90s. Wish there were Muskies nearby in those rivers then when I was there! 
I know of a lot of really nice sized Pike that came from those waters over the years.
Edited by MACK 6/18/2013 7:35 AM
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