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Posts: 576
Location: Elk Grove Village, IL & Phillips, WI | I was looking at the Big Fish entries and Jigman has 2 nice tigers with the same deformed tail. They are obviously different fish by comparing the markings, but both have the same weird tail. Is this common in stocked tigers in Washington or in Merwin Lake itself? Just wondering. I've caught a few tigers in Wisconsin, but never saw that trait.
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/catch-and-release/Casting-with-Jerk...
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/cnr_images.asp?view=detail&photoid=...
Edited by KenK 7/8/2014 2:11 PM
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Posts: 1283
| Not sure but those are some nice fish with creepy looking tails. |
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Posts: 210
| Sea lions do that to the tails when they schwing and almost miss. |
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Posts: 63
| We catch them all the time with fin deformities in Washington. We have put pressure on the people in charge to correct the problems. Several steps have been put in place to prevent it. It was believed to have come from crowding in the rearing tanks. Hopefully those fish will eventually be replaced by much better fin conditions. It's not uncommon to also see snub noses.
Compound those issues with uneducated anglers, we also have a lot of tail and fin splits due to being poorly handled. Many people who catch muskies here in Washington are not targeting them, so they are not equipped to handle them. Some of the fish can actually be identified simply by the deformities they have. I have caught several multiple times, or have seen pictures of fish caught that I have caught in the past. I can post some of the freaks if anyone is interested.
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| Do it we always like pics of mutants. |
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| Here's a couple I have handy.
(26683_129889243801036008.jpg)
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26683_129889243801036008.jpg (36KB - 99 downloads)
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Chris 50.jpg (155KB - 122 downloads)
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Posts: 337
Location: Watersmeet, Michigan | douglaswood34 - 7/8/2014 4:04 PM
Here's a couple I have handy.
Beautiful fish!
BTW, the answer to everyone's question is twofold:
Industrial waste;
Nuclear waste. 
Fr. K |
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Posts: 63
| Forgot to mention. That second fish pictured was caught two years after I caught her in 2010. She and I were center stage of the MI Fall Special Edition of Muskie! Magazine. When I caught her she was 44" and had a 21" girth. When this gentleman caught her she was 45.5". He didn't take a girth, but it appears quite a bit smaller in girth. She must have been hungry!
Edited by douglaswood34 7/9/2014 1:31 PM
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Posts: 576
Location: Elk Grove Village, IL & Phillips, WI | Thanks for the info and the pictures. At first I thought someone was trying to pull a fast one in the Big Fish contest because those tails looked identical, but obviously different fish upon further investigation. Kind of scary knowing that this is a common deformity! |
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Posts: 63
| It is common among our Washington tigers anyway. As I said, hopefully the problems have been corrected and future year classes will be much better quality. It will take several years before the bad tail year classes are faded out. I will say, it's quite amazing how resilient these fish are. Even having the messed up fins they fight every bit as hard as a healthy tailed fish. They just don't have a glamorous look. |
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| Do you know if the tails were like that when they initially stocked the fish? Just seems so odd how healthy and beautiful the rest of the fish is. |
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Posts: 129
| achotrod - 7/10/2014 1:55 PM
Do you know if the tails were like that when they initially stocked the fish? Just seems so odd how healthy and beautiful the rest of the fish is.
Thats the point I was going to make. Swimming with 1/2 a tail sure hasnt hurt their ability to get to the chow line. Those fish are eating well.
Edited by Mike D 7/10/2014 2:33 PM
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Posts: 63
| Yes, the tails are like that when they are stocked. Or, were that is. Last Mays stock was pretty good overall. |
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Posts: 5193
| Beautiful fish.0723 |
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