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| Message Subject: I need your input! | |||
SuperCaster |
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Posts: 1 Location: Indiana | I’m doing a project in college on muskie/black bass interactions and I need input from anglers, especially those who fish Indiana’s muskie waters. I’d like to know your general thoughts toward muskies and how you think they impact black bass populations, if at all. Do you fish for both species or just one of them? What experiences have formed your opinions toward muskies? Are the lakes you fish containing both muskies and bass reservoirs, natural lakes, or rivers? What are the main cover types (weeds, wood, rocks)? Are the muskies native or introduced? If native: Are black bass or muskies the most prominent game fish and why do you believe this to be true? If introduced: Do you believe muskies have impacted native bass populations? How can you tell? I appreciate it guys, this information helps me out a ton. I will take your replies until November 9. SC | ||
| ToddM |
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Posts: 20281 Location: oswego, il | I fish indiana waters so I feel I can add something here. Musky will impact fish location more so than impact their numbers in a lake. They are the dominent predator and can push the smaller bass into the weeds and the inside weedline. The bigger bass will be right out there with them. The indiana waters have so much shad forage there is enough food for everybody. If bass are eaten, they are the sick weak ones. This pretty much holds true for all waters. I think prey fish act differently and provoke different responses in fish than does another predator fish. I have seen on those post front bluebird days musky and bass sharing the same weed pockets. | ||
| jerryb |
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Posts: 688 Location: Northern IL | Q) Do you fish for both species or just one of them? A) A fish is a fish no matter where he swims they all react to stimuli the exact same way. I fish for most game fish in many waters in many states (including IN) and in Canada. My favorite fish by far is the muskie however I'll take a school of any fish any day of the week. When choosing a species it has more to do with the lake or reservoir and it's population not the way baits are presented. Q)What experiences have formed your opinions toward muskies? A) #1- Buck Perry.... #2 The experiences of other knowledgeable spoonplugging instructors including Terry O'Malley. #3 about 800 muskies from more than a hundred different body's of water over the last 8 years. Q) Are the lakes you fish containing both muskies and bass reservoirs, natural lakes, or rivers? A) yes and no, some do and some don't. Q) What are the main cover types (weeds, wood, rocks)? A) Who cares? It matters NONE! Q) Are the muskies native or introduced? A) Both Q)If native: Are black bass or muskies the most prominent game fish and why do you believe this to be true? A) If we are talking about a lake that receives no stocking it would all depend on the success of each species spawn and that could change from year to year and decade to decade. Some lakes are more suited for a successful bass spawn and vice versa. It's really a lake by lake basis. In a lot of intro lakes or reservoirs the bass starts out as the dominate species and in time if the stocking of muskie gets to excessive the bass that were once caught in good numbers in deep water eventually become harder to find. It's my and others opinion that if muskie populations gets out of hand that there is a huge change that takes place with the bass and others. Yes there numbers will in fact drop, Todd is correct when saying the bass will be pushed into the weeds,,, and I'll add for longer periods of time than before they return to there deep water sanctuary. The best place to grow a lot of big fish is lakes with a lot of deep water, deep water is a fishes sanctuary from there ever changing weather and water environment. If the bass is forced to remain in shallow water (survival) for longer periods of time than he wishes caused by an out of balanced fishery there could be added stress to the fish resulting in shorter life span and smaller fish as well,, Q)If introduced: Do you believe muskies have impacted native bass populations? A) As stated above yes Q) How can you tell? A) Time out on the lakes. Edited by jerryb 10/26/2003 11:56 PM | ||
| sworrall |
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Posts: 32958 Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I fish bass as much as I do muskies. I have caught MANY MANY muskies, so my opinions were formed chasing them for over 30 years. All three systems. All three, weedlines are the most effective for me. Might as well be native, as the introduction was so long ago. Some lakes and rivers the muskies are native. In native muskie waters if there is proper prey and good cover, great bass fishing is the result. Since Bass are more prolific, there will be more per acre. If there is a good balance between the two predators, the bass will be quality and so will the muskies. See the above statement. Bone Lake is a great example. Great bass, great muskies. I feel the muskies help keep the bass population in check, but do not predate on them enough to hurt them if natural reproduction or heavy stocking is present. I fish a couple 240 acre lakes that have both, and have no cover but lilly pads, and the bass are doing great. 5 to 6 pound fish are relatively common, and numbers are there, too. | ||
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