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| Does anyone have any experience doing this?
Looking for any pointers and insight on what you should do when proposing a stocking program.
I assume stocking funds would be the biggest issue. Talking the DNR into stocking them might be an even larger task considering putting fish into the lake would be the most important factor.
Muskie growth rates on specific bodies of water.
Muskie feeding behaviors on specific bodies of water.
How long it takes to establish a fishable population of Muskie......
Any kind of Muskellunge related data to jump start and get a stocking program started would be very much appreciated!
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Posts: 63
Location: Minnesota | The Minnesota Muskie and Pike Alliance has a section of their website dedicated to research like this. Growth rates, genetics, feeding etc. can all be found there. |
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| Thank you very much for the information. |
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| Get cooperation from sportsmen's group on distributing the fish around the lake or river. High mortality if they are all stocked in one place. Predators will come. Scout where they should be put in the water first. Don't drive around looking for places with the fish in the boat. Get them in the water as quickly as you can. Stock the biggest fish you can. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | The #1 question should always be: Does the water need an (or another) apex predator to be a balanced fishery? Many waters shouldn't even be considered, while other "perfect" waters may be getting overlooked. The best place to start, when looking at new water, would be the fisheries biologist responsible for the area. They should be able to provide historic and recent data on the fish community in the body of water and provide their opinion on possible stocking.
Edited by Will Schultz 10/8/2013 9:53 AM
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| You would definitely need to look at the size structure and relative abundance of the existing populations of fish in the lake, as well as the total biomass of fish and the carrying capacity of the lake. DNR should have regularly collected data on the fish, biomass and capacity aren't too hard to model. Public opinion is becoming increasingly more important, and the primary usage of the lake/system could be a deciding factor. And the fingerlings seem to escape if they can. Good luck, hopefully you can champion a sweet local project |
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