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Posts: 7038
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Before I get deep into my notes (I did fill an entire legal pad) from the seminars I attended this weekend, I wanted to give a few personal notes on what I gleaned from the experts speaking at the Symposium:
-Green Bay muskies are getting BIG, up to world class size. This was attributed to the large expanse of water, a small muskie population (per/acre), and high forage base.
-Single hook (swallow) sucker rigs kill fish at an 83% clip over a one year time frame. All fish in the study swam off strong, but 83% died within a year from a multitude of causes. The hooks did NOT dissolve in the stomach acids.
-Muskie reproduction is a very sensitive situation, where the substrate dissolved oxygen levels, water levels, and available cover all have to be suitable or reproduction will not occur.
-One study proved that among three strains tested, the Ohio and IL "strains" both out-performed the Mississippi (Leech Lake) strain in 3 seperate IL waters when tested for long term growth and survivability.
-Muskies tend to return year after year to the same spawning grounds.
-Mississippi/Leech Lake strain fish have a tendency to grow faster and larger in Minnesota waters than other strains.
-There has been no scientific study that shows one strain of muskies integrates/survives better in lakes with populations of northern pike.
-Overwhelmingly presenting biologists and fisheries managers pointed to the body of water, (available forage, size of the water system, and the overall "fish community") as being the determining factor of the ultimate size of waters, versus the genetic strain of muskies.
-A certain portion of muskies in the Manitowish Chain spend a HIGH % of their year in deeper water, only coming shallow to spawn, or in times of high winds.
-Shoreline development levels are inversly proportional to muskie spawning (more development = less spawning success).
-Nancy Lake showed large sized fish growth, but not enough reproduction to create a self-sustaining population.
-Higher size limits on LOTWs have worked in a sense that more fish are being caught/angler/hour, but the average size has not increased substantially (need my notes for the numbers on this).
I will be finding time (as will Mr. Worrall and Nikki) to write up more specific detailings of each lecture I attended, but from one person's view, this is what I took away. And, on a final note, those of you who felt that a weekend of fishing was more important than attending an event that will not be done again for another 10 years, you definitely missed out.
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Posts: 127
Location: NW burbs of Chicago | And the only thing I can say without having my notes in front of me is this:
There's a heck of a lotta research that has been done, and probably still needs to be done, on muskies.
Crash McG |
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| Great stuff, thank you |
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Posts: 44
| the one that jumps out at me is the 83% death rate on the single hook quick rig --- we found one floating on webster a couple weeks ago --- broken line above the bobber with a pretty torn up sucker still attached to the single hook --- blows my mind when there are quick rigs for about 6 bucks and you still see this single hook rig being used. |
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Posts: 101
Location: Liberty, IN (OKI Tri-State) | Would have to agree with Slammer, McG and others; this was indeed an historical gathering and one that will very likely change the future management and our understanding of this amazing "Monarch of Freshwater".
I was completely taken aback by the Single Hook Sucker Rig Study and ALL of the implications contained therein: 83% MORTALITY ... regardless of how "strong" the victim swims away. None died in the first hours... but over the year more than 8-out-of-10 go back to meet their maker. Hooks were autopsied at more than a year after being ingested; they DO NOT disolve away and all of the study fish had tears up to and surpassing 4-inches in the gut. I was on the fence before .... NO MORE! These rigs are murderous and have absolutely NO PLACE in our arsenal of tactics. Tradition be #*^@ed here folks ... SINGLE HOOK SUCKER RIGS & TACTICS KILL MUSKY!!! PERIOD ... Stop the madness
Was also pleasantly surprised to hear that Indiana's Musky program is considered to be such a model for success by the North American scientific community. Bill James and the IDNR have done a wonderous job and the "Cosmopolitan" or Webster strain of masquinongy is something of a Rock Star in the fisheries world.
Also hearing that the WDNR is, in fact, already working both native WI and Leech Lake or Mississippi River strains in several WI waters to see if there is a quantifiable difference in important and oft compared characteristics.
Way more killer and hot topic info was to be found, discussed and presented here this past weekend. 200 of North America's best research scientists, DNR personel, authors, Editors, Pros, Guides, MINC members and concerned anglers shared three days honoring memories, defining problems, sharing little-known cutting-edge research and developments, trophy locations, tactics to trigger, up-to-the-minute status reports of some of the top waters ..... you name it, they had it. Did I mention the food, facilities, comeraderie or hospitality? How about the fact that almost every single presentation and/or research paper presented here had credited at the end MUSKIES INC and several local MI Chapters for the financial support, material and in many cases manpower or other resources to get them done.
A very special time; with some very special people. Incredible!! Hats off to the Hoosier Musky Hunters and Muskies Inc for making this happen. To all who attended; thank-you. To those who were absent; make plans for the next one, you will not be sorry.
C,ya there,
Bob "the Fin-Addict" Osborne
FISHING IS INDEED A LIVING LEGACY ... PASS IT ON!
The future of Musky Fishing depends on you ... JOIN MUSKIES, INC. |
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