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Lake Zurich will be teeming with muskies
By Madhu Krishnamurthy Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted on November 05, 2002
There's good news for Lake Zurich-area anglers looking for fishing thrills.
The Lake Zurich Property Owners Association plans to stock the lake with muskies this fall. This is the first time the group is bringing a big sport fish to the lake.
Last week, officials stocked the lake with 2,600 5- to 7-inch-long walleye, also a popular game fish.
"It's (walleye) fun to catch," said John Schweda, president of the association. "There's a lot of action when you catch them, and it's a good sport fish. We've been stocking them for the last seven or eight years, and they seem to be taking very well."
But to avid fishermen, the real prize would be catching a muskie.
"Until you catch one (a muskie), you really don't appreciate how big they get and how fun they are to catch," Fire Chief Terry Mastandrea said, eyeing a picture on his desk of a 45-incher he landed in Canada earlier this year.
Mastandrea has fished Lake Zurich before, "but they don't have muskie," he said. "I'm very excited about it."
While it's not the association's intention to turn Lake Zurich into a popular fishing destination, the mere presence of muskies should attract more anglers, Mastandrea said.
"I think it's going to cause some great fishing on that lake in the future," he said. "As long as they stock them and (the muskies) grow big in there," Lake Zurich may possibly even become home to muskie tournaments, he said.
That may not draw people from across the county, but the Lake Zurich area itself has a large population that uses the lake.
"We're not encouraging the outside community to fish here," Schweda said. "It's just mainly for local area residents' enjoyment. Because the lake is a private lake and there's limited access to (it) also, so that kind of cuts down the outside participation."
A majority of the lakefront is privately owned by the Lions Club and other property owners. However, all Lake Zurich residents and those from neighboring communities have access to the lake through village-owned parks.
There are fishing piers at all three village parks - Breezewald, Kuechmann and Paulus.
"That's basically open to all residents during the beach season, and also it'll be open to anybody outside of the beach season," Parks and Recreation Director Eric Christensen said. "Residents could also rent a boat and fish off the boat."
Christensen is not sure what effect the muskies will have, but he anticipates they will be popular.
Residents won't actually be able to catch big muskies for a few years because they take a long time to grow. In the next three weeks, Schweda hopes to stock the lake with about 200 muskies, 12 to 14 inches long.
The recommended ratio is usually one fish per acre. Lake Zurich has about 235 acres of water. The muskies are expected to co-exist with other fish already in the lake, including northern pike.
"This is just experimental, and we're just going to see if they survive," Schweda said.
Officials are asking fishermen to catch and release young muskies and walleye until they are grown.
"We'd like to see the walleyes at least 14 inches or better. The muskies need to be probably 30 inches or more, and that's going to take a while if they do take," Schweda said.
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