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Posts: 642
Location: mount prospect illinois | A debate sprung up yesterday with a bunch of guys while we were draining a spillway to get the gamefish back into the lake. The lake has not been stocked with muskie since 2005 from what i am told. We grabbed 17 muskies up to 40" but a few of them were in the mid 20's. The lake has gizzard shad so i dont think slow growth from lack of food would be an issue. I cant remember what an "average" size for a 3 year old should measure.
If there is natural reprodcution at any level, i would be pleasantly suprised. Any thoughts? Is a mid 20's fish possibly a 3 year old? The talk of stocking the lake with muskies was mentioned but it looks like it may be 1 or 2 more years to see if there really is some natural reproduction. FYI, the lake is in Illinois and Illinois isnt really known for great natural reproduction. |
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | almost never lack of food for muskies! Shad.....plenty! Muskies like to eat carp, suckers, perch and panfish! Natural reproduction.....I dont know! Illinois stocked heavy....some lakes got two muskies per acre! I would love to hear if any natural reproduction.....possible if lake have some mashies and swamp.
I readed that Moose Lake near Hayward dont get any musky stocked and rated as Class A musky water. This lake have good musky natural reproduction. Maybe because of river and some backwater and mashies. But I am not sure.
spillway should have net to keep muskies stay in the lake. 17 is a lot! |
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Posts: 968
Location: N.FIB | probably males,they are smaller and I think would be around that size for some fish,but hopefully natural reproduction is taking place. |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Lebanon,Mo | Your average size for a 3-year old will depend if this body of water is in the North or South. |
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| My guess would be that those fish are the stocked fish from 2005. From what I understand the muskies grow pretty quick the first few years and then slow down after that. |
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Posts: 2024
| Growth rates depend on a whole suite of things. I think what you are saying is that the lake was first stocked in 2005 and that you expect those fish to be the upper 30"ers, but that you are not sure if these smaller fish are from the same year or 2006, 2007, etc. It unlikely there is much, if any, natural reproduction occurring in IL waters. Yes, they go through the motions, but hatching success and fry development is severely hampered by bad habitat. So, to answer your question those are probably NOT products of natural reproduction.
What may have happened is the smaller fish have allocated their energy elsewhere (i.e. gamete production, sexual development) and not to growth, or they're just not as ravenous or as efficient at hunting as others from the same year-class. |
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Posts: 642
Location: mount prospect illinois | I was kind of hoping but thought they may be from the 2005 class. There are some pigs in there from previous years stockings. Oh well. Gotta keep up the pressure to get the lake comittee to stock some more muskies. Right now they dont really want to. If the walleye rearing goes well, the lake should have extra walleye to swap with the Illinois DNR. (Lake carroll has its own hatchery and 3 rearing ponds) I know that has been done in the past for other species. |
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Posts: 126
| I can't say for sure but I will say that regardless of what the "experts" say there is some natural reproduction in some of these southern waters. I have caught some very small muskies in KY, a lot smaller than is stocked. |
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Posts: 371
Location: Dixon, IL | Davep....
You mean Lake Carroll.....all I know is Tiger Muskies in Lake Carroll.....no natural reproduction! Pure muskies in Lake Carroll....? |
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Posts: 642
Location: mount prospect illinois | I have yet to see a tiger in Lake Carroll. All the ones in the spillway and the ones we got in the spring nets (including some big ones) were pure muskies. I have also never heard of tigers being stocked in there.
Now, Lake Galena has tigers stocked. That lake is close to Lake Carroll. All that being said, i am still on the side of "no natural reproduction". Or, at best, not anything to have an impact. One can hope though. |
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