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| The Sunday edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel carried an article that discussed a study done by two members of the Minnesota DNR (both of whom previously worked for the WI DNR) and staff from a federal agency. The gist of the story was that the single largest factor in the decline in successful Walleye reproduction and the increase in successful largemouth bass reproduction in northern areas is rising water temps. While the increase over the last two decades is only about 1 degree, they argue that it has had the biggest negative impact on walleye numbers, greater than increased fishing pressure, spearing, etc.
If this is in fact the case, I wonder what that means for musky fishing. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | This is the case for many fish species. I was at a meeting this spring and one of our Michigan biologists presented information on this. It's kinda scary that the range of many "southern" fish like largemouth bass is expanding north and many species that prefer cool water will be gone from many of our inland waters within my lifetime. Changing planet requires changing management... |
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Posts: 8782
| There's not a lot we can do about it short of picking up the bass gear and encouraging some harvest of the growing largemouth population. It's scary to see how much the lakes have changed just in the last ten years.
I suspect that what it means in our lifetime is a lot of lakes will need to be stocked, higher size limits imposed, etc. to sustain fishable populations of muskies in the lakes many of us fish that have, until now, depended entirely on natural reproduction. I don't worry about muskies too much. If they can survive in KY and TN, they'll survive in WI and MN. |
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| Unfortunately, in WI, I suspect nothing will be done. A state employee was chastised for using the term climate change and last winter I spoke to guy who had been a water specialist for the WI DNR for over 30 years and had recently retired. He said when the current secretary took over the department, the word was they were not to discuss climate change, global warming. Maybe that is why the two MN scientists no longer work for the WI DNR. Pretty hard to do a study of something that the Governor and the dept. secretary says does not exist. |
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Location: MN | Climate change? I thought the Muskies ate all the walleyes. There is a walleye guide out of hunters resort on mille lacs that frequents another forum that blames the Muskies for the Mille lacs walleye problems. Many people suggested climate change or zebra mussels but he is convinced it is the Indians and Muskies. He also encourages his clients to harvest all the trophy pike too. Amazing someone who makes a living in the industry could be so ignorant.
Leechers don't spawn well in warm water correct? How about the other strains? Any fish reproducing in the southern states where they were introduced? |
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| Youre kidding. The muskie range has moved as far south in the heat as you can get. Cold water fish? |
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | 4amuskie - 9/26/2016 6:40 PM
Youre kidding. The muskie range has moved as far south in the heat as you can get. Cold water fish?
The artificial stocking of muskies in Midwestern and southern lakes is way different than the natural increase of LMB populations across northern states and Canada. Apples to oranges |
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| tkuntz - 9/26/2016 8:37 PM
4amuskie - 9/26/2016 6:40 PM
Youre kidding. The muskie range has moved as far south in the heat as you can get. Cold water fish?
The artificial stocking of muskies in Midwestern and southern lakes is way different than the natural increase of LMB populations across northern states and Canada. Apples to oranges
Important distinction. The report focused on the decline in successful natural reproduction, did not state that walleyes could not be successfully stocked. |
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Posts: 72
| Warming water will sustain the ecosystems biomass to a point however the species and size structure that can thrive will change. Muskies will do alright in most environments I suspect because they can handle warmer temps than pike and walleye.
The largemouth bass explosion in most small WI lakes has been well documented in the last 20 years by the DNR surveys. This is due to multiple factors one of is warming temps. We had a family cabin on a small lake (no Muskie) and fished it nearly every week over 15 years growing up from the mid 90's to a couple years ago. Trends were decline in pike population and size along with decline in in size of largemouth bass. Great increase in number of bass but smaller size due to lack of predation.. This lake had virtually no fishing pressure and hardly anything ever kept. The point is that the lake was from a biomass perspective as healthy as ever, just the species and size variation changed I believe primarily due to warming water and in turn spawning recruitment. The fishing got better if you were looking for action with bass and worse if you were looking for size.
Fish stocking was created as a remedial measure to improve eating fish populations over a century ago. Now fish stocking at least for the most part is a standard to prop up desired sport fish (Muskie) and eating sport fish (walleye) populations as spawning habitat and conditions have deteriorated. Stocked Muskies will continue to thrive as long as there is enough for them to eat (sustained biomass). The bigger question is whether the "coldwater" pike, Muskie,walleye,Cisco species can continue or return to full independence on lakes in the upper Midwest without stocking. I think evaluating the answer helps put into context the level in which we are changing ecosystems. Just my .02 cents...
Edited by Jacko 9/26/2016 10:56 PM
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| North of 8 - 9/26/2016 10:05 PM
tkuntz - 9/26/2016 8:37 PM
4amuskie - 9/26/2016 6:40 PM
Youre kidding. The muskie range has moved as far south in the heat as you can get. Cold water fish?
The artificial stocking of muskies in Midwestern and southern lakes is way different than the natural increase of LMB populations across northern states and Canada. Apples to oranges
Important distinction. The report focused on the decline in successful natural reproduction, did not state that walleyes could not be successfully stocked.
Natural reproduction is affected by alot of things, like zebra mussels, rusty crayfish, invasive plants and species, chemical changes in water ect.
I would assume this same reasoning would apply to all lakes.
If increased temps have affected natural reproduction negatively then someone ought to tell the walleye in lake Erie about it because they haven't heard. |
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