Red Childress
08-12-2012, 09:34 AM
I thought I would post the highlights of the most comprehensive musky study ever regarding the "Food Habits of Muskellunge in Wisconsin." The study was done between 1991 and 1994 and covered 34 lakes and involved 1,092 muskies which were collected via electroshocking/trap netting during Spring, Summer and Fall.
For those of you who do not receive Musky Hunter Magazine, here are the highlight points of the study which were re-outlined in the lastest issue of MHM. (For those folks who still think "the muskies are putting a hurting on our walleye and bass populations"........think again.)
1) Fish comprised 98 percent of their diet.
2) Yellow Perch and Suckers were the most common food source by far.
3) The occurrence of food in muskies' stomachs increased from Spring (20 percent) to Summer (39 percent) and Fall (40 percent). Yellow Perch and Suckers always finished 1st and 2nd, respectively.
4) Larger muskies ate larger prey (generally suckers) but continued to eat smaller prey (yellow suckers) as well. Muskies over 40 inches ate the longest suckers but ate far less often than smaller muskies.
5) Overall, small and large muskies ate fish that averaged 20 percent of their total body length.
6) Muskies fed most in Summer and Fall. Walleyes and bass were not important forage.
7) Most forage fish have evolved with large predators such as muskies and pike, and as prey have learned to adapt to this problem.
8) Suckers and yellow perch, while preferred prey of muskies, do not have significant spines for protection, and are cylindrical in shape making it easier to swallow.
For those of you who do not receive Musky Hunter Magazine, here are the highlight points of the study which were re-outlined in the lastest issue of MHM. (For those folks who still think "the muskies are putting a hurting on our walleye and bass populations"........think again.)
1) Fish comprised 98 percent of their diet.
2) Yellow Perch and Suckers were the most common food source by far.
3) The occurrence of food in muskies' stomachs increased from Spring (20 percent) to Summer (39 percent) and Fall (40 percent). Yellow Perch and Suckers always finished 1st and 2nd, respectively.
4) Larger muskies ate larger prey (generally suckers) but continued to eat smaller prey (yellow suckers) as well. Muskies over 40 inches ate the longest suckers but ate far less often than smaller muskies.
5) Overall, small and large muskies ate fish that averaged 20 percent of their total body length.
6) Muskies fed most in Summer and Fall. Walleyes and bass were not important forage.
7) Most forage fish have evolved with large predators such as muskies and pike, and as prey have learned to adapt to this problem.
8) Suckers and yellow perch, while preferred prey of muskies, do not have significant spines for protection, and are cylindrical in shape making it easier to swallow.