Indiana State of the Muskie Address

[J Routt]

Do you want to know how the stocking went this year?
Do you want to know if any lakes were added to the stocking list?
Do you want to know if your favorite lake is being removed?
Do you want to know why you favorite lake was remoaved last year?

State of the Muskie Address
Guest Speaker:
Bill James - Chief of Indiana Fisheries
TONIGHT @ 7:30
Fishers American Legion


Simply THE BEST source for finding out any information about Indiana's Muskie program!!

[rayscott425]

Doe the IDNR list how many musky are put in a lake each yr and previous years??

[J Routt]

Sorry for the delay, but here is the whole breakdown of what has transpired this year.

From 4/3 to 4/16 they were able to extract 734,000 eggs from 40 females. Their quota every year is 500,000, so this year already started off much better than last. They were able to produce 510,000 sac fry from those fertilized eggs and 342,000 survived to become “swim-up” fingerlings. Between this stage and actually putting them in the rearing ponds they offered them to other states. Fortunately the other states were on track to meet their quotas, so Indiana kept all of their muskies this year. 33,275 muskies reached the age to be put into the ponds to be forage fed. 28,415 of these fish made it through the 30 day forage feed period as well. This was an astounding 85% return rate from the ponds. This was partly to do with a new cormorant control system they put into place.
The IDNR only needed approximately 18,000 muskies to meet there quota for stocking all of the intended lakes. This number allowed 5 muskies to be stocked per acre in most of the lakes stocked in the past except Tippecanoe that as always received 1 fish per acre since it is at the bottom of the watershed.
The bad news of the year is that Palestine, Plover, and Sandpiper were removed. Palestine was removed due to the lack of results the IDNR were looking for and Plover and Sandpiper were removed because of the damage to the levee from the floods earlier in the year.
The good news is that Brookville Res. got all of the surplus muskies. Brookville has always received the surplus, but they often only get fry or non forage fed fish. This year it got 10,015 30 day forage fed fish. This is a true stocking of fish that that have a greater chance of survival. Muskies have been stocked in Brookville for years, but this is quite a boost for the lake.

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The IDNR also set a trap in Bass Lake for a survey as well. They set one trap for three days and captured 68 muskies that had a combined weight of over 1000 lbs with only one recapture and ranged from 36 to 44 inches. They also started to stock other surrounding lakes as well, creating somewhat of a flowage system. If you haven’t fished these lakes yet, you really owe yourself a visit. As far south as it is, it often has a longer season that produces some really nice early and late year fish.

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I still have to update the list for last year and this year, but here is a link to the complete stocking history through 2006.
Complete History (http://www.hoosiermuskie.com/images/INDNR%20Muskie%20Stocking%20History%202006b.pdf)

[rustyman]

I talked to neil ledet, the northeast biologist and was amazed at how much criteria a lake would have to meet for a new muskie stocking. Not to mention the cost of the individual muskie is I think he said around 12 dollars a piece or something. Also alot of good muskie lakes have already started a walleye program and they don't want muskies in with them. I would like to see Big Turkey Lake or Big long lake around south milford to get stocked, but I know it won't happen.

[AlgaeKilla]

This is not only a big hit to me personally, but to Hoosier Muskie Hunters chapter of Muskies Inc as a whole. The club is a Indy based chapter and has been pushing for stocking near the city for years. Now the closest place to the city has been removed, possibly for good. When I tried to pin Bill down on what their reasoning was and what needed to be fixed to continue stocking he didn't seem to have a full grasp of the status quo. At first he stated that the pits were now part of the Driftwood River system. After I corrected him that the levee only suffered partial damage and Sandpiper and most of Plover was now blocked off from the damaged area of the levee he told me that it was now in the hands of "engineers" and cost would dictate if any work would be done in the future. I know fishing can be tough here, but I really hate to see it end after 20+ years of stocking. There didn't seem to be much interest in HMH stepping up to aid in repair or additional stocking. Possibly because of the status of the club itself, but after Bill basically stated there wouldn't be any future stocking in the Indy area. I sure hope gas prices stay low, because Plover was a lot closer than anything else.

[Mike Hulbert]

When it comes to stocking a lake, public interest is one of the biggest and most looked at aspects.

There is NO interest in those lakes compared to other lakes so the state isn't going to continue to spend 10's of thousands of dollars on lakes that have no or very little public interest. 4-10 people isn't enough for the DNR to continue stocking, and it is very understandable.

Yeah it sucks for a select few but due to lack of interest, I am sure the money will be better spend else where or on lakes that have public interest.

[AlgaeKilla]

I understand what your saying, Mike, but public interest had nothing to do with Driftwood's stocking status. When Bill asked who at the meeting fishes those lakes every single person raised there hand. There are a lot more than a few people in Indianapolis that want to fish muskies with out driving hours to do so. I have met several guys down there from Ohio, and Kentucky as well as northern Indiana. A lot of guys have been coming down here for years after the northern lakes freeze. I think a lot of the interest on these smaller water bodies is kept on the down low, I know I've been guilty of it concerning the pits and Loon Lake. Everyone wants to keep it secret to keep the pressure down so its not like the carnival. Another way to look at it is the more bodies of water that are stocked the the pressure decreases on all the lakes. The main reason any lake in Indiana receives muskie stocking is to control gizzard shad (or stunted bluegill in the case of Loon) and improve the over all fishery. Public interest in the "bonus fishery" and the income generated by it is only a secondary motivation.