Succesful hatch ???

[K4Muskies]

Dear Chad/Musky Hunters

Beginning of this month I was fishing for muskies from the shoreline in my waders (you guys might think this is crazy fishing for muskys from shore wais deep but when you don’t have a boat doesn’t mean you need to give up fishing) on a sunny Saturday... the fishing was slow and I decided to change spots when I spotted something small and very familiar in the shallow water.

When I looked closely I noticed that there was a small musky in the water, I carefully reached for my camera and snapped some pictures, and couldn’t believe my eyes, a small musky about 4-6 inches in length. From what I know that the Kinkaid stockings are from 12 to 14 inches long so I knew that this musky was not stocked by the department of natural resources. As soon as I made a step towards the fish it got scared and disappeared.

in 2007 on a camping trip me and a friend of mine wanted to go for catfish at night and needed some bait, so we casted a net for shad and caught a 4" musky along with dozens of shad, but back then I did not take any pictures and had no prove to show anyone....

What do you think of this Chad? Could this been on successful hatch out of millions of eggs? On one guiding trip with you last year you told me that the fish is spawning but that there are no hatchlings due to the environment on Lake Kinkaid.


http://www.bosanci.net/103_3843.jpg

[Chad Cain]

What a cool photo!! Looks like there might be some success then to the spawn. I will email the biologist and see what he thinks. Unless they stocked some smaller fingerlings this year, it looks like there could be some natural reproduction!

[K4Muskies]

I got this email earlier this morning from Shawn Hirst (IDNR District 21 Fisheries Biologist)

-----" Thanks for the email and the picture. Without actually seeing the fish (or a photo of the fish out of the water) it would be hard to determine if the fish being observed is a baby muskie. Most of the muskie stocked from the hatchery are 10 plus inches at stocking although a few may be 1-2 inches smaller. However, these stockings typically occur in July/August and these fish should obviously be bigger late in the fall. The fish in the attached photo could posibly be a grass pickerel which have the same body shape as a muskie but are usually less than 10 inches. These fish have a small "tear drop" marking below the eye and the dorsal fin seems to be more pointed than on a muskie. I've attached a picture of a grass pickerel showing the facial "tear drop" which I sort of see on Mr. Zuko's picture. I would be extremely interested in seeing an out of water color picture in the future if possibly. Please remember that it is illegal to possess a muskie less than 48 inches so you would want to take the picture immediately after you capture the fish and then release the fish afterwards. Thanks again for the interest and email. have a great holiday season. "-----


I have attached the picture he sent me in the email.

Any thougths on this one?

http://www.bosanci.net/Roston09.jpg

[Musky_John]

Mr. IDNR.
The next logical question into the puzzle is... If it could be a grass pickerel... Do grass pickerel inhabit lake Kinkaid? The picture looks pretty compelling to me.

Cheers,
John

[Scott Donovan]

I have hooked some good size grass pickerel on Little Grassy over the years, but never got one on Kinkaid. I would tend to say yes grass pickerel are in the creeks flowing into Kinkaid which means they could be in the shallows on Kinkaid. I have caught log perch and other small stream fish by Sharp Rock, Levan, and other small creeks, so you just never know what that pic really is. Pretty clear pic for Kinkaid, but if that is what you say I believe you. Natural reporduction is not out of the question for Lake Kinkaid since we have a natural muskie strain going through the motions every Spring. If we had a slow warm up lasting over several weeks instead of a peak in high temps very quickly, we might see the RARE occasion of a fingerling making it to the size in you picture.

These are just my opinions
Scott

[tiredog]

there appears to be vertical marking on the 4 inch that i dont see on the grass pike pic

[K4Muskies]

I will be shore fishing on Lake Kinkaid next Saturday, and I know that my chances of seeng the fish like that one are 1 in a bilion but if I do I'll make sure I get a batter angle on the fish or even better try to capture the fish to take out of water photos, and of course relising the fish back.

But I will be fishing not searching for something that I probibly will never see again....

untill then I belive that the fish I have seen is a succesful hatchling, despite what the IDNR biologists had to say on this.