Huge Muskie Problem!!!

[Bluebasser86]

12 hours ago, J Francho said:

Hardly a drop in the bucket.

I think that a fish per acre is a pretty standard ratio that Missouri uses in smaller lakes. The theory being it's enough to curb stunted panfish populations without being more large predators than a lake can handle.

 

I fish 2 different lakes with muskie on any regularity. One has a lower bass population, but the bass that are there are really large. The other has tons of bass and most are towards the smaller side. The one with more undersized bass has a far larger population of muskie. 

 

Personally, if I had a lake with a good population close by, I'd bass fish a lot less. Make a trade? I have several lakes close by you can easily catch 50-100 8-12 inch bass a day. I'll send a few thousand of those and you send a couple hundred muskie, deal? Or if you can even just talk KDWPT into stocking muskie in a couple of our lakes would be good enough for me. 

[Dirtyeggroll]

10 hours ago, bassh8er said:

I’m in Omaha and have yet to see this Muskie explosion.

 

They've been stocked around here in various lakes and their impact is not noticeable.

 

The best bass lake within a hour of me is the only one with pike in it; go figure. 

There are at LEAST two bass lakes within an hour of Omaha that have pike. One of them is a tough lake but has big bass (I have caught 23 and 24 lb limits out of it), and the other one is just a good bass lake with a mix of all sizes of bass.

 

I’m not so much worried about the bass getting eaten as I am feeling a tick, starting to set the hook and then pulling up a line with the lure gone. I can’t count how many jigs, spinnerbaits and squarebills I have had munched off by one of the toothy critters (probably pike more so than musky). That being said I have adjusted by not throwing any expensive lures in these lakes.

[J Francho]

6 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I think that a fish per acre is a pretty standard ratio that Missouri uses in smaller lakes.

If that's an adult fish, sure.  They never stock adult fish here, unless it's for a trout derby.  I'll bet they dropped several hundred into a lake that's maybe a square mile.  This was years and years ago.  Tigers are sterile, so when they die, they're gone.  There's one in that lake that's pushing 50".  Lives near a particular set of docks, and always get bit off there.  The rest of the lake can be tough, but the bass are all generally over 3 lbs.

[gim]

Some hot shot state politician here in MN just tried to introduce legislation that would ban future stocking on muskies and make it legal to harvest them over 20 inches because he thinks they are eating his walleyes and panfish out.  His proposal pretty much goes against every piece of science out there.  I'm not going to get into what I think of his idea but it has very little chance of passing since there are no studies or science to back it up.  The only proven fact that from this is that he and his local constituency are the ones harvesting too many fish.

[slonezp]

Fun to catch. Hell on bass lures. You know what i find funny is our local musky fisherman complain about all the bass they catch 

[kickerfish1]

Unless you are "losing" Megabass baits, lucky crafts or discontinued Pre Rapala Warts or Xcalibur baits to muskie I wouldn't worry to much about it. Some of my favorite fisheries in MN also have health populations of large muskie.

[Vilas15]

8 hours ago, gimruis said:

Some hot shot state politician here in MN just tried to introduce legislation that would ban future stocking on muskies and make it legal to harvest them over 20 inches because he thinks they are eating his walleyes and panfish out.  His proposal pretty much goes against every piece of science out there.  I'm not going to get into what I think of his idea but it has very little chance of passing since there are no studies or science to back it up.  The only proven fact that from this is that he and his local constituency are the ones harvesting too many fish.

I'm afraid it may somehow pass if attached to another bill. The real reason behind all of the anti-musky stocking legislation in MN is that lake property owners don't want musky stocked in their lakes so that it doesn't attract musky fisherman who will travel just about any distance for good fish. They don't want more traffic on "their" lakes despite the fact that the fishing may actually improve for other species. I've also heard some about increased regulations and inspections to combat invasive species that are past the point of reasonable measures so in reality they would only be restricting launch access to the lake. Things like high fees, having your boat inspected every time you want to launch, certain launch hours only during the day when there is a crew to inspect, etc. Both are really about privatizing the lakes and restricting access for people who do not own lakefront property and aren't a part of the lake association. The water is public and it needs to stay that way. The DNR should be able to manage the fisheries based on their data and experience, not because some Rep hates muskies and doesn't want more boats on the lake with his property.

 

Sorry to get off topic... In regards to the original post, I wish I had a huge musky problem! I've currently got a small musky or no musky problem whenever I try to catch them!

[bassh8er]

14 hours ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

There are at LEAST two bass lakes within an hour of Omaha that have pike. One of them is a tough lake but has big bass (I have caught 23 and 24 lb limits out of it), and the other one is just a good bass lake with a mix of all sizes of bass.

 

I’m not so much worried about the bass getting eaten as I am feeling a tick, starting to set the hook and then pulling up a line with the lure gone. I can’t count how many jigs, spinnerbaits and squarebills I have had munched off by one of the toothy critters (probably pike more so than musky). That being said I have adjusted by not throwing any expensive lures in these lakes.

 

Cunningham doesn’t count bro.

[Dirtyeggroll]

29 minutes ago, bassh8er said:

 

Cunningham doesn’t count bro.

Considering the number of lures I have had chomped off there, especially near the north end of the lake on a warm summer day, it counts.

[soflabasser]

7 hours ago, slonezp said:

Fun to catch. Hell on bass lures. You know what i find funny is our local musky fisherman complain about all the bass they catch 

Funny you should say that. I caught a big football shaped northern strain largemouth bass while muskie fishing a little over a year ago. It was nice to catch this bass but I saw this bass as bycatch and would of preferred to catch another muskie.

9 hours ago, gimruis said:

Some hot shot state politician here in MN just tried to introduce legislation that would ban future stocking on muskies and make it legal to harvest them over 20 inches because he thinks they are eating his walleyes and panfish out.  His proposal pretty much goes against every piece of science out there.  I'm not going to get into what I think of his idea but it has very little chance of passing since there are no studies or science to back it up.  The only proven fact that from this is that he and his local constituency are the ones harvesting too many fish.

I read that the walleye fishermen in Minnesota do not like muskies and that they want to stop stocking muskies/ remove all muskies from the "walleye lakes". That to me is nonsense since muskies are a much better game fish than a walleye in many ways. 

[Vilas15]

12 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I read that the walleye fishermen in Minnesota do not like muskies and that they want to stop stocking muskies/ remove all muskies from the "walleye lakes". That to me is nonsense since muskies are a much better game fish than a walleye in many ways. 

Plenty of old-timers who will kill musky/pike because they're "eating all the walleye". Nevermind the walleye fishing may decline partly because they've kept a limit (or more) every time out for the last 30 years.

[soflabasser]

7 minutes ago, Vilas15 said:

Plenty of old-timers who will kill musky/pike because they're "eating all the walleye". Nevermind the walleye fishing may decline partly because they've kept a limit (or more) every time out for the last 30 years.

I have read about that and even seen a video on YouTube of some clown that killed a muskie because "its eating all the walleye". That video was sent to DNR and he was punished for what he did.

 

[Vilas15]

2 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

I have read about that and even seen a video on YouTube of some clown that killed a muskie because "its eating all the walleye". That video was sent to DNR and he was punished for what he did.

 

They'll attack any fish that is on the end of a line that acts vulnerable so people have had them try to eat walleye or bass before and thats where the opinion might come from, but those fish are a very small part of their diet. The diet obviously depends on the forage available but I think the largest portions were suckers, perch, cisco, shad, etc. when a study was done.

[soflabasser]

3 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

They'll attack any fish that is on the end of a line that acts vulnerable so people have had them try to eat walleye or bass before and thats where the opinion might come from, but those fish are a very small part of their diet. The diet obviously depends on the forage available but I think the largest portions were suckers, perch, cisco, shad, etc. when a study was done.

A bass will glady eat a baby muskie if it gets the chance and this happens all the time. It's survival of the fittest for these fish and the top fish will survive and the weaker,older,etc usually do not. Many saltwater fishermen in South Florida do not like barracudas and sharks since they steal fish and lures, but there is no denying that barracudas and sharks are much stronger gamefish than most fish that are eaten by them. I much rather fish for big powerful fish like a barracuda or muskie than fish for a small fish that rarely weights 10 pounds, but that's just me.

[gim]

18 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I read that the walleye fishermen in Minnesota do not like muskies and that they want to stop stocking muskies/ remove all muskies from the "walleye lakes". That to me is nonsense since muskies are a much better game fish than a walleye in many ways. 

Yes, that is what many of them think!  They are a narrow-minded bunch and they target their beloved walleyes for one reason: to harvest them.  God forbid they should target them or another species like bass or muskies for sport or because they simply want to enjoy it.  It is actually a subject of controversy at Mille Lacs because the items that have contributed to the downturn of the walleye fishery there has also contributed to it now being such a great smallmouth (and muskie) fishery.  While I do not think that muskie fishing is "mainstream" fishing because it generally caters to a very specific demographic, having them present in low populations of density to produce trophy caliber fish is good for the ecosystem.

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Yes, that is what many of them think!  They are a narrow-minded bunch and they target their beloved walleyes for one reason: to harvest them.  God forbid they should target them or another species like bass or muskies for sport or because they simply want to enjoy it.  It is actually a subject of controversy at Mille Lacs because the items that have contributed to the downturn of the walleye fishery there has also contributed to it now being such a great smallmouth (and muskie) fishery.  While I do not think that muskie fishing is "mainstream" fishing because it generally caters to a very specific demographic, having them present in low populations of density to produce trophy caliber fish is good for the ecosystem.

As a multi species fisherman I find it difficult to understand why these walleye fishermen hate muskie so much. Yes muskies eat whatever they can catch, but so do bass,walleye,trout, basically every predatory fish does this. I don't eat muskie but I have read they taste very good, so muskie are not trash fish in any way. Guess some people are just set in thier ways and don't want to grow as a fisherman and target new species of fish. Oh well that leaves more fish for us multi species fishermen.

[gim]

I have never eaten a muskie and I never plan to.  I would imagine it probably tastes similar to a big northern pike, which is full of bones, gamey, and not very good.  Hard pass on that one.  Plus, the minimum size limit to keep one is 48 or 54 inches for a pure strain, and 40 inches for a tiger.  So its not like people are targeting them as a food source anyways, they are strictly a catch and release sport fish.

 

Walleyes taste good.  I don't think anyone that has one and likes fish would refute that...

[J Francho]

Early spring northerns, or northerns from cooler waters are delicious, not gamey at all, and if you know how to fillet them, no bones.  I use a five fillet method.  It's on YouTube. The carcass is used to make fish stock.  Up here, we call pike "poor man's shrimp."  Sometimes, I don't even fillet them, just gut them, fill with sliced lemon and herbs, wrap in tin foil and cook them on the grill. Then just pick the meat off the bones and dip in drawn butter.  It's a white meat, not quite as flaky as walleye, and despite pike being the slimiest smelliest, most rotten attitude fiswh in the lake, the meat is very good.

[soflabasser]

This thread is making me want to get a bass or walleye patterned swimbait and see how well it does the next time I fish for muskie.

[UPSmallie]

18 hours ago, soflabasser said:

This thread is making me want to get a bass or walleye patterned swimbait and see how well it does the next time I fish for muskie.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Imakatsu-IK-Bassroid-JR-Triple-Double-3D-Realism-Floating-Lure-523-8515/142718768150?epid=1576440897&hash=item213ab39416:g:~4cAAOSwUQlapfLx

[Further North]

On 4/25/2018 at 2:00 PM, gimruis said:

The only proven fact that from this is that he and his local constituency are the ones harvesting too many fish. 

Always the case, every time.

 

Also almost always the case that they want to blame a problem on something else.

 

"I done been taking 50 panfish a day outta that there lake since I was a teenager...then them darn (insert species here) ate 'em all up.  We need to kill 'em all!"

[bigbill]

I say stock the muskies, great northern pike were the snakeheads are taking over. Even where those jumping carp are too.

 

we have a lake here that’s stocked with great northern pike because of the over population of white perch. Now is you follow the water down to another dammed body of water it’s stocked with hatchery trout. I seen a big pike feeding in the shallows were they stock the trout. He’s a big one now. Not many people catch trout there. I catch decent bass there.

[everythingthatswims]

The best bass lake in WV is FULL of BIG muskies. Only two bass over 18" can be weighed in, and it takes 20+ to win in the spring, every time. I have heard there would be upper 20s and maybe even 30lb bags if the size limit was changed!

 

 

[Looch]

Unless there is literally nothing else to eat, they aren't eating many bass. They are also usually sterile and not going to take over. State is stocking either purely for anglers to enjoy catching or they have an overabundance of some sort of baitfish they are trying to control. Just trust your state biologists know what they are doing

 

My state stocks 1,000-2,000 tiger fingerlings in my favorite river for last 15 years and I've never caught one, and only seen 1 caught and I target pike/muskie all the time. Pretty sure they get eaten by pike and standard muskie or I would of ran into one by now

[NittyGrittyBoy]

@J Francho that pike recipe sounds delicious. Will it work on smaller strain of chain pickeral in the South?