Muskie Anglers Unite

[foulpole18]

Look at spear licenses sold vs. Amount of people who Muskie fish.

[buzbunni]

In many waters muskies simply replace a top predator that was there naturally but has been unnaturally removed - big pike!

So why not try to manage for the predator that has been unnaturally removed?

Why not try to manage these lakes instead for trophy pike? It seems as though trophy pike opportunities in MN are decreasing at this time.

I would support trophy pike management along with reasonable harvest of pike as well.

[buzbunni]

Replace a harvestable top predator with an un-harvestable top predator.

(48" minimum, closed winter season - yes even catch and release is closed in the winter, etc)

There is the crux of the issue for a lot of people.

If you enjoy responsibly harvesting northern pike, this should scare the heck outta you.

Not to mention that stocking hammer handle pike is unheard of and terrible for the fishery but it is ok to stock hammer handle muskies every other year for how many years?

Exactly.

Well said merkman.

[Muskiefool]

I'm guessing if I would have posted GTFU I would not be posting now, sorry Steve what the world needs now is love; sweet love, and more Muskie lakes and quality pike opportunity.Tiny minority have a crux.

Wanna go Muskie fishing Steve? I bet you would love it.

[merkman]

Wanna go Muskie fishing Steve? I bet you would love it.

I have muskie fished most of my life.

Not much into it anymore, like anything good that very few people know about, it has changed.

I sturgeon fish now, but I am not sure how long I will do that if it continues to gain popularity.

I hate to think how people will ruin that too.

Heck, Canada has the sturgeon on the endangered species list now.

It is only a mater of time....

[B420]

If you sturgeon fish, don't muskie fish, and spear big pike, what horse do you have in the muskie race Merk?

[merkman]

I've never met a muskie fisherman that I agree with.

There are plenty out there to agree with.

Just like anything else in life; there is also a very vocal minority of zealots.

[spearchucker]

Look at spear licenses sold vs. Amount of people who Muskie fish.

There is no way to tell how many people fish muskies for sure.

[cbrooks]

So if you spear fish your against any muskie stocking in new lakes. What sense does that make?

[thrax]

I have not reviewed the current pike regulations on these lakes. I would hope there is some protective measures in place, I'll look it up tonight. Growth rates and irresponsible harvest of the largest fish (by any means, not picking on any group here) work very hard to overcome recovery efforts to re-establish trophy pike populations. In many waters there is well documented "stunting" to pike populations because such a high percentage of large ones have been unnaturally removed. This limits rebounding pike to trophy/large sizes also.

Muskies - stocking can be strictly controlled at low densities which MNDNR is already known for doing. They grow faster/quicker and the little to no harvest aspect allows them to fill the trophy pike niche must faster and could allow for some better ecological balance to occur in a much shorter and long term predictible manner in these lakes. In actuality, muskie stocking will probably benefit the pike population better than any other regulation.

As far as the growth in muskie fishing its well documented. Its no secret to anyone who's been on a muskie water in MN on a summer weekend. Many of you who are against increasing muskie fishing opportunities will have nieces, nephews, maybe your own children or your childrens children that will fall in love with this awesome predator and they will be glad these opportunities were created for them by their forefathers (or at least by the muskie loving seemingly sworn enemies of their forefathers, lol)!!

[cbrooks]

I would be interested in hearing what the DNR says about muskies being stock in the same lake/river as channel cats. Thats the only sound argrument I've heard so far. saying you don't like or agree with muskie fisherman doesn't do much in this argrument.

[merkman]

Muskies - stocking can be strictly controlled at low densities which MNDNR is already known for doing.

Ok we have that "side" of it.

What happens if they don't stay at low densities in the studied water where they were stocked or the unstudied connected waters that they migrate to?

[foulpole18]

Muskies in natural reproducing waters are by nature a low density fish. They don't reproduce like pike do. So that arguement Merk is your attempt to spread your MDAA agenda.

[DTro]

K then don't tell me what we should put in these lakes! If you know anything at all you would know how the DNR managed another species they stocked in the chain...

You say that like it's a bad thing with the Catfish? Why are people so durn walleye crazy?? They are not happy unless their local lake is chock full of boring walleyes. Do you realize how many people are driving long distances only to catch your demon catfish up there? A lot

Here's a good example http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2097233/Cattin_the_Chain_10#Post2097233 This thread outnumbers the most popular in the St Cloud forum by....oh by about 40X LOL

Sorry to get off topic.

No management is perfect and in fact there are a few Muskie regulations that I scratch my head about, but bottom line is that I would rather see our lakes have a well balance of multi species instead of just dumping eyeballs in there year after year after year.

[Kodiak]

Do most of you non muskie fisherman realise that by adding muskies to a sytem it will make it a better fisherie??? I'm glad I live and fish on muskie waters, the best fishing in the state for all species of fish. Quality walley, perch, monster gills, crappies, pike smallouth and largemouth. So in the 40 years muskies have been in my waters the fishing remains fantstic.

agreed 100%

[john skarie]

Merk if you want to know what happens when muskies are stocked than look it up or make a phone call.

Your outlandish statements and conclusions are the result of you not wanting to believe anything that comes from a "muskie zealot".

So why don't you pick up the phone and call one of our biologists that work for the MNDNR and have them tell you what has happened in our MN waters that have been stocked, and also what is happening down stream.

Than if you are big enough to learn something from somebody who knows more about fisheries than you do your questions will be answered.

JS

[Kodiak]

then it would be a heck of a musky lake, and i would be there all the time!

[Nick Kuhn]

Ok we have that "side" of it.

What happens if they don't stay at low densities in the studied water where they were stocked or the unstudied connected waters that they migrate to?

If you were to stop stocking muskies they would become extirpated in almost all of the currently stocked lakes.

As far as popularity goes it is absolutely ridiculous in Minnesota. I'm willing to bet a Minnesota angler who fished a Saturday on Waconia ran into more muskie anglers that one day, than I ran into in an entire season of fishing them in Wisconsin.

[bemidjibasser]

More lakes with chances for a fish like this can't be a bad thing... can it?

[merkman]

More lakes with chances for a fish like this can't be a bad thing... can it?

[Nick Kuhn]

The cost isn't as high as you think. We stock walleye in our lake and the cost is $3000/year. If we were to switch to the standard muskie stocking plan (as opposed to the walleyes), the cost would only be about $300/year. The reason: you have to stock approximately 100x as many walleye to get the same results as you do with muskies.

[kustmoboy]

Here is a link to the promo video so you can watch it. http://kstp.com/article/stories/s1546969.shtml

[Shawn Kellett]

Would someone stop figure 8ing Merk???? He's been sore-mouthed enough hasn't he?

[Nick Kuhn]

Is 30+ percent of lake acreage in Minnesota enough for the 9 percent of the fishermen who have fished for muskies at least once in the last year, or not?

If it isn’t enough how much is?

So by that false logic you are saying that spear fisherman really only need to be able to spear on about 4% of Minnesota's lake surface area?

15390/1371106 = 1.122% of Anglers are spear fisherman.

30%/9% = 3.333 surface area per percent muskie fisherman.

3.333*1.122= 3.74%

Isn't false logic fun?

[merkman]

Is 30+ percent of lake acreage in Minnesota enough for the 9 percent of the fishermen who have fished for muskies at least once in the last year, or not?

If it isn’t enough how much is?