stocked fish

[mtreno]

ok here we go -

while looking at the years photos last night i noticed something. the lack of the middle lower fins on most of my muskies - all but one fish - smaller 40 out of mille lacs - has that second set.......

now i remember that part of the stocking deal is they remove those so they can better study if the fish have taken and are reproducing. but how do they do that? i assuem they are not clippin them cause you would see scares and i cant even think how hard that would be on fry. another thing i remebered about that fish is it was one heck of a fighter - is it possible that could make a difference in there fight? or could it be that the fish born in the lake fights better than a fish stocked into a lake? or is that just the way it happened to be......

i consider that fish a better catch now - not sure why i do but for some reason being natural is better in my eyes.

could all be dumb questions its just something i never really paid attention to i guess - any info anyone has i will find interesting.

thanks

[mtreno]

course now ever pic i look at one here has that set - must just be the way i am holding the fish or something - i got to get home and look at my pics again cause now i am more confused

[Noahsark]

You are correct on the fact that it is done to study natural reproduction. The fins are clipped (with scissors) on fish that are being stocked. I believe that they are not clipped as fry but as "fingerlings" when stocked at around 8-12 inches.

They usually only clip one fin. A stocked year class can be ID'd by all having one fin missing or deformed. Fish with clipped fins have the ability to regenerate their fins, although it is almost always observed with some sort of deformity. These regenerations vary depending on fish, therefore it may not be obvious on all fish.

As for the native fish fighting harder then stocked.....I think the moon phase has a greater effect on how hard they fight (J/K)

FYI - lakes with no stocking generally have very low densities of muskie, whereas lakes with newly stocked populations (12-20 years of stocking) have unsustainably high levels of adult fish. This is a common phenomenon with the introduction of an "exotic" animal into an ecosystem, their numbers explode at first and then drop off sharply and eventually reach some sort of equilibrium.