New muskie lake in MN

[Shawn Kellett]

As of October 20th Minnesota has a new muskie lake in Lake Pokegama in the Grand Rapids area!

A big thanks goes out to those that have put forth their support in getting this lake approved and stocked. Some of those people include:

Gary and the Star of the North Chapter

John Underhill (Muskiefool)

Rob Kim

George Selcke

Carl Peterson

Members of the MMA

And all the others that spent time in meetings, making calls and emails.

All I know is that the first round is on me at the next TC Chapter meeting!

[50inchpig]

St. Cloud chapter was happy to hear that last night at our meeting. The guys mentioned in the above post worked tirelessly for this and thank God for the MMA.

Don't ever underestimate the power of the phone call or the opposition. This could have gone sour at the last moment if we had not seen it through. See you on Pokegama in few years!

[cjac]

Sweet! Thanks Shawn and the entire group for all the efforts!

Thanks to all that did call, email, nag, persist, etc. See, it really goes have an impact! Our voices and efforts and actions will be needed again on similar issues, so please remember your roles in these issues do matter!

[kingkobbla]

How long do you guys think it would take a muskie to reach 40" in Pokegama??

[DHanson]

I would say 8 years for fish to be around 40". Growth rate might be better there, who knows.

Happy to hear we got another muskie lake coming. It'a always such a battle, thank you all for your hard work!

[Croix]

For the most part it takes 5 yrs to reach 31-32 inches, then after that it is anyones guess. Some grow much quicker after they hit 31-32 inches and some don't grow more then an inch maybe two a yr.

[Shawn Kellett]

I'm going to guess around 5-7 years in a lake like that. I think the smelt may be huge in getting the smaller fish to grow fast. The fish down here in the metro take a little longer because they're eating sunnies and bullheads.

[Croix]

I think the smelt may be huge in getting the smaller fish to grow fast.

Great work Shawn, look forward to attending a meeting when I return from college for winter break!

The smelt will make those muskies quite happy!

[Tippman]

Great news for sure! Now which lake is next?

[mtreno]

here is my understanding - muskie grow super fast there first few years. one year 8-14 inches, two years 18-30, three years 26-36 inches, then after that the slow to an inch or two a year untill they get really, really big and then it slow even more.

i know we fished a lake that was stocked early 90's and after 7 years we were pulling lots of fish in the low 40 inch range.

[Lare Pie]

That's great news! Thanks to all that helped out in this project. Now we need some more muskie lakes in the Brainerd area to relieve some of the fishing pressure on the current muskie lakes.

[Brett Waldera]

Great job by all involved!!! Remember...it's not neccesarily over just because the first batch of fish are in. Please be sure to continue your support for Pokegama and other new lakes in the future.

Brett Waldera

[sheephead2]

Great news....

Thanks For ALL THE HARD WORK......

[Nick Kuhn]

Good news. With it's close proximity to Leech and it's drainage into the Miss. you'd think there'd be a few big ones in there already.

[cjac]

Shawn,

Is there going to be a 2008 stocking, or did that happen already on the 20th, and that was just not a final "stamp of approval" date?

Either way, a great win, thanks again to all involved!

[nater]

Very good news. Thanks to everyone that was involved. Keep up the good work and I hope to help in the future as a new member.

Nate

[MUSKY18]

Just read Shawn's post on another board and he said that they put 2000 +/- in the lake on Monday!!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Muskiefool]

Shawn a big thanks goes to you my friend, THANK YOU.

[Shawn Kellett]

No John,THANK YOU!

-Worse Cop