Post by goosepondmonster on Mar 20, 2012 10:43:31 GMT -5
I was Googling something the other day and this article popped up. I thought it was pretty interesting.
www.gcdailyworld.com/story/1272785.html
DUGGER ---- An experiment started in 1997 by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources is proving that muskellunge, or muskies, a much-sought-after game fish, can adapt to the warmer climes of southern Indiana.
Brian Schoenung, fisheries biologist with the DNR's Fish and Wildlife Division who works out of the Avoca State Fish Hatchery, said the muskies were introduced to Bass Lake, in the Dugger Unit of the Fish and Wildlife Area, for a practical reason.
"The idea was to try to control some of the excess forage species (of fish) in here," Schoenung said.
Greene-Sullivan State Forest manager Steve Siscoe explained that the muskies will help control the expanding carp population.
"Basically, high carp populations have a negative impact," noted Siscoe. He said carp disturb the nests of other fish and can quickly overpopulate their environment.
Schoenung, along with assistant biologist Shawn Sapp and naturalist Kyle Goeppner conducted tests at Bass Lake this week to gather data on the fish. The results of those tests probably won't be known for several weeks.
Once completed, the DNR survey should show the approximate population of the different types of fish in Bass Lake.
"We're taking water chemical data, including pH levels," explained Schoenung. "That basically tells us where we can place our nets and catch the fish."
Schoenung said by Thursday, they had caught about a half-dozen yearling muskies, "all this year's stocking."
The DNR has been monitoring the progress of the young muskies since they were placed into the lake. Schoenung said 12 juvenile muskies were caught this spring. A 2-year-old muskie, which was about 22 inches long, and a 3-year-old, which was 35 inches long, have also been discovered by the DNR.
When caught, muskies must be at least 36 inches long to keep, according to law. Only one can be taken.
"There should be some fish big enough to catch this year," Schoenung noted.
Muskies get big, and are a well-known game fish with a lot of fight.
"The state record muskie, which was caught in northern Indiana, was about 40 pounds," Schoenung explained.
He said a survey conducted by the DNR this year shows that most fishermen support the stocking of muskies.
"Our target (at Bass Lake) is seven or eight fish per acre," Schoenung noted. There are other fish in Bass Lake, he noted, but muskies are the only species the DNR is stocking there.
The DNR has changed the way the young fish are fed before being released into the various waters, he noted.
"We are switching over to forage-finished fish," said Schoenung. Fish are usually raised on pelleted feed at the Avoca State Fish Hatchery. However, when taken to various lakes and released, those fish were having difficulty adapting to the new environment and learning how to eat the natural foods, including other fish.
"So we started putting minnows (in the waters at the hatchery)," Schoenung explained, so the young fish will learn that smaller fish are on their menu.
Siscoe said he hasn't had many reports of muskies being caught at Bass Lake.
"I'm not sure if this is because they're not of legal size yet ... but that may attribute to that some," Siscoe noted. Muskies are game fish, and notoriously hard to catch. "They have earned their reputation as 'the fish of 1,000 casts'," he noted.
"We've gotten a couple of reports of walleye being caught out of Bass and West Lakes," Siscoe said, but he believes it may be a case of mistaken identity. What is being caught could actually be immature muskies, he said. However, without actually seeing the fish, it's hard to tell, he noted. Several years ago, Walleyes were stocked in Bass Lake by a coal company, and they may still be there.
The fish in Bass Lake have the opportunity to travel. Bass Lake flows into Duck Lake, which flows into West Lake which in turn flows into Buttermilk Creek, which goes on the Wabash River, Siscoe said.
"We hope the fish in the lake don't leave, but in the reverse part, that's where we get some of our other fish, they migrate from the Wabash River and get into these lakes," Siscoe explained.
www.gcdailyworld.com/story/1272785.html