Stocking Muskies
Last night as I was finishing up a few things on my Facebook page, I came across a petition from the Minnesota Muskie & Pike Alliance to help persuade the Minnesota fisheries chief of the MN DNR to stock muskies in Gull Lake & The Fairmont Chain.
Now I don't claim to be an expert on Minnesota fisheries, but this petition reminded me of things I have heard other anglers say in the past. How many times have you heard "muskies only kill good fish" or "I wish there weren't any muskies"? This is America, and everyone is entitled to their opinion and should be allowed to freely express themselves. However, if you are going to run around making claims you should have done due diligence and have facts to support you.
Let us begin looking at "muskies only kill good fish". For starters, all fish are good fish. You primarily hear this from bass and walleye anglers. One thing most don't understand is that in order to have a healthy stock of any fish or animal, you must have enough forage for the wildlife to achieve its maximum growth potential. This applies to all species. If bass & walleye don't have quality forage, or there are too many of them versus the amount of food available to them, they can only reach a certain size. Point being, if you want bigger fish, regardless of species, you need to balance predator/prey ratios and the amount of quality forage to the numbers feeding.
I do not believe every lake across America should have muskies stocked. One, it isn't practical. Two, not every lake is capable of supporting them. Habitat plays a large factor in this. I would however like to see continued stocking of current lakes and new lakes that meet the following criteria: the habitat is conducive to muskie health and growth. There is enough forage for them to reach their maximum growth potential. There should be size limits enforced with a quality catch and release program established. This all begins with you! Begin with supporting CPR (catch, photograph, release), Muskies, Inc. and signing petitions like the one listed below. Together we can achieve our goal of large healthy muskies. Today, tomorrow, and for the future, our children.
Keep that lure in the water!
-Muskie Kid
For information on the petition mentioned above, click the following link.
For information on joining Muskies, Inc. click here.
