Big Muskie

[Brian]

Jan 1, 2012 22:54:27 GMT -5 vtbass said:

George: It depends on the water. As with all fish species, growth depends on the availability of resources - food, space, habitat. A ball park for muskie to reach 40-inches would be 8-10 years. I might expect it to be on the lower end of that for Champlain.

I aged the new state record caught in 2005 (52 inches, 38-lbs) at 24 years.

The last few years of stocking:
2008 - 250 six-inch muskie
2009 - 10,000 six-inch muskie
2010 - none
2011 - 5,150 six-inch muskie

I get these as "surplus" fish from NYDEC's muskie hatchery in western NY, so it's purely based on what they have left over after they've stocking their waters at their prescribed stocking rate of # of muskie per acre of water (generally around 2-3 muskie of this size per acre).

So, if any of the 250 from 2008 lived, I would expect them to be in the high 20-inch range this summer, and over 30 inches by next summer (2013). The big test will be seeing if any of those 10,000 start getting caught once they reach catchable size in 2013 or 2014.

And yes, we have a pretty good muskie population in Otter Creek in the lower river and up above the Vergennes Dam to the Weybridge Dam, which originated from stocking in 1980 through 1986. There have been a number of mid-40 inch muskie caught there recently, including a bunch this past summer.

Great info and very exciting prospects for the future of muskie fishing on Champlain.

Does VTF&W have to pay NYDEC for the fingerlings? Or are they gratis since they are going to be stocked in a border water?

[schodackbassman]

Thank you for the education. That was very interesting information. I've not seen one in person on Champlain or anywhere else for that matter. Glad NY doesn't waste the extra fry and share with our good neighbors to the east. I suppose it works out all the way around as we share responsibility for shepherding the lake. I hope the funding for the hatcheries continue. ENCON has been getting hacked pretty good budget and staff wise. To the point they are looking at moving some other agency into their brand new green building on Broadway in Albany because ENCON no longer has enough staff to fill it. If you ever get a chance to visit ENCON in Albany let me know. Be fun to meet up for lunch. Lot's of great places downtown.

Brian

[Brian]

Great info Shawn! Thanks for the post.

I once had a tiger musky follow my lure to the canoe while fishing with Diane (before we were married and had a boat) at Lake Durant, NY. It got my attention. Couldn't catch it though.