2017 Musky production

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Phil » Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:43 am

If you want to send one or two of the PICs to me, I can put them up for you. Just send to my cell. If you want I can PM the the number to you.
If you want to do it yourself, you will need some place to upload your PICs to and then "link" to them in a message.
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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by MrSimon » Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:13 am

Haha, you're crazy! An almost 50" muskie from Black Lake is absolutely both rare and huge. Maybe you catch them on a regular basis, but nobody else does, that's for sure. I'm impressed! I don't think I have the patience to hunt soooo many hours for a single fish. That's some serious dedication right there.

These are the pics from the Lakeside Lodge website. Beautiful fish!

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Dreadnought » Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:07 am

Interesting color patterns on these musky. Typically musky from the great lakes are "spotted", not "barred" patterned. These fish look more barred, as spotting is difficult to make out. Would Black Lake musky have a lineage more closely related to inland lake/river fish than great lakes stock?

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Musky hunter » Tue Aug 29, 2017 2:58 pm

Phil: That would be great. I don't pose with every fish I catch anymore. I mostly just ask my netter to snap some of me unhooking and releasing. I will pose with the big girls though and I have a favorite or two.
It wasn't my intent to create a bragging board here, but to point out the availability of this great species in BL.
As to the coloration, or lack thereof, Larry Vielhauer claims the BL fish differ from the Rivers.I'm pretty sure that they are genetically identical, but since the power dams cut off the lakers, they have inbred for enough generations to mutate into a less brightly marked musky.

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Dreadnought » Tue Aug 29, 2017 5:30 pm

So maybe the population today in Black lake is descended from fish that used to make there way from the St. Lawrence then were "landlocked" when the dams were built. This is interesting to me as the musky from the great lakes/St. Lawrence have the potential to grow to record proportions. Small inland river/lake fish probably do not. My local Niagara river fish are beautifully spotted with reddish fins. There are alot of natural hybrid musky appearing the past few years in the Niagara which worries me. There may not be enough breeder age musky so they are finding the larger pike as spawning partners. Since there are so many pike in Black Lake does anyone catch hybrid/tigers there?

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Phil » Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:15 pm

The river systems in northen NY are stocked with muskie by DEC. Sturgeon, as well.
Never heard of a naturally occurring Muskie/Pike hybrid. Thought that was all done by the DEC under controlled conditions. As far as I know, they have never stocked Tigers in BL or any of the river systems connected to BL.
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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by njmike » Wed Aug 30, 2017 8:00 am

[quote="Musky hunter"]Phil: It wasn't my intent to create a bragging board here

I'm sure this post is not perceived as bragging. I for one, am not only impressed but super interested in the story. Like you said earlier you are a small group specifically targeting a fish no one else is. Keep the story going. Good Luck.
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.
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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Dreadnought » Wed Aug 30, 2017 12:05 pm

Tiger musky do occur naturally. Not very common but it does happen. I don't know if it happens in Black lake but its possible.The hybrids are sterile so the DEC can use hatchery produced tigers to enhance a sport fishery where there is an overabundance of prey species. I don't think the DEC would be doing a good job as a conservation agency if they stocked hybrids in Black lake as there is a natural musky population already there.

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Musky hunter » Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:58 am

I once called the Region 6 DEC office to inquire about the status of muskies in BL after reading an article on them in NY game and Fish. The Fisheries guy told me that there were no muskies in Black Lake. I didn't want to waste his time or mine arguing with him so I assumed that he didn't know anything that I didn't.
Larry Vielhauer has skinned a few thousand muskies in his career, and claims there is more of a difference between the River fish and the Lakers than just coloration. If the DEC was to stock Chautauqua Lake hatchery raised fish that could explain the difference as I believe they raise the Ohio River strain out there.
One thing I am curious about, if the eels in Black Lake can get around the dams, why can't other fish do it as well?

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Dreadnought » Thu Aug 31, 2017 10:20 am

Its a good time for the DEC to do a sea lamprey assessment on Black lake as sightings of their damage to fish are increasing. There are native freshwater lampreys in New York I wonder if those are present in Black lake as well.

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by MrSimon » Thu Aug 31, 2017 4:39 pm

Musky hunter wrote:I once called the Region 6 DEC office to inquire about the status of muskies in BL after reading an article on them in NY game and Fish. The Fisheries guy told me that there were no muskies in Black Lake. I didn't want to waste his time or mine arguing with him so I assumed that he didn't know anything that I didn't.
Larry Vielhauer has skinned a few thousand muskies in his career, and claims there is more of a difference between the River fish and the Lakers than just coloration. If the DEC was to stock Chautauqua Lake hatchery raised fish that could explain the difference as I believe they raise the Ohio River strain out there.
One thing I am curious about, if the eels in Black Lake can get around the dams, why can't other fish do it as well?
I'd imagine high water from floods could help fish get around dams .... and I'm certain that people move fish around, especially big ones like musky. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if guys were catching musky from the river and putting them in the lake.

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Phil » Thu Aug 31, 2017 5:41 pm

MrSimon wrote:
Musky hunter wrote: .... and I'm certain that people move fish around, especially big ones like musky. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if guys were catching musky from the river and putting them in the lake.
:O
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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by MrSimon » Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:28 am

I'm just speculating here, but I have seen it done with bass .... so it wouldn't surprise me if someone caught one on the river and said, "hey, wouldn't it be cool to put this in the lake?"

It happens all the time around where I live. People sneak into farm ponds and catch a handful of giant bass, then transport them to a different lake.

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Musky hunter » Fri Sep 01, 2017 11:18 am

Illegal, and rightfully so. Don't know or care much about bass and walleyes, but Wisconsin mixed strains of muskies on an experimental basis and the results were not good for the fish or the fishery.

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Re: 2017 Musky production

Post by Musky hunter » Mon Sep 04, 2017 1:39 pm

:lol: 34 man hours fished:
Over a doZen agaggressive follows.
4 strikes.
1 fish hooked and lost.
0 caught.
What a great weekend!!!

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