Teal Lake Marquette county
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 10:25 am
Explanation from the DNR newsletters on why Teal lake was chosen for stocking. Will be interesting to see if small numbers of stocked muskies can control the white sucker problem there. The reasons for stocking lake margrethe were similar.
Teal Lake muskellunge stocking (Negaunee):
The management of Teal Lake's fishery has traditionally focused on balancing the predator/prey
ratio using tools such as sucker removals and walleye stockings. The lake, due to its vicinity to
the population centers of Marquette/Negaunee/Ishpeming, receives heavy fishing pressure when
the angling catch results are good. When fishing is good, anglers quickly crop down the walleye
and perch populations, and white suckers then fill the vacant niche in the fishery. Once the suckers
become numerous the sport fishery collapses, the DNR conducts another sucker removal project
and the walleyes and perch once again become abundant. The boom and bust cycle is repetitive.
It is not sound management to net this lake over and over again to remove suckers, and this
repetitive removal of tons of suckers may actually be reducing the overall productivity of the lake
by removing the nutrients that drive the fishery.
Teal Lake was stocked with 699 Great Lakes strain spotted muskies averaging 8.9 inches in
length on October 13, 2014. Teal Lake is well suited for the establishment of a muskie population
due to a stable abundant white sucker forage base. The muskellunge stocking is a management
experiment and is an effort to more fully utilize the biomass of Teal Lake towards producing sport
fish rather than having the lake’s productivity go towards developing more white suckers. With
Teal Lake's 466 acre size, the 2014 muskellunge stocking of 699 fall fingerlings (1.5/acre) should
not interfere with the existing walleye, perch, and smallmouth bass fishery.
Muskellunge and walleyes coexist in many western UP, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota
lakes. We are not implying that muskies do not eat walleyes, however they prefer soft rayed fish
(such as suckers), and their diet preferences are diverse enough to allow them to be compatible
in lake systems without eliminating the walleyes. There is a large public interest in seeing more
muskellunge fisheries in Michigan, and with the limited opportunities in Marquette County this is
worth exploring towards the development of a new fishery. The Teal Lake muskellunge management
plan has been discussed with the public at numerous public meetings and has received support
of many anglers.
Michigan DNR Fisheries Division is planning to conduct a fisheries survey of Teal Lake during
June 2015.
Teal Lake muskellunge stocking (Negaunee):
The management of Teal Lake's fishery has traditionally focused on balancing the predator/prey
ratio using tools such as sucker removals and walleye stockings. The lake, due to its vicinity to
the population centers of Marquette/Negaunee/Ishpeming, receives heavy fishing pressure when
the angling catch results are good. When fishing is good, anglers quickly crop down the walleye
and perch populations, and white suckers then fill the vacant niche in the fishery. Once the suckers
become numerous the sport fishery collapses, the DNR conducts another sucker removal project
and the walleyes and perch once again become abundant. The boom and bust cycle is repetitive.
It is not sound management to net this lake over and over again to remove suckers, and this
repetitive removal of tons of suckers may actually be reducing the overall productivity of the lake
by removing the nutrients that drive the fishery.
Teal Lake was stocked with 699 Great Lakes strain spotted muskies averaging 8.9 inches in
length on October 13, 2014. Teal Lake is well suited for the establishment of a muskie population
due to a stable abundant white sucker forage base. The muskellunge stocking is a management
experiment and is an effort to more fully utilize the biomass of Teal Lake towards producing sport
fish rather than having the lake’s productivity go towards developing more white suckers. With
Teal Lake's 466 acre size, the 2014 muskellunge stocking of 699 fall fingerlings (1.5/acre) should
not interfere with the existing walleye, perch, and smallmouth bass fishery.
Muskellunge and walleyes coexist in many western UP, northern Wisconsin, and Minnesota
lakes. We are not implying that muskies do not eat walleyes, however they prefer soft rayed fish
(such as suckers), and their diet preferences are diverse enough to allow them to be compatible
in lake systems without eliminating the walleyes. There is a large public interest in seeing more
muskellunge fisheries in Michigan, and with the limited opportunities in Marquette County this is
worth exploring towards the development of a new fishery. The Teal Lake muskellunge management
plan has been discussed with the public at numerous public meetings and has received support
of many anglers.
Michigan DNR Fisheries Division is planning to conduct a fisheries survey of Teal Lake during
June 2015.