Sanford Muskies
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2011 8:54 am
Below is the text of a letter to the editor that I submitted that was printed in the Midland Daily News yesterday. I want to thank Pete Lebaron for his suggestions to my draft.
I am a lakefront property owner and avid musky fisherman. It has come to my attention that a number of trophy muskies (48 inches and over) have been harvested from Sanford Lake so far this season by spear fisherman. A fish of that size is a trophy in any sportsman's eyes and harvesting a musky over 42 inches is legal to licensed fisherman in the State of Michigan. I do not mean to suggest that legally harvesting these fish is in any way improper or necessarily unethical. Rather, I hope to set forth a few things that I'm hopeful open water/ice/spear fisherman will keep in mind before deciding whether to kill one of these noble creatures.
Muskies are an apex predator whose presence in any water body is quite limited on a fish per acre basis which is why they have become known as the fish of ten thousand casts. Adding to the natural scarcity of muskies present in Sanford Lake (or any of the other Tittabawassee chain of lakes) is the fact that the lake is not conducive to any real natural reproduction by muskies. Instead, Sanford Lake's musky population is reliant almost solely on stocking efforts by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). Since the musky stocking program began on Sanford Lake decades ago, the lake has not received consistent stocking at the numbers recommended by the MDNR largely because of budget constraints and the inherent problems associated with raising musky stock at the MDNR's Wolf Lake Hatchery. For every fish taken out of Sanford Lake, that is one less fish we all have to enjoy on future fishing trips as there is no guaranty that the fish stocks will be replenished. In addition, even when adequate stocking occurs, it can take between 15 and 20 years for a musky to grow to trophy length. Most avid musky anglers practice catch and very careful release to help ensure that the mortality risk is kept to a minimum. I for one am grateful that musky fishing is available here in Midland Co. and I hope that will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future and for future generations. Until such time as the MDNR can more consistently stock muskies in Sanford, I urge sportsman to think twice before purposefully killing any muskies. For those that read this and believe that muskies need to be eradicated because they are damaging the other fish populations of the lake with their voracious appetites, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. And, if you don’t believe me, I urge you to contact your local MDNR biologist or the Michigan Musky Alliance (www.michiganmuskiealliance.org) for information which dispels this widely believed myth.
Scott Scarpelli
Sanford
I am a lakefront property owner and avid musky fisherman. It has come to my attention that a number of trophy muskies (48 inches and over) have been harvested from Sanford Lake so far this season by spear fisherman. A fish of that size is a trophy in any sportsman's eyes and harvesting a musky over 42 inches is legal to licensed fisherman in the State of Michigan. I do not mean to suggest that legally harvesting these fish is in any way improper or necessarily unethical. Rather, I hope to set forth a few things that I'm hopeful open water/ice/spear fisherman will keep in mind before deciding whether to kill one of these noble creatures.
Muskies are an apex predator whose presence in any water body is quite limited on a fish per acre basis which is why they have become known as the fish of ten thousand casts. Adding to the natural scarcity of muskies present in Sanford Lake (or any of the other Tittabawassee chain of lakes) is the fact that the lake is not conducive to any real natural reproduction by muskies. Instead, Sanford Lake's musky population is reliant almost solely on stocking efforts by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR). Since the musky stocking program began on Sanford Lake decades ago, the lake has not received consistent stocking at the numbers recommended by the MDNR largely because of budget constraints and the inherent problems associated with raising musky stock at the MDNR's Wolf Lake Hatchery. For every fish taken out of Sanford Lake, that is one less fish we all have to enjoy on future fishing trips as there is no guaranty that the fish stocks will be replenished. In addition, even when adequate stocking occurs, it can take between 15 and 20 years for a musky to grow to trophy length. Most avid musky anglers practice catch and very careful release to help ensure that the mortality risk is kept to a minimum. I for one am grateful that musky fishing is available here in Midland Co. and I hope that will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future and for future generations. Until such time as the MDNR can more consistently stock muskies in Sanford, I urge sportsman to think twice before purposefully killing any muskies. For those that read this and believe that muskies need to be eradicated because they are damaging the other fish populations of the lake with their voracious appetites, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. And, if you don’t believe me, I urge you to contact your local MDNR biologist or the Michigan Musky Alliance (www.michiganmuskiealliance.org) for information which dispels this widely believed myth.
Scott Scarpelli
Sanford
