Does a record muskie lurk in Green Bay?

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Does a record muskie lurk in Green Bay?

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/app ... 10679/1233

June 11, 2006 By Jim Lee Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers jlee77@charter.net

Can a muskie grow too big, too fast for anglers?

Therein lies the dilemma for Wisconsin muskie fishing addicts hoping the waters of Green Bay could yield the next world record muskie — a fish broaching the mythical 70-pound mark.

"To reach that size, a muskie has to experience intermediate growth rates and live for many years," says Kevin Kapuscinski, Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist at Green Bay. "If a fish grows too slow, it never lives long enough to reach that size.

"If it grows too fast, it doesn't have the longevity. Fish that grow very rapidly die very young."

Does the sprawling, 80-mile-long bay, which stretches from the mouth of the Fox River to Washington Island off the tip of Door County, have what it takes to someday produce the fish that will make angling history?

"Maybe," says Kapuscinski, while couching his answer in pessimism.

By nearly any standard, reintroduction of the Great Lakes strain of spotted muskies in Green Bay — an effort that began in 1989 — has been a success.

Though the overall number of adult muskies in the bay remains relatively small, their presence is impressive.

Well-fed stocked muskies are released from DNR hatcheries into the bay at sizes that average about 12 inches for fingerlings and 15 to 22 inches for yearlings. They are at the top of the predator chain upon arrival and grow at near mushroom speed.

Aided by an abundance of shad as prime forage, bay muskies reach the 40-inch mark in as little as four years, about half the time it takes a muskie in the heart of the state's inland lake region.

A female muskie that barely topped the 51-inch mark was netted by DNR crews in the Fox River this spring.

"It was almost 10 years old," Kapuscinski reports. "We netted male muskies up to 48½ inches long. That's unheard of. You just don't see male muskies that large. We netted 11 males this spring over 45 inches.

"You tell that to people who have been fishing or working with muskies all their lives, and they just won't believe it. But when you have gizzard shad as a forage base, you see some incredible fish."

A 40-inch spotted muskie will average a respectable 18 to 19 pounds, but then the weight gain balloons.

"The biggest muskie we've handled was 51¾ inches long and weighed 47 pounds," Kapuscinski said.

"We've seen 45-inch muskies that approached 35 pounds."

If a 10-year-old muskie in Green Bay can top 51 inches, what's the outer limit? What might a 15-year-old fish weigh?

Or a 20-year-old?

"That's what everyone wants to know," Kapuscinski said. "When can we expect to see the next world record?"

It's easy for muskie anglers to get revved up in speculation.

Let's see, muskies have been stocked in the bay for 17 years. If a 10-year-old broaches 50 inches, shouldn't a 15-year-old exceed 60 inches? Isn't that world record territory?

"It's very unlikely," Kapuscinski says, deflating the debate a bit.

"Looking at our male and female muskies ... they are just not going to achieve record length. Louis Spray's fish (the record muskie at 69 pounds, 11 ounces) was reportedly 63 inches long.

"Our average female muskie is going to top out at 53 inches. The maximum length window for our females is probably 46 to 60 inches. Using a length-weight formula (specific to Green Bay muskies), that 60-inch fish would probably break the world record for weight.

"But the odds of a fish surviving to the end of that growth curve ... and then somebody catching her ... that possibility is very small. There's potential for a 17-year-old muskie to be out there, but we haven't seen it. The oldest fish we've tagged and recovered was 10 years old. The oldest muskie caught by an angler that we know of was 52 inches long and 12 to 13 years old."

The bulk of muskie fishing and DNR muskie survey work has concentrated on the Fox River downstream from De Pere and southern Green Bay. Those areas contain the shallowest depths and warmest water temperatures, conditions that promote more frequent feeding binges by muskie, and thus faster growth.

The northern waters off Sturgeon Bay, northern Door County and Marinette tend to be wider, deeper and cooler ... and muskies are more scattered.

"If we see a record muskie come out of Green Bay, I think it will be in the northern part of the bay where there is deeper water and a variety of water temperatures," Kapuscinski said. "I really think areas there offer potential for muskie longevity ... and we know those fish are heavier (than muskies in other waters) for their length.

"You definitely could see the record fall in Green Bay, but I don't think it will come from the lower Fox River area. There are plenty of big muskies around the Fox and southern Green Bay ... but a 70-pounder ... I don't know."

The bay's prospects for producing a muskie of record proportions raises a tantalizing question.

Are large, adult muskies in Green Bay homebodies, tending to remain in a favorite area ... or do they roam throughout the basin, perhaps spawning and foraging in the lower bay but spending portions of the warm summer months in the cooler depths of the upper bay?

"We don't know their habits yet," Kapuscinski said.

There still is much to be learned regarding the return of this native.

The answers, when they become available, undoubtedly will guide the actions of future muskie anglers.