Hey guys, I'm new here and new to muskie fishing. I live a stones throw from Austin and just this past winter realized there were big muskies swimmin around.
I've had the pleasure of hooking in to two of them and landing one, as well as a friend landing one in my boat.
My main question is, Do the muskies in Austin naturally reproduce with any success? I witnessed some slightly disturbing spearing practices this winter out there which makes me wonder if the skies in there are the only ones from the plants in '00 and '02. Basically I'm afraid they will eventually be speared out of the lake.
I also read a report from Jay Wesley in '06 that the plantings have been stopped due to disease problems, so no more will be planted. Can anyone elaborate a little more on this issue?
My goal is to catch a 45-48 incher out there and get it mounted, but I'd hate to do that if there are no more to replace it. I see a re-production mount in my future!
At this point no natural reproduction has been documented in Austin. If it gets any natural reproduction it will not be enough to maintain the fishery and harvest will eventually eliminate the fishery without supplemental stocking. The biggest detriment to any muskie fishery is that to most anglers a 45" fish is a big fish when in reality that is only a nice muskie that isn't very old at all. Muskies in the southern part of Michigan can live to 20 years with some living longer. A 45" muskie can be from 6-10 years old which means removing this fish will eliminate 10-14 years of enjoyment (or frustration) from anglers. My advice would be to catch that 45-48" fish and let her go. If you want a memory of her on the wall get in touch with Joe Fittante and have him reproduce that fish for you. The reproduction will look great for generations, unlike a skin mount. The cost of the reproduction is in line with that of a good taxidermist and you'll have the satisfaction knowing that fish is still swimming and you'll have a chance to catch her again when she's much bigger. <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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Thanks for the info! Thats a bummer that there's been no documented reproduction so far. I will definitely not be keeping any fish from the lake, that's for sure. After seeing the carelessness of one certain spearing angler this past winter I figured me taking one fish out wouldn't hurt the system. But I've had mixed feelings on the topic lately and the more I learn about them I feel it just wouldnt be right. Especially with no natural reproduction and no future stocking efforts.
Do you, or anyone else know if any of the Tigers from the last plant in 91 are still around? They would be some very old fish and very big if still around.
I went out last thursday and my fishing partner had one come to about 10 feet from the boat, came up out of the water with it's mouth wide open, missed the bait and took off like a bat outta hell! I swear you could have fit a basketball in this fishes mouth. It was absolutely huge!!! It made a splash reminiscent of Rosie O'donnell doing a cannon ball off a diving board!! IT was the biggest fish i've ever seen in an inland lake! I almost called in sick to work that day. Thanks again
Thanks for the info guys! I figured as much on the tigers being done for. I just hope the DNRE plants some more muskies out there in the future. I think it would be a shame to let the fishery die. It's just so much fun to have a giant muskie attack your bait. We had 4 strikes out there this morning, unfortunately they all missed our baits. They all came out of the water to some degree making a nice splash and boil on the surface. They were all pretty big fish! Lots of fun.
I live in Battle Creek and have been fishing Austin for the past month, no luck so far but had a couple follows. But they were lazy follows. I am not used to fishing such a shallow lake with no structure. I was sad to read that natural reproduction is not taking place on the lake. When I was out there 7/3 I seen some fry that I swore looked like muskie. They were greenish,silver and were about an inch long. If they werent muskie I dont know what they might of been.
Anybody with tips or ideas about fishing Austin lake please help me out. So far the only Michigan water I have had any success is St. Clair.
Also personally I think if there is no reproduction taking place on Austin there should be a 50" minimum to protect the fishery.
"fredjordan" said:
I am not used to fishing such a shallow lake with no structure….
Anybody with tips or ideas about fishing Austin lake please help me out. So far the only Michigan water I have had any success is St. Clair.
From what I've seen, Austin is a minny St.Clair! Mostly the same depth water (shallow) with a couple deeper spots, and various weedbeds that pop up in the middle of nowhere. I cannot speak from much experience on Austin however, as I've only been there 1 time. But it's my understanding- find the weeds & holes, find the fish.
This is my first year fishing Austin even though I can see it from my bedroom window. So far, in about 7 trips out, two muskies have been landed. My fishing partner and I have had quite a few follows, and 4 rally good strikes where the fish broke the surface and should have hit the baits but completely missed them. Those have been very frustrating!!! One of which was very big, I'm guessin about 48 inches.
One of them that my buddy caught attacked a small bass that he was reeling in. It hit it twice, the 2nd time dog-boning it. Luckily he was using a Bomber with 3 trebles on it, 2 of them ended up in the muskie!! It went about 36-38 inches. That was one of the coolest things I've seen on the water.
I've found that you definitly want to find the weed beds out there. There are really no other hiding spots on the lake. The big one that I spoke of earlier did come from more open water about 75 yards from shore. There were no weeds in the area, we were very shocked. Actually it scared the absolute dog crap out of us!!
IS there anyone I can get ahold of to voice my opinion on spearing on Austin? Personally I don't think regular fishing will decimate the population. From what I saw this past winter, spearing has the potential to have a huge impact on the population. A father and son team speared at least 10 of them last season alone!! I have no clue what anyone would want to do with 10 muskies, but to me it seems rather excessive. This is only my opinion, and I think some of you will agree. It seems as if all or most of the other muskie stocked lakes in SWMI all have spearing bans, but not Austin. Can anyone tell me why?
"Bowslayer" said:
It seems as if all or most of the other muskie stocked lakes in SWMI all have spearing bans, but not Austin. Can anyone tell me why?
Due to past fish disease problems it was determined by the DNRE that Austin was not the best place to stock muskies (limited number of expensive fish). When it was decided to no longer stock Austin the spearing ban was removed (despite my arguing/warning that it needed to stay in place to keep the fishery intact).
Please give a call or e-mail to fisheries manager Jay Wesley at the Plainwell DNRE office and let him know your concerns.
(269) 685-6851
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I emailed Jay Wesley a few days back and he just got back to me with some great news!!
He wrote
"We are looking into stocking Austin again starting next year. Still trying to figure out the spearing ban. Seems to be popular and there are not many lakes that you can do it at in southern Michigan."
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This makes me very happy as I live very close to the lake!
"Bowslayer" said:
I emailed Jay Wesley a few days back and he just got back to me with some great news!!
He wrote
"We are looking into stocking Austin again starting next year. Still trying to figure out the spearing ban.Seems to be popular and there are not many lakes that you can do it at in southern Michigan."
[smilie=2thumbsup.gif] [smilie=applause.gif]This makes me very happy as I live very close to the lake!
Uh, yeah…. That's because the lakes are stocked! Takes a lot of time, money, management, manpower, etc. Go spear carp & gars in non-muskie lakes! 🙄 Nobody likes those anyways.
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