I recently caught & released a 45" Northern Muskie in Murray Lake (Kent Co.). After measuring the fish & getting a quick photo I released the fish. It turns out the photos were not in focus and in my hast to release the fish I can not remember if the fish was clear, spotted, or barred. Can anyone familiar with Murray Lake help me out as to which strain of Muskie I caught? Thanks
I'll try not to be too long winded…
What you are referring to is color phase not strain, strain is specific to where the fish originated (Mississippi/Leech lake, Wisconsin, Ohio, etc.). The muskies in Murray normally have a barred coloration which can appear very distinct on smaller fish and generally becomes muted on larger fish. Basic coloration tends to be lake specific and fish that are from the same broodstock can look very different from one water to the next. Until 2006 Murray had only been stocked with Mississippi strain but this summer it was stocked with fry that were collected in Thornapple or Hudson (Michigan/Wisconsin strain).
The northern strain that Michigan recognizes is either the Mississippi strain that we (MMA) acquired for the Wolf Lake Hatchery or the Michigan (Wisconsin) strain that are collected from Thornapple and Hudson. Here are some examples of fish from around Michigan and Ontario with different colorations within the same strain.
Mississippi strain barred (Murray fish):
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Mississippi strain – spotted:
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Mississippi strain – clear:
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A few variations of spotted great lakes strain:
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A clear great lakes strain:
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Thanks for all the help and generalized education. I'm sure what I caught was a Mississippi stain with a barred color phase. The experience was overwhelming and will now give me another fish to match wits with other then walleye. This was my first Muskie of any size and the first out of Murray. Have also fished Thornapple, Hudson and St. Clair, all with very limited success (28" from St Clair was my previous best). Once again, thanks and hope to see you out on the water.
John D.
John – No problem and welome to the board. Good luck out there and I'm happy to hear she went back for another angler to enjoy the thrill that you got from her. As I've said before on here, I love hearing the success stories of the MMA stocking. If you are inclined there is a member application on the main page of our site or you can follow this link <url url="[Permission to view this media is denied]
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With membership you'll get access to a members only area on this forum with fishing reports from all over Michigan.
Jason and John – If you aren't doing anything on Saturday evening we're having a lure swap over in Okemos. It would be great to meet you.
"jasonvkop" said:
Thanks for the invite, and I might have to show up to that. Can you send me more information about it to ** you do not have permission to see this link **? Also, I am going to become a member, but Im going to wait until the new year, so if I dont cya on saturday ill cya in the near future.
The info is posted on the events section:
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"Pineisland" said:
Actually, the only year Murray ever got Iowa muskies was 2005. Otherwise it was always the MI fish.This past year it was stocked with fry for the first time. It will be interesting to see how they produce.
It would appear that way if you looked at the stocking data. However, the fish on the stocking data are not always listed correctly. They're all Iowa fish except the fry in 2006.
Its nice to read the comments from my question about Murray Lake.
From what I've gathered from the feedback is Michigan reconizes the Northern strain of muskies. This includes the Mississippi stain obtained from Wolf Lake and the Michigan strain obtained from either Thornapple or Hudson.
From Will's comments, it appears that the Iowa fish are from the Mississippi stain and obtained from Wolf Lake, therefore all fish stocked in Murray previous to 2006 orginated from there. In 2006, Murray received the Michigan strain fry form either Thornapple or Hudson Lakes.
Am I close?
One last question. I know that in the early 90's Tiger Muskies were stocked in Murray. Do any of those fish still exist in there?
Also I would like to thank Will for the the invitation to the lure swap at Franks. I met several interesting people and picked up some good information and half a dozen lures.
Congratulations to your organizaton and keep up the good work.
JohnD
Up until 1991, the tigers were stocked each year. It would be a real long shot to still have one in there, but not impossible. No stockings were done from 91 until the lake prescription was changed in 98 to Northern Muskies. In 98 and 2000 the MI northern muskies were stocked. In 03 and 05, the muskies stocked were from the Iowa fish that MMA was involved with.
Will is correct that on the Web, the 03 fish were listed incorrectly. All others are accurate. The 06 fry plant once again were MI fish.
"Pineisland" said:
In 98 and 2000 the MI northern muskies were stocked. In 03 and 05, the muskies stocked were from the Iowa fish that MMA was involved with.Will is correct that on the Web, the 03 fish were listed incorrectly. All others are accurate. The 06 fry plant once again were MI fish.
Tom – Please don't take this the wrong way but I want to point out that, according to Martha, all Michigan fish @ Wolf Lake were lost (disease) in 1998 and 2000. Therefore all fish stocked in 98 and 2000 are from outside Michigan sources. Apparently Iowa had a significant number of "extra" fall fingerlings in those years. These two years are actually what prompted me to set up the Iowa transfer program in 2001 that has continued since that time.
Tom – Now that I think about it, that may actually be partially correct in 2000. I know Wolf Lake lost all its fish but I believe Martha may have sent a bunch of eyed eggs to Iowa that year. However, Iowa would have mixed the swim-ups together so those 2000 fish were likely a mix of Michigan's Wisco. strain and the Leech/Mississippi fish. That would be the reason that we didn't see Hudson stocked in 2000. Though Hudson would have been at the top of the priority list in 2000 and would have been the first stocked it can't take fish of mixed genetics so it wasn't stocked that year.
Nstagator – The Hoosier fish went to other lakes, not Murray. I'm sure they aren't listed on the fish stocking database correctly.
The bottom line is that hopefully we can still keep the Iowa program going though it might take some creative steps to get them here. The Iowa program has been the single most important thing to happen to the muskie program in Michigan and we have all the members of Michigan Muskie Alliance to thank for that! It's not too often that one organization can say that it has been directly responsible for stocking 50% of any species in an entire state over a five year period.
"Duke" said:
My records indicate that it was 2003 when Indiana offered their excess fall fish, and the DNR allocated them as such:Ross Lake – 1453
Lake Diane – 372
Secord Lake – 2558
That was the year we provided out of state travel costs for the hatchery tech. to go to Indiana at the request of Tammy Newcomb, Acting Asst. Fisheries Chief. Funny how easy it is to forget how the little things MMA does can make such a difference. Over 4000 fish stocked in that instance that wouldn't have been possible without MMA. Thanks again to all the members of MMA!!!
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