All:

This is part of what needs to be done due to budget shortages. Some lakes will be stocked with smaller fish this year, it's that simple.

"Mike Stinson" said:
What’s the estimated survival rate (%) of Muskie Fry reaching 12” in a natural environment?

Slim to none , but those are the cards we've been dealt.
Lets get proactive so we can try to prevent this from happening again.

But still, the bigger issue should be addressing specific lake needs!

Regardless of the impact that 100,000 fry might have in any body of water, Murray Lake was just stocked last fall with 1600 strapping Iowa fall fingerlings- 5 per acre! And another 1000 back in '03- even these 3 year old fish are just now beginning to compete for the same forage as the adults, and are just recently starting to show up in angler's catches.

Even though these fry are not expected to give much return, they would have been much more valued in some other lake. I do realize the stakes are not so high when dealing out fry, but its the mentality, and the appearance of proper planning and management that I want to see. I'm sure there may be more to the story such as the logistics of the travel- maybe they combined the shipment with another from the hatchery, and they picked the closest lake in passing. Whatever. I have to hope anyway, because to be blunt there have been some very 'peculiar' stocking rates and decisions made in the past…

Cooke is part of the Au Sable chain between Loud and Foote Dam Ponds(about 2000 acres + quite a bit of unmapped river). GORGEOUS water – cabbage, deep breaks, natural shoreline. Will need a LOT of fish…