I consider myself a veteran fisherman but a complete rookie when it comes to muskie fishing, so I've done alot of research and have some questions especially concerning Michigan's muskie stocking program. I see that Michigan has somewhat recently switched from stocking Northern strain muskies and is now stocking Great Lakes strain. Is this due to a greater ability to obtain brood stock or are great lakes strain a better fit for michigan waters? Will great lakes strain have a better chance of reproducing naturally or will the relatively few muskie lakes that we have forever need to be stocked? After reading some articles in Musky Hunter mag, I see that states like Indiana and Illinois are going to great length in studying what strains work best for their waters. Is the Michigan DNR doing some of these same things? I'm interested in the conservation of trophy fish and deer within the state and would like to hear what others have to say in regards to Michigan DNR efforts.
Will can best explain the switch but it has a lot to do with the strain that was here naturally. The Northern strains were brought in from Wisconsin and built our older brood stock lakes. Hudson and Thornapple are from that strain. There is also something about the difficulty in raising spotted compared to Northern. All I know is the Antrim chain and Indian river systems are natural to our state. These are spotted Muskies and we do NOT want to allow them to mix with Northern. Mike
The switch in strains was because the GLS strain is the native strain to the LP of Michigan and some areas of the UP as well. They want to be stocking more river impoundments, river mouths, and rivers that historically would have had GLS fish in them or still do in small amounts. These lakes will have a better chance at natural reproduction as well. They also have better forage with lots of suckers and in some cases gizzard shad. By stocking Northern strain fish in these waters you could genetically contaminate the wild GLS stock. Stocking Northern strain fish in lakes where they cant reproduce is fine but this opens up a lot more potential water to be stocked. The other problem that was happening is a lot of lakes the muskies escape, sometimes in large numbers and then they can end up anywhere. There was a problem with the Belleville fish escaping into the lower huron river. Thornapple, Ovid and Murray fish also frequently escape and can end up in lake Michigan and then basically end up anywhere connected. Now that these lakes are getting GLS fish there is less of a genetic concern when fish escape. Right now the hatchery doesn't have the means or the facilities to raise both strains at once, nor is there really a reason to as the GLS fish should perform fine stocked into the northern strain lakes. Hope this answers your questions.
368
23