St. Lawrence muskies: What lure?

[Stinky Finger]

Does Chautauqua show any natural spawning success for muskies or is it totally dependant on stocking?

15% to 25% is thought to be natural reproduction in the lake. That means 75% to 85% are hatchery fish.

[Iceman]

These fish are not tagged or wire implanted, thought the NY State had an implant machine for the salmonids? Seems like they could implant these too to better understand the ratio's.

[BP Swing]

They did a tracking study on the St lawrence a few years back but not lately. I think a graduate student is doing it this yr on the upper Niagara R. No mention of Chautauqua.

[NitroMusky]

They did a tracking study on the St lawrence a few years back.

This mgmt plan from 03 has some of that data along with some other good info...

http://www.esf.edu/tibs/Documents/SLR%20Muskellunge%20Management%20Plan%20III.pdf

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[mostlymuskies]

When I talk with Mike Clancy or Larry King about natural reproduction on Chautauqua Lake,they say every shocking study done in the past few years looking for young of life musky fry,they have only seen yearling musky fry that have been stocked.This means near Zero natural reproduction,I don't know where this 15-25% number keeps coming from,you talk with the experts they don't say those numbers at all,there thinking is next to no natural reproduction.Now Cassadaga because of natural springs and gravel does have 15-25% natural reproduction.

This is why stocking the largest musky fry we can raise is very important to maintain the fishery.

Capt. Larry

[BP Swing]

Nitro,

Nice report on the tracking study. Thanks good info for 10 yrs ago. I wonder how accurate any of it is now? I found it interesting that the St Lawrence strain has its own genetic strain which is different than other great lakes strains. That doesnt surprise me as a Musky from the Larry is the finest looking specimen out there with the cool coloring and extra spots almost tiger like. There is almost no comparison of a fish caught from the Larry vs. one from Wisconsin or somewhere where they are just green or mottled. Im hoping if the DEC is as worried as they say they are that they make it mandatory C & R. Even though most guys release now, there are guides that keep fish for their clients to mount and oddly enough as the study said they are responsible for keeping the most fish (for their clients). Im hoping maybe some of that has changed in 10 yrs. Im sure weekend fishermen keep some too. Hope they can get a handle before its too late.

[NitroMusky]

Yeah I didn't put too much time against any of the numbers, since they are so outdated, but the patterns/habits and locations etc give a little bit of insight into the fishery and suggest a bit about where and how to target...if you can weed through the outdated stuff.

Would love to see an update to this.

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