I was talking to a friend yesterday about this topic and i felt i should share it and get the states and fellow fishermans thoughts. Pike have done really well in CT and are more of a cold water fish than muskie are. Seems like a fish that could thrive here in CT easily. Id think a lake like winchester or a " bass management lake" that continues to struggle would be a great place to try muskie. I know the state probably doesnt have the money but it would get a lot of people fishing and would be an awesome new biggest fresh water game fish the state has ever had. There are alot of lakes in CT that no one even try's fishing anymore because the bass fishing is that poor. Throw in some fry and see what happens!
Thoughts?
Cant be worse than the CT River salmon project and cant cost nearly as much.
And if muskie isnt possible is there anyone who can tell me where the pike program is still being stocked? DEEP's website only shows CT River, Bantam and Mansfield.
#1439520 - 08/29/1208:27 PM
Re: Muskie In CT?
[Re: JoeyHBCT]
elcapitanmas
Member
Registered: 06/27/05
Posts: 3202
lol sorry tt, It would be nice to see some of the funds go to new and interesting projects/species to help promote the sport of fishing. For guys that don't target trout and a walleye program that has gone downhill over the past couple years it can be tough to want to fish in Ct.
lol sorry tt, It would be nice to see some of the funds go to new and interesting projects/species to help promote the sport of fishing. For guys that don't target trout and a walleye program that has gone downhill over the past couple years it can be tough to want to fish in Ct.
agreed! Im curious to see if DEEP has any response to this. I feel like i cant be the first one to ask about this lol
#1439534 - 08/29/1209:12 PM
Re: Muskie In CT?
[Re: x182dan]
MikeG
Member
Registered: 01/20/02
Posts: 13087
Loc: NW CT
Originally Posted By: x182dan
Somebody correct me if I am wrong but isnt there one private lake in ct with tiger musky?
Woodridge Lake in Goshen had Tiger Muskie which are a hybrid and do not reproduce naturally. From what I was told they are no longer in the lake because they only live 8-12 years and they where only stocked once in the mid 1990's,so they all should have died off by now.Some of them did get huge though when they where in there.
The pike program at Winchester seems to be a low success,a few pike are caught every year but the numbers caught are far and few in between it seems. I am curious what the DEEP thinks of the Winchester pike program,would also like to know of pike are still stocked there every year.
read up on the muskie. its a much more delicate fish than the pike comparatively speaking. yes it grows to massive size and even exceeds the pike in terms of predation, but there is a reason they dont have a huge range.
the pike acclimates to nearly all water bodies with 4 seasons. nature has kept the balance even as man attempts to throw it off by spreading species from one water to distant lands.
the pike grows large and fast, but dies quickly, stuggles as a predator in terms of success rate and adaptability, and suffers large spawn mortality. it competes with other fish due to size rather than efficiency. its a remarkable bit of information if you have time to research pike lifecycles, and its nearly global distribution. it succeeds for a number of reasons, yet comes with flaws perfectly suited to NOT throw the balance of a lake off.
id challenge anyone to show me a lake where bass or walleye fishing has depreciated due to pike introduction. quite the opposite has been my observation. im currently watching the impact of the snakehead fish do the same in a few large waterbodies in stark contrast to what the fisheries biologists have predicted.
the muskie wasnt here for a reason. even more interesting is that despite all the fish relocations, the muskie NEVER took up residence in ct, mass, or RI for the most part. there are few in vermont, in maine but along the canadian extreeme fringe, and if they are in new hampshire i dont know of them. why?
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