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Tiger Muskie in Lake Merwin ?

9K views 33 replies 22 participants last post by  mcdaib 
#1 Ā·
Saw this on Katu's website. Had no idea these were around here.

Katu Fish Tales

:shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug:


Perhaps a little internet Tomfoolery ? :whazzup:
 
#4 Ā·
I have a cbin out there and i have personally been able to catch em there. Target near SPELEI bay or under the bridge on the east side of the lake. I like the big wire spinner baits and I catch some small squaw fish near the docks and cook em on the spinners and keep casting. Best day ive had out there is 2 in 7 hours. One woulda made it great 2 was even better. GOOD LUCK!
 
#6 Ā·
Woot,
I think they were stocked in Merwin by WDFW in an attempt to increase the size of the kokanee or some such lunacy. Nothing like letting a nasty non-native predatory fish loose in the ecosystem. Tiger Muskies are supposed to be have been sterilized, but hormonally induced sterility is not 100% effective.

Maybe they'll start stocking pirana in the Willamette soon so that the bass will get bigger. Wait, I guess the pirana are already there...

TF
 
#10 Ā·
When I was in the service and stationed at Ft. Lewis not so long ago there were tiger muskie in the resiovor at Mossy Rock. A fair number of them too as some of the guys back on the fort who were from the WI area were anxious to get out there and target them.
 
#12 Ā·
One Tiger Muskie was caught a few years back on the Willie and documented. Had to be an escapee from Merwin. Way to go WDFW. :hoboy: These are the same folks that think 6% stealhead impacts are okay. :tongue:
 
#13 Ā·
i heard tiger muskie prefer to eat native stock versus hatchery.. anyone have any info on this?
 
#16 Ā·
Tiger muskie do not normally reproduce and so their numbers can be controlled directly by regulating stocking and harvest.
Utah Department of Fish and Wildlife Website
Milty,
You are correct in that they tiger muskie is a hybrid. They can reproduce but are not all that successful at it. When enough of a species that can infrequently reproduce get together eventually a few pairs will be successful. The spawn from that pairing will likely be able to reproduce with a much greater success rate. And so on and so on. It's a snowball effect that can be very dangerous.

From my experience in the fisheries industry, mistakes happen on a pretty regular basis. Things like the wrong tank of smolts being picked up in the pre-dawn hours by a driver that had a few too many cocktails the night before. My personal experience with this was watching a tanker full of brook trout getting dumped into saltwater netpens. They didn't like the experience all that much. I know that hatcheries that produce both tiger muskies likely also have hatchery programs for Northern Pike and pure strain Muskies. After all the Tiger is a cross between a male Northern Pike and a female Muskie. It can be very difficult to tell these fish apart at the fry/smolt stage. Imagine the damage that would be caused by dumping 10,000 Northern Pike that could reproduce into the NFL system.

The dams on the NFL do not have great downstream fish screens/barriers so those fish are going to be washed through on a pretty regular basis. Take a flood year like 1996 when all of the spillways are running and you have lots of downstream migration. These are northern climate fish so a bit of cold water doesn't bother them a bit.

We have a predatory fish that is native to the Pacific Northwest: Bull Trout. They require a bit of clean water, but they are thriving in Lake Billy Chinook so why not in the NFL system? I think it's mostly state agencies trying to figure out a way to drum up more revenue from fishing licenses sales by bringing other people in to buy licenses instead of protecting the fish and wildlife that they are supposed to be responsible for.

That's my 2 cents at least.

TF
 
#17 Ā·
OK, I saw 2 tigers this spring. a 4 footer had a smaller 3 footer by the head. a guy had picked them up to seperate them. both were big and fat. they eat the northernpike minnow. And I can honestly say there are alot of them up there. Ugly fish with big teeth. not sure I want them around my toes. They might think they are little snacks.

cartman
 
#18 Ā·
They are a cross between a northern and a muskie, but if you catch em take a picture and let them go. They are there to eat the Sqwa fish. Plus they taste horrible, ive had some when I live in minnesota and it wasnt good. If you want eaters catch the kakanee there
 
#19 Ā·
Imagine the damage that would be caused by dumping 10,000 Northern Pike that could reproduce into the NFL system.

ummm... it would be bad.

:rolleyes:

As one one of many who lives by the river and fishes it regularly, I can say that we have seen a bazillion fish trapped, caught, snagged and whatever and yet there have only been a few Tigers caught in the few years that I have been here. (river side)

NFL hatcheries do not produce Tigers. (just to let you know)

And the good people who work there are sober when they drive.

:cool:
 
#20 Ā·
King Fisher,

You might not be too far off. Hey in the Columbia we already have bass, walleye, catfish, crappie, bluegill, shad, and a number of other non-native species so why not musky too? At least musky get big and are fun to catch!! These things are animals and will eat anything! I think it's great they are planting a few hybrids in surrounding lakes.

RM
 
#21 Ā·
I too have a cabin up there, and have targeted them out of my kayak numerous times... I had a BIG (aroung 40") one follow my lure back to the kayak one day, and just stayed right next to my kayak, looking at me, as if to say, "what, are you stupid or something?"
:smile:

pretty freaky beasts... next year, I am using my 7wt.

:smile:
 
#23 Ā·
Two Fister,
Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of the idea of muskies or pike being planted around here. I've fished pike all my life in Michigan and Alaska, and don't want to see what would happen if they were allowed to ravage smolts along with every other native and non-native predator. I agree with your post, was just correcting the hormonally-induced sterility issue.

-Milty
 
#24 Ā·
They are there to eat Squaw fish. If you want to catch em and they follow your lure to your boat, do a figure 8 with your rod tip in the water a number of times and make lots of swishing noise with it and they will usually bite. Use steel leader. They are quite the fighters!
 
#25 Ā·
I too have a cabin up there, and have targeted them out of my kayak numerous times... I had a BIG (aroung 40") one follow my lure back to the kayak one day, and just stayed right next to my kayak, looking at me, as if to say, "what, are you stupid or something?"
:smile:
It was probably sizing you up...
 
#26 Ā·
It was totally sizing me up!!!

I even tried the "figure 8" but my hands were shaking so bad. :smile:
It looked more like a "squiggly 5" :smile:

when you are right on the waterline with those beasts, its a little intimidating...
 
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