Musky Density vs. Musky Anglers

[MuskyManiac]

A video about the Frank Schneider Memorial Musky Tournament in the Bemidji area. Mostly talking about the spread of AIS, but there was an interesting statement that should clarify why musky anglers are so much for catch and release.

They estimate there are 30,000 adult musky in Minnesota waters, yet 250,000 musky anglers chasing those fish. Now it's not tough to figure out that if anglers started keeping a lot of fish how you could decimate a population very quickly.

 

[Captain Ahab]

It appears they probably should close the musky season until there are more muskies to go around. That or a C&R musky "fishing pass" lottery system. Too many potential C&R handling death potential with that many guys chasing so few fish.

 

[Allen]

Hmm, 30k adult fish in 10k lakes, seems like they're kinda scarce.

What qualifies as an "adult", 10 lbs?

 

[MuskyManiac]

Hmm, 30k adult fish in 10k lakes, seems like they're kinda scarce.

What qualifies as an "adult", 10 lbs?

I think there are around 90 lakes managed for muskies. Not sure what the qualification of adult is, I would think less than 10 lbs.

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It appears they probably should close the musky season until there are more muskies to go around. That or a C&R musky "fishing pass" lottery system. Too many potential C&R handling death potential with that many guys chasing so few fish.

I think the survival of muskies on C&R is quite high. I've seen many reports of the same musky being caught several times in magazines and on the web. My buddy caught the same musky this summer that he caught last year. (We know because of a scar and a deformity)

 

[Kurtr]

if muskys are tough like there little brothers you can throw them on shore and they will wiggle back to the water. I dont think catching them unless gill hooked would hurt them much

 

[Sum1]

For whatever reason Muskie are the complete opposite of pike when it comes to the toughness scale. Once caught it can take a long time to revive them. I have heard of people staying with a fish for a half hour before it swam off on its own. The longer they are out of the water the worse it is.