From OFC News on Lake Simcoe Muskie:
Lake Simcoe was once teeming with muskie, enough to support a commercial fishery into the late 19th century, Mr. Borwick said. Sport fishing continued into the 1930s, but, by then, the population was declining drastically.
The combination of overfishing, poaching and habitat loss spelled the end for the Simcoe muskie.
Could this happen to a world class fishery such as Lake St. Clair?? 2 guys running 5, 6, 7 or 8 lines times how many boats per year may hasten its demise similar to Lake Simcoe in the 1930's.
I don't know about the percentages but are muskie not a more fragile fish in terms of post release survival? Won't more lines per angler, more hookups, more fish being caught and fighting themselves to death lead to a more quickly declining population??
Just my thoughts on this.