Musky stocking in lake simcoe

[glen]

I am wondering what the potential is of lake simcoe to produce musky.

 

What can you predict.

[Terry]

I guess it depends on what you big

 

but simcoe did grow many muskie big compared to the kawarthas

and the are the georgian bay strain ,so moon river or cooks bay

it's all the same

[Rizzo]

my guess is they will be open water fish...big, but hard to find

[Pigeontroller]

Only time will tell...

[mattyk]

i think it will be a very good fishery with some bigguns. Lots of good forage to fatten up those fish.

[fishdawg]

I hope that the project will be a success. Personally, I think Simcoe as a Lake was doing quite well without muskie and that there are already many healthy waterbodies with good muskie populations surrounding Simcoe. I just think that the man hours, $$$ & fundraising efforts could probably have been put towards something else that might be a little more important/neccessary/significant then this. Once again I do hope it works & that the time money &efforts will not have gone to waste.

[Roy]

It would be a great muskie fishery. However, I'd like to know who would be doing the stocking. If it's the MNR, I think that for the time being their money would be better spent elsewhere......fuel for their vehicles springs to mind. If it's private enterprise, I'd be concerned about who is stocking. Not too long ago (I know I haven't the numbers right) something like many thousands of dollars were raised to drop 84 fish in the lake. Simcoe has GREAT potential but this has to be done properly by folks who really care. Just MHO.

[Roy]

Sorry, just read Dawg's post. You're right Mark.

[Terry]

well Simcoe was once a great muskie lake

it is muskie canada and the MNR(I think) teaming up to restock

now conditions should allow them to thrive again without years of stocking and restocking

unlike many other fish they restock every year in many lakes

[Musky or Specks]

The Simcoe musky project is about restoring a musky fishery that became extinct through over fishing and urban encroachment changing the characteristics of the lake. A healthy Lake Simcoe would include a musky fishery so it is in fact not doing well without them as evidenced by the declining lake trout, whitefish and herring stocks.Regardless I beleive the project is a waste of resources because it is trying to fix a sympotm not a cause.Natural recruitment of musky was always a possibility from Couch and if enviromental conditions permitted the fishery would already exist. Its the same with the Grand River trout fishery its non viable and the only way to maintain it will be through yearly stocking.

[Musky or Specks]

well Simcoe was once a great muskie lake

it is muskie canada and the MNR(I think) teaming up to restock

now conditions should allow them to thrive again without years of stocking and restocking

unlike many other fish they restock every year in many lakes

I dont believe so in fact I think they are worse see my post. Sedimentation of musky spawning habitat will only get worse. It is nice publicty for the musky though!

[Hookset]

Posts on this site have proven that Simcoe already has huge smallmouth, huge pike, huge whitefish, huge ling cod (ya I know, but I caught a 9 lb'er there once) huge laketrout, huge perch etc. etc so my guess is huge Muskies.

 

I'd rather see the money go to gas in CO's trucks too though. I'm pretty happy with what the Lake has to offer as is.

 

 

Hookset.

[danc]

You guys should be lobbying to stop stocking at all costs. Stocking is a last resort. There's other ways to ensure that a species will survive in any given ecosystem.

[Guest gbfisher]

with results like last year. I couldnt agree more. Money best be put elsewhere.

[Sinker]

Yup, spend the $ on habitat restoration. That's where the problems started, and thats where the cure will be found!!

 

We'll just have to wait and see what happens on simcoe. I'm sure they'll grow big, but will they reproduce?? Habitat is the key......same with the atlantics......they need habitat to reproduce......spend the $ on habitat if you want a viable resource.

 

Sinker

[OhioFisherman]

Never fished simcoe, just seen pictures. Another issue would be will they be protected long enough to become established? Will they affect the population of other game fish? Eg. walleye, smallies?

[steverowbotham]

Dan C I completely disagree with your post. In these days stocking is 100% necessary to maintain fish populations. Without human interfiernce, majority of fish would have a self sustaining population, but now with so many anglers, stocking is necessary for many species. Bass require little stocking, but coldwater fish and other sensitive populations require it.

 

Sandford Fleming College, where I attend as a third year fish and wildlife student, is also a huge part of this project as they are raising the muskie for the project, which I have been a part of.

 

Opinions are just that, but I disagree with yours.

[Marc Thorpe]

Steve,I disagree ,when man acts like mother nature,often times we mess it up

Dan is right,self sustainement is the way to go,mother nature weaves out the weak so the strong survive

 

The lake Simcoe project was begun in 1996,we are now 2007,the result and effort have been disapointing and moneys wasteful thus far for many reasons

In the Lake Simcoe case,without assistance from OMNR and MCI,I dont think muskies would come back in Simcoe,if so they would have by now

The resource was exhausted by commercial fishing and habitat degradation

I do think this project could succeed,but it will take " Doing what you say you are gonna do "to accomplish the goal at task.

In the case of Simcoe,I fear the moneys have not being used to their full extent in return of donations,raised funds from the general public

For it to succeed,everyone must support it and a little good will on all parties part including the hatcheries,organization and Ministries ,alas when donated moneys are involved,some of it is wasted and not channeled in the proper directions,thus far some 50 000$ or more has been raised with disapointing results consider in and around 100 fish have been re-introduced

Its been a volunteer effort along with paid assistance,it might be time the paid assistance offer a little good will to succeed

 

Considering Green Bay WI is less than 10 years into its project and re-introduction of muskies into Green Bay has been successful

It might be time the moneys and efforts for re-introduction of Simcoe follow the same direction of Green Bay

 

Sandford Fleming College,is that not the college that was going to aid in selling brood eggs from Georgian Bay to Wisconsin for their re-introduction project which is no longer a go?

I am glad to see the college is involved in re-introducing and raising muskies for Simcoe,this is where the efforts should have been all along

 

Steve in my case its not just an opinion,I was actually involved and am aware of many on-goings in this project and wastefullness of moneys

 

I'd like to see this come out a success and it would be in best interest for all to see the restoration of a once thriving population of muskies in Simcoe but once again,it will take alot of good will and determination to succeed

 

(To properly manage our resources is not done by stocking but by diversifying angling pressure in specific regions

Diversifying angling pressure is a management tool

Stocking is a remedy not a solution to self sustainement

Re-introduction is a tool of re-establishement of a species,then angling management tools must be set in place to allow self sustainement of all natural occuring species in a given water body)

Thats opinion

 

 

 

Dan C I completely disagree with your post. In these days stocking is 100% necessary to maintain fish populations. Without human interfiernce, majority of fish would have a self sustaining population, but now with so many anglers, stocking is necessary for many species. Bass require little stocking, but coldwater fish and other sensitive populations require it.

 

Sandford Fleming College, where I attend as a third year fish and wildlife student, is also a huge part of this project as they are raising the muskie for the project, which I have been a part of.

 

Opinions are just that, but I disagree with yours.

Edited November 2, 2007 by marc thorpe

[mattyk]

Why has the Green Bay, WI progam been succesful, what are they doing that we are not for lake simcoe? I have seen the pictures of fish from Green Bay and it looks like they have established a very good fishery there and it only looks like things are getting better for them. Maybe we need to bring them in and get their help?

[Terry]

most of the problems have been management and hatcheries

 

they couldn't get them to eat pellets so they died

they need to get a large number of fish into the lake to make it work and that just has not happened yet

[steverowbotham]

The prject has been ongoing, however, it was in the wrong hands and not being done properly. There are many new techniques being utilized this year for the stocking program, and a much higher survival rate in the hatchery due to this new protocol. Also, a new strain of muskie is being used this time. Most of the stock has come from Georgian Bay and Gloucester Pool, where pike and muskie have been known to coexist. Why there and not elsewhere? We're not too sure yet. Also, they will avoid stocking the north end of the lake so as not to interfere with the current population in Lake Couchiching. This year is a pioneer project, 70 muskies have been raised previously in a year, and that was the goal for this year. Well folks, we are over 2000 fish this year, which is a great success, we'll see where it goes from here.

[misfish]

Heres the only thing that bothers me.

 

 

Hey son,nice musky. Pardon me? Yeah thats a nice looking musky.This is not a musky it,s a pike,theres no musky in this lake.

[charlesn]

I've never seen or heard of a musky being caught in Simcoe in recent memory, weird thing is, I've caught several (and seen several more caught) in Cooch without even trying for them. I've fished Simcoe about 20 times as often as Cooch. Maybe they stick north of the narrows.

 

Is there a moratorium on keeping musky from Simcoe? Maybe there should be while this process is on-going.

 

Charles

[capt bruce]

70 fish 2000 fish .. really not alot when you think about it , an adult female muskie can lay 50,000 - 150,000 egges in one spawn .. Stocking is not gonna help . The money and effort should go into spawning habitat ,why is it that a few gobies in a bait bucket put in the right (wrong) place and you have a gobie invasion 100,000 alantics in lake o and you still cant catch/see any ?? , if these fish cant spawn you can stock what ever and they are not gonna come back , but with the right spawning habitat you would not have a problem in the first place. If anything stocked fish will water down the population with undesireable cateristics for lake simcoe fish if and when spawning does occur.

[Pigeontroller]

Muskie is closed on Simcoe and Couch indefinately. This project had a rough start but is doing much better this year with over 1000 12 inch Muskie stocked in recent months. Instead of voicing negative opinions why not join a club or conservation group and get involved with giving back to the fisheries we all love...