Musky Clubs Alliance of Wisconsin
Musky Spawning Habitat Project

             The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Musky Clubs Alliance of Wisconsin will begin working on the second and final phase of  a rearch project  to identify and delineate musky spawning habitat. This will be a graduate research project for graduate student Joe Nohner, under the supervision of his advisor Dr. Jim Diana.  They will be assisted by 5 to 7 other graduate students in collecting field data here in Wisconsin.  The WDNR under the leadership of Paul Cunningham and Tim Simonson will also provide staffing and other resources to the project.  The Musky Clubs Alliance of Wisconsin will be providing volunteer labor and boats for collection of  field data, as well as providing the major funding for the project.

            This is a very important study that could provide valuable information for musky propagation for Wisconsin waters.  The main tool used by WDNR and musky clubs for tying to maintain and increase musky populations is stocking.  Most other fisheries such as bass, walleye, and trout use a variety of tools in addition to stocking such as habitat improvements with great success. An example would be the habitat work done by Walleyes for Tomorrow and the WDNR on Lake Winnebago.  They have turned what was almost considered a “dead sea” into one of the best walleye fisheries in the state by habitat improvements.  As a result of the habitat improvements, other fisheries also improved such as smallmouth bass, perch, and bluegills.  The spotted musky program is also showing great signs of success on the Winnebago system and this can also be attributed to habitat improvements that were made.  Trout Unlimited has worked with the WDNR on stream habitat improvement projects all across the state.  These improvements resulted in such good results in increasing trout populations that stocking was no longer needed on many of the streams, and trout raised for stocking could be scheduled for other streams.

            We are not advocating that we stop stocking muskies or other fish.  What we are advocating is that we need to look at a more balanced approach to increasing musky populations that would include the use of research and habitat improvements.  Over the last few decades we have lost much of our natural spawning habitat through shoreline development and invasive species such as rusty crayfish.  This not only affects muskies, but also the forage base they need to survive.  Because of this we may also need to consider the stocking of forage fish as well as muskies while we are improving the habitat to support natural reproduction of both.  

            We will be going out again in the spring of 2008 on approximately 15 to 20 different lakes or lake systems in Northern Wisconsin at night with a spotlight to locate spawning muskies.  Because of the possibility of late ice-out conditions, we will probably be conducting the study sometime between the last week in April until the third week in May.  Muskies normally spawn during this time period based on water temperature.  The locations where spawning muskies were spotted would be recorded on Trimble GPS equipment.  Crews would then go out within the next three days and go back to these locations and try to collect any eggs that were deposited with some special equipment to confirm that eggs were deposited. All this data would be recorded using special digital mapping software called a Graphic Information System that has the ability to superimpose one map layer on top of another. This research project will cover all shorelines and places that are at depths where muskies may be spotted during the spawning process.  By doing this we should be able to better determine what constitutes musky spawning habitat and maybe even a little about what types of habitat may be more successful than others. This spring we will also be conducting some daylight surveys as well as spotlighting every third night on one lake throughout the spawning period.

With this information we may be better able to protect the spawning habitat that we have remaining in our lakes.  With some additional research, we may be able to find ways of reconstructing or adding spawning habitat in areas that have been destroyed.   Further research may also be able to determine the effects of other factors affecting natural reproduction such as oxygen levels, pH, predation, and forage. This study would provide baseline information that would be useful in future studies regarding natural reproduction and musky spawning success and may even help determine why some lakes have natural reproduction occurring and other do not.

New developments involving exotic species and fish infectious diseases such as (VHS) viral hemorrhagic septicemia may limit the ability to rear and stock fish in Wisconsin.  New rules and regulations that have been placed on the transfer of fish between states and within the state to reduce the spread of VHS may impact the ability to collect and transfer eggs and obtain the needed forage to rear the fish. These rules may be temporary or may be long lasting depending on the impact of this and other diseases. With this in mind, it may make this study on musky spawning habitat and future studies on natural reproduction even more important as this would limit the need to transfer fish and may slow the spread of exotics and infectious diseases.  As sportsman we need to be aware of these things and do our part in keeping our boat clean to prevent the spread of exotics and infectious diseases between lakes. If we are in waters that may have VHS such as Lake Michigan, we can clean our live-wells and gear with a mixture of 1 cup of chlorine bleach to 5 gallons of water and allow your boat to thoroughly dry before putting it in any other waters.

Musky Clubs Alliance of Wisconsin and member clubs can play an important role in this research project on musky spawning habitat.  We need up to eight boats per night with two or three volunteers to assist a research person collect the data.  One of the volunteers would need to provide a boat to be used to go out at night and search for spawning muskies.  The boat should be capable of holding the driver and two additional people and also be capable of navigating in water approximately two to three feet deep using a trolling motor. The owner of the boat would be responsible for navigating the boat using both the outboard motor and trolling motor.  The trolling motor would be used to cover the shoreline and possible spawning locations.  Additional deep cycle batteries will be provided by the Alliance to power spot lights.  The other one or two volunteers would be running spotlights to locate fish and help the researcher with collection of data. Volunteers could sign up for a specific lake or lakes and additional volunteers would be needed on an on-call basis if someone has to cancel for a specific night.  Times would be dependent upon when the muskies are actually spawning which would mean that a person may have to take off work if they were not retired.  If you feel that you would like to help, please call Bob Haase at 920-922-8003 or E-mail at: flytier@dotnet.com.

The Musky Clubs Alliance of Wisconsin is funding a major portion of the equipment needed for the project such as the spot lights, compasses, head lamps, two-way radios, marker bouys, deep cycle batteries, battery chargers, etc.  The Alliance is also helping pay for the lodging at Kemp Research Station for the University of Michigan staff and students participating in the project. The WDNR is providing equipment for the project such as all the Trimble GPS units and other needed items.  The University of Michigan is providing some equipment and covering part of the transportation, meals, and other expenses related to the project.  

The lakes tentatively selected for the spring of 2008  were selected to include smaller lakes, larger deeper lakes, flowages, and lakes with varied structure that had not been stocked within the last ten years.  These lakes include:

Annebelle Lake – Vilas Cty
            Big Carr Lake – Oneida Cty
            Bridge Lake – Oneida Cty
            Circle Lily Lake – Vilas Cty
            Clear Lake – Oneida Cty
            Deer Lake – Oneida Cty.
            Eau Claire Lake – Bayfield Cty
            Escanaba Lake – Vilas Cty
            Fisher  Lake - Iron Cty           
            Harris Lake – Vilas Cty
            Hasbrook Lake - Oneida Cty
            Jute Lake - Vilas Cty
            Lake Nokomis – Lincoln Cty
            Long Lake – Iron Cty
            Long Lake – Vilas Cty
            Lynx Lake – Vilas Cty
            Moose Lake – Sawyer Cty.
            Pelican Lake – Oneida Cty
            Pickerel Lake  – Oneida Cty
            Pine Lake - Iron Cty
            Pioneer Lake - Vilas Cty
            Razorback Lake - Vilas Cty
            Rice River Flowage - Lincoln Cty
            Snipe Lake - Vilas Cty
            Squaw Lake - Oneida/Vilas Cty