# New Tiger Muskie Stockings



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I just got this on my FB feed about the DOW stocking Tiger Muskie in some high country lakes.




__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=418803652328143



If you don't have a FB account they stocked them into Lakeshore Lake in the Uintas, as well as a couple hundred into Donkey Lake and Moosman Lake on the Boulder Mountain.

They are hoping that they will take care of the smaller brookies and hope that the brook trout in these lakes will now have more feed and get bigger.

That is as long as they don't get ate.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

I actually helped stock them on the Boulder. I like this idea and think it is a win/win plan without any real risk involved. If the tiger musky don't do well, they will die and the brook trout will continue to reproduce and be small. If the tiger musky do their job and eat brook trout, they will grow fairly large and provide some different opportunity in a high elevation setting. The nice thing about the tiger musky is that they are not fertile and cannot reproduce, so if they don't seem to be helping improve brook trout size, they simply won't be restocked. IF by some miracle they do eat all the brook trout (which won't happen), the DWR could stock different trout species that won't reproduce and could grow larger. As the lakes are now, they are full of stunted brook trout and see little use.

FWIW, prior to the illegal stocking of brook trout back into Moosman, it was a very good cutthroat lake for 20+ years and even held the state record tiger trout for a short time. But, in the past 10 years or so it has had nothing but dinky brook trout. It is capable of being much more than what it is now. I am excited for the future.


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## BG1 (Feb 15, 2013)

Critter said:


> I just got this on my FB feed about the DOW stocking Tiger Muskie in some high country lakes.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Should do ok. They are 10" long.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

BG1 said:


> Should do ok. They are 10" long.


Were 10".

:smile:


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

They should grow fast.


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## toasty (May 15, 2008)

I love the idea and should work well in both mooseman and donkey. Mooseman was really good for brook trout 8-9 years ago. 17" fat brookies, but when I took some scouts there 2 years ago and all we caught were 15" snake like fish. Sad to see what happened there. I see a trip to mooseman in 2-3 years to see how it is going.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Oh boy, Minivan is so mad right now!


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

The funny thing is that Minivan has kind of floated off into oblivion. From what I understand, he spends quite a bit of time in St. George these days fishing community ponds. I haven't seen him around for a few years now. Not sure what the deal is...


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

toasty said:


> Mooseman was really got for brook trout 8-9 years ago. 17" fat brookies, but when I took some scouts there 2 years ago and all we caught were 15 snake like fish. Sad to see what happened there.


so, about 11 years ago, brook trout were illegally moved into moosman, which is why about 8-9 years ago you saw good sized brook trout.

Prior to that, the lake was full of 20" cutthroat, with tiger trout over 10lbs. As Wyoming mentioned, the state record tiger was from Moosman for a while.

The lake has never been good as a brook trout fishery. The spring is too good. The brook trout reproduce, and reproduce, and reproduce.....you get the point. They stunt quickly, and never winterkill. The day we first found brook trout (about 10 years ago) was a very sad day for us.

June 26th was a very good day for us!


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

wyoming2utah said:


> The funny thing is that Minivan has kind of floated off into oblivion.


Maybe he's back in a Chicagoland jail....

What will the regulations be on the tiger muskies in these lakes? Standard statewide regs or something different?


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

Statewide regs...


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

So... I know Pineview is a larger body of water and might be different but many years back the DWR planted tiger muskie in Pineview selling the public on the idea that they would clean out some of the perch and crappie that were overpopulated and stunted. The tiger muskie have done well and very large ones are in the reservoir but the crappie and perch never increased in size. In fact, according to the DWR the crappie fish kill this summer in Pineview was due to the fact that the water was warm and the crappie were overpopulated. Hopefully, tiger muskie like the taste of brook trout more than they've liked perch and crappie.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

HighnDry, the tiger musky have never put a dent in the crappie and perch populations at Pineview. You are right about that, but it is not because they aren't eating them. I think it is simply a matter of the perch and crappie being able to out-reproduce the number of fish the tigers are eating.

At somewhere like Moosman or Donkey, this may play out similarly. But, this idea is not without precedence. Fisheries managers in Idaho have already tried doing this in alpine lakes with some success. But, I think you need to temper the success as far as brook trout are concerned. What the DWR is looking for is NOT to make a trophy brook trout pond. What they are hoping is improvement in sizes of brook trout. In Idaho, stunted brook trout populations saw some growth in sizes of average fish (about 1-2 inches) if I remember correctly. So, realistically, if Moosman's 12 inchers grow and max out at 13-14 inches, that would be a success especially if the tiger musky reach 10 pounds. The hope is to create a fishery that is more productive and better than it is currently.

The nice thing is that we are talking about small bodies of water. In such a small lake, maybe the tiger musky can do a better job of reducing the brook trout numbers than they have the crappie and perch numbers at Pineview. Who know. Either way, though, it is still a low-risk move. What do we have to lose? As far as I am concerned, nothing but stunted brook trout.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

One does not need a FB account for information on fish plants, just go right to the official source:
https://dwrapps.utah.gov/fishstocking/Fish


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

At the time that I posted it there was no information on the divisions web site, I looked there first. Either in the stocking report or on the news section.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

About two weeks after those fish were stocked, it showed up on the DWR's website. I know because I looked and was wondering if anyone would notice and complain. I have been waiting for this discussion to pop up. But, someone would specifically have to look for it to find it. So, it was not surprising that it wasn't seen or noticed.


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