More and more Muskies!

[Gone Forever]

I was up at Jordanelle yesterday and was surprised to see a couple of DWR stocking trucks at the ramp.  They were there stocking Tiger Muskies. Lots of them.  Seems they had one of the moist successful years ever and after stocking what Utah wanted, giving and trading to other states there were still a mess left over that they had to get out of the hatchery ponds.
They said the crowding they experience at hatcheries, combined with the warm weather and the fact that these were twice the size of normally stocked Muskies that these were eating them out of house and home. 
So, time to make it on their own.
The DWR people said 10,000 fish about 7.5 inches long were put in yesterday.  They were all over the shorelines, being carefully placed in prime spots by the several boats they had working.
I don't know what the growth rate will be, or survival, but I look forward to having another close place to target the monsters they can become. Someplace my state parks pass is accepted.

[Mildog]

Caught one about 17 inches about 4 years ago. That just More hungry mouths to eat the planted kokanee and trout when they get bigger. With wipers, splake, smallmouth, cutthroat and browns that’s sure a lot of fish eaters in there!

[gofish435]

The DWR usually stock Tiger Muskie as 3" fish so if those were 7 1/2" they were reaching the size when they start eating each other so they have to get them out of the hatchery.

[Cowboypirate]

That would have been fun to watch

[Gone Forever]

The DWR usually stock Tiger Muskie as 3" fish so if those were 7 1/2" they were reaching the size when they start eating each other so they have to get them out of the hatchery.

Yes, twice the size normally stocked.  DWR persons said they had already made the switch to minnows as food and would soon start to eat each other if not stocked out.

[stan55]

With the rainbows and Kokes as feed these guys should get big quick. Might have to break out my muskie gear again in a few years. Hopefully they'll also help reduce the dinky smallmouth population as well.

I fish Nelle a lot and have never caught a wiper or a cutt. Only catch a few splake every year so I don't think Nelle is overpopulated with predators especially given the number of high teens bows that I catch.

[Gone Forever]

I don't think the tigers will get out to the middle and down to the depths to do much harm to the Kokes. They are more of a shallow to mid depth hide around structure fish. I am thinking that the small, really small, smallmouth is what they are thinking they will cull.

[Mildog]

I caught a 19 “ cutt yesterday. Only caught a couple splake but they have planted hundreds of thousand in Jordanelle. I think they hang out deeper than most anglers fish. I have caught lots of wipers in years past but none in the last couple years. The musky I caught was in downrigger at 30 feet ole ty deep to eat kokes. Rainbows are planted at near 8” to avoid them being eaten. Kokes have to be planted closer to 3 inches , those and any that might be spawned in the river , have to face many predators to survive. Adding more predators seems like it would hurt the Koke population. Musky will eat anything smaller than themselves. Perch numbers are down , smallmouth are smaller than they used to be? Maybe not enough food? Who knows. I know Koke fishing was much better a few years ago
And increase in stocking splakes, cutts, wipers, musky in the past and know. Not sure if it correlates or maybe less kokes stocked as well? Will have to go back and look at the stocking reports. The rainbows are doing great. But I remember division mentioning having to plant rainbows larger that they used to to increase survival. don’t have that option with kokes they have to be stocked out of hatchery much smaller. Time will tell , may have to dust off my Mudky gear, I have a bunch of gear I may have to get back in action!

[stan55]

I don't think the tigers will get out to the middle and down to the depths to do much harm to the Kokes. They are more of a shallow to mid depth hide around structure fish. I am thinking that the small, really small, smallmouth is what they are thinking they will cull.

Muskies suspend over deep water if food source is there. I caught plenty trolling 20 to 30ft down over deep basins with ciscoes when I lived in the Midwest

[Gone Forever]

I don't think the tigers will get out to the middle and down to the depths to do much harm to the Kokes. They are more of a shallow to mid depth hide around structure fish. I am thinking that the small, really small, smallmouth is what they are thinking they will cull.

Muskies suspend over deep water if food source is there. I caught plenty trolling 20 to 30ft down over deep basins with ciscoes when I lived in the Midwest

I consider 30' to be "mid depths". Kokes now are at 40-60'.
Yes, any predator follows the easy food.  In the case of Jordanelle that is the stunted smallmouth bass that occupy the shallow water out to 20' deep or so.  That is also where much of the vegetation from the drought grew, providing forage habitat and ambush points.