Articles : Nomad Muskies

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Nomad Muskies, A Spillway Problem:
From The Chain, Down The Fox (60+ Mile Swim)
By: Steven James Rusteberg

From the time I started studying the Muskellunge, research has pointed to populations of adult fish occupying a “home range.” Muskellunge have always been thought of as homebodies, never leaving an area they deemed to be their territory. This “home range” theory, is what I would like to challenge. We currently have adult Muskellunge traveling over 60+ miles from the Fox Chain O’ Lakes, down the Fox River. This is not just a small movement of adult fish. By the hundreds, from the time we started putting fish in the Fox Chain, Muskie have been traveling great distances through this waterway.
Several years ago , a man named Mike Murphy approached me down by the Yorkville, Illinois dam and stated that he was catching several Muskie in the area. I listened with disbelief, shrugging the information off as a person who didn’t know the difference between a Northern Pike and a Muskellunge. Just three years later , I learned that this guy “Mike” hadn’t lost all his marbles. A picture of a Muskie surfaced at a local bait shop along the river, with the dam clearly in the background. Eureka, hard core evidence at least one Muskie had made it out of the Fox Chain and continued to swim over 60+ miles down the Fox River.

MORE MUSKIES THAN WE THOUGHT.....
I immediately called Mike Murphy to get further information on his discoveries. This time he came forward with pictures.... not just one picture, but several.... fish after fish, after fish. My first comment to him was “does anyone know about this?” He seemed to think (and was right) that only some locals know the full extent of the Fox River Muskie factory. Not even the DNR knew that they were traveling from the Fox Chain (point of origin), well past the Yorkville Dam.
Adding to the Muskie population down river was Shabbona’s own Indian Creek Spillway. For years the Shabbona Sportsman Club, and the Quad County Hawg Hunters ( Plano Chapter of Muskies Inc.) have rescued hundreds of fish which have, unknowingly to anglers, sought current and washed over the dam. A good number of theses fish swam through two inches or less of water in order to make it all the way to the Fox River. There they thrive on the White Sucker populations and the abundant current they traveled so far to inhabit.

WHY MUSKIES MOVE.....
It has not been scientifically determined why Muskies seek current areas. Some attribute this to the origin of the Muskellunge being a river species. Only later in the history of the fish, did some become trapped in lakes where they resides today. Others, believe in the “magnetic compass theory.” Like the Carrier Pigeon, the Muskellunge may have some way of knowing exactly where it is in a body of water, and where it wants to go. Some think that the fish follows food, and will travel with the bait wherever it goes.
No matter what the reason, Muskie are attracted to current and will travel in order to seek it. This is why it is so important we understand the repercussions of stocking.

THE THREAT OF MUSKIES ON THE MOVE.....
Muskies have traveled down the Fox River for 60+ miles and are currently moving up small creeks into “non-muskie” bodies of water. If there is current, cooler water, or lake access Muskie will inhabit the area. The DNR must take this into consideration when stocking any body of water. This has not been done in past stockings, thus, several bodies of water have unintentionally been contaminated with Muskie. If it is connected..... they will swim! The Fox River proves that distance is no object, depth is no object, and size (fish or water body) is no object. Encourage your Division of Fisheries to do research before indiscriminate stocking takes place. If there is a way out of the body of water, the Muskie will find it and travel it.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
Muskie have been stocked in bodies of water without discretion. Most of these bodies of water are reservoirs. Most reservoirs are dammed up at at least one end. Without a fish spillway barrier the fish will (and have) leave the lake of stocking origin. Stocking a body of water without fish barriers is a waste of money. Muskies Inc., and the DNR have wasted moneys for years. This has to stop! Muskies continue to swim over the following spillways in great numbers because of the lack of a fish barrier:

SHABBONA: exit Indian Creek / destination Strip Mines (private property).....swimming further......Fox RIVER......swimming further...... Illinois River (and all tributaries leading to ponds and lakes). Hundreds of documented fish already went over the dam. Throughout Shabbona Park’s Indian Creek, a NO FISHING ordinance in effect to prevent poaching ((snagging)) of Muskie. Please note that this is a nonviable fish population. Anglers can’t fish below spillway or private property that extends for tens of miles beyond the lake... Afish barrier installed in August 1998. Will it work?

EVERGREEN: exit spillway/ destination private property and small ponds....this is not a fishable population. Again, much of the water is private property on a creek you can jump across. Most Muskie will die looking for deeper holes, in the warm water and hot sun. Hundreds of fish have been saved by DNR and restocked in lake, but effort is frivolous without a spillway barrier. Many fish will go over again, along with others looking for current. This is a waste of TIME AND MONEY until a barrier is put into place, yet, $8000 will be part of a stocking effort in FALL OF 1998! Don’t waste our money DNR! Put a fish barrier in place before you continue to stock...

FOX CHAIN: exit all creeks and Fox River/ destination every body of water connected. Dams such as Algonquin, Elgin, Batavia, Yorkville, and so on have reported more catches every year. Creeks such as Boone, Flint, Spring, Ferson, Mill, Big Rock, and Little Rock now have Muskellunge spawning and swimming in them. Some of these creeks and lakes have become threatened with a new member of the food chain (the Muskie) inhabiting them. Protected natural populations of fish will be threatened by this predator.

SHELBYVILLE: exit spillway/ destination Kaskaskia River to Lake Carlyle...Fish have already been caught in good numbers just below the spillway on Shelbyville. Some fish have made it to Carlyle and numbers will increase as time goes by. This is one of the few fishable escaping populations. In time even if Carlyle lake is never stocked with Muskie, it will become a trophy fishery. The Kaskaskia River has already become one.

OTTER : exit spillway / destination Hodges Creek ... Fish have been known to go over this spillway since the first stocked Muskie population existed. Until 1996, nothing was done about the problem. A temporary fish barrier was put up, but shortly after construction it came down due to high water. It was never reinstalled . Fish continue to go over in large number in spring. Continuing to stock this body of water is a waste of money without a fish barrier in place. Nothing will become of the Muskie washing over this spillway but Seagull food. Those that do survive, are on private property and are inaccessible to the common angler.

KINKAID: barrier in place after District Manager of DNR recognized hundreds over spillway in 1996. An example of quick action by concerned official, ...... (Hats off to him!) Give this DNR Fisheries Biologist a raise! With a quick decision in 1997, and request for funds, the fish fence was put in place. Since it’s construction, hundreds of adult fish have been saved from going over the spillway. A good example of quick government!

DNR DON’T WASTE OUR MONEY!
One of the major points we have to get across to our Springfield Division of Fisheries, is that we will not tolerate this indiscriminate waste of money. When fish go over a spillway they become waste, unless they fall into a viable fishery in which the angler can reap the benefits. A stream you can jump across is not a fishable waterway. When these fish go over a spillway and unintentionally populate lakes and streams that are connected, this is not an expectable circumstance! Stocking more Muskie to compensate for “spillway loss” is not an acceptable practice. Don’t stop the leek in the dam with chewing gum. Prevent these fish from going over in the first place! Don’t stock any fish until fish barriers are in place or you are wasting our money and fish.

HOW BIG IS THE NOMAD MUSKIE PROBLEM

How big is this spillway problem? Let me attempt to do the math. Let’s say we stock one Muskie per acre into Shabbona Lake each year. This is the objective of the DNR. The fingerlings go into the lake at size 10-14 inches long. Let us round Shabbona’s size to 300 acres big. The first year 300 fish are put into the lake. Let’s say that there is no mortality on these 300 baby Muskie (research shows at 10-14 inches we can expect 60%+ mortality). The spring comes and we loose 47 fish over the dam. How did I get the number “47?”. Forty-seven fish were recovered during one rescue in 1996 by Quad County Chapter of Muskies Inc.. Many more were below the spillway that couldn’t be rescued because of a manpower issue.
Size of lake : 300 acres
Number stocked : 300 Muskies
Number Lost over Spillway on first high water of spring: 47
Total percent of population: 15% or roughly 1/6 of population
NOT A PROBLEM??
Multiply by 3 high water periods (an average spring): 1/3 population
Total Cost of fish : $12 a fish x 300 fish = $3600
Total Dollar Loss For Year : $1200 or 1/3 of moneys spent
(keep in mind this represents no mortality)
THE WHOLE PICTURE

The numbers above are just to illustrate the problem, they do not represent scientific numbers. A true scientific formula would contain values for fish mortality, including perdition, disease, and angler harvest. However, this problem is worse on some spillways (i.e. Evergreen Lake) than I have represented. Loosing up to (or more than) 1/3 of a population on any given year has serious repercussions to a fishery. For example members from the Plano chapter of Muskies Inc. rarely fish Shabbona anymore. Why? Due to the lake “falling off” the stocking program for four years, and fish falling over the spillway, numbers of midsize fish are at an all time low. Manpower hours in order to catch one fish, have more than doubled over the last four years. Unless your looking for a state record (high odds) there is no reason to work this hard for a fish. Lesson: don’t stock a lake without a fish fence or loose a good percentage of what you stock over the dam.

CONCLUSION:

There is an easy solution to what I have just presented to you above. Don’t stock fish into a body of water with a way out. Muskie will always be attracted to current and without a spillway barrier to prevent them from leaving they will not stay where you put them. Stocking Muskie without a fish fence is a terrible waste of money and fish. Politics play into many of the issues above, but let’s do what is best for the fisherman and the fisheries. Lack of money and manpower is no longer a good excuse. Grant money can be obtained by any “environmentally friendly” company or organization. They, in turn, use it as a tax write off and a chance to say they were involved with something good for Mother Nature. Sportsman need to take advantage of this friendly donation. Companies like Miller Brewing, have given gracious donations to “The Pewaukee Project” in Wisconsin and should be recognized for their financial involvement. Manpower from organizations such as Muskies Inc., The Illinois Muskie Alliance, Sportsman Clubs, and private organizations should not be hard to come by. Use these resources to solve the fish barrier problem, but don’t stock fish until it is accomplished.