A survey this spring on Island Lake north of Duluth showed that the muskie population there seems to be in good shape, said Dan Wilfond, a Department of Natural Resources fisheries specialist at French River.
"We do a population estimate every five years or so on our muskie lakes," Wilfond said. "In 2003, we captured 16 muskies on Island Lake. This spring we caught 83. We did more effort [set more nets], too."
What the DNR saw in its nets was impressive, Wilfond said.
"We saw a lot of really nice fish, a lot of fish in the mid-40s and four over 50 inches," he said.
The largest muskie in the sample measured 51.4 inches, he said. All of the fish were released alive.
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The DNR made some early attempts to stock muskies in Island Lake in the 1960s and 1970s, then switched to the Leech Lake strain of muskies starting in 1992. Since then, the agency has been stocking about 2,500 muskies almost every other year in Island Lake.
"We have not documented natural reproduction," Wilfond said. "It could be happening now. We haven't set up a study to evaluate that."
This spring, the DNR tagged all the muskies it captured. Next spring, when the agency surveys muskies on Island Lake again, biologists will be able to estimate the muskie population by determining the ratio of tagged to untagged fish, Wilfond said.
A few anglers have discovered Island Lake's muskies, but most aren't saying much.
"I know some people are targeting muskies, but the vast majority of Island Lake anglers are after walleyes and crappies. Most of the muskie pressure we get in our area is in the harbor [on the St. Louis River]," Wilfond said.
Wilfond has been at the French River fisheries office only since November, so he doesn't have a long-term perspective on the fishery.
"But some of the old-timers at the office think this is a sleeper muskie fishery that's developing," he said. "It's likely now that the word is getting out on it."
Island Lake has the prerequisites for a good muskie fishery, he said. It's a large enough lake, and it has good forage for muskies, including trout-perch and suckers.
