Significant Differences

Illinois researchers find the strain of musky stocked in your waters really does matter.

- Jordan Weeks 

Stocking and genetics are two subjects that never get old, and it seems musky anglers are always looking for more information about these issues. Scientists are, too! This article outlines research performed by scientists at the Illinois Natural History Survey.

Matthew J. Diana, Curtis P. Wagner, and David H. Wahl explored the premise that stocked muskellunge survival is a function of genetic variation and adaptation, which is likely due to spatial and temporal variation in habitats. or, in other words, fish survive best in their native range and survive less so when stocked in non-native habitats and geographical regions.

Specifically, the objectives of the study were to determine whether: 1.) relative abundance, survival, and growth differed among three stocks of muskellunge after stocking events in three Illinois impoundments; and 2.) post-stocking survival and growth varied in relation to stocking date, temperature at stocking, and winter and summer severity.

These researchers used three stocks of muskellunge in this study: Upper Mississippi river drainage stock (hereafter, MRS), Ohio river drainage stock (ORS), and a mixed source that was bred from a cross between the MRS and ORS (Illinois stock, hereafter ILX) and has been propagated in Illinois hatcheries since 1993. Sources of these stocks were as follows: MRS — Leech Lake, Minnesota; ORS — cave run Lake, Kentucky, clear Fork Lake, Ohio, and Lake Chautauqua, New York; ILX — North Spring Lake, Illinois.