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Muskies hatching
SPIRIT LAKE - The next crop of Iowa muskies are nearly finished hatching beginning their one year tour of hatchery life before being stocked as foot-long fish in the spring of 2013.
These newly hatched fry came from muskies collected from the Iowa Great Lakes during the walleye gill netting effort in early April.
“Muskies are pretty amazing fish,” said Donna Muhm, hatchery manager at Spirit Lake who cares for the fish during their first seven months of life. “The adults we bring in here are spectacular; they’re big, gorgeous specimens.”
Muhm said they striped 10 females and 31 males this year, which is a typical female to male ratio. Each female produces are large amount of eggs and each male produces very little milt.
“Muskie fertilization, in general, isn’t the greatest,” Muhm said. She said it is better when the fish are naturally ready to spawn and do not need any help, like this year. Of the 1.2 million eggs taken this year, 40 percent were viable and of that 35 percent actually hatched, both excellent percentages.
Iowa hatcheries produce 4,000 muskies each year that are stocked in 10 Iowa lakes. The lakes rotate and are stocked in alternating years.
Excess fish are traded with other states once they reach four inches. “Very few states can raise them on dry feed like we can,” she said. “They either lack the facility, the expertise or both.”
Muskies are known as a fish of one thousand casts among their loyal anglers, adding to their mystery and appreciation. With a 40-inch statewide minimum length limit, these trophies do not come easy.
Target the 2012 class in 2020
How long does it take for a muskie to grow to 40 inches? Females can make it in seven or eight years, but Muhm said males may never reach it. “If they do, they would likely be in their teens,” she said.
Muskie-Pike hybrid
The hybrid tiger muskie was stocked across Iowa lakes until the idea was scrapped in 1989. The hope behind the hybrid was to have the muskie size and the pike aggressiveness to offer a trophy that was more commonly caught than muskies and larger than pike.
But the reality was tiger muskies took on the pike trait of intolerance to warm water and many did not survive. While rare, the mixing of the species does occur in nature.
Iowa Muskie Lakes
Spirit Lake
West Okoboji Lake
East Okoboji Lake
Clear Lake
Brushy Creek Lake
Big Creek Lake
Three Mile Lake
Pleasant Creek Lake
Lake Macbride
Lake Sugema
2012 DNR SALE SET FOR MAY 19
DES MOINES – The Iowa DNR will hold the 2012 spring auction on May 19, at the Pioneer Livestock Pavilion on the Iowa State Fairgrounds. Pre-registration starts at 7 a.m., the doors will open at 8 a.m., when the public may view the items for sale and the auction will begin at 9 a.m.
There will not be any buyer’s premium fee added to the sale.
Items up for auction only include about 550 firearms, bows and tree stands. No other equipment will be sold. The items are sold “as is” with no guarantee or warranty.
Any person interested in purchasing a firearm at the auction must have either a valid Iowa permit to acquire pistols or revolvers, a federal firearms license, or a professional or non-professional permit to carry concealed weapons. The Iowa permit to acquire can be obtained from a sheriff’s office. Allow two to three weeks to receive the permit.
Payment must be made on auction day. All sales are final. All items must be removed from the site within one half hour after the sale completion.
The Iowa DNR reserves the right to reject any bids and withdraw any item from the sale at any time.
A sale bill is available online at http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/files/2012sale_archery.pdf and http://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/files/2012sale_firearms.pdf and will be updated if inventory is added. The DNR will not be mailing any sale bills.
Watch Iowa Peregrine Falcons Live!
A live video stream from the Quad Cities peregrine falcon site atop MidAmerican Energy headquarters in Davenport is available at http://www.iowadnr.gov/falconcam. The hatch is predicted for May 1. The camera will be available until young fledge around June 10.
The falcon cam atop the American Republic Insurance Company building at 601 Sixth Avenue, in Des Moines, will soon be available from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website.
State Preserves Advisory Board Meets May 4
DES MOINES – The State Preserves Advisory Board of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will meet at 10 a.m., May 4, in the fourth floor conference room, Wallace State Office Building, in Des Moines. The meeting is open to the public.
Members of the State Preserves Advisory Board are Deborah Lewis, Carl Kurtz, Lynn Alex, Inger Lamb, Wayne Phipps and Thomas Putnam.
The following is the May 4 agenda.
• Approve Agenda
• Approve Minutes from January Meeting
• Request Permission to Conduct Inventories on Silver Lake Fen Preserve
• Spirit Knoll Property
• Proposal Selections for Fiscal Year 2013
• Brushy Creek Trails Advisory Board
• Open Discussion
• Next Meeting
A more detailed agenda is available on the Iowa DNR's website http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/BoardsCommissions/StatePreservesAdvisoryBoard.aspx.
For more information, contact Daryl Howell at 515-281-8524.
Sources: Iowa Department of Natural Resources