Monday, June 2, 2014

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Ball State University and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources are currently tracking 40 juvenile muskies in Eagle Creek Reservoir using radio tags. The battery life of each radio tag is 257 days. IDNR Southern Fisheries Research Biologist Sandy Clark-Kolaks and myself surgically implanted the tags at East Fork State Fish Hatchery in March of 2014. The muskies were provided by the IDNR and were around 12 inches in length. The muskies were stocked on March 29 at the Marina in Eagle Creek Park. Tracking will take every week during the spring and summer months of 2014.

Stocking the tagged muskies into Eagle Creek Reservoir.
 
 
Muskie with a surgically implanted radio tag.


The muskies tracked during March and April were mainly located north of 56th Street. They were mostly found near submerged and floating logs in 1 to 3 feet of water. The muskies were found in group of 4 and 5 individuals throughout the northern half of the reservoir. The first individuals were not found south of 56th Street until the first week in April. During the week of April 7th the muskies were found all over the reservoir. They were found as far north as the I-65 bridge and as far south as the dam.

Floating logs where the muskies can be found.


However, during the week of April 14th only 16 of the 40 muskies were found. There was a large amount of storms that hit Indianapolis the previous week of tracking. The water level in the reservoir was so high that water was going over the dam. I believe that the missing muskies could have went into the nearby gravel pit, upstream Eagle Creek, or went over the dam into downstream Eagle Creek because of the increased water level. As tracking went on for the next 6 weeks, the number of muskies being regularly tracked decreased to the same 9 individuals. I tracked in the gravel pit only found one muskie. I then searched up stream in Eagle Creek and did not find any. This last week Sandy Clark-Kolaks and I only tracked 4 individuals. They were all found around brush and submerged logs. We were unable to track the muskies in the northern half of the reservoir because of a rowing competition. We also tracked below the dam to see if any went over but, the creek had little water in it and no muskies were found. The plan for this coming week is track where Eagle Creek flows into the White River.

25 comments:

  1. good work, hpoe you find some in white river that may have went over the dam, interesting research

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    1. Thank you! No luck finding any below the dam yet.

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  2. This is very interesting. Are these tiger muskies? My husband fishes Eagle Creek. He has also caught some muskies before out of Driftwood River. We will definitely be following your blog. He is very interested in this research. Will they be stocking muskies regularly into Eagle Creek? Thanks - Mellisa & Claude Bryant

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    1. 1300 muskie were introduced in Eagle Creek in 2011, so they are probably a year or two away from the 36 inch requirement. Cant wait for that

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    2. do the radio tags end up killing the small juveniles? just curious, not a loaded question. Can they grow up to mature size without the tracker making them sick or killing them?
      of the 40 muskies you tracker, can you still only find 9?

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    3. Mellisa and Claude, the muskies are not tiger muskies, they are the full strain muskies. The eggs for these came from adults collected at Lake Webster in northern Indiana. They will be stocking them annually at one-per-acre (around 1,350).

      Kevin, an angler reported that he caught one that was 23 inches in 2012. Also, another angler said that he caught a couple that were around 20 inches this year. Hopefully they will start to catch some muskies over 36 inches this year!

      Tom, the tags should not kill the juveniles. They will be able to grow up to mature size even with the tags in them. Yes, I found one by the Lafayette Rd. bridge. I can now find 11 instead of 9 now!

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  3. Very cool research, Nick! Hope you are able to locate some of them again that have gone missing. If the Muskie died/were eaten, would the tags no longer transmit? Do the fish have to be at a certain proximity to the surface in order for you to get a signal?

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    1. Thank you! I have found 2 more, so now I am finding 11 instead of 9 consistently. The tags would still transmit even if the muskies were to die or be eaten. I am able to pick up a signal from a 1/4 mile away in as deep as 35 feet. There are only a couple spots in the southern half of the reservoir that are deeper than that.

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  4. Your findings may suggest that the failure of walleye stockings in this and other state lakes have also met the same fate. Very interesting data.

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    1. Thank you for your interest! I found this research on tracking walleye movements in Monroe Lake interesting:

      http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3280.htm

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  5. Any update? Inquiring minds ...

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    1. The muskies have not moved much in the past couple weeks. They are mostly in the northern half of the reservoir in about 1 to 3 feet of water. I found 1 fish by the Lafayette Rd. bridge, so I am consistently finding 11 of them now. I plan on tracking later this week and I will post a more detailed update then!

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  6. when will they start stocking 5 per acre

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    1. Currently there is no plan to stock 5 per acre. The IDNR is only stocking 1 per acre because there are a large amount of predatory fish in the reservoir such as walleye, largemouth bass, white bass, etc.

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  7. thanks for monitoring your blog Nick, I like the updates! very cool a young kid in college can do this. be thankful for what you have!
    what are your speculations about the other 29 you don't seem to find anymore? even if it's a guess,i would love to hear your opinion

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    1. Thanks for the interest! I am very fortunate for this opportunity. My guess is that after the big storm the water levels in the reservoir raised and the muskies went up the streams flowing into the reservoir. When the water levels went back to normal they could have got trapped in the streams.

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    2. Do you plan to track them in the streams? Seems like this might happen with other stock projects as well.

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    3. Yes, we have already started looking in the streams for them and have not had any luck yet. Walleye have been caught all the way up near Noblesville that were stocked in Eagle Creek Reservoir.

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  8. Awesome blog. I love the information on the stocking and habits of these fish. Great job!!

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    1. There really has not been much to update. I have still been tracking the same few fish for the past couple of months. I will write a full update soon. They have not moved much if any at all.

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  10. I caught a 23" Muskie in the creek south of the dam tonight

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    1. Thanks for letting me know. That's great! It is good to know that other muskie are surviving south of the dam. This is definitely useful information for this project!

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  11. With the life of the transmitter batteries expected to end soon I was curious how much longer you plan on tracking the muskies?

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