Ministry fishing muskie with Ontario anglers to learn about its habitat

On a cool, October morning on a lake as clear as glass, volunteers geared up at the Belle River Marina in Lakeshore, Ont.to reel in the big muskie.

About 40 anglers sent their fishing lines into the water alongside employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to hopefully catch at least 20 muskies. Theywouldbe tagged and sent back out into Lake St. Clair.

Some do their fishing from a boat, while others help from the shoreline including Mike Parker who's been helping the government for the second year in a row.

"I help them with muskies when they're tagging them. When the boats come in, I'll help get the fish off the boats. Help them with the tanks, getting the stuff ready. Just here to participate and do some video and get the word out to the public," said Parker, who is a muskie tour guide.

The health of the muskie population is important for business. Parker saidthere was a 2006 outbreak of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, a disease which killed of tens of thousands ofmuskiesin Lake St. Clair.

"Doing stuff like this here, we can see where the muskies are going and then if they're surviving and it really is something important togive back to the lake, sowe can keep an eye on where the fish are going so we can see maybe why are these diseases hurting them and why are some things not hurting them."

Tags aren't cheap

Knowing there's a healthy supply of muskies is good for business. It's one of the reasons Parker, along with the Belle River chapter of Muskie Canada, have bought the tags which aren't cheap.

Each tag is $500 and the Belle River anglersbought 22 of them. but they're crucial for tracking.

The fish are stunned with an electric current, then quickly weighed and measured. Once an incision has been made, the muskie are ready to be equipped a tag, which is good for several years.

The process of inserting a tag happens rather quickly. A surgeon is there to perform the task to make sure everything is done safely and humanely. While he operates, StephenMarklevitz, a biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources, takes down all the information.

"We know relatively little about lots of fish species andmuskieis one of them in particular. So the hope here is that the information will lead into some future management decisions and actions," said Marklevitz.

Marklevitz added he hopes the information they collect will help them make future well-informed management decisions.

"We're hoping to be able to identify some home ranges and how far a fish may move over a lifetime migratory patterns, seasonal patterns, whether or not the fish caught in Belle River today stay around here or whether or not these fish here stay around Erie."

Gathering the data

The fish are stunned with an electric current, then quickly weighed and measured. Once an incision has been made, the muskie are ready to be equipped a tag which is good for several years.

The process of inserting a tag happens rather quickly. A surgeon is there to perform the task to make sure everything is done safely and humanely.

There are recorders are out on the lake, so when the fish swim near them, it logs their signal, allowing anglers to track where the fish go.

Out on a boat called Reel Therapy, catching muskiesis top-of-mind for five Michiganders, including Corinne Skinner. She currently holds the record for thelargest muskie caught by a female in her fishing organization 133.4 cm (52.5in) and 17.7 kg (39.1 lbs).

"This is the boat owned by my boyfriend and his dad and we've been fishing together for the last two and a half years as long as we've been together" said Skinner."Ithink it's really cool what they're trying to do to track the fish and learn more about them."

When she catches a muskie, it must be returned to the lake to be tagged.

The ministry tagged 22 muskies half the number from last year. As for the anglers, they're excited they'll be soon back out in the water trying their luck at catching the big one.

Take a look at this clip of an angler readyinga fish to be tagged:

Belle River anglers and Ontario ministry reeling in muskie fish

6 years ago

Duration 0:57

About 40 anglers sent their fishing lines into the water alongside employees of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to catch muskie fish, which will be tracked for a number of years.