The Democrat
01-22-2008, 01:43 PM
Washington State now has a Muskies Inc. chapter (Chapter 57), based in Federal Way (located on Interstate 5 between Seattle and Tacoma). Their website is here: http://www.nwtigermuskies.com/
In 2007, I lobbied the Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission to change the minimum size limit from 36" to 50", statewide. We won't know the outcome until the Commission votes on rule proposals Feb. 2-3, but internal staff at the Department of Fish & Wildlife advised me they expect the rule to pass. This rule change will turn Washington into a catch-and-release-only state, with the except that anglers will still be able to harvest fish approaching or exceeding the state record.
A 50-inch tiger musky weighs 30 lbs. or more. Our state record is 31.25 lbs. (One of my boat partners nearly broke it in 2005 with a fish that unofficially weighed 31.15 lbs., and since we've caught several in the 27-29 lb. range -- all were released.)
The rationale behind allowing harvest of 50"+ muskies is these fish are near the end of their lifespans and won't be caught again anyway, and this gives anglers the option of claiming a new state record (which requires certified weighing and inspection by a biologist) -- for those who are interested in that sort of thing (and some people are). By doing it this way, we avoided some potential opposite to the rule change, while still keeping 99% of the fish in the water.
Washington has a population of about 3,500 to 5,500 adult tiger muskies in 7 lakes and reservoirs totaling 11,400, some of which are located near urban areas. WDFW believes from angler surveys that about 16,000 anglers target this species. That means there is less than 1 fish for every 3 anglers who want to catch a tiger musky, so in our state a catch-and-release policy for managing this fishery makes a lot of sense.
Assuming the rule change passes, Washington will have a minimum size limit on muskies equal to or higher than any other state, and this will be a big step forward toward maintaining a quality musky fishery here. At this time, we have both good catch rates (in terms of angler hours expended per fish) and good fish size, in relation to other muskie fisheries. An angler fishing our prime waters has a decent chance of catching a fish over 20 lbs. with about 20 to 40 hours of effort, and there's a good supply of smaller fish as well. We tend to have "action" and "trophy" fishing in the same water body.
4 of our tiger muskie lakes are in eastern Washington, and 3 are scattered along the Interstate 5 corridor between Seattle and Portland.
In 2007, I lobbied the Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission to change the minimum size limit from 36" to 50", statewide. We won't know the outcome until the Commission votes on rule proposals Feb. 2-3, but internal staff at the Department of Fish & Wildlife advised me they expect the rule to pass. This rule change will turn Washington into a catch-and-release-only state, with the except that anglers will still be able to harvest fish approaching or exceeding the state record.
A 50-inch tiger musky weighs 30 lbs. or more. Our state record is 31.25 lbs. (One of my boat partners nearly broke it in 2005 with a fish that unofficially weighed 31.15 lbs., and since we've caught several in the 27-29 lb. range -- all were released.)
The rationale behind allowing harvest of 50"+ muskies is these fish are near the end of their lifespans and won't be caught again anyway, and this gives anglers the option of claiming a new state record (which requires certified weighing and inspection by a biologist) -- for those who are interested in that sort of thing (and some people are). By doing it this way, we avoided some potential opposite to the rule change, while still keeping 99% of the fish in the water.
Washington has a population of about 3,500 to 5,500 adult tiger muskies in 7 lakes and reservoirs totaling 11,400, some of which are located near urban areas. WDFW believes from angler surveys that about 16,000 anglers target this species. That means there is less than 1 fish for every 3 anglers who want to catch a tiger musky, so in our state a catch-and-release policy for managing this fishery makes a lot of sense.
Assuming the rule change passes, Washington will have a minimum size limit on muskies equal to or higher than any other state, and this will be a big step forward toward maintaining a quality musky fishery here. At this time, we have both good catch rates (in terms of angler hours expended per fish) and good fish size, in relation to other muskie fisheries. An angler fishing our prime waters has a decent chance of catching a fish over 20 lbs. with about 20 to 40 hours of effort, and there's a good supply of smaller fish as well. We tend to have "action" and "trophy" fishing in the same water body.
4 of our tiger muskie lakes are in eastern Washington, and 3 are scattered along the Interstate 5 corridor between Seattle and Portland.