Thanks Rambler. I enjoy your old stories.
Phil6 wrote:Very cool, thanks for sharing. Does stocking this late in the year have any downsides? Musky do pretty well in the cold, is it intentionally done this late?
I'm pretty sure it has to do with water temps. If I had to guess Geneva water temps were probably 60-65 degrees when we stocked them. They're probably raised in a similar temperature. Also depends on when they're hatched and when they're big enough for a better chance at survival.
Theres a good read on the History of the Musky written by Don Dubin. Hes a legendary hall of fame Chicago angler who started Salmon Unlimited and later helped create Muskies Inc. The piece talks about the struggles Illinois had in raising it's own muskies at first with just about most of the fish dying at the hatchery.
Funny story, I always ran into Don at the Salmon Swaps or at the Muskies Inc flea markets. Originally I just thought he was an old buzzard who liked fishing junk like me. He nudged me on the shoulder a couple months ago at our Muskie Hunters meeting in Glenview after hearing me tell another guy I fish for brown trout once in a while over the colder months. He said to me "you should join Salmon Unlimited". That's when I realized I've seen him at the Salmon Swaps as well. I replied, "You look very familiar, I recognize you from those Salmon Swaps."
Later that month there was a special on wttw channel 11 on a story about a Chicago angler who has been inducted into 3 different fishing hall of fames. And how the fishing community wants to use his vast fishing collection of antiques, fish mounts, and other memorabilia to start a Chicago Fishing Hall of Fame and museum. I shit you not, the story was on that old buzzard I've been running into all these years around the scene here in Chicagoland. Boy do I feel 'young and dumb' for not knowing who the great Don Dubin was all these years.
Nature and shit.
