As can be seen from the chart, the assessment is 18 years old but even from this outdated data some conclusions can be gleaned. A very small number of game fish are represented as comprising the diet of a Musky. Since Musky have to eat to live, if the forage base is in decline, the Musky will target game fish. It is an unavoidable fact that with fewer Musky harvested there will be more pressure on the forage base and the game fish population. If the forage base is not allowed to recover through natural reproduction or by stocking, the size and health of the Musky population will begin to decline as will the other game fish. Ask the WDNR when they last boom shocked your favorite Musky lake to assess the health of the forage base. So what is the bottom line assessment of Mr. Simonson’s Musky management update? His assessment of the number of Musky anglers is an artificial estimate based upon opinion rather than fact. His characterization of what constitutes a trophy musky ignores the fact that most Musky anglers will never see a 50” Musky given their limited time on the water. His update ignores the increased pressure placed upon the forage base by the unscientific size limits for Musky. (Slot limits would be a better approach.) In my opinion this 2012 Musky Management Update is not worth the time or money it took to produce it. It is short on facts and long on opinions and estimates based on bad or
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