By Louie Stout

Muskie brood stock

The future continues to look bright for Webster Lake muskies in northern Indiana.

Contestants in this weekend’s Indiana Muskie Classic should find a fair share of 40 inchers. Sure, the really big ones may be few and far between, but the lake is a lot healthier than it was 10-15 years ago.

We know that because the Indiana DNR was there in late March and early April, gathering adult muskies to strip them of their eggs to be developed and matured at hatcheries.

“It went well and we got the fish we wanted,” said district fisheries biologist Tyler DeLauder.

He said it took a little longer than it has the past couple of years, but many of the females weren’t ready to drop their eggs due to the funky spring.

“We captured 220 in two weeks,” DeLauder noted. “The smallest was 28 inches and the largest just under 46. We caught 19 that ranged from 42 to 44 inches but only got four between 44 and 46 inches.”

DeLauder said the fish continue to show growth and expects the lake to be producing several 46-plus inch fish in the next three or four years.

“There appears to be a strong year class in the mid-40 size range,” he said.

He also noted that most of the fish were muskies stocked in the spring – fish that spent a little more time in the hatchery and were bigger size than the fall stocked fish.

“We always thought that would be the case,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re limited in how many we can holdover into the spring due to hatchery capacity.

Watch for tag

DeLauder reminds anglers to check the muskies they catch for pit tags. The tags are not visible with the eye, but can be seen with a pit tag scanner that can be purchased at an affordable price on Amazon. Every muskie that is stocked gets a pit tag.

“Anglers reported 120 last year and I’ve already received 30 reports this year,” he said. “When anglers report catching a tagged muskie, we can tell him when and where it was stocked, its growth rate and if and when we caught it in our nets while gathering eggs.”

Of course, the DNR found other fish in their nets.

Panfish in net

“We saw a lot of yellow perch and crappie this spring,” he said. “It looks to me that those fish are doing quite well in Webster.”