Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Tuesday, March 03, 2026
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Division’s Southern Lake Michigan Management Unit will conduct a public meeting to discuss muskellunge management on Gun Lake in Barry County.
The meeting will be held on Thursday, July 18 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Orangeville Township Hall, located at 7350 Lindsey Road in Plainwell.
The meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss a proposal to increase the muskellunge minimum size limit from 42 to 46 inches on Gun Lake to protect this naturally reproducing population.
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As muskie fishing in Indiana has grown to national prominence, so too has the state’s muskie guide business.
Anglers now routinely hire licensed guides to fish for muskies, primarily at six natural lakes in the northeast corner of the state.
Muskies are large predatory fish that grow up to 4 feet long. Catching them usually requires experience and heavy-duty equipment.
According to DNR estimates, Hoosier anglers spend about $100,000 to $150,000 annually to hire muskie guides.
“That is big business when you consider a little more than a decade ago muskie guides in Indiana were unheard of,” said Jed Pearson, a DNR fisheries biologist in Columbia City. Pearson manages most of the muskie lakes in the state.
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A 12-inch muskie captured last month by DNR biologists in Steuben County marks the first indication of natural reproduction of the popular sport fish in any Indiana lake.
While electrofishing for largemouth bass, biologist Neil Ledet and his survey crew netted the one-year-old muskie in shallow water on the north side of Ball Lake, an 87-acre natural lake.
Ledet thinks the fish came from natural reproduction because the DNR quit stocking Ball Lake five years ago. From 1997 through 2008 the DNR released 6,700 muskie fingerlings in the lake.
Stockings were discontinued when a survey revealed few Ball Lake anglers fished for muskies and few were caught, despite the fact that adult muskies were present.
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(Provided by Indiana DNR)
DNR officials are getting reports from anglers that muskies are occasionally being caught in the Maumee River below the Hosey Dam in Fort Wayne.
The largest to date was caught in early April, measured 42.5 inches long and weighed 28 pounds.
Biologists are unsure where the muskies are coming from—none are stocked directly into the river.
Muskies have been stocked in Allen County’s Lake Everett each year since 2010, but its outlet drains to the Eel River, not the Maumee. Likewise, a check with Ohio DNR biologists confirmed that no muskies are stocked in the Maumee watershed within the Buckeye state.
Right now, the best guess is they came downstream via the St. Joe River from Ball Lake in Steuben County. Muskies were stocked there annually until 2009.
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(Provided by Indiana DNR)
Muskies stocked in northwest Allen County’s Lake Everett three years ago will soon be large enough to be kept by anglers.
During sampling in mid-April, DNR fisheries biologists captured three muskies in Lake Everett with an electrofishing boat within 15 minutes of operation.
The two largest were 33 inches long and came from a stocking of 245 fingerlings in 2010, the first time muskies were stocked in Lake Everett. They were 8 to 10 inches long at the time of stocking.
To be legally kept by anglers, muskies must be at least 36 inches long. Based on what biologists know about the species’ rapid growth, they expect Lake Everett muskies to reach 36 inches this summer. They could eventually exceed 48 inches.
Muskies were stocked in Lake Everett to feed on its abundant gizzard shad population and to provide an additional muskie fishing opportunity in the area.
The Webster Lake Musky Club purchased 30 muskies of the original group from a commercial hatchery. DNR hatcheries contributed the rest. Another 215 muskies from state hatcheries were stocked in Lake Everett in 2011 and 2012.
A 10-inch muskie stocked last fall by the DNR also was captured during sampling.