Musky in SF lakes

I didn't know about that until recently. But I guess they tried to plant musky in Pilarcitos and Merced...way back in the day.


https://scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/1910526_1080153502015413_5164192194198965952_n.png?oh=24051ac08dc797adc143b70432abdf48&oe=57A21855

Where do you dig up this stuff?

The good ole days of "bucket biology" .  Sucks that our generation is now paying the price for a  lot of the stuff done back then.  Millions of $s in the form of restoration and exotic fish eradication programs.  Good thing the muskie and pike didn't take hold.

Here's where I would go to find more details.

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/CollectionInfo.aspx?SpeciesID=679&State=CA

According to the notes in the link above...  the muskies where placed there in 1893 to eat another invasive species, the common carp.  They muskies were then eradicated when sea lions were also placed in the lake to help eradicate the carp.

Brian

The good ole days of "bucket biology" .  Sucks that our generation is now paying the price for a  lot of the stuff done back then.  Millions of $s in the form of restoration and exotic fish eradication programs.  Good thing the muskie and pike didn't take hold.

Chris why were Mackninaw stocked in Lake Tahoe....  food source ?  heard different stories..pretty sure they would decimate local native population ?

Where do you dig up this stuff?

Must be a slow day at work.

Where do you dig up this stuff?

Must be a slow day at work.

I like reading about CA history...especially if it has to do with fish! 
But that particular tidbit came from the FB page dedicated to "opening the SF watershed"  https://www.facebook.com/opentheSFwatershed/?fref=nf
I ended up there after reading some cool info about the early water barons of SF on the California History FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CalHistory/

That link Brian provided is a really great resource. Note that they deemed the third attempt to plant musky in Merced as 'successful.'

The good ole days of "bucket biology" .  Sucks that our generation is now paying the price for a  lot of the stuff done back then.  Millions of $s in the form of restoration and exotic fish eradication programs.  Good thing the muskie and pike didn't take hold.

Chris why were Mackninaw stocked in Lake Tahoe....  food source ?  heard different stories..pretty sure they would decimate local native population ?

Back in the 1800s, people who moved to the West from the East wanted to bring all their favorite Eastern fishes along with them.  Lake trout/mackinaw were a very popular sport and food fish back then, so they were stocked in a wide array of lakes and streams throughout CA.  They never took hold in many places, like Lake Oroville.  But the conditions present in Tahoe were very much to their liking, and they readily took hold.  Mackinaw, along with commercial fishing, essentially eliminated Lahontan cutthroat trout from Tahoe and permanently altered Tahoe's aquatic ecosystem.

Thanks ..heard that but wasn't sure ..I like Macs but would sure be nice to get some natives back 

  Mackinaw, along with commercial fishing, essentially eliminated Lahontan cutthroat trout from Tahoe and permanently altered Tahoe's aquatic ecosystem.

LCT suffered more so from overfishing than predation by macs. And the average size was hyuuuge (trump voice). Here's the OG tahoe yakfisher hahaha

Within the last several years they tried reintroducing LCT but I'm not sure that it was all that successful.

What mean old white lady 

  Mackinaw, along with commercial fishing, essentially eliminated Lahontan cutthroat trout from Tahoe and permanently altered Tahoe's aquatic ecosystem.

LCT suffered more so from overfishing than predation by macs.

Yes, that's correct.  I should've re-worded my original post by saying that mackinaw played a role in elimination of LCT, but commercial fishing is what really did them in.  I recall seeing photos from 100+ years ago of truck beds loaded with giant LCT taken from Tahoe.  Back when we thought fisheries resources were essentially limitless  .

Back when we thought fisheries resources were essentially limitless  .

Sadly, there are still plenty of these knuckleheads around.

Bullshit. Tahoe Tessy ate the fish.....