Indiana Lake Key To Muskie Stockings Has Surge In Young Fish

NORTH WEBSTER, Ind. (AP) — A northeastern Indiana lake that's the sole source of muskie eggs for a lake-stocking program has seen a surge in young populations of that uncommon fish.

The state Department of Natural Resources says crews trapped 27 muskies under 30 inches in length this spring at Kosciusko (kahs-ee-AHS'-koh) County's Lake Webster.

That's the largest number of young muskies the agency has caught in 10 years at the 774-acre lake. The DNR attributes the increase to its efforts to stock that lake with more young muskies and provide them with more vegetation cover from predators.

This year's trapping effort yielded 24 adult female muskies. Five of those produced nearly 11 quarts of eggs for the DNR's restocking program.

Those eggs should yield about 20,000 muskie fingerlings for release into 14 Indiana lakes.