Photo by Pete Maina

Mountain State anglers should experience good fishing for muskellunge this summer, that is, if conditions allow. After all, much of our state's muskie fishing is found in large streams and small rivers. And during the past two summers, abnormal amounts of rain have negatively impacted angling effort. So the hope is for a drier summer, one where anglers can enjoy the many muskie-fishing opportunities that are available.

Here's an up-to-date look at West Virginia muskie management, the best waters to fish this year, as well as some of the better tactics to employ.

MOUNTAIN STATE MUSKIE MANAGEMENT 101
According to West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologist Kevin Yokum, the agency manages the muskie resource in three different ways.

The state has waters that contain native muskie populations, ones that once had native populations but can no longer support them through natural reproduction, and waters suitable for muskies that are not within the native muskie range. These three management strategies reflect these categories.

The state is blessed by the reality that a good number of our waters contains self-supporting muskie populations. The fish found in these waters are the Ohio strain of muskellunge, noted Yokum. On such waters, ones like the Buckhannon River, no muskies are stocked by the DNR. These are wild fish, their numbers sustained through natural reproduction. Wild muskies are rare in the eastern United States. Even in such fabled waters as New York's Chautauqua Lake, at least 75 percent of the muskie population is the result of stocking efforts done by the New York Department of Environmental Control.

Some other state waterways within the native muskie range can no longer support good numbers of muskies solely through natural reproduction. In these waters the DNR stocks Ohio-strain muskie fingerlings. These fish are raised by the agency from eggs taken from brood stock obtained from local waters.

"We don't have any trouble getting enough adult fish to serve as brood stock," Yokum noted, referring to the work done each spring in regard to Ohio-strain muskies.

Unlike trout, it's impractical to maintain hatchery populations of adult top-line predators, such as muskies, to obtain annual supplies of eggs. Instead, fish are trapped during the spring from waters that contain them. If the targeted numbers of males and females cannot be trapped to secure the necessary amounts of fertilized eggs, stocking efforts suffer. Weather and other environmental conditions play a big role in this work. For this reason, as with farming, stockings of fish, such as muskies, walleyes and hybrid stripers, vary somewhat from year to year due to the fluctuating supply.

The state's stocking efforts are not limited to the Ohio strain of muskie. In waters outside the native range, Chautauqua-strain muskies are stocked on a regular basis to maintain muskie fisheries in the waters that will support them. These waters lack the conditions necessary for self-supporting muskie populations. Chautauqua-strain muskies stocked in our waters are the result of both egg-stripping efforts from local fish as well as eggs acquired from outside sources. The raising of muskies in West Virginia is done at the agency's Apple Grove and Palestine hatcheries.

The state's muskie fishery also benefits from a bit of enlightened management, as well as a conservative attitude among many of the anglers. Significant catch-and-release areas are present at two of the better muskie waters. Also, according to DNR fisheries biologist Scott Morrison, catch-and-release is practiced by many of the anglers who target these great fish.

"I'd say about 99 percent of our muskie anglers practice catch-and- release," he said. "That conservation ethic is quite well spread."