Okauchee Musky Stocking by MCW

Yesterday I participated in a musky stocking event on Okauchee Lake supported by Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin. (Club's website is here)

MCW has been increasingly involved in stocking efforts, and has even partnered with other clubs to raise funding for stocking efforts in our area. Efforts have centered on Pewaukee and Okauchee in previous years, but notably, fish stocked in Okauchee have the opportunity to spread from North and Cornell lakes, throughout Okauchee and Garvin, into Oconomowoc, Fowler and Lac Labelle. 

Volunteers and Club Members met at the Okauchee Public Launch, where a pen was built on one of the ramps. Fish were moved from the hatchery truck into the pen, given a chance to acclimate to the lake water, then distributed in small batches to waiting boats to be distributed throughout the Okauchee Lake Basin.

Notably this stocking effort was for extended growth, yearling fish, which have a higher survival rate than fingerlings. We measured a few of the ones we released from my boat and we had fish ranging from 10-16 inches long.

Here was a batch of the 32 fish we put into my livewell that we took out and released from my boat.

My son Shannon helps me to put fish out yesterday. I wonder if someday he might catch this fish as an adult.

 Efforts like these help to provide a future for our local lakes. Proud to be a part of the future of fishing.