CURWENSVILLE – On Wednesday Curwensville Lake got 3,000-plus new inhabitants on Wednesday.
Members of the Curwensville Anglers Restocking Program stocked young tiger muskellunge provided by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The high winds and cool temperatures couldn’t keep the stocking from occurring. Two boats shuttled livewells full of tiger muskies to areas of the lake best suited for their survival.
According to the PFBC’s Web site, “The tiger muskellunge, or tiger musky, is the result of crossbreeding the male northern pike with the female muskellunge under fish culture conditions, although hybrids do occasionally occur in the wild. Tiger muskies have “hybrid vigor.” They are hardier and faster-growing than their purebred parents, and they respond better to hatchery-raising. Tiger muskies are also easier to catch than purebred muskellunge, having more of the eagerness to bite anglers’ baits and lures of their northern pike parent. However, because they are more easily caught, they don’t live as long as regular muskies, so they don’t attain the muskellunge’s great size.
“The male tiger musky is sterile, so natural reproduction among individuals does not occur. This gives fisheries management personnel much control over the number of these predators in a given waterway. Tiger muskies are produced for stocking by mixing of eggs and milt of the fish’s muskellunge and northern pike parents. Their food preferences are similar to those of their relatives. Fish are their favorite meal.”
While not all 3,000-plus tiger muskies will survive, those that due will grow into formidable sport fish, providing anglers at the lake a great fishing opportunity.