According to the information the muskies normally spawn in April when the water reaches 52 degrees or so. It is the time when the Division collects muskie to harvest the eggs and milt to produce young muskie for stocking in September. Eggs this year were collected at Salt Fork Lake and the sudden rise in temperature threw spawning off. So much so that only 300 to 600 muskie fry were produced.
The program was running successfully but hot weather brought the result at 26 percent fewer muskies than planned. There are other plans that NOAA is executing and have taken samples of this area for finfish, including tuna, swordfish and wahoo. The agency found detectable oil or odors or flavors. In addition, esults of chemical analysis for oil-related compounds was well below the levels of concern.
