The DNR will not go forward with a proposal to stock musky fingerlings in Forest County’s 2,038-acre Lake Metonga.
Wednesday night at Crandon High School, 162 of the 179 attendees voted against a plan to introduce musky into the lake to control a population of white suckers.
DNR fishery biologist Greg Matzke developed a plan to decrease the lakes population of white suckers, while potentially increasing the number of anglers visiting the Crandon area.
Prior to the vote, Matzke says they wanted to introduce 100-300 muskies..
" So you are talking about a few muskies that are going to be taking perch, but they’re mainly going to be trying to utilize the basically untapped resource out there which is white sucker, which are really abundant and there are not any predators on white sucker in Lake Metonga..."
Opponents felt the top-of -the-food- chain predator muskellunge would hurt the populations of perch and walleye.
Matzke credited the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Community for the surge in Metonga’s walleye and perch population. The tribe, along with the Lake Association, has made a successful effort in reducing the bullhead population of the lake
