She jokes, sometimes, that she can’t remember the first episode of Girl Meets Soccer Ball. And it’s not going to be long until life takes Girl in one direction, and Soccer Ball in another.Fisheries biologists plan to study the muskie stocking program this summer at Upper Long Lake, the Department of Natural Resources said today.
Since 1996, the 86-acre Noble County lake has periodically been stocked with muskie fingerlings to provide fishing opportunities and to control the population of small bluegills, the DNR said in a statement.
Although the stockings are privately funded, those groups have asked for help to evaluate the program, the statement said.
In the study, the statement said, the agency will look at the lake's largemouth bass population in April and May, and compare it with what was present when the muskie stockings began. It said the study will also count and interview fishermen to determine how many fish are caught, their size and the level of interest in muskie fishing. In June, the statement said, the DNR will conduct a fish population survey to provide detailed information on what fish are in the lake, which ones muskies eat and the size of the bluegills.
The agency plans to issue a report about the study's findings next winter.
