TrackingWe were able to locate all of the 92 tagged fish from both years combined. A total of 1900 individual muskellunge locations identified between March 2020 and November 2021. With 1300+ of those locations observed during the warm water period (June-September).
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Angler RecapturesAnglers reported at total of 27 recaptures in 2020 and 38 recaptures in 2021. During the summer season, June - September anglers reported 10 recaptures in 2020 and 19 in 2021.
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Mortality
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One mortality was observed in the 10 recaptures for 2020 and two mortalities were observed in the 18 recaptures in 2021.
Two un-angled muskellunge stopped moving in 2020 and one in 2021 and were considered to have died of natural mortality. There was seasonal differences in catch and release mortality rates in Stonewall Jackson Lake. 
Table 2. Tabulated values for the fates of angled tagged muskellunge during their respective seasons; Spring (March-May), Summer (June-September), Fall/Winter (October-February) in Stonewall Jackson Lake, WV over both 2020 and 2021. The proportion of individuals that died post-angling in summer was greater than that of other seasons (based on Fisher's Exact Test).
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Table 1. Tabulated values for the fates of angled and non-angled tagged Muskellunge in Stonewall Jackson Lake, WV during the warm-water period (June-September) with both years and all sites combined. The proportions of individuals that died post-angling were not greater than the proportion that died naturally during the warm-water period (no statistical difference based on Fisher's Exact Test).
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Temperature
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All but two summer angler recaptures occurred above 26 C (78.8 F) with an average surface water temperature of 27.8 C (82 F) . In 2021, we were able to obtain transmitter temperatures from 9 of the 19 summer recaptures averaging 22.9 C (73.9 F). Muskellunge in Stonewall Jackson Lake can access cool water refugia < 70 F areas even though not all muskellunge move into those areas. Muskellunge were inhabiting cool water angled, and unhooked in warm surface water temperatures and with proper handling techniques most were able to survive. Most likely going back down to utilize that cool water refugia.
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Figure 1. August 4th 2021 temperature (Celsius) profile with dissolved oxygen levels in mg/l measured at one meter intervals. Muskellunge thermal niche is 22 C (72 F) and above 3 mg/l dissolved oxygen. Muskellunge in this area are able to access water temperatures down into the 16-17 C (~60 F). Two muskellunge were angled this day # 1030 represented by the red x died after being caught and released. Its tag temperature was <20 C (68 F) while the surface temperature was 28.4 C (83.2 F). The other fish angled within 100 yards was # 1251 and that was the second summer recapture and it survived. Muskellunge # 1030 anecdotally was a 1270 mm (50 inch) female, while # 1251 was a 910 mm (35.8 inch) female.
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Current Conclusions
Muskellunge catch and release mortality for muskellunge in Stonewall Jackson Lake, WV during the summer period (June-September) is elevated compared to other seasons. However the difference between catch and release mortality and natural mortality that we observed during the summer was not different. The lower level compared to the James River and the Pond study, of summer catch and release mortality observed in Stonewall Jackson Lake is likely due to the cool water refugia present around the thermocline. However we do not know enough about the population to know how this morality rate impacts the population numbers. Future research hopes to identify how catch and release mortality impacts the trophy potential in Stonewall Jackson Lake. The level of exploitation, aka the number of individuals captured, is important for identifying the impact it will have the population. These are preliminary analysis.
