A questionnaire sent to the chief fishery staff members of each of the U.S. states and Canadian provinces provided the basic data for estimating habitat occupied by walleyes, saugers, yellow perch, northern pike and muskellunge. Species habitat areas, grouped by size categories within lakes, impoundments and streams were listed by major drainage patterns in 4our east to west and fifteen north to south regional groupings. The present distributional patterns of each species resulting from introduced as well as native populations revealed major concentrations of these species around the Great Lakes. The areas occupied by percids and esocids as a percentage of total freshwater area in North America were 54% for northern pike, 1% for muskellunge, 32% for walleyes, 10% for saugers and 26% for yellow perch. Areas occupied by the five species, as a percentage of total freshwater areas, varied widely in different regions.
Catch and Release Muskie Fishing – Let Them Go – Let Them Grow