Why dont i here any talk about my favorite fish ...........muskie whats wrong with them in my future 4 acre lake

I think you know by now, same answers you got for pike.
Boy that would be great if it would work though!

Josh - The bigger you want them to become in your 4 ac "lake" the fewer there will be per acre. My best guess is that if they get to 10 lbs+ (34"-40") you will be able to have only one or if things are perfect maybe two musky per acre. Once you get those few fish hook smart by constantly harrassing them with that long stick, you will rarely catch them. Try it and let us know how it is going.

Your best bet is to probably fed them either bass (1.5 - 2 lbers)or gizzard shad or both. Carp or suckers won't work well because they will mud up the water and musky won't be able to see to feed on them. Bluegills will not produce large muskies. You need a large slender bodied preyfish.

josh-sounds like you have big hopes and dreams for your pond. From your posts it sounds like you want a pond full of large predator fish. If you scan this website you'll find that it's virtually impossible to do so, even in a 4 acre pond. You'll have to spend a LOT of money in forage to keep all of the species you're thinking about alive and if they do all live you'll have a bunch of skinny predators that'll not fight well. You should think hard about which extra predator (assuming bass will be one predator in your pond) you'll want and then manage accordingly. Most likely you'll have to sacrifice numbers of predators for good size of a few. If you do decide to stock muskie make sure you have a large forage base established well before you add them into the mix. In fact you may want to wait 2 or 3 years before considering them. If you buy muskie the "normal" rate in nature is roughly .5-1 fish per acre in a lake. Also, from what I've seen, muskie seem to have a very high mortality rate when they're below 6 inches. Consider spending more money for the largest 1-2 yr old fish you can get and stock them when the water temps are cooler. These fish should be handled babies. Don't even consider buying fingerlings even if they're cheaper. Good luck, do some research, and have fun.

Josh, I once read an article where a guy somewhere in the south kept a dozen or so muskie in a pond that was less than an acre in size. The man spent lots of cash on forage and what not but each fish was large. I think he was a biologist studying their eating and spawning behaviors. If your ambitious and want it, then try it. But be prepared to make a time and monetary sacrifice. Who knows, it could work.

Chris

I put ten Tiger muskies 10" from FedExed from Minnesota Muskie farm in 1 3 acre pond overgrown with green sunfish . The Tigers grew very well and the Sunnies went away. Eventually (6 years+) the Tigers died off and the Sunnies rebounded. The pond is an hour away so I didn't get to manage it should have added LMB's at some point ... now going to add Tiger Trout. Muskies would love steady diet of trout but I think they are all gone now.
Local lore a poacher snuck onto the pond one dark night hooked a huge fish ... reached down to lip his prize assumed it was a Bass.. low and behold it was a Tiger Muskie .. found out the hard way.

Josh, you might want to consider white suckers as one of your forage species. The throwaways from a commercial fisherman might serve as a source of forage. If you can find a large source of suckers or other species, you might be able to keep the muskies much as you would koi.

redfish , what kind of info you have on those tiger trout. size avaiable , prices , shipping air freight? thank you

From their website:

http://www.fishstics.com/prices.htm
they are in State Coolege, Pa
We guarantee live delivery anywhere in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware with our fleet of state-of-the-art delivery trucks.
Delivery charges are based on the distance traveled, the size of the truck needed, and the difficulty and/or the duration of the stocking. Call us to discuss our fees for this service