Masters student Lila Warren documented that muskellunge in her study rivers were reproducing all by themselves and hatchery fish, in all likelihood, do not need to be stocked to sustain the fishery.

Biologists in North America have been studying the effectiveness of fish stocking programs ever since fish were artificially spawned, reared, and stocked in the late 1800s. Many anglers (and even some biologists) are surprised to learn that muskellunge, a preeminent trophy sportfish in northern states, are native to streams in the Tennessee River and Cumberland River watersheds of Kentucky and Tennessee. In fact, biologists wrote in the mid-1950s that muskellunge were so abundant in some Cumberland Plateau streams of middle Tennessee that anglers used nets, gigs, trot lines, and even shotguns to harvest fish. Not surprisingly, muskellunge populations rapidly dwindled due to overfishing and habitat destruction linked to coal mining and industrial pollution.