 Lawmaker has left St. Paul without resolving a long-running dispute over the stocking of Minnesota lakes with muskies. Opponents of introducing muskies to more lakes weren't able to pass legislation this session to limit the practice, so anti-stocking legislation is expected to return next year. A bill introduced this year by Republican State Senator Bill Ingebritzen of Alexandria would have halted musky stocking in new lakes for five years and called for a study of the effects of muskies on native fish in Otter Tail County. A watered-down version that would have imposed the moratorium only in Otter Tail County was included in a catch-all spending bill that Governor Mark Dayton vetoed for unrelated reasons. Muskies are native to 44 Minnesota lakes and eight rivers. The DNR stocks about 48 others. When the DNR began stocking Gulf Lake near Brainer nearly two years ago, some residents along the Gulf chain of lakes were opposed, fearing that introducing the non-native fish will deplete populations of native walleyes and panfish. But the DNR fisheries chief says research shows muskies don't harm the lake or native fish. The DNR had planned to stock eight new lakes with muskies by 2020. It stocked five, including Gulf, before political pushback put the plan on hold. The DNR estimates about one in every six licensed Minnesota anglers target muskies.