M
Mike
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2006
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Reported to me this week with a few photos attached was the catch of a pure Muskellunge in what I would estimate to have been in the 35-40 inch range. It was captured by an angler fishing the very lower, non-tidal Delaware, approximately 20-25 miles downstream from its known point of origin. The photos showed that it was from Lake Nockamixon, identifiable by the more permanent pelvic fin clip that one of our crew members had given the fish during a recent population survey. By recent I mean annual spring Muskellunge trap netting surveys during the past five years. The fish had at some point gone over the 90 ft dam, swum down Tohickon Creek about 6 miles to the Delaware, and then down the Delaware.
The fish was stocked by the Penn Jersey Chapt of Muskies, Inc Chapt 50 following one of their purchases of 12 inch "fingerlings" from a private Wisconsin Hatchery. Based on the size of the fish it was stocked sometime between 2012 and 2014.
The annual surveys are part of the statewide 10 year study of the response of multiple lake Muskellunge populations to the move from a 30 inch length limit to a 40 inch length limit. The other lake being studied in SE Pa is Blue Marsh Res. Nockamixon is the only lake being sampled 10 out of 10 years; the rest are being sampled 5 out of 10 years.
Nockamixon is receiving special attention due to the stocking of the large fingerlings, the replacement of pa tigers with those pure breds, and the large number of muskellunge that we have been able to PIT tag in the lake, allowing us the unusual opportunity to follow the growth of potentially good numbers of individuals and perhaps estimate mortality rates. We are already seeing that once male Muskellunge reach maturity they suddenly don't grow very much. As in Wisconsin and Minnesota, if you catch a 40 inch Muskellunge it is highly likely that it is a female.
Finally, a former PFBC seasonal worker and good d friend is a fisheries manager in NW Wisconsin. In a previous tracking study using radio telemetry he found muskellunge and walleye annually moving 30 miles upstream in the fall from a downstream power dam to the base of an upstream power dam, staying there until spring spawning was concluded, and then moving 30 miles back downstream to the other dam. This was repeated annually.
All of this muskellunge movement may suggest that muskellunge anglers should consider this in their choices of fishing locations in flowing waters. The fish don't necessarily stay where they are stocked as fingerlings.
The fish was stocked by the Penn Jersey Chapt of Muskies, Inc Chapt 50 following one of their purchases of 12 inch "fingerlings" from a private Wisconsin Hatchery. Based on the size of the fish it was stocked sometime between 2012 and 2014.
The annual surveys are part of the statewide 10 year study of the response of multiple lake Muskellunge populations to the move from a 30 inch length limit to a 40 inch length limit. The other lake being studied in SE Pa is Blue Marsh Res. Nockamixon is the only lake being sampled 10 out of 10 years; the rest are being sampled 5 out of 10 years.
Nockamixon is receiving special attention due to the stocking of the large fingerlings, the replacement of pa tigers with those pure breds, and the large number of muskellunge that we have been able to PIT tag in the lake, allowing us the unusual opportunity to follow the growth of potentially good numbers of individuals and perhaps estimate mortality rates. We are already seeing that once male Muskellunge reach maturity they suddenly don't grow very much. As in Wisconsin and Minnesota, if you catch a 40 inch Muskellunge it is highly likely that it is a female.
Finally, a former PFBC seasonal worker and good d friend is a fisheries manager in NW Wisconsin. In a previous tracking study using radio telemetry he found muskellunge and walleye annually moving 30 miles upstream in the fall from a downstream power dam to the base of an upstream power dam, staying there until spring spawning was concluded, and then moving 30 miles back downstream to the other dam. This was repeated annually.
All of this muskellunge movement may suggest that muskellunge anglers should consider this in their choices of fishing locations in flowing waters. The fish don't necessarily stay where they are stocked as fingerlings.
