Nockamixon Lake muskies in the shallows in quantity - now!

M

Mike

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Have been trap netting Nockamixon for muskies and tiger muskies two weeks ago and this week. They are in the shallows in good numbers almost at every trap net site. Nets extend from the shore outward about 100 ft., so these fish are reachable. A high number of nets have captured more than one muskellunge or tiger muskellunge per net. Twenty-seven have been captured in 12 twenty-three hour net setsl, with 8 net sets remaining. The pure muskies are those that were purchased with club money and stocked in fall, 2012 by Muskellunge, Inc Chapter 50. The source was a mid-west hatchery and those fish were extra large for YOY at the time of stocking (10-16"). They are now 26-27" long. The largest tiger caught by the nets so far was 41". All are being internally tagged for mortality rate studies as a part of this project, which is primarily designed to evaluate accelerated stocking rates, the new 40" size limit, maximum sizes achieved of tigers and pures in this water body, and in this case, the comparative contributions to the populatioin of pures stocked at a larger size but lower numbers vs tigers stocked at a smaller size but much higher numbers.
 
Wow! Thats great to hear. What parts of the lake are you finding them?
 
See the second sentence of the op.
 
Mike wrote:
The pure muskies are those that were purchased with club money and stocked in fall, 2012 by Muskellunge, Inc Chapter 50. The source was a mid-west hatchery and those fish were extra large for YOY at the time of stocking (10-16"). They are now 26-27" long.

Sounds like another good springtime turnout for toothies in SEPA! Good stuff Mike.

Many of us are particularly interested in seeing the long term results of the pit tag program, esp with respect to growth rates and survival of purebreds vs tigers.

Based on the above data - I'm assuming the pures were in fact large fingerlings that were hatched early in 2012 and thus two years old now - growth rates look pretty darn good for the new purebreds. I think the conventional wisdom is that tigers grow faster in the first 2-3 years but, after this, purebreds tend to surpass them(?). Have you recovered any muskies this week that were pit tagged from last year? If so, any trends that can be seen yet? Are there tigers in the same size range that are thought to be 2 yr old fish? I'm almost ready to hazard a guess that, over the next few years, that the large fingerling/yearling purebreds prove to be a better program than the high numbers of smaller tiger fingerlings. Anyway, will be fun to see the results unfold, regardless of outcome.
Perhaps we need to wait another year (or three) for more data. Whatever the case, I think the results point to a very optimistic future for the overall muskie program in Nox. Are you doing March Creek and Blue Marsh this year as well? I'll bet the results from those lakes will also continue to be very good.
 
today's update: total for survey is now 19 pures, 20 tigers in 16 net sets
 
I might have to get the 'toon registered so I can fire up the trolling motor
 
Fished yesterday nothing even in the rain nothing, last week I had a follow from a mid thirties fish, hopefully will get out soon
 
We just finished sampling lakes for walleye and started the muskellunge work immediately, as well as work on the Delaware with American shad.

The Nockamixon tigers being captured in the nets are from a number of year classes. I would guess 5-6 year classes or stocking years. One was a recapture from last year or the year before, although I did not ask the crew if it was pit tagged. The pures are from a single year class or stocking year.....2012....and were stocked as 11-15 inch fish give or take. Blue Marsh will be surveyed as well.

Marsh Creek Lake will not be sampled since as soon as we finish the week or so of tiger muskellunge sampling at Blue Marsh we will move onto the Delaware Estuary for 2-2.5 weeks of striped bass spawning stock assessment work and tagging between Chester-Marcus Hook, Pa and NE Phila, as well as some tagging at Trenton, NJ/Morrisville, Pa. (fall line of the Delaware). By the time that is over the water will be warm in the lakes and the catch rates of muskies would be too low to make sampling worthwhile. At that time it is bass, panfish, and channel catfish sampling time.

Spring is a busy time for fisheries biologists...too many fisheries, not enough time, long hours, early morning work, late night electrofishing, and working with the tides. Schedules are unpredictable and when we are in the office it is often only for a short time. Often it is only long enough to dry out the gear and make repairs. And many anglers thought trout were our top priority???
 
Final tally for 2014 at Nockamixon from 20 nets: 21 pure muskies, 21 tiger muskies
 
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