Bucks County Toothy Critters

[thebassman]

With all this talk about toothy critters and success threads I was wondering if anyone knew of some spots in Bucks County where I could target pickerel, musky, or the like. I have searched the forum and read somewhere were the Delaware Canal was full of pickerel, but not so much anymore. I was wondering if it still had a good population.

I am looking for areas that can be accessed by foot/wade. I know Lake Nockamixon holds toothy fish, but how easy is it to fish for these from the bank?

There are a few fish I want to target this year and scratch this off my fish bucket list....a toothy fish being one as well as carp and brook trout!

Thanks,
Steven

 

[Fishidiot]

Nockamixon has a very good population of tiger muskies and if you're seeking to get one of these critters wade fishing a lake - springtime is the time to do it (roughly mid March until about the end of April). Focus on weedy bays on the north side of the lake. Pickerel are all over east PA but usually in sporadic numbers and often an incidental catch by bass fishermen (they're thick as flies in the Poconos but harder to find down east). Sometimes, with some exploring, you can find a small pickerel hotspot. They bite well year round, even in very cold weather and can usually be found in shallow, weedy areas. Getting muskie or pickerel anglers to reveal precise fishing hotspots on the internet will not likely be a successful endeavor.

One thing I might suggest however - when you're out exploring places like Nockamixon....talk to the bass guys. Oftentimes they see or hook toothies and, since they often aren't really interested in pursuing 'em, will be happy to tell you where they have seen them. I do this all the time at boat ramps and parking areas: I'll see bass guys and strike up a conversation about "fishin" and eventually (esp if you share some bass info with them) I can steer the conversation around to the question, "hey, have you guys been seeing any muskies?" Oftentimes, after you've broke the ice, they'll tell you where they have been seeing them or where a big guy is hanging out.

 

[jrmyln]

Steven,
FI is dead on with Noxie. You can also hit Towhee for picks. When I moved here from MD, I found shore access for these fish next to impossible. If you can get your hands on some sort of watercraft, whether it be a kayak, canoe, or belly boat your opportunities will increase sevenfold. My first day out in my after buying my first yak, I nailed a 37" tiger in a cove near the Tohickon launch.

 

[thebassman]

I have heard its hard to get the guys who chase the toothy critters to open up. Not wanting exact spots....just some general info. I will have to take a trip up to Nockamixion and check it out in a few weeks.

 

[sandfly]

noxie is full of big pickerel as is lake warren, towhee, some in peace valley too. river has muskys as does noxie. tohickon has a few downstream and upstream of noxie. fish the haycock area of noxie. and the upper end where tohickon comes in.

 

[daman1277]

Towhee is good if using weedless topwater cause it gets overgrown in the summer

 

[Stagger_Lee]

Pickerel and muskys .. what type (size) of rods do you use?

Flies?

Per "toothy" - are their teeth sharp?

thanks

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Fast action 10s for musky. Fly size from 8 inch singles to as big as ya can throw.

 

[jrmyln]

For muskie, I tend to use aScott S3S 8wt but I also use an 8wt Rio OBS line with a 20lb straight piece of mono. The grain weight for the OBS 8 is the equivalent to a 10 and it throws the same lines without wearing me out casting all day.
For flies, anything pink or chartruese and has a lot of action.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

20 pound mono for bite guard?

 

[Mike]

Nockamixon: muskies in abundance, large pickerel
Galena (Peace Valley): Not a place to intentionally fish for pickerel. If present, they have never showed up using electrofishing, gill nets, or trap nets.
Towhee: fair population of CP
Tohickon Creek above Quakertown and tribs (assumed...the tribs look good in places) around Quakertown: some fair populations of CP worth fishing over. No knowledge of landowner situation, but I would not hesitate to inquire as they probably rarely if ever see anglers.
The Giving Pond: not sure if CP are present
Delaware R: Try mouth of Cooks Ck area for muskies and the pool about a half mile below the confluence of Gallows Run (the power plant pool). I caught a 40' pure there. They have been stocked for years from Riegelsville down to Upper Black Eddy.

 

[fishngun]

Yes their teeth are sharp. I haven't been bitten by a musky yet, but I can tell that a 30" pickerel will cause some blood flow.

As far as rods go, for pickerel I would use an 7-8wt rod with flies anywhere in the 3-8 inch range. 20-30lb flouro bite guard.
Musky, 10wt or larger and BIG flies. 80lb flouro bite guard.

 

[jrmyln]

PACOFRANSICO wrote:
20 pound mono for bite guard?

You got me!
For some reason, I was thinking about pickerel, not musky.
I've only used wire for muskie.

 

[sandfly]

Mike as a kid I caught pickeral in the N. Br. of neshaminy (peace valley) along with bass

I have caught muskie all the way down to scudders falls. largest was a 52" above point pleasant. mouth of tohickon has a few biggies. along with most stream mouths along joisey side of big "D".

 

[nealfish]

In june or july I usually visit some family in Vermont and theres good pickerel fishing there, but how early can topwater start around here?
Also for pickerel the ones we are usually catching don't ever pull more than 24 inches, maybe 26, so you don't need huge flies for them right? We usually catch them on poppers about 2 inches maybe a bit bigger. would we hook up on bigger fish if we used those huge flies? its pretty shallow water, you couldnt get a boat with a motor back there. lots of lily pads and reeds and logs and other structure, with some deeper pools

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Im a believer in big tandems. Im talking atleast a ft. long. Ive caught pike that the flys were longer than the fish. When your throwing them your at least your giving the fish a look at the fly with the bigger stuff.