Nockamixon tiger muskies: NOW

[Mike]

Trap netting revealed that tiger muskies are both numerous and in the shallows at the moment. Nets were set on the south side of the lake for about 2/3 of the lake's east-west length. All had tigers and all were set from within about 10 ft of the shoreline. I don't think there was anything special about the south side for muskies.....the crew was actually netting for walleye, which spawn on the south side.
This muskellunge and tiger muskellunge pattern...occupying the shallows...should be true statewide at present.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

Tigers although sterile still go through the spawning motions. We were asking fish & boat biologists about it and the confirmed. The water temps probably match up so that's why and along with baitfish being shore oriented be cause of the warm up.

 

[Mike]

Tiger muskies are still in water 10 ft deep and shallower and within 100 ft of shore. Netted 8 more in two days this week. They are now receiving PIT tags...subcutaneous microchips that when scanned with an electronic receiver can identify the specific fish by transmitted number. Of the 15 tiger muskies marked last year we already recovered one among the 16 captured in the past week. The work continues through the rest of this week and then begins sometime (mid-week) at Blue Marsh next week and continues into the following week.

 

[Fishidiot]

Good stuff Mike. Keep us informed of the results of this tiger study.

Inquiring minds wanna know.

 

[greenghost]

Mike wrote:
I don't think there was anything special about the south side for muskies.....

More/stronger sun exposure perhaps?

 

[PennypackFlyer]

That is one of my favorite places to fish... last year I caught a nice 44" tiger musky targeting bait fish. Sorry it was not on the flyrod. This year I plan on using the flyrod with a steel tipit. There is one area that I visit regularly and always get something toothy (usually a musky) through that area.

 

[Bosshog]

Any updates on Musky fishing in Nox or Blue marsh? Or is the water to warm now?

 

[Mike]

The water is not too warm yet. If you go to Blue Marsh I recommend fishing any of the small indentations/inlets/coves (also true to a lesser extent at Nock). Blue Marsh Tigers are using these areas (or their entry points) at the moment. Net catches were poor outside of these types of coves on the main lake. Additionally, the Spring Creek and Tulpehocken arms were more productive than the main lake body, although we had one small indentation between the confuence of those arms and the island produce two tigers. In all, we caught 11 tigers up to 44 inches in Blue Marsh in 19.25 net sets (one net was vandalized - most likely by anglers - causing the rest of the angling public to have to pay for the lost time and net repairs). Twenty nets at Nockamixon produced 15 tigers last year and 26 tigers this year.....largest was 40" in the two years. The lower catch at Blue Marsh I believe is more reflective of the lower lake's poor habitat than a lack of fish. In fact Blue Marsh smashed the statewide minimum objective of 1 muskellunge or tiger muskellunge for every 4 net nights. The catch at Blue Marsh was approx 1 tiger for every 2 net nights.