Salmon in PA

[Acristickid]

What was the history of salmon fishing in Pennsylvania?

I’m under the belief that there is no salmon in Pennsylvania and there hasn’t been for many years. Or are there a handful still in Lake Erie?

I know they were stocked in Erie and I recently have come to find out Atlantic Salmon were stocked in Raystown lake (state record is listed on PAFB website).

Not looking for a comeback of them just curious about the facts.

 

[moon1284]

There are kings and pink salmon in lake erie. Not in large numbers for sure. Not sure about cohos.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Got wind from a reliable source here that he got from another reliable source that there are some kind of salmon in a quarry here in my area.
None of us can confirm as i believe the quarry in question to be posted.

I seem to remember the same type of salmon being put in upper woods pond also.
Doubt any are still there today.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

http://www.paflyfish.com/forums/Open-Forums/Paflyfish-General-Forum/Less-common-PA-fish-species---/2,40630.html

https://www.icefishin247.com/forum/index.php?topic=3086.0

https://www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/GalleryPennsylvaniaFishes/Pages/TroutsandSalmons.aspx

https://forums.fishusa.com/Message/592036-Raystown-Salmon/

 

[larkmark]

Some years back Grubb Lake which is an old quarry in Lancaster County was stocked with salmon of some kind. For a few yrs if you went there in late winter you could see them near shore. They wouldn't bite but could be snagged. I never checked back in recent yrs.

 

[RLeep2]

The Lake Erie salmon program of the 70's and 80's was a nightmare for virtually everybody but the charter boat people. For whatever reason, the returns to the streams diminished sharply over the life of the program making it bit like taking fishing license dollars and simply setting them on fire or throwing them in the creek. The types of anglers drawn to the fishery were often combative and unsavory, not always, but often. It was a mess. I think it only survived as long as it did because of the political dynamic involved between the charter folks, the local co-op nurseries that raised a lot of the fish and the Commission. On the creeks, though, it was an enforcement nightmare and then, the fish simply stopped showing up. Which actually turned out to be a mercy, all things considered..

Here is John Arway in a 2016 Straight Talk column from the Angler talking a bit about the salmon program and the resulting transition to focus on steelhead: https://www.fishandboat.com/Transact/AnglerBoater/AnglerBoater2016/NovemberDecember/Documents/2016-1112nd-01straight.pdf

 

[CRB]

wild pinks show up in a few LE tributaries. But, as RLeep2 states they are declining and very few show up in PA waters.

 

[Baron]

Stay away from Upper Woods Pond. I Caught'em all

 

[marcq]

I’ve been eying upper woods pond up might take a trip this weekend with my paddle board.

 

[Baron]

MarkQ, in the off season there is a bunch of Eagles there that will serenade you. The stocked trout are big but I hear the wild bass are bigger. This is one of the few smaller lakes that turns over every year. Its up to 80' deep.

 

[salvelinus]

I seem to remember kokanee stocked in Upper Woods Pond back in the 70's.

 

[Baron]

That’s been the story. Imagine. Any leftovers would be enormous.

 

[tomgamber]

kokanee don't tend to get very big. most of the ones we caught in Idaho were about 12 inches. Looked a lot like rainbows until the spawn. Then they just morphed into kype faced blood demons.

I did read a story recently about "california salmon" which I take to mean Steelhead having been stocked in the First Fork area just after the turn of the century. 1900 not 2000.