Southeastern PA Muskies

[Ewanflyfish]

Any of you guys fish for muskies on lake nockamixon, or on the delaware river around the New Hope area? I’m hoping to start targeting them on the fly this year. I know these are two very different bodies of water, but they seem to be the two best musky fisheries near me. I’m open to any info you guys are willing to share.

 

[falcon]

I have fished for Muskies in the Delaware River from the Water Gap to Dingmans. I mostly use conventional tackle.

 

[sandflyx]

Not sure if nockimixon has many. I fished it in the 70's-80's mostly used to get a few musky, lots of big pickeral there also. the delaware you need a boat but from easton south there are musky. my biggest 52" came from around frenchtown

 

[Bamboozle]

There used to be a bait shop on West Union Street in Allentown called "Lehigh River Bait & Bow" that I frequented back in the day.

On the back wall were some huge mounted muskies. When I asked the owner were they came from he pointed towards the Lehigh River and said, "Right there, below the bridge."

FWIW - He used HUGE plugs on casting tackle.

 

[Ewanflyfish]

There used to be a bait shop on West Union Street in Allentown called "Lehigh River Bait & Bow" that I frequented back in the day.

On the back wall were some huge mounted muskies. When I asked the owner were they came from he pointed towards the Lehigh River and said, "Right there, below the bridge."

FWIW - He used HUGE plugs on casting tackle.

Dang, didn’t even realize the Lehigh produced musky of that size.

 

[Ewanflyfish]

Not sure if nockimixon has many. I fished it in the 70's-80's mostly used to get a few musky, lots of big pickeral there also. the delaware you need a boat but from easton south there are musky. my biggest 52" came from around frenchtown

I have a boat for Nock, probably wouldn’t be suitable for the river though. Big pickeral does sound interesting though.

 

[Bamboozle]

Dang, didn’t even realize the Lehigh produced musky of that size.

Neither did I and I was shocked when he told me where he fished.

I can't speak to fishing there because I never tried it and it was a while ago, but you can fish from the bank around the Hamilton Street Bridge.

 

[bringthepain]

Nockamixon has become one of the best muskie fisheries in the state is my understanding. I live in Bucks co closer to Peace Valley but the Nock is not far. Pure breds too, not tigers. Last year i heard a 42 pounder was caught. You are coming up on the right time of year for it. Late winter early spring is prime time i believe

 

[Javelin389t]

Yes agree with last post. Nock has a lot of muskies.I’ve fished there a lot over the years. Although I don’t normally target them. I have caught quite a few. (Never caught a purebred though) Last couple I caught have come on a crankbait or swim bait. Not sure about best time of year. I’ve caught them mostly in summer or fall. If I targeted them. I would try a weed bed close to a sharp drop off into deep water. You might want to also consider marsh creek lake. It also has a lot of Muskie

 

[sandflyx]

I have a boat for Nock, probably wouldn’t be suitable for the river though. Big pickeral does sound interesting though.

What boat do you have

 

[Mike]

The abundant, large pickerel in Nock is, unfortunately, news of the past. That ended sometime in the decade between 1995 and 2005.

As for abundant muskellunge, that began in the early two-thousand teens yrs.

Don’t be surprised to catch a striper there when fishing for muskies.

Based on an obvious fin clip from the Nock muskellunge population evaluation studies, a Nock source muskellunge was captured by an angler from the Delaware as far downstream as Washington Crossing. No doubt that escapees from Nock contribute to the lower Delaware population and that contribution may be greater now than a few decades ago since the Nock pop is now much larger. Additionally, fishing for escapees of various species has always been productive just below the Nock dam.

 

[Javelin389t]

The abundant, large pickerel in Nock is, unfortunately, news of the past. That ended sometime in the decade between 1995 and 2005.

As for abundant muskellunge, that began in the early two-thousand teens yrs.

Don’t be surprised to catch a striper there when fishing for muskies.

Based on an obvious fin clip from the Nock muskellunge population evaluation studies, a Nock source muskellunge was captured by an angler from the Delaware as far downstream as Washington Crossing. No doubt that escapees from Nock contribute to the lower Delaware population and that contribution may be greater now than a few decades ago since the Nock pop is now much larger. Additionally, fishing for escapees of various species has always been productive just below the Nock dam.

The abundant, large pickerel in Nock is, unfortunately, news of the past. That ended sometime in the decade between 1995 and 2005.

As for abundant muskellunge, that began in the early two-thousand teens yrs.

Don’t be surprised to catch a striper there when fishing for muskies.

Based on an obvious fin clip from the Nock muskellunge population evaluation studies, a Nock source muskellunge was captured by an angler from the Delaware as far downstream as Washington Crossing. No doubt that escapees from Nock contribute to the lower Delaware population and that contribution may be greater now than a few decades ago since the Nock pop is now much larger. Additionally, fishing for escapees of various species has always been productive just below the Nock dam.

Mike. What do you think is the max. life span of Muskie and walleye in the state if they don’t get caught ?

 

[Mike]

I can given you a few examples from Pa. A tagged tiger muskellunge from Nockamixon was relatively recently re-captured during a muskellunge population survey that was 14 yrs old. A walleye was captured by a PFC survey crew from Lake Wallenpaupack in the late 1970’s that had been tagged as part of the Atlantic (gasoline) reward tagging program that was popular around 1960. I remember it as a kid. That fish was 18 yrs at large with the tag and was in my thinking probably of legal size (3 yrs on avg in Pa) when tagged. Recently, based on a conversation with the Area 6 AFM, the Area 8 AFM crew has sampled walleye from Youghiogheny Rs that were in the mid-twenties and perhaps up to or approaching 30 yrs old.

It is generally reported that in unusual situations, a muskellunge may live up to 30 yrs, but I have never heard it even speculated that such a life span has occurred in a Pa muskellunge.

 

[Ewanflyfish]

What boat do you have

Not a flat bottom and no jet motor so probably a no go for the river. Just got it from a friend in the fall. As you can see the trailers seen better days😬. But should be just fine for nockamixon.

 

[Javelin389t]

Wow , great info. Thank you mike. The talk on musky got me wondering if there might be some still swimming around in the perkiomen creek. I caught my first one there when I was a kid at the dam below where swamp creek dumps in. I know several of the dams that were popular musky holes are gone and the one near swamp creek has changed drastically over the years.

 

[poopdeck]

That boat is just fine for the river. It doesn’t need to be a jet and it doesn’t need to be a flat bottom boat to safely boat and fish the Delaware river. It’s does need a motor though. I fished the Bucks county portion of the river for 25 years in 14 and 16’ semi-vee prop boats. You just have to fish specific areas, ramp hop and take your time learning each section of the river. The Bucks County area of the river has a good population of musky and a legion of fishermen that target them exclusively.

 

[Ewanflyfish]

That boat is just fine for the river. It doesn’t need to be a jet and it doesn’t need to be a flat bottom boat to safely boat and fish the Delaware river. It’s does need a motor though. I fished the Bucks county portion of the river for 25 years in 14 and 16’ semi-vee prop boats. You just have to fish specific areas, ramp hop and take your time learning each section of the river. The Bucks County area of the river has a good population of musky and a legion of fishermen that target them exclusively.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will give it a shot once I get more comfortable. It does actually have a basically brand new motor, just in my garage for the winter.😁

 

[TimMurphy]

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will give it a shot once I get more comfortable. It does actually have a basically brand new motor, just in my garage for the winter.😁

Dear Ewahflyfish,

To add to what poopdeck said as long as you proceed with caution until you learn the river you should have no problems with that boat. Long before jet outboards even became a thing, I fished the river with buddies with a boat like that and a 28HP long shaft motor.

Get out early in the Spring when the water is up a bit, assuming it actually is up, and learn the areas around the various ramps located on the river. There are lines and channels where you can find passage with a prop motor. You could even take ride to ramp during shad season and watch where the prop boats go to learn more.

You might need to kick the motor up into the shallow water drive bracket and putt around until you find your lines but when I was kid back in the 1970's there were always boats on the Delaware, and none of them were jetboats.

Have fun!

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[Mike]

Wow , great info. Thank you mike. The talk on musky got me wondering if there might be some still swimming around in the perkiomen creek. I caught my first one there when I was a kid at the dam below where swamp creek dumps in. I know several of the dams that were popular musky holes are gone and the one near swamp creek has changed drastically over the years.

Yes, still some there based on a conversation with the present AFM. Source unknown. Reproduction?