Southeastern PA Muskies

[bringthepain]

Mike, i used to fish Nockamixon at night back in the early to mid 90s for striper and walleye on spinning gear. I have seen you say the good walleye fishing is no more, was that fishery the result of stocking back then and did they discontinue it? Thanks

 

[Gibbon]

You could also add a Mac's river runner to save the prop.

 

[Javelin389t]

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

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

ok , I might try to target them this year. I only ever caught tigers there. “Reproduction” I guess there are some pure breds ? If I get any , would the current AFM want any scale samples? I remember years ago my Brother sent some to you for aging. Thanks again for the info. Much appreciated

 

[Mike]

Mike, i used to fish Nockamixon at night back in the early to mid 90s for striper and walleye on spinning gear. I have seen you say the good walleye fishing is no more, was that fishery the result of stocking back then and did they discontinue it? Thanks

By that time the walleye population was dependent upon stocking, but the fishery from previous stockings was still quite good in 1996 (the specific year, I believe) during an angler use and harvest study. The success of stocking, however, greatly declined as the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass populations expanded, no doubt aided by the implementation of the Big Bass regs at the lake, which further allowed the bass populations to grow. Bass in lakes feed on fingerling walleye and the conflict between maintaining good bass populations and good walleye populations in impoundments is well established as being problematic for fisheries managers. It’s a common occurrence in Pa and elsewhere.

In one unusual occurrence, however, in a newly established Pa lake at the time (Kahle Lake, Clarion/Venango Co’s) there was a temporary shift from bass dominance to walleye dominance and back to bass dominance. This all happened in about the first decade or so of the lake’s existence and was most likely an artifact of the stocking densities and dual successes in the new impoundment.(Likewise, you may recall the tremendous success of 1200 tiger muskies stocked at about a 1.5-2 inch length when Leaser Lake was re-impounded following the dam’s repair. In a normal situation in an established lake stockings of those sizes of t mky would have been fruitless).

Walleye stocking in Nockamixon was terminated after 2014 following more than a decade of attempts to overwhelm the bass population by doubling the allowed statewide maximum stocking rate during alternate years and normal rates during most other years. It didn’t work based on a population evaluation with trap nets. A low density population continued to exist despite the high stocking rate.

You can find the warmwater/coolwater stocking records by county and water body within each county going back to the yr 2000 on the PFBC web site.

 

[Ewanflyfish]

You could also add a Mac's river runner to save the prop.
View attachment 1641239703

that’s a good idea, destroying the prop is my biggest worry about the river. Will look into that

 

[poopdeck]

Carry a spare prop in the boat is simple and cheap enough. The Delaware river is not that rock treacherous. Yes you have to know certain areas to avoid but the river is easily navigable without having to worry excessively about prop damage. Learning the nuances of river is a process that may take years but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the process. Generally speaking, I would recommend staying away from the Yardley boat ramp area. This has the least amount of good safe water with a prop. In order of most hazardous to least hazardous stretches, the Lambertville, bulls island and Byran ramps on the NJ side offer good fishing and more prop friendly deeper waters. All 3 ramps have places to avoid and each area has limits where it’s probably best that you don’t go above or below. That’s where the ramp hopping comes into play. Pick an area and stay within its confines. You will soon enough learn which areas of the river are better under different conditions. Don’t be afraid, get out and enjoy the river. It’s way better then the Nock in my opinion.