In the past few weeks Susquehanna River, Section 05, extending from York Haven dam downstream to Rt 462, which runs between Columbia, Lancaster Co and Wrightsville, York Co, has received stockings of a few thousand pure and tiger muskellunge fingerlings (6-9" long). Bainbridge, Lancaster Co, which is about mid-way in that stretch, is the downstream stocking point. As the river was once again rising last Wednesday, the tigers were stocked in Bainbridge at 2 PM. At 8 PM we were electrofishing for smallmouth bass downstream in the impoundment created by Safe Harbor dam on the Susquehanna. Amazingly, we recovered a tiger muskellunge fingerling from the 2 PM stocking. We were 18 miles below that stocking point! Moving that distance in that amount of time (3mph) would not have been a problem given the river's velocity, but it was still interesting and a chance occurrence to actually document it. PS No near-by lakes or near-by other stretches of the river had been stocked this year.
As an angler, the take-home message should be that fishing for stocked tiger muskellunge probably should not be limited to the actual river or stream sections where they are stocked. In this case, the impoundment created by Safe Harbor Dam, which is known as Lake Clark (Susquehanna River Section 06 in PFBC stocking records), has been reportedly producing adult tiger muskellunge catches for bass anglers in the past few years despite not being stocked directly in that impoundment. As with trout, it pays to explore.
As for the bass, the total catch was very low in comparison to historical data from the Lake Clark site, but the number of bass 15 inches long and longer was acceptable based on statewide standards. The number of bass 12 inches long and longer was very close to the "acceptable" night electrofishing catch rate. Night electrofishing surveys of other traditional sampling sites will continue this fall if and when river flows allow them to occur.
As an angler, the take-home message should be that fishing for stocked tiger muskellunge probably should not be limited to the actual river or stream sections where they are stocked. In this case, the impoundment created by Safe Harbor Dam, which is known as Lake Clark (Susquehanna River Section 06 in PFBC stocking records), has been reportedly producing adult tiger muskellunge catches for bass anglers in the past few years despite not being stocked directly in that impoundment. As with trout, it pays to explore.
As for the bass, the total catch was very low in comparison to historical data from the Lake Clark site, but the number of bass 15 inches long and longer was acceptable based on statewide standards. The number of bass 12 inches long and longer was very close to the "acceptable" night electrofishing catch rate. Night electrofishing surveys of other traditional sampling sites will continue this fall if and when river flows allow them to occur.
