Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August - 55

A wild, young-of-the-year Muskellunge from the North Branch Susquehanna River.

providing standard sampling methods for Muskellunge in lakes.
Further, the old way of capturing one or two Muskellunge during
a general survey was no longer good enough. Beginning in 2012,
every stocked lake had to meet minimum catch rate criteria
during a targeted Muskellunge survey to remain in the stocking
program. The 2012 plan focused on lakes because of limited time
and staffing.
From 2012 through 2018, fisheries managers conducted
targeted Muskellunge surveys at most stocked lakes in the
state. Many lakes met the new minimum catch rate criteria
and required no further action. But, 10 lakes failed to meet the
criteria and stocking was terminated. Those lakes were Beltzville
Lake, Carbon County; Chambers Lake, Chester County; East
Branch Clarion River Lake, Elk County; Hills Creek Lake, Tioga
County; Lackawanna Lake, Lackawanna County; Loyalhanna
Lake, Westmoreland County; Shenango River Lake, Mercer
County; Stillwater Lake, Monroe County; Tuscarora Lake,
Schuylkill County; and Union City Reservoir, Erie County. Also,
Muskellunge stocking was suspended at three lakes (Belmont
Lake, Wayne County; Lake Somerset, Somerset County;
and Tamarack Lake, Crawford County) due to completed or
impending drawdowns for mandated dam and spillway repairs.
With the completion of most lake Muskellunge surveys,
biologists had time to concentrate on rivers. River Muskellunge
sampling was a main emphasis of the 2017 Muskellunge
Management Plan update. The 2017 update provided standard
methods for river Muskellunge sampling and established
minimum catch rate criteria for river sections to remain in the
stocking program. River Muskellunge sampling is still in its

Pennsylvania's Managed Muskellunge Waters



Stocked Lake
Stocked River Section
River Section Managed for Natural Reproduction

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early stages, but there have been some results. To date, 14 river
sections have been permanently removed from the stocking
program, and stocking has been suspended on one section
(Shenango River Section 05) because of water quality problems.
Of the 14 sections where stocking was discontinued, three
sections were removed for failure to meet minimum catch rate
criteria (Delaware River, Section 7, and Schuylkill River, sections
11 and 12), and one section was removed due to posting and
access problems (Schuylkill River, Section 5). The other 10
sections were all on the North Branch Susquehanna River. Those
sections were removed from stocking in favor of management
through natural reproduction. Muskellunge surveys on the
North Branch Susquehanna River showed that this population
could support itself without stocking. In the future, biologists
will conduct reproduction surveys on all river sections that are
stocked with purebred Muskellunge.
Another main emphasis of the 2017 update was to change
the size of Muskellunge stocked. Research in Pennsylvania and
other states showed that larger Muskellunge survived better
than smaller ones. Predation, particularly by Largemouth Bass,
was the main reason for the difference. The increased use of
Big Bass Program Special Regulations in combination with a
growing catch-and-release ethic among bass anglers produced
a lot of large bass. That was great for bass but not so great for
Muskellunge stocking. Large bass are effective predators on
stocked Muskellunge fingerlings.
To minimize predation and improve survival, the 2017 update
changed size at stocking from fall fingerlings (6- to 9-inches
long) to spring yearlings (approximately 13-inches long). But
stocking spring yearlings required other changes.
Hatcheries could only raise so many pounds of fish,
and bigger fish weighed more. Further, improved
survival could result in too many Muskellunge,
thus limiting growth rates and the potential for
trophy sized fish. To deal with these issues, the 2017
update recommended that all waters be stocked
on alternate years and at a rate of 0.75 fish/acre.
Alternate year stocking of spring yearlings at this
rate has proven successful in other states.
This article provides a brief summary of
Muskellunge management changes since 2012.
To learn more, visit the Muskellunge page on
PFBC's website at www.fishandboat.com/Fish/
PennsylvaniaFishes/Pages/Muskellunge.aspx.
This page contains the full text of the
2012 Muskellunge Management Plan and the
2017 update.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * July/August 2019

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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - July/August

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