Musky Question

[Wade5720]

I have fished this lake for over ten years, both out of a boat and wading. Over the past year or two I have seen more small musky around 8 to 10 inches long during the late fall. I know several years back there were musky stockings but not sure of any recently. I was wondering if there is any possibility that the musky are having success reproducing. I tried to take pictures on the Lyndell side but they aren't the best.

[icemole]

The PFBC stocks their fingerlings(4-6") sometime from Late Aug to late Sept. Without looking at the PFBC page IDK when Marsh Creek was stocked last. Also the PFBC only stocks tigers which are basically sterile.

However The musky club raises their fish in the 10-15" range, but I've seen some close to 24" in Cabalas tanks. I don't know when or what lakes they stock but there were no musky in Cabalas tanks when I was up in late Oct. I do know that their first "project" lake was Marsh Creek. After about 4yrs they switched to Nockamixon and I think a few other area lakes. They are not talking about it on here as much as they did before(can't blame them). I think they were stocking purebreds - but I don't think they spawn with any great success here in the eastern portion of Pa.

[TEB]

The club also stocked Kaercher Creek lake in Hamburg, along with MC and the Nock. Not sure if they still do it, but when they did stockings it tended to happen during mid Fall. I do know that they stocked pures.

AT MC I have seen on many many occasions in late April/early May of pures paired up in extremely shallow water doing there thing. While I can speak to the success rate it would seem to me that at least some of the spawning attempts may not be completely futile. Just based on what I have seen over the past few years.

[me]

Look up musky inc. They stock musky around the area including MC. And they are reproducing just fine. They take in donations to buy the fish.

[icemole]

It seems the PFBC is now raising their fingerlings to the 10-12" range -- guess they figured out the 4-6" ones were bait... LOL. Lots more to read here.... www.fishandboat.com/Fish/PennsylvaniaFishes/Documents/MuskyManagementPlan-2017update.pdf     Sad to see Kearcher(which was once a great musky lake) on the chopping block but that lake has gone downhill for all fish since the 90's.

[fly_flinger]

As a supplement to the PFBC musky stockings, MI50, the local Muskies Inc. Chapter, have been stocking several of the SEPA lakes and rivers for 10+ years. The bulk of the fish we purchase are to stock either Marsh Creek Lake or Nockomixon. We are able to stock 1 fish per acre on these lakes. We alternate years. This year we stocked MC with 500 fish. We only stock purebred muskies that are generally in the 12"-18" range and we only stock them in the fall.

We are seeing natural reproduction in certain bodies of water from the fish we stocked. If you guys are enjoying getting into muskies in SEPA, we'd gladly take any donations to show your appreciation. Not saying we are due the credit for all muskies caught, just that as a non-profit organization we are definitely a major contributor to the overall musky population on some of the lakes you all fish and every donation helps to continue the stockings. It costs us about $12/fish.

[icemole]

How much to throw 50 into Ontelaunee..... PFBC has removed the lake from their musky stocking plan - due to "poor angler return" whatever that means. Plenty were caught when they did stock them ...a few even got released.