Pictured: Craig Johnson, David Yednak (stepson of Pete Denio),
Tim Cochran. 20 Walleye day on Lake Erie out of Lampe Marina
New cleaning hut at Northeast Marina
Nice 'Eye!!
Huge Sheepshead caught off Lampe Marina
Member and boat owner Tim Cochran
Showing posts with label Walleye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walleye. Show all posts
Monday, July 18, 2022
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Survey Suggests Successful Fish Administration at Lake Arthur and Pymatuning
PORTERSVILLE -- Lurking among acres of bottom-hugging hydrilla, Lake Arthur muskellunge approaching 50 inches lie in wait to ambush any prey that passes.
And at Pymatuning Reservoir, a record number of walleye congregate near dozens of submerged habitat improvements.
Results from April trapnet surveys conducted by the state Fish and Boat Commission suggest that fish management strategies have paid off at two of western Pennsylvania's most popular lakes.
Tim Wilson, a fisheries biologist for the state Fish and Boat Commission, said anglers willing to adapt to changing conditions at Lake Arthur and Pymatuning could see better results.
"Like everything, lakes change," he said. "Sometimes anglers will figure out a strategy that works for them and they'll stick with it for years. But these lakes have changed over the years and it's necessary to adapt to those changes."
At 3,225-acre Lake Arthur, Butler County, the survey was part of an ongoing trapnet study to evaluate the impacts of 2007 changes to muskellunge size and creel limits. In subsequent years muskie anglers complained about declining catches, and in 2011 Fish and Boat documented the absence of entire year classes of muskies, fish ranging from 26 to 32 inches.
At the time, Wilson deduced the muskie problem was the result of habitat changes and a cyclical population trend.
Encroachment of the invasive hydrilla verticillata weed, which grows in dense mats, had displaced the previously dominant Eurasian watermilfoil that commonly grew in tangled floating beds, providing great cover for fish. Spikes in Lake Arthur's muskie population in 2004 and 2007, he said, could have resulted in massive cannibalization of some 3,300 young muskies averaging 6 inches stocked those years by PFBC. That, coupled with other predation, could have resulted in the loss of muskie year classes noticed by anglers. Wilson recommended doubling the stockings.
This year's trapnet capture and release of 39 muskellunge was down a bit from 2013 (53 captured) and about equal to 2011 (41 captured), indicating relative stability in the lake's muskie population. Wilson said anglers who have learned to fish the new hydrilla habitat are doing better than those still trolling past the remaining milfoil.
"There's no lack of vegetation in Lake Arthur," said Wilson. "A lot of bays still have the classic milfoil beds, lily and coontail, but hydrilla is still very prevalent. And it's still a very good muskie lake. Anglers weren't wrong about the decline in number of muskies, but they were comparing [2011 populations] to the very best it's ever been, which was an abnormal period. What we have now [a trapnet catch rate of 0.054 per hour] is very proportional."
Additional trapnet captures show Lake Arthur is fast becoming a catfish haven, locating 559 channel cats up to 29 inches, and 34 brown bullheads.
Last month the nationwide nonprofit Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation rated Moraine State Park, which includes Lake Arthur, the 15th best family fishing location in the United States. The criteria included "public water containing plenty of common game species." The trapnet survey logged 524 bluegills, 92 black crappies and 44 white crappies, as well as hybrid striped bass and yellow perch.
Walleye numbers were up significantly at Lake Arthur. The survey found 66 walleye as large as 28 inches. Wilson said many more could have been missed -- weather delays forced the survey to be held after the walleye spawn.
"A few degrees of water temperature that impacted fish movement could have had an effect," he said.
Sixty miles north at Pymatuning, which straddles the Ohio-Pennsylvania line in Crawford County, the trapnets were set primarily for walleye. The long cold winter helped researchers, who were able to survey Pennsylvania's best walleye fishery at the height of spawning. What they found surprised them.
From 2001 to 2007, said Wilson, Pymatuning walleye fishing was "really lousy" despite robust stocking by Ohio and Pennsylvania wildlife agencies. In 2008, after several consecutive years of very low trapnet catch rates and gripes from anglers, biologists stopped stocking fry (three to four days old, 1/3 to 1/2 inch) and switched to fingerlings (35 to 40 days old, 1 to 1 1/4 inches). The larger fish were significantly more expensive to raise, but the survival rate was higher.
Those year classes have now come of age. The 2014 trapnet capture rates, said Wilson, were "exceptional."
"The population of legal walleye in Pymatuning is better than ever," he wrote in the report. "Very large year classes that started as fingerlings stocked in 2009, 2010 and 2011 have reached legal length [15 inches] and now comprise the vast majority of the walleye population in Pymatuning Reservoir."
The trapnet catch spiked from fewer than 1.5 fish per hour in 2013 to five fish per hour this year. The nets collected 4,585 walleye -- 3,900 measuring 15 to 20 inches. More than 1,000 were in the 17-inch range; 92 percent were 15 inches or larger.
Wilson said the impoundment is particularly conducive to the needs of walleye.
"It's just a really good combination of habitat, the shape of the lake basin, water quality and size. It's a 14,000-acre lake. Just the sheer size has a huge effect on walleye," he said.
Pymatuning Reservoir is jointly regulated and managed by both states, which have in recent years teamed up on habitat improvements designed to concentrate walleye and other fish at points recognized by anglers.
Last week, a partnership including Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio State Parks, the Pymatuning Lake Association, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and volunteers sank more than 150 wooden cribs in 8 feet on the lake's north end, and rock reefs in 6 feet in the south.
"All of the state agencies are determined to make fishing better on Pymatuning," said DNR fisheries biologist Matt Wolfe, in a written statement. "The goal of this project is to introduce structures into the waters of northeastern Ohio in order to recruit the next generation of anglers and retain the anglers who already enjoy the sport of fishing."
Additional captures found a good number of muskellunge, 37 in the 25- to 48-inch range. But a third of the fish showed signs of current or past infection from the often-fatal redspot disease (epizootic ulcerative syndrome).
The survey logged 1,366 yellow perch as large as 13 inches, more than 500 catfish (bullheads and channel cats up to 28 inches), 582 black crappies as large as 15 inches and 471 bluegills. The capture included 700 common carp -- famous for being fed in masses by wildlife watchers at Linesville.
Substantial numbers of baitfish were found, including more than 2,200 alewifes and nearly 700 golden and spottail shiners. And while some nearby lakes have been overwhelmed by gizzard shad, the Pymatuning trapnet survey turned up only 61.
And at Pymatuning Reservoir, a record number of walleye congregate near dozens of submerged habitat improvements.
Results from April trapnet surveys conducted by the state Fish and Boat Commission suggest that fish management strategies have paid off at two of western Pennsylvania's most popular lakes.
Tim Wilson, a fisheries biologist for the state Fish and Boat Commission, said anglers willing to adapt to changing conditions at Lake Arthur and Pymatuning could see better results.
"Like everything, lakes change," he said. "Sometimes anglers will figure out a strategy that works for them and they'll stick with it for years. But these lakes have changed over the years and it's necessary to adapt to those changes."
At 3,225-acre Lake Arthur, Butler County, the survey was part of an ongoing trapnet study to evaluate the impacts of 2007 changes to muskellunge size and creel limits. In subsequent years muskie anglers complained about declining catches, and in 2011 Fish and Boat documented the absence of entire year classes of muskies, fish ranging from 26 to 32 inches.
PG graphic: Trap surveys
Encroachment of the invasive hydrilla verticillata weed, which grows in dense mats, had displaced the previously dominant Eurasian watermilfoil that commonly grew in tangled floating beds, providing great cover for fish. Spikes in Lake Arthur's muskie population in 2004 and 2007, he said, could have resulted in massive cannibalization of some 3,300 young muskies averaging 6 inches stocked those years by PFBC. That, coupled with other predation, could have resulted in the loss of muskie year classes noticed by anglers. Wilson recommended doubling the stockings.
This year's trapnet capture and release of 39 muskellunge was down a bit from 2013 (53 captured) and about equal to 2011 (41 captured), indicating relative stability in the lake's muskie population. Wilson said anglers who have learned to fish the new hydrilla habitat are doing better than those still trolling past the remaining milfoil.
"There's no lack of vegetation in Lake Arthur," said Wilson. "A lot of bays still have the classic milfoil beds, lily and coontail, but hydrilla is still very prevalent. And it's still a very good muskie lake. Anglers weren't wrong about the decline in number of muskies, but they were comparing [2011 populations] to the very best it's ever been, which was an abnormal period. What we have now [a trapnet catch rate of 0.054 per hour] is very proportional."
Additional trapnet captures show Lake Arthur is fast becoming a catfish haven, locating 559 channel cats up to 29 inches, and 34 brown bullheads.
Last month the nationwide nonprofit Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation rated Moraine State Park, which includes Lake Arthur, the 15th best family fishing location in the United States. The criteria included "public water containing plenty of common game species." The trapnet survey logged 524 bluegills, 92 black crappies and 44 white crappies, as well as hybrid striped bass and yellow perch.
Walleye numbers were up significantly at Lake Arthur. The survey found 66 walleye as large as 28 inches. Wilson said many more could have been missed -- weather delays forced the survey to be held after the walleye spawn.
"A few degrees of water temperature that impacted fish movement could have had an effect," he said.
Sixty miles north at Pymatuning, which straddles the Ohio-Pennsylvania line in Crawford County, the trapnets were set primarily for walleye. The long cold winter helped researchers, who were able to survey Pennsylvania's best walleye fishery at the height of spawning. What they found surprised them.
From 2001 to 2007, said Wilson, Pymatuning walleye fishing was "really lousy" despite robust stocking by Ohio and Pennsylvania wildlife agencies. In 2008, after several consecutive years of very low trapnet catch rates and gripes from anglers, biologists stopped stocking fry (three to four days old, 1/3 to 1/2 inch) and switched to fingerlings (35 to 40 days old, 1 to 1 1/4 inches). The larger fish were significantly more expensive to raise, but the survival rate was higher.
Those year classes have now come of age. The 2014 trapnet capture rates, said Wilson, were "exceptional."
"The population of legal walleye in Pymatuning is better than ever," he wrote in the report. "Very large year classes that started as fingerlings stocked in 2009, 2010 and 2011 have reached legal length [15 inches] and now comprise the vast majority of the walleye population in Pymatuning Reservoir."
The trapnet catch spiked from fewer than 1.5 fish per hour in 2013 to five fish per hour this year. The nets collected 4,585 walleye -- 3,900 measuring 15 to 20 inches. More than 1,000 were in the 17-inch range; 92 percent were 15 inches or larger.
Wilson said the impoundment is particularly conducive to the needs of walleye.
"It's just a really good combination of habitat, the shape of the lake basin, water quality and size. It's a 14,000-acre lake. Just the sheer size has a huge effect on walleye," he said.
Pymatuning Reservoir is jointly regulated and managed by both states, which have in recent years teamed up on habitat improvements designed to concentrate walleye and other fish at points recognized by anglers.
Last week, a partnership including Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio State Parks, the Pymatuning Lake Association, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and volunteers sank more than 150 wooden cribs in 8 feet on the lake's north end, and rock reefs in 6 feet in the south.
"All of the state agencies are determined to make fishing better on Pymatuning," said DNR fisheries biologist Matt Wolfe, in a written statement. "The goal of this project is to introduce structures into the waters of northeastern Ohio in order to recruit the next generation of anglers and retain the anglers who already enjoy the sport of fishing."
Additional captures found a good number of muskellunge, 37 in the 25- to 48-inch range. But a third of the fish showed signs of current or past infection from the often-fatal redspot disease (epizootic ulcerative syndrome).
The survey logged 1,366 yellow perch as large as 13 inches, more than 500 catfish (bullheads and channel cats up to 28 inches), 582 black crappies as large as 15 inches and 471 bluegills. The capture included 700 common carp -- famous for being fed in masses by wildlife watchers at Linesville.
Substantial numbers of baitfish were found, including more than 2,200 alewifes and nearly 700 golden and spottail shiners. And while some nearby lakes have been overwhelmed by gizzard shad, the Pymatuning trapnet survey turned up only 61.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
River Walleyes Fare Differently
By Bob Frye
One of the rivers once so polluted that almost nothing could live in it is doing pretty well these days.
The Allegheny, upstream of Pittsburgh, is healthy enough that it's sustaining a walleye fishery without the need for supplemental stocking, according to survey work done by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Not every similar waterway statewide can say that.
“It is encouraging,” said Bob Lorantas, warmwater unit leader for the commission. “As one who grew up in that area, to see the improvements and the fisheries coming back, it's great. Mother Nature has come back to at least equal what we were accomplishing with our own walleye stockings.”
That's noteworthy because the commission is deciding which rivers it will stock with walleye fry and fingerlings and which it will not.
There was a time when it stocked them all. That changed in 2008.
That year, the commission put an end to river system stockings to see if the waterways could support walleyes in great enough numbers to satisfy anglers on their own.
“If we can identify self-sustaining walleye populations, we can remove those waters from the stocking program and distribute fry and fingerlings where they are needed in order to meet angler demand,” said Dave Miko, chief of the commission's division of fisheries.
Surveys done between 2008 and 2013 showed that some waters — like the Allegheny between Ford City and Oil City — could sustain themselves walleye-wise. But others, including the upper Allegheny, could not.
“It is recommended that walleye fry stocking be resumed in a portion of the Allegheny River from the Kinzua Dam to Tionesta,” said Tim Wilson, a fisheries biologist in the commission's area 1 office in Linesville.
Other major river sections that will be managed for self-sustaining walleye populations — meaning no stocking — include the Monongahela River; North Branch Susquehanna River; Youghiogheny River from the Connellsville Dam downstream to the mouth; Ohio River; and West Branch Susquehanna River, from Moose Creek downstream to Bald Eagle Creek.
Stocking will not resume in the Delaware or Lehigh rivers, either.
Waters that again will be stocked with walleyes are Crawford County's French Creek; the Juniata River from the confluence of the Raystown Branch downstream to the confluence of the Kishacoquillas Creek; and the Susquehanna River from the confluence of the Juniata River downstream to the York Haven Dam.
That's subject to change, long-term. Miko said the commission will continue to monitor all the rivers to see how walleye populations do. He said it wants to make sure spending the money to stock fish provides better fishing.
Open season for walleye started Saturday, with a daily limit of six fish (which must be at least 15 inches), and walleye anglers are undoubtedly hoping for the best. So is the commission, Lorantas said.
“Returning fish to the creel, that's what we're about in all of our programs,” he said.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Variety Of Techniques Can Help Fishermen Creel Walleyes
By Bob Frye Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Walleyes became legal to harvest May 4 — you're allowed to keep six a day, provided they're at least 15 inches long — and the experts agree that if you want to bring any home, you'd better be able to adapt.
If he's drifting with current, he uses a jig “just heavy enough to keep your line vertical while you're moving,” he said. If he's pitching, he wants a jig between ¼ and 3⁄8 ounces. He uses natural colors like silver, blue, black and green on clear or stained water and bright colors like chartreuse, white, orange and yellow in turbid water.
Be versatile. Multitask. Do more with less.
That's the advice you hear these days when it comes to staying alive in business. It turns out those same thoughts apply to walleye fishing.
 |
| Scott Gates, owner of S&S Bait & Tackle located in Chalk Hill, displays the proper way to bait a nightcrawler onto a jig, which is used for early season walleye fishing. |
“To be successful consistently in walleye fishing, you've got to use a multitude of techniques,” said Pat Byle of Milwaukee, a top pro angler on the National Walleye Tour. Early in the season, from the spawn until the water warms significantly and when walleyes are concentrated, jigging is the way to go, Byle said. “Pitching jigs or vertical jigging is my favorite way to fish,” he said. “It can be effective in current, around dams, in slack water, near shore. You can fish a lot of structure in different parts of a river by jigging.”
 |
| This walleye was caught on a jig on the Allegheny River, considered one of the top walleye waters in all of Pennsylvania by the Fish and Boat Commission |
Jigs pitched toward shoreline structures — the same kinds of places bass anglers would target — can be especially effective if tipped with live bait, said Scott Gates of S&S Bait and Tackle in Chalk Hill. “A lot of guys tip their jig with a nightcrawler or, more often, even just a piece of a nightcrawler,” Gates said. “Sometimes the fish don't want the whole thing. They just want the head or the tail. You've got to let the fish tell you.”
Minnows fished below a bobber also can be good.
Mike Walsh, a waterways conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in Allegheny County, boated a dozen walleyes in just a couple of hours on the Allegheny River one morning last week.
Using 6-pound test and a single size-8 hook, he had a minnow 6 feet below his bobber.
“I'd cast it out and let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes, letting the river take it wherever it would. Then I'd reel it in real slow. About half of the time, they were hitting on the retrieve,” Walsh said.
He said he checked several other anglers fishing in a similar fashion who boated limits of walleyes on the river.
Later in the season, after the spawn and when the water warms, trolling takes precedence. Some anglers use crawler harnesses, which are a set of tandem hooks baited with a worm — or better yet, half a worm — behind a spinner blade. Others troll crankbaits.
In all cases, the key is to be methodical until you find the fish, said Keith Eshbaugh of Dutch Fork Custom Lures in Claysville and a former walleye pro. He starts out trolling in water up to 10 feet deep, then moves to water 11 to 20 feet and then 21 feet and deeper until he gets into the walleyes.
“You divide the water into three columns. The fish are going to be in one of them, so it's a process of elimination,” Eshbaugh said. “Basically you're eliminating water to find the best bite.”
There are many local waters where it would be worth your time to try those techniques. The Fish and Boat Commission lists the Allegheny River among the state's top walleye fisheries, and, indeed, the two biggest walleyes reported caught last year came from it. Greg Paul of Leechburg caught a 12-pound, 10-ounce walleye on a white jig, while Edward Dunmyre of Oakmont caught a 12-pounder on a Roostertail.
The commission also has Lake Erie, Pymatuning Lake and Lake Somerset on its list of “Pennsylvania's best” walleye waters. Lake Arthur, Yough Dam, Green Lick Lake, High Point Lake, Yellow Creek Lake and Cross Creek Lake are likewise good bets, said commission biologist Rick Lorson.
This is about the best time to be fishing, too. Walleye catch rates rise dramatically in May and peak in June on lakes, according to commission statistics. Walleye fishing on rivers, meanwhile, is traditionally as good this month as it's going to be until October.
The key is to get out there and be flexible, Byle said.
“One thing I know, and I've been doing this professionally since 1992, is that I never have figured it out completely,” he said. “Just when you think you've seen it all, you learn something new.”
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Friday, April 20, 2012
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Sets 2012 Walleye and Yellow Perch Limits
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