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Caught on Camera

<p>There&#8217;s a big change coming for a big fish in the Susquehanna River.</p><p>Beginning in 2017, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will no longer stock muskies in the North Branch of the river.</p><p>They don&#8217;t need to.</p><p>Sampling conducted by agency staff on the river throughout 2016 determined the musky population is supported through natural reproduction and the stocked fingerlings simply aren&#8217;t surviving.</p><p>Rob Wnuk, area fisheries manager for the PFBC&#8217;s Northeast Region, said there is a lot to like about the river when it comes to muskies.</p><p>&#8220;There is good nursery habitat in the river and a good forage base of suckers and young carp. Muskies grow really well in the river,&#8221; Wnuk said, adding both the catch rates during sampling and growth rates of muskies in the river were high.</p><p>&#8220;The North Branch of the Susquehanna River was right up there with some of the best musky rivers known in the country,&#8221; Wnuk said. &#8220;It was very impressive.&#8221;</p><p>Wnuk&#8217;s numbers back up the claim.</p><p>During 13 days of sampling on the river Wnuk and his crew captured 24 muskies, plus three more while sampling for other species for a total of 27. The adult muskies ranged in size from 14 to 44 inches in length.</p><p>Things are just as good for yearling muskies as well.</p><p>During 13 days of sampling in 2015, 31 wild young-of-the-year muskies were captured and six others were missed, for a catch rate of 2.85. The North Branch also has .48 young-of-the-year muskies per mile, exceeding the .24 figure Wisconsin uses to define a self-sustaining musky population in its lakes.</p><p>Not only are the muskies in the river numerous, they&#8217;re also growing rapidly.</p><p>Wnuk&#8217;s data shows that the mean length on wild one-year-old muskies in the river is 13.5 inches, greater than the 6 to 7-inch length of the fingerlings stocked by the agency.</p><p>And that&#8217;s one reason why the stocked muskies aren&#8217;t surviving in the river.</p><p>&#8220;The wild fish are 10 inches by the end of August, and 14 to 16 inches by the end of October. The stocked fish are six to seven inches by October, and muskies are known cannibals so when they are released and go to that nursery habitat, they&#8217;re being preyed upon by the larger muskies,&#8221; Wnuk said.</p><p>While natural reproduction will be the method of choice to sustain the musky population in the North Branch, what will happen to the hatchery fish that were previously earmarked to be stocked in the river?</p><p>Wnuk said the musky stocking program across the state is being revised and stocking rates will be cut.</p><p>But, he added, that decrease is designed to allow the hatcheries to produce bigger muskies to be stocked, a move that will help them survive. Considering that muskies are an apex predator that exists in low densities, Wnuk said it makes sense to cut stocking rates yet increase size.</p><p>&#8220;One reason why we want to stock bigger muskies is because of predation, particularly from bass,&#8221; Wnuk said. &#8220;The larger fish have a better chance, but if you stock them at too high of a rate they won&#8217;t grow above 30 inches. You have to give them space.&#8221;</p><p>Because the sampling was conducted in the spring, most of the fish captured on the river were males that instinctively wait at spawning areas for females to arrive. Wnuk said male muskies are smaller than females, yet his crew did capture a 44-inch female musky in Northumberland.</p><p>Wnuk said there&#8217;s evidence that wild musky populations increase following the termination of stocking, and both adult and young-of-the-year fish will be monitored throughout 2017. If the population unexpectedly decreases, he said, the agency can easily resume stocking to augment the fishery.</p><p>&#8220;It might take a few years for anglers to see the benefits of these changes, but I&#8217;m very impressed with the musky population on the North Branch,&#8221; Wnuk said. &#8220;As far as Pennsylvania being a musky state, I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re on par yet with Minnesota, but we can get there.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State students Marty Kelly, left, and Josh Masich, who served as interns with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, hold a 44-inch female musky that was captured last May on the Susquehanna River in Northumberland. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_muskie2A-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State students Marty Kelly, left, and Josh Masich, who served as interns with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, hold a 44-inch female musky that was captured last May on the Susquehanna River in Northumberland. </caption0><photoCredit0>Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_muskie1-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This 39.2-inch muskie captured on the Susquehanna River last year is an example of how wild muskies are thriving on their own. As a result, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will no longer stock musky fingerlings in the river, allowing the population to sustain itself naturally. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_muskie1-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>This 39.2-inch muskie captured on the Susquehanna River last year is an example of how wild muskies are thriving on their own. As a result, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will no longer stock musky fingerlings in the river, allowing the population to sustain itself naturally. </caption1><photoCredit1>Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Growing up fast&#8230;</strong></p><p>Muskies grow well in the Susquehanna River thanks to an abundant forage base of suckers and young carp. Here&#8217;s a look at the ages and lengths of the muskies captured by the PFBC on the river in 2016:</p><p>Age - mean length in inches</p><p>1 - 13.5&#8221;</p><p>2 - 24.5&#8221;</p><p>3 - 30.7&#8221;</p><p>4 - 34.5&#8221;</p><p>5 - 37.2&#8221;</p><p>6 - 38.8&#8221;</p><p>7 - 40.2&#8221;</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Fish and Boat Commission making changes to muskie management on Susquehanna