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The PA fish and boat commissions musky management plan can be found using the link below:

http://fishandboat.com/pafish/.....ntPlan.pdf

Over all the meeting was very positive and geared toward informing the crowd on the current status and future efforts of the PA musky management plan. A few key points based on the agenda are listed below.

***Management strategies***

-State is using benchmark studies using around 0.5 to 1.5 fish per acre to determine stocking rates for particular bodies of water in PA. Based also on current musky population as well as Anglers desire to fish said body of water.

-The state is focused on GROWING AND STOCKING LARGER FISH with an ideal size of around 10"

-The state is working on a standardized method for sampling muskies from current fisheries to determine the effectiveness of the management plan for long and short term

***Musky stocking strategies***
-Again STOCKING LARGER FISH

-Most "standard" musky lakes ideally receive 1 fish per acre annually

-Brood stock lakes ideally receive 5 fish per acre annually. (talk of Belmont and Prompton on hold which is concerning to me regarding our E. PA musky stock)

-The state uses a "luck of the draw" system to "equitably" disperse hatchery fish throughout the state based on area managers "top priorities"
Essentially 8 area managers give there #1 lake to be stocked in there designated area. It then goes to random drawing for who receives #1 priority state wide, and then down the line. The state is open to suggestion on another method, and also hopes that with the data they collect in the next few years from the Musky management plan it will pave the way toward truly educated stocking locations based on scientific results.

***Production Services***
-The Linesville Hatchery currently carries a majority of the PA musky production burden

-Higher nutrition dry food has been introduced despite the difficulty of converting the muskies to this food source, but they have seen better size yield than on minnow fed fish

-The use of spring fed outdoor raceways to hold fish over the winter allows for open water feeding for the full year to reach the magic 10" before releasing fish in the spring.

-There was not much talk about the pleasant mount hatchery in the way of musky production thus relying mostly on linesville for Brood lakes and reproduction. Further investigation is required now that we have 3 MI chapters looking for fish throughout the state.

***Musky Tagging Study/ Plan***
- The state has been tagging fish using coded wire tags in specific locations based on what time of the year fish were stocked. I do not recall off hand the particulars but it was stated in the States power point (which I think we should get if anyone has a contact over there)

-Basically Fall stocked fish on an even year are tagged on the right side rear dorsal and odd years on the left
Spring stocked fish have cheek tags, rotating sides same as above

-This has allowed the state to loosely track the success rate of these two different stocking times. The important variable here is that the spring stocked fish are larger when they get released. Trap net studies in the past two years have shown that spring stocked fish are doing better or at least being trap netted more often.

-The use of PIT tagging in larger fish is also being used by the state for this study. The advantage to these over Coded wire tags is that each tag has a 15 digit ID number specific to that fish, allowing more accurate size tracking of individual fish.
(Tom Long spoke to someone about acquiring a tagging set up for our fish which I think is a great idea and requires further investigation)

-The state is working on better ways to age fish without killing them using pectoral fin ray cross sections (the bony-like part at the top of the fin) they did state that this method requires a special saw that they borrow from a university and are funding the purchase of their own currently, using donations and and the Hugh Becker foundation set up by Muskies inc Corporate.

*** Musky Club Presentaions***
-Three rivers:
this chapter is in the heart of the PA musky management country. Jim Buss gave a brief presentation on what they have done to help the state specifically with raising muskies ( which I think we should follow in some regard)

-Penn/Jersey:
Greg Ridge put on a riveting presentation. He went over what our club has done in the past 10 years and what it plans on doing in the future with the help of Mr. Kauffman.

-Nittany Valley:
Newest MI chapter in PA that is a branch off of three rivers. President Pat Krumenacker also delivered an excellent presentation on the lack of focus on musky fisheries in central PA, as well as the importance of growing our presence among anglers throughout the state.

In closing.
Between the 3 Chapters of Muskies inc, and with the Guidance of the PA fish and boat commission, we now have a fairly solid plan in action to make our state a premier musky destination in the next 5-15 years. We need all the help we can get now more than ever. The battle that has been fought over the past 10 years is now starting to produce the fruit of our labor, lets not let it rot and drop off of tree.

Please feel free to add or correct anything above.

Maybe that wasn't so brief! 😮

AC