Weekend Results???

[Red Childress]

From what I have read and experienced in my little world up here is that there seem to be fish that travel and fish that do not. I have seen fish jumping over low head dams (Wisconsin video clip) like a salmon during migration. I tend to think that if muskies are going to move to spawning locations, they are headed up-stream/river. They do not have the same urge to return to the exact location of conception (or where they were stocked as fingerlings) like a fish from the salmonoid family.

Something I have to consider around here is that if a fish migrates upriver during the late-Fall and Winter, those fish are heading to warmer water due to the influence of the Kinzua Dam outflow. During Springtime, the inverse is true so I am not 100 percent confident if they are migrating because of the warmer water or a genetic response to environmental changes. We get migrations of walleye/sauger/saugeye from as far South as Pittsburgh because I have caught all 3 sub-species within 2-4 miles of the Dam.

I would love to tag my fish and see what I could learn on my own but according to one PFBC employee, it is illegal. Tagging a fish would not be considered "releasing the fish unharmed" as stated in the rule book.

The guy who got me pointed in the right direction in regards to musky fishing has been tagging his fish for years down in Virginia. He and his friends have caught some of those tagged fish miles away from the initial catch and tag area but some were caught close to the original location.