Fishermen Flock to Well-Stocked Mon
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
5 April
2011
By Bob Frye
If you ask Bob Ventorini which of Pittsburgh's three rivers you should
fish to find legal-sized smallmouth bass, you'll get one answer. If you
ask where you should fish to find saugers, you'll get the same one.
It's the Monongahela.
As the bass fishing pros who competed in Pittsburgh's Bassmaster
Classic and Forrest Wood Cup found out, the Monongahela is tops for
keeper bass, he said. And saugers? Well, the Mon is best there, too.
"We feel the Monongahela supports the best sauger fishery in all of
Pennsylvania," said Ventorini, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat
Commission's Pittsburgh-based three rivers biologist.
There was a time when that wasn't the case.
When biologists surveyed the Monongahela at the Maxwell lock chamber in
1967, they found no fish at all.
A year later, they caught one bluegill.
Growing population
Here's a look at how some fish populations have changed at three lock
chambers on the Monongahela River:
Lock chamber |
Total fish 2003 |
Total fish 2010 |
Remarkable species 2003 |
Remarkable species 2010 |
Grays Landing |
13,823 |
51,280 |
9 |
14 |
Maxwell |
7,310 |
29,690 |
11 |
12 |
Braddock |
1,127 |
23,370 |
11 |
14 |
But a survey there last year collected 26,690 fish representing 32
species. More than a third of those were so-called "remarkable" species
because of their status as game fish supported solely by natural
reproduction, as fish intolerant of pollution or as currently or
historically endangered.
Those results - released Monday - also showed fish abundance and
variety up exponentially at the Grays Landing and Braddock lock
chambers, which were last examined in 2003.
"The 2010 findings provide further evidence that in a relatively short
amount of time (40 years), fish populations of the Monongahela River
have rebounded remarkably," said Ventorini's report on the study.
Part of the credit for the surging populations is attributable to the
baitfish swimming in the Monongahela, he said. Biologists measure
baitfish abundance on a pounds-per-acre basis. Forage fish include
gizzard shad, emerald shiners, mimic shiners and channel shiners.
In 2003, biologists collected 10 pounds of forage per acre at the Grays
Landing lock chamber. In 2010 they found 127 pounds per acre. Likewise,
at Maxwell they found five pounds per acre in 2003 and 46 pounds per
acre in 2010, and at Braddock 63 pounds per acre in 2003 and 162 pounds
per acre in 2010.
The differences are not totally surprising, Ventorini wrote, given that
baitfish numbers can swing year to year. But there's no doubt having
lots of baitfish is important to sustaining good gamefish populations,
he added.
That's not to say all is well with the Monongahela. His report warns
the threat of "potentially catastrophic" releases of pollution from
abandoned mine pools, gas drilling and other areas "could very easily
tip the scales and reverse the ongoing recovery process of the
Monongahela's fisheries."
It's in everyone's interests to make sure that doesn't happen, he
suggested.
"Preserving the recovery made thus far and continued work to
minimize/eliminate existing threats has potential to transform this
river valley into an area containing some of the best sport fishing
opportunities in the state," his report concludes.
Bob Frye can be reached at bfrye@tribweb.com or 724-838-5148.