COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, in cooperation with the Ohio Huskie Muskie Club and Muskies, Inc., released 2,370 muskellunge in Piedmont Lake, in Belmont and Harrison counties, during a stocking event Sept. 25. Muskellunge, or muskies, are released by the Division of Wildlife annually in the fall.
Piedmont Lake offers fishing for crappie, bass and muskellunge in its 2,270 acres of water. The current state record muskellunge, which weighed 55.13 pounds, was pulled from Piedmont Lake in 1972. The lake continues to provide excellent opportunities to catch a muskie of 40 inches or more.
The Division of Wildlife stocks 20,000 muskellunge across nine Ohio reservoirs: Alum Creek Lake, C. J. Brown Reservoir, Caesar Creek Lake, Clearfork Reservoir, Lake Milton, Leesville Lake, Piedmont Lake, Salt Fork Lake and West Branch Reservoir.
Beginning in April, hatchery and fish management staff begin the rearing process. The muskies grow to lengths of 10 to 12 inches long at London and Kincaid state fish hatcheries before being stocked in September. Anglers can report catches to The Muskie Angler Log, which was developed as a resource to support management efforts.
Trophy muskellunge have been documented across the nine stocking locations. In July, an angler reeled in a 51 1/4-inch muskie in Pleasant Hill Lake. This muskie was initially captured in 2016 by Division of Wildlife staff in Clearfork Reservoir and fitted with a tag. At the time, it was 44 inches long. In 2019, it was detected by a tag reader in the Clearfork Reservoir tailwaters. Then, in 2020, it was caught by an angler at Pleasant Hill Lake and reported as 49 inches long.
The Division of Wildlife operates six state fish hatcheries to manage fish populations and increase public fishing opportunities. Eleven fish species are stocked statewide, and the agency put more than 52 million fish into public waters last year. Learn more about fish stocking at wildohio.gov, or view complete fish stocking records at data.ohio.gov.
