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| High Point Lake is a 338-acre PFBC impoundment in southern Somerset County near Mount Davis, the highest
point in Pennsylvania. Panfish Enhancement
Regulations for yellow perch were implemented at the lake in 2000 (9 inches minimum size and 20 per
day creel limit). All the other fish species at High Point Lake are managed under statewide regulations.
The PFBC stocks walleye fingerlings annually at High Point Lake. We surveyed High Point Lake as part of
a statewide study of the Panfish Enhancement Regulations that have been implemented on a number of
waters across the state. The last survey on High Point Lake was in 2003.
The overall yellow perch catch in 2005 was much higher than in 2003; however, legal-sized perch (9 inches or greater under the Panfish Enhancement Regulations) numbers were still low in 2005. Walleye and northern pike catches were also higher in 2005 than in 2003. All of the walleye and 8 of the 46 pike were legal-sized fish. The largest walleye was 25 inches and the largest pike was 40 inches. Bluegills were more abundant in 2005 but a smaller percentage of them were greater than 7 inches. Fewer crappies were collected in 2005 than in 2003; however, quality-sized crappies were still available in good numbers. Brown bullheads were the most abundant fish captured in the trap nets in 2005. High Point Lake would be an excellent lake to fish for bullheads. High Point Lake provides good angling opportunities for largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleyes, northern pike, yellow perch, black crappies, bluegills and bullheads. We were unable to assess the quality of the bass population during the 2005 trap net survey; however, prior year surveys revealed a good bass population. Night electrofishing is the primary gear we use to assess bass populations in lakes. Bass are not readily captured during the trap net sampling. We will return to High Point Lake in 2007 as part of the statewide Panfish Enhancement Regulations study.
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| -- Gary Smith, Area 8 Fisheries Technician | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biologist Reports -- PFBC Home |
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