Pennsylvania & Boat Commission Biologist Report

Pikes Creek Reservoir (Ceastown Dam) Luzerne County

2013 Sportfish Population Survey

Pikes Creek Reservoir is a 400 acre water supply impoundment located 5 miles northwest of Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania American Water Company owns the lake and graciously permits shoreline fishing in designated areas. Those areas open to shoreline fishing are well marked at access points around the lake. Wading, boating, swimming, and ice fishing are not allowed.

Area 4 Biologists surveyed Pikes Creek Reservoir using night electrofishing, gill nets, and trap nets in the spring of 2013. We found 15 fish species (Table 1). was the most abundant predator. Overall bass density was average; our total catch rate was 68.7/hour. The catch rate of largemouths > 15 inches, however, was very good at 12.7/hour. Pikes Creek Reservoir also contained a naturally reproducing population of walleye. Most of the walleyes we captured were of legal length and the biggest was 30 inches (Figure 1 & 2).

Bluegills, black crappies, and yellow perch were the main panfish species. As is usually the case in these water supply reservoirs, the panfish weren’t abundant but large individuals dominated the populations. Some bluegills reached 10 inches (Figure 2) while some crappie and perch reached 15 inches.

Table 1. Number and size of fish captured during the 2013 Pikes Creek Reservoir survey.

Number Caught Size Range Species (All Gears Combined) (Inches)

Largemouth bass 105 2 – 19

Smallmouth bass 10 7 - 16

Walleye 55 10 - 30

Chain pickerel 32 6 - 22

Channel catfish 3 14 - 27

Black crappie 56 8 - 15

Yellow perch 43 4 - 15

Bluegill 106 2 – 10

Pumpkinseed 30 2 - 9

Green sunfish 1 5

Bluespotted sunfish 1 1

Golden shiner 2 5 - 8

White sucker 34 12 - 23

Brown bullhead 25 10 – 18

Yellow bullhead 20 10 - 14

15

10

5 Number of Fish . Fish of Number

0 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Length (Inches)

Figure 1. Length-frequency distribution of walleye captured at Pikes Creek Reservoir in the spring of 2013.

Figure 2. Fisheries Biologist Aaron Frey with a 30 inch walleye from Pikes Creek Reservoir. The fish is skinny because it is a female that has just completed spawning.

Figure 3. Typical bluegill, this one exceeding 9 inches, from Pikes Creek Reservoir.

Rob Wnuk Area 4 Fisheries Manager