Is the state still stocking pike yearly into Winchester Lake ?

If so how many are going/went into the lake this year.

How big would you say the first year class is now ?

Any input on how the pike program is doing on Winchester Lake ?

It seems some bigger bass are being caught this year and fewer small bass are being caught.

Mike G.,
Sorry this reply took so long. Yes, we are still stocking northern pike fingerlings in Winchester. Actually, we just stocked the last fingerlings for this year a couple of weeks ago. We have stocked there since '01. That year we put ~1,000 fingerlings in. We have stocked ~2,000 fish each year since then. If the pike growth in Winchester is similar to Bantam or Mansfield Hollow those fish from '01 should be at least 30" or better this year. We have conducted night electrofishing before and after we began stocking pike to assess any potential changes to the existing fisheries. We have not seen any significant changes yet. In Mansfield Hollow the data shows pretty good evidence that the bass population actually improved after pike were stocked and became established, and this has been the findings in other locations as well. We plan to do our spring trapnetting in Winchester next year for the first time and hope to see a healthy pike population with several different year classes. The fish stocked in '01 and '02 should be sexually mature and capabale of spawning. We were getting some reports of pike being caught during the winter icefishery and I have seen a few posts and gotten calls of a few others since the spring, but it has actually been less than I would have anticipated. Hopefully, pike fishing will pick-up through this fall and into next year (and beyond!).

Tim this is second hand information but I have heard that this summer was slow for the pike but i know several locals caught some last fall in late sept thru oct on very large golden shiners and are looking forward to this fall.

Bump .

I contacted DEP to see if there is any new info.