Any Justus/Two Mile Experienced People Out There?

I'll go as far as saying, 6" of ice by the dam today and the water is dam deep in that area.

As for the catchin today, sorry no spot burning.

Spoke with my nephew and he said Justus was disappointing today and he won't be returning this weekend.

As for type of fish, the PFBC ruined the lake with their stupid trout. So I'd recommend contacting the NW Office and inquire as to what's worth fishing for in a once, fun lake.

Good times and tight lines.

Justus is nothing as it once was. Great fishing for Large Mouth, Walleye, Musky, and Crappie too. Then came the PFBC and the rest is history.

Have not fished Justus for 25 years and not likely ever will again. Still have my contour map though.. Just in case. lol.

Good times and tight lines.

Where did you hear this rumor about Lakers? Its 100% false. You can count the lakes in PA with Lake Trout: Lake Erie, East Branch Clarion River Lake, Raystown, and maybe Silver Lake out east. Now up at the federal fish hatchery in Warren, they will sometimes stock a few old spawned out Lakers in the Allegheny Reservoir.
 
PFBC stopped stocking Walleyes about 5-6-7 years ago...so I'm sure there are a few left, but not many. There are some nice largemouth and also smallmouth in that lake.

I never quite understood why PFBC made borderline Walleye Lakes like Justus and Kahle part of the big bass program.
 
Kahle currently seems way over carry capacity for bass. Justus is way deeper, and has more drop-offs and better walleye looking habitat, but between the bass, trout and musky, the walleye fry have zero shot of survival.
 
Same with Kahle, all the bass just munch on the walleye fry that were stocked.

 

BeenThereDoneThat.
Wouldn't surprise me to hear the PFBC tried stocking "splake" at one time or another.

Them biologist love a good experiment....

This was part of an email a PFBC biologist sent me back in 2011, when I asked some questions about the trout program...
 
 
While Two Mile Run Reservoir is deep and has a small layer of cooler water with some oxygen it is not a classic two story lake with a large deep layer of very cold water with very high oxygen concentration conducive to trout such as occurs at East Branch Clarion River Lake.  It is more of a borderline situation at Two Mile.  Back in the early 1990's we tried stocking fingerling trout in Two Mile Run Reservoir and had very few trout make it through to succeeding years and attain larger size.  A few larger trout are occasionally caught in the lake but for the most part our information indicates hold over potential is limited.
 
 
 
I assume he is talking about Brook Trout at 2Mile, cause if you look at Keystone Lake in Armstrong, read the 2001 biologists report:
 

---

Spring sampling in 2001 at Keystone Lake (Armstrong/Indiana Counties) produced extremely positive results.  Past stockings of brook trout have produced high numbers of brook trout ranging from 8 to 10 inches in length. Night electrofishing efforts verified the high numbers of brook trout as well as high numbers of rainbow smelt.  The smelt were introduced in the late 1980's and early 1990's and are self sustaining. Spring night electrofishing produced high numbers of walleye as well.  The majority of walleye ranged from 18 through 24 inches, however fair numbers of walleye ranging from 27 to 30 inches were also encountered.  These walleye were without doubt some of the heaviest encountered during walleye sampling efforts over the past two decades.
Trapnet efforts continued to produce quality size walleye and legal brook trout.  No smelt were observed during trapnet efforts.  Seven tiger muskellunge were sampled by trapnet and they ranged from 708 through 1295 mm (27.8 - 50.98 inches).  Four of the seven tigers were of legal size.  Black and white crappie were just becoming active and some of the early anglers were doing well with fair numbers of crappie being present, including good representation in the 9 to 13 inch size groups.  Bluegill were not present in high numbers and most were less than 8 inches in length.  Good numbers of smallmouth bass were encountered.  Keystone Lake appears to be home for numerous quality sized walleye, tiger muskellunge, and smallmouth bass.  Additional sampling will be done in late May to evaluate both small and largemouth bass.
 
 
So I highly doubt PFBC spent the money to source "Splake" eggs.
 
 

Uglystik right you are. I've heard many anglers refer to the huge Rainbows as Lakers.

I also know two guys that maintained the the gate on the spill box at two mile and at one time assisted with "diver certification" programs held at the lake.

It was common to hear of the "lunker trout" swimming in the depths of Justus.


PSU I don't doubt "splake" were ever tested at two mile, but I still wouldn't be surprised to hear the PFBC tried at one time.

Furthermore, over my many years of fishing and hunting, I find it more and more difficult believing any PFBC biologist even if, he/she were standing knee deep in dead gizzard shad, and reported a foul odor.

The gill net was used by PFBC to conduct a survey on the lakes trout. As I recall they found no natural reproduction. A word of warning. Some nice browns move up the creek feeding the lake in the winter. This creek is not an approved trout stream so winter trout regulations don't apply.

psu_fish
Sigh. Holy spot burn.

😂😂😂😂 It only hurts, for a little while. 😂😂😂😂

I see pictures of nice smallmouth caught from that lake and hear tell there is a decent tiger population there.  I plan on giving it a try when hard water becomes soft.  Anyone have any musky luck in more recent years?

Have to be a real fluke in Two Mile if true.......a 12 lb. Walleye is super rare in almost all inland lakes in Western Pa.....Allegheny yes...French Creek yes.... even Erie a 15lber is rare as Big Foot.
 
Do they still stock Tigers in Justice ? That's another stocking program fading from the PBFC fast !
I thought I read it was about done everywhere..... no Tigers , no Walleye, and Trout cut way back too....what the hell ...we keep going backwards on fish programs more and more......sad
 
 

That's good that they are still stocking the Tigers there IMO....some have some really cool colors and stripes and are a rare catch on most waters . They grow quick so they do have that success going . I'd say the yearlings were decent size when stocked and should have excellent survival chances.
I was fortunate on Pymy and landed and released this one while wading by myself that got me in the record books in 2013 for 3rd largest Tiger caught that year. It smacked a stickbait at daylight and had the faded stripes . The PFBC ruled it a Tiger with the photos I sent in.
 

  
Got lucky on photo'ing this fish before release, battery was low blinking when I set up.    
 
 

I fished Justice twice in my travels....nice lake. What is the forage base in Justice ? Shenango is Shad by the trillions, Pymy is Shad and Alewives mixed.
 
A 36" Walleye is a super fish , to bad it died in a gill net . Wonder why the PFBC stopped the Walleye stocking if it was producing good size fish ? Then again any excuse works for them to stop stocking. Our lower Shenango River was producing numbers and good size fish both , but they still stopped all Walleye stocking in 2007. Now with the PCB scare and BS it's off all stocking.
 
I've seen 10lbers come out of lower Shenango almost every year along with huge Stripers , Catfish , Pike ,and Musky .

Cap. doesn't it seem, a pattern exist within the PFBC stocking program?

Begin stocking trout, end stocking walleye?

Speaking of Shenango Shad. Not long before them trout downstream of Hamburg find the lake. Maybe a few years but think when those trout migrate back upstream. Congo Lines on the Shenango. Priceless😒😒😒


Oooops my bad..... no spot burning.😜

I read where one state ( maybe Mich. )  stocks only all fingerlings every other year so as not to have as much competition with that class of fish for feed. ....makes sense IMO. This way they have the money to raise more fingerlings ,and also getting better size fish to stock and better survival rates. Seems their program is working well and they are getting the biggest bang for the buck too !
 
Lets face facts most fry stockings are about a waste of money and time.  Why do you think the Trout they stock are all legal size on up...wonder why hardly any trout fry are stocked?
The PFBC really need to step up their Walleye program ...the Inland program they are using now is a future and present failure for most local waters other than Pymy.....and they receive millions every year!
 
Just think if they stocked 6" Walleye like the Trout program....I guarantee the survival numbers would increase 90% !