JEB beat me to it, where did they come from? I know theres white bass in there, but since you guys are saying theres huge fish in there like 15lbs, they cant be whites. I looked at the biologist reports on the PFBC website and they didn't say anything about hybrids. Assuming you guys are talking about hybrids, the only way there would be wild fish in there is if there were also regular striped bass in the lake(which there aren't), and even if there were, it is still very rare for them to cross in the wild.

Guys I don't know how much truth there is to this so take it with a grain of salt....apparently years back there was discussion between Ohio and PA about putting them in there.  The idea was taken to a vote and denied.  And now these fish are turning up....my thoughts are they were put in anyways. 
 
I was there when my uncle caught that fish and it was every bit of 15 lbs.  I actually estimate it to be a little bit more but I didn't want to post that and have a ton of backlash from guys telling me I was out of my mind.
 
I wish I still had the pic on my blackberry but I don't.  I'll check the home computer tonight to see if I might have uploaded it to my computer at any point.  If I do I'll be sure to post.
 
On a similar not a few weeks after my uncle caught that fish I got wind of an old timer who's a local using chicken livers at night and caught 2 over 30 lbs in a 3 day stretch.  I was never told a location, name of guy, or anything like that so I just left it as a story rather than a fact.....who knows...it could be true.

Read in the Trib today that they were accidently released into the lake a few years ago.  They may raise them at the hatchery in Linesville for other stockings and must of got into the lake somehow is all I can figure.  I know that if the algae screens aren't checked often they will blow out and allow the fish to escape in the lake.  However, that would be in the propagation area.

Does the hatchery raise hybrids? I don't think so but if they do there could be some escapees......

Edit: Flying Fish and I must of posted at the same time.

Here are some excerps taken from a Post Gazette article last Sunday.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11170/1154456-358.stm


When striped bass hybrids are purchased as fry, they are reared to fingerling size at PFBC hatcheries. When received as fingerlings, they are directly stocked into waters.

The PFBC stocks striped bass hybrids and striped bass, however, they are not produced in Pennsylvania by the commission. Out-of-state sources, through a national fish exchange, are used to secure the supplement requested by area managers for release in Pennsylvania.

"We just do not have easy access to a broodstock for striped bass in Pennsylvania," said Larry Hines, PFBC northern regional production manager, in a written statement. "Hybrids also complicate the problem because we need white bass at the same time to cross with the pure striped bass to make hybrids. Other states can produce the fish much more efficiently and easily than we can."

Contacted the man at the Linesville Hatchery and received this email back.
Good man not afraid to answer questions in a very short time...Kudos to him...






Dear Mr. Crosby,

Yes, there have been some hybrid striped bass caught in Pymatuning Reservoir over the last couple of years. We believe the source of these fish was escapement from our Linesville Fish Hatchery. We get all of the hybrid striped bass we stock from other states. In the past, we would send a stocking truck or two to wherever we located these fish and would bring them back to Linesville to sort them and break them up into individual lots for stocking into the waters in the hybrid striped bass program. Occasionally, some would escape from the hatchery and make their way into the Pymatuning Sanctuary. Apparently, some made it over the spillway and into the main lake where they were caught by anglers. We no longer bring the hybrids to Linesville prior to stocking, so there is no more escapement occurring and the numbers of hybrids being caught by anglers is gradually declining.



Feel free to call or email if you have any further questions.



Tim Wilson

Fisheries Biologist

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

13240 Hartstown Rd.

Linesville, PA 16424

814-683-1036

off topic but bings ur avatar is tits 

bings, i couldn't agree more. those guys were always upfront and honest. nice to know there are a few big ones swimming around there.

I think it's great he was willing to own up to what may have happened.  The last part about the number declining just seems to be thrown in there.  This thread is about the number of catches going up and just about all of us having stories of people we know catching them.  My cousin even pulled a smaller one through the ice this past winter.  I wouldn't agree with the number of catches going down.

tt, i have been fishing that lake for almost 40 years and have never heard of one being caught or even seen a pic of one except on here. maybe i am in the wrong place at the wrong time. which makes me wonder if the lake could sustain a fishable, though stocked, hybrid population or if they would be a threat to the walleye fry and fingerlings being stocked.