Doug Pavick caught and released this muskie at Pymatuning Lake.

Pennsylvania anglers will be fishing for a muskie population that's had the benefit of more than three years of enhanced management when they take to the water this summer.

A statewide 40-inch minimum length could well translate into plenty of larger fish.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's new management program includes paring down what was a lengthy list of stocked waters to ones with a history of a good return for the effort.

With a management focus on proven waters, a longer length limit — 40 inches from the previous 30 — and a one-fish bag limit, the outlook is a brighter one for muskie anglers.

Two Crawford County lakes, Pymatuning and Conneaut, offer quality opportunities for summertime muskies.

Pymatuning currently houses one of the state's finest muskie populations. Given the lake's extensive size, you can fish it without much angling competition.

During its annual spring survey, the commission collected 117 muskies in its trapnets, fish that ranged from 26 to 47Z\x inches long. Muskies longer than 50 inches are a possibility, as evidenced by the catch-and-release results of a popular annual fishing contest. The lake has a strong forage base, so its muskies tend to be fat and well-fed.

Pymatuning is divided by the Andover-Espyville causeway. The upper portion of the lake is shallow and features extensive stump flats, islands and bays. The lower lake is somewhat deeper, with a mixture of islands, points and humps.

Most Pymatuning muskie anglers troll the lake, concentrating on the area near the outside edge of the weeds in the 5- to 7-foot range. Muskies also are taken well off the weed edges when they feed on open water baitfish.

Casters will score on fish using the shallow water humps and points like those found in the Bay 41 area. A good strategy is to cast shallow water structure and cover early and late in the day, and troll during the mid-day hours.

Pymatuning's best boat accesses are located at Linesville, Snodgrass and Jamestown. Additional ramps are located on the Ohio side of the lake.

The lake's horsepower limit was raised from 10 to 20 hp last year.

Conneaut Lake's muskie population isn't nearly as dense as it was a decade or two ago, perhaps due to competition from northern pike. But if you are looking for exceptionally large muskies, as well as some nice-sized pike, Conneaut remains an option. Besides that, it is such a neat lake to fish.

At just shy of 1,000 acres, Conneaut is the largest natural lake in the state. And it packs a lot of habitat within its confines. There are some large protected bays likely to hold a few muskies hanging around from the spring spawn. Points that extend off the shallow bays provide holding areas liable to collect moving fish. And off-shore humps furnish spots sure to attract midsummer muskies.

Weedgrowth is a key to locating Conneaut's muskies, and the lake has plenty of it, highlighted by broadleaf cabbage, coontail and milfoil. A seemingly perpetual struggle exists between boaters and anglers regarding the lake's level of vegetation, the former group preferring little to none of it. So weed control is present, consisting of limited herbicide control as well as weed cutting.

Most of Conneaut's shallow bays and canals are located on its western side. Weed edges rim both the northern and southern ends of the lake. Numerous off-shore humps are high enough to feature weed growth.

Conneaut is small enough to allow an angler to ply several different types of areas during a day's effort. Much of Conneaut's shore is developed, and it experiences heavy recreational boating usage during the summer months. As such, it's wise to schedule fishing trips during weekdays. Boating activity usually doesn't pick up until after noon, which can allow for several hours of quality fishing during the long days of June and July. Rainy days, when muskies tend to be more active, see much less boating traffic.

The Fish and Boat Commission has a public access area at the northwest end of the lake. Public access is also available at the Fireman's Beach area at the southwest portion of Conneaut. There is no horsepower limit.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.