[cool][#0000ff]In October, the trout fishing in Yuba was fantastic. Big rainbows (and other species) were keying on the large schools of minnows around the shoreline and even on top in the middle of the lake. The glut was on and they were smacking lures pretty well too. And, most of the fish hooked spit out minnows after they were caught, and were full of them when opened up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After a series of storms, and some cooler water, the minnows largely disappeared, with the exception of a few little ones that hugged the shoreline around the docks and some rocky areas. The rest of them either moved uplake or went deep. Whatever they did, they seemed to disappear from the trout's food locker.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That had a noticeable effect on the fishing too. The large schools of feeding trout followed the minnows, wherever it was that they went. The trout that remained in the big basin behind the dam have had to find a new forage base. Apparently that is not going well.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A couple of weeks ago, fishluvr reported on the stomach contents found in a large bow he had cleaned. According to his report, there were a lot of sticks and even a cockleburr. That would be funny, except that trout do not have a digestive system that can process cellulose. Cellulose is the main supportive agent in many plants, like weeds, seeds and wood. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also found lots of sticks in both of the last two trout I have kept out of Yuba...one two weeks ago and another I kept yesterday. The 4# female bow I brought home yesterday had a rock hard stomach when I opened her up during the filleting process. I usually check stomach contents of the fish I keep, both out of curiosity and for scientific purposes. When I slit the stomach lengthwise (in my best CSI fashion), I was amazed to find it FULL of small dark colored sticks. They averaged about .5" to .75" and were about 1/8" thick. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I suppose they could have been mistaken by the trout for caddis casings, but the bottom line is that the fish's stomach was so full of indigestible material that there was no room for anything nutritious to enter. Oh yeah, the sticks were also sparkling with glitter. I suspect that the trout had also slurped up a stray bit of glitter power bait.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]MY CONCERN? I do not think the fish can regurgitate the sticks voluntarily, and I am pretty sure that they will not digest them and pass them through. That constitutes a "weight loss program" even more radical than human stomach stapling. If those fish can't eat, they are going to decline quickly and there could be dieoffs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Any of you fisheries biologist types out there with some words of encouragement for a poor old fisherman who would hate to see those great fish suffer?[/#0000ff]
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Great post TD and for what I see a very serious problem. The only thing that I can half way relate it to is the cutts and bows out of the berry. Back when I could keep an occasional fish from there I would also open them up and check their stomach contents. I would always find algae and other forms of moss along with whatever the fish had eaten recently. The larger quantities of moss were mostly found in the bows. As you well know they spend a lot more time in or around the weed line eating small crustations and other aqatic insects. I have always found this to be the case at the berry and a few other waters around. I think this type of plant matter is a lot more digestible than what you are discribing. I hope that we get some responses from some biologist out there. If not, please notify the DWR. Maybe they could give us some answers. Hopefully the fish will move with the food and this is only a temporary, non life or body condition threat. Great question and post. Jake
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks Jake. I have also observed trout from various waters around the country with big wads of algae in their guts. I was told that it is an "incidental ingestion", while they are foraging for snails, aquatic insects or other invertebrates that hang in the goop. I was also told that it does "break down" enough to pass through, but can affect the total nutritional intake of the fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My concern with the sticks is that there is a different and more rigid kind of plant fibre involved here. In colder water, the fish's metabolism slows down, and the digestion process is reduced. If the fish are trying to feed up for the winter, they have a double whammy. Not only are they not getting any food value from the sticks, but they are prevented from stocking up on groceries for the winter.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I too hope that there is a more optimistic prognosis.[/#0000ff]
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Those are very interesting observations Pat. I hope that mother nature has some type of "contingency plan" that thise fish can somehow process and eliminate this ruffage. It would be terrible to have a die off of all those nice fish. Regardless, sometimes we just have to say c'est la vie and move on.
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[cool][#0000ff]All too true. Life goes on...or sometimes does not. We don't always have to like it, but we have to deal with it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It would be of greater concern if this was an endangered species or a native strain facing elimination from a home range. The truth is that these bows were planted for only one reason; to provide fishing for Yuba anglers until the perch, walleye, etc. could reestablish viable populations. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No great loss in the overall scheme of things, even if there was a massive dieoff. However, you hate to see any fish wasted. It would obviously benefit a lot more of us if the fish stayed healthy and continued to provide such great fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My personal belief is that the "stick munchers" are in the minority and that the vast majority of the rainbows have followed the food chain and are continuing to dine on useable protein. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are a lot of rainbows in Yuba, and apparently a lot of minnows. That has helped the trout grow big and fast. I can't believe they would all be so unadaptable as to fail to find the minnows and stay healthy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As in most aspects of nature, it is survival of the fittest. If some members of the species cannot adapt to changing conditions, they die out and leave the ones that can. The smart ones will be back...and bigger.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I just thought it would be an interesting topic of discussion, and would still like to get some input from others on this phenomenon.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, that lovely mama troutski was still delicious...filleted, skinned and oven broiled with lemon, butter and seasonings. No "wood" taste at all.[/#0000ff]
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Sad problem for those big beautiful bows. Thanks for the post. On the other hand I need to start working on my glittery stick imitating patterns...what size hook do you think would be best for that 3/4-1 inch size? [
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I have read frequently in reports by the DWR that most rainbow trout planted in most of our reservoirs only live about 3 years. Apparently, when they go past this point, they cannot make the transition to a piscivorous diet efficiently and die. Perhaps you have encountered an example of what happens to these bigger bows. I have heard that the "3 yr old" problem has been really frustrating to the biologists and is why they have been working at times with the Gerrard strain/Kamloops bows to have available a more piscivorous, longer living bow they could plant here.
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This article is old news, but the biologist interviewed discusses the "3 yr. old" rainbow problem clearly.
[url "http://espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/s/f_map_UT_Mantua_Reservoir.html"]http://espn.go.com/outdoors/fishing/s/f_map_UT_Mantua_Reservoir.html[/url]
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[cool][#0000ff]I had hoped to avoid posting the "autopsy pics", but since inquiring minds wanna know, here they are. You can see that the glitter specs are a kind of metallic green, probably from the popular green glitter power bait. The stick sizes seem to be about a size 10 through size 6. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had been sitting at my own fly tying bench, trying to decide how to best imitate that new food source. I have been stumped on how best to go about it. First, I am not sure what life cycle the stick represents...larval, pupal or adult. That will affect the materials used and the manner of fishing it. And, until I can get in some underwater studies, to verify the proper motions, I can only guess as to the proper action. I suppose one could just use a "dead stick" presentation. (BOO)[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I think that the kamloops thing is "old business"...especially on Mantua. That is a shallow lake, better suited for "warm water species" and while the kamloops survive, they seemingly will never displace the bass, bluegills and perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Flaming Gorge is a lot more like their native habitat. I am an Idaho native and as a kid I fished some of the big northern lakes that had kamloops in them. We trolled for them with giant wooden plugs designed to imitate foot long kokanee, their main food source. In the Gorge, the kokes are becoming a staple in the diets of macks, and having more kamloops would create a greater strain on the koke population. But, they are big and fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About the three year thing, I think it is subject to actual food sources. Those big bows in Yuba were only planted about two years ago, but have grown very fast, and they have quickly become piscivorous. Even the small "yearlings" are dining on the abundant minnows in Yuba.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A fisheries officer I spoke with at Yuba a few weeks ago said that the upward limit on size for the Yuba bows at this time was about 6 pounds. That's great for two year fish. If they keep growing at the same rate, for the next year, we will have to take marlin gear to whup 'em. Then, even if they expire after their third year, there will still be some fish approaching 10 pounds. I could deal with that.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Bear in mind that I am not a degreed biologist. However, I was on the path to becoming a marine biologist in my college years, and I have worked with several state fisheries groups over my lifetime, so I know just enough to be dangerous...and to raise some questions.[/#0000ff]
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I think Mantua was perfect for trout. While they were there, they grew large, quickly, and were some of the stongest fighting rainbows in Utah. 17 - 19 inch fish struck so aggressively that I lost quite a few flies, even on 1x.
The death knell for Mantuas's trout, IMO was ice fishing and the knuckeheads who "fin-clipped" non-kamloops strain trout. This, combined with the illegal introduction of yellow perch (#!#!#! bucket biologists!!![mad]), marked the end of the trout program.
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LE, you failed to mention that Mantua is only 3 feet deep and can get over 85 degrees water temperature. Troutski's just ain't tough enough live in skinny water. They need some leg room and depth to survive.
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No, its 18+ feet deep, some areas are deeper, and the trout have no problem surviving at all through the summer in those conditions. There are similar waters much shallower on private land that grow some pretty large trout.
Nope, this is another case of... dare I say? Bucketheads ruining it for the rest of us.
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There is some places it's 23' deep. (Remember although it's quite a bit larger, Henrys Lake's mean depth is only 17' with a couple holes at 28'). There is a couple springs at Mantua too. I think the perch were the death knell for Mantua. I have talked to some locals up there the past couple years and they said the local ice fishermen know when the CO comes around, and they go up after he has been there and do their thing.
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I posted the Mantua article because the DWR's Kent Sorensen explained the point I was trying to make on rainbow mortality, not to debate Mantua regs. However, wasn't the real problem out there actually that they were having regular trout kills of the bigger fish every August when there was a heat wave?
I do think the Kamloops project could pay dividends, but they need a bigger, deeper, cooler lake to do it in. (Causey, Porcupine?)
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Hey thanks for those pics, you ruined my dinner![unsure]LOL. That is what I call some serious roughage and fiber. That may just go beyond keeping you regular. That would probably keep them plugged up for a good long while.
So do you think we should make our stick imitations floaters or sinkers?
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[cool][#0000ff]I'm way ahead of you. I have both floaters and sinkers, and some with neutral buoyancy to fish on slow sink lines. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Now I'm working on some emerger patterns (with buds and leaves). Next I think I may do some para patterns. I hope to be able to time a visit to coincide with a hatch so I can get more firsthand observation.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is entirely possible that the ones with the green sparkle are a subspecies. That will mean having to tie a whole new set of flies. But, I'll STICK with it.[/#0000ff]
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