Fishing Forum

I was sent this by a lady in the F&G. Ron

"Rob Thornberry
The news continues to be bad at Ririe Reservoir.
It started last fall when the Idaho Department of Fish and Game found walleye had been illegally introduced in the irrigation reservoir east of Idaho Falls. Walleyes aren't wanted because they eat other fish, including a native trout that now inhabits less than 50 percent of its historic range.
Now biologists are finding three different ages of walleye, a sign the species is finding the reservoir to its liking.
"It's discouraging," said Dan Garren, regional fisheries manager. "We were hoping they wouldn't take root in the reservoir."
Apparently, they have, and Garren is now left to monitor the situation and hope walleye will feast on chubs and suckers. If they do, the walleye population may soon grow large enough to draw anglers to Ririe.
"They could behave themselves," Garren said. "They could add to the fishery. They could provide more diversity for anglers."
That's the positive spin.
Also possible, the growing walleye population could target kokanee, which would be bad news for anglers. Both fish live in open water. If the walleye find kokanee to their liking, anglers could soon take a hit, particularly those who like to fish through the ice.
"We've spent a lot of time working on improving the kokanee fishery," Garren said. "Walleye could drive the kokanee fishery into the dirt, and we'd lose an important component to Ririe."
The illegally introduced walleyes are also a potential threat to Yellowstone cutthroat trout.
Garren is worried the walleye will prey on cutthroat trout in the reservoir and upstream into the Willow Creek drainage. More serious is the concern walleye could escape downstream to the South Fork of the Snake River, a cutthroat stronghold.
"It's just another threat," Garren said. "It's the addition of a predatory fish pressuring an already stressed-out species."
Garren said the department has tagged fish with radio transmitters to see whether they can find walleye strongholds and possibly set nets to kill walleyes. The department could also guide anglers toward fish in the hopes that they can control the population."
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i read this exact article in the post register yesterday crazy stuff it wouldnt suprise me if there is more to the story than what we are being told i kinda feel like somebody is covering their rear ends on this one.
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I know what you mean. This is just a Rumor that I heard from a guy who heard it from a guy. Anyways the story goes that several years ago the Fish and Game ordered some SMB from a fish hatchery in Utah and that the Walleye may have been introduced with that truck load of fish. Apparently the hatchery also raises walleye and they got mixed together. Now this is just a rumor but to me it makes more sense than somebody driving hours and hours to a walleye lake catching sufficient numbers, some how keeping them alive in a bucket, dumping them in Ririe and then the fish being able to survive and prosper in those small of numbers. I would think you would need a bunch of fish introduced at once in order for them to take hold in a big lake like Ririe. Either way the damage is done, I just hope they eat up all the suckers and leave the Kokanee alone. The Kokanee fishing is the best I've ever seen it right now, I hope it lasts. Normally I wouldn't spread rumors but I thought this could add to our discusion and maybe some of you have heard the same story.
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Exactly what I'm talking about it seems more plosable to me that fish and game accidently (i say accidently very loosly) stocked them then one guy wanting walleye so bad went that far out of his way to bring fish to ririe
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After seeing how they helped fishery's in Mt,I belIeve that it will only improve Ririe. They will eat the chubs and perch and provide a fish to keep and eat. They taste better than the stinking cuts.
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Why is it a good thing if they eat perch? The smallmouth bass already eat baby perch and dending on the year there are very few perch to be had. On highwater years like this one the perch will do well and there should be food enough to go around on low water years the walleye and smallmouth could devestate the perch population which is in pretty good balance right now.

By the way my friend caught a 17" walleye while bass fishing last week. They are in there for sure and are doing well. Now it is just a question if the F&G should try to get rid of them or not.

Windriver
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The same guy I heard the rumor from who heard it from somebody else, claims he has been catching 19 and 20 inchers on a regular basis but won't say where or with what.[:/]
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This is so ridiculous! Game and Fish is worried about walleye leaving Ririe and getting into the S. Fork and decimating the Yellowstone Cutts??? What a crock! 1st of all, the S. Fork is not even close to being ideal habitat for walleyes. They are a cool water fish. Not a cold water fish. If this was really a valid argument, we would only need to look to the other water in the state that contain walleyes. There has bee NO prolification downstream of any of those waters. None at all. 2ndly, why are we all suddenly so concerned with the native fish species in the Willow Creek drainage? You cannot think that the splake, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, planted rainbows and even the almighty kokanee are native. All introduced and all provide a viable fishing opportunity... and by the way, all of those species (except kokanee) are piscivores. That means they eat fish! To prematurely suggest that walleye will impact Ririe in a negative way is obsurd. To my understanding, Salmon Falls has a strong walleye population and other species are doing fine. Give the walleyes a chance in Ririe, they may actually end up benefitting the fishery[fishon]!
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Psanders, glad you could find it in your heart to register on these boards to help someone . . . oh wait, you only came here to complain . . . nice.

So . . . which established species do you see them helping, besides yourself that is? The Fish and Game maintains some jerk planted them illegally and they will be a detriment to the existing biomass as well as any they may be transferred to from there. Maybe that doesn't bother you either? Why do you think bucket biology is illegal? Probably didn't enter your mind either huh?

Thanks for your thoughts.
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that isnt truth. utah does not stock walleye we do not bread walleyes in our hatcheries at all. bucket bio,s hit your res with a real fish.. and walleyes wont eat to many kokes. just the fry. dont worry just buy some walleye set ups and enjoy the best eating fish hands down.
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ah walleye can live any where they want!!! take the bear river for example!! right below onieda there are alot of walleye in there as well as upstream!!! all the way to Alexander have been caught and observed by the IDFG, as well as some how ended up in Alexander they are few and far in between in Alexander but are there!! walleye are more harty than people are giving them credit for!!! here is how I see it the only way the walleye will do any significant damage to the waters fishing is if the numbers of adult fish rise to quickly!!! in that case IDFG should just put a catch and kill on them in there.. like utah did with Utah lake on the white bass!! i like to catch eye's but they dont need to be in ririe!! as kokes as ive scene dont really get very big in there and dont need any more predatory to worry about!!!
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You have a lot more faith in the Idaho Fish and Game than most of us do that they tell the truth and know what is best for us!!!!!!
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[quote brdchsr]You have a lot more faith in the Idaho Fish and Game than most of us do that they tell the truth and know what is best for us!!!!!![/quote]

I'm not sure you speak for "most" of us or even anything but a small minority.

I have much more faith in them than some of the "avid" sportsmen I know who play fast and loose with the rules. Why you ask. I know some of them personally, I know many more of our board members who volunteer on a lot of projects they are working on. Nothing I've ever seen or heard has led me to think otherwise. They spend years studying management and biomass conservation and believe me it isn't for the big money they make. It's because of the love for what we all share.

Lastly, do you have another option of who better to trust? Besides some conspiracy theory or the fact that they might be looking over your shoulder I can't think of anyone. I only wish they had a larger budget and more enforcement in the field to protect our resources as well as continue the great job they do to improve our fine fisheries!
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So what is the biggest problem for enforcement issues when walleye are introduced?

The best bait for eyes tends to be live minnows. Almost a self fulfilling prophecy. This means more dollars spent on lake enforcement where very little was needed in the past.
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your right the F&G do all they are able to!!! they can only do so much within there power!!! and if the budget isnt there they cant improve much!!! ive only met a couple of F&G officers in the field that were to say nicely nonprofessional about there job!! but most of them are just like you n me!!!! they are just working to make a living and doing there job!!! they just happen to have a job well allot of people on this site would love to have!!! not a reason to have no faith in them!! if some one thinks they can do it better why not go help them they always are looking for help!!!
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jeremypeace and MMDon, Thanks so much for the replies! I would like to ask each of you how much time either of you have spent in any college courses such as ichthyology, fisheries management, etc, but judging from your responses I would say none at all. MMDon, your apparent personal attack wihtout even attempting to refute anything I posted is indicative of the type of closed minded ignorance of one who belives what they want to belive rather than what is fact. My main intention was to try to help shed a little more light on the situation. So apparently some "idiot" introduced walleye illegally into Ririe Reservior and judging from the date of your previous posts, this happened a while ago. I do not agree with what has happened nor do I condone the illegal introduction of any species into a body of water. I strive to and expect others to fully follow the laws that are put in place. If caught, the person who did it should suffer the consequences.

All I am saying s that the negative impact is all speculation at this point. The quoted article did in fact mention the possibility of the walleyes behaving and focussing on the suckers, chubs and yellow perch as a prey source. If this is the case, the possible effect could be that the yellow perch size structure improves, which would mean fewer small perch.

To the comments about walleye living anywhere they want to live and they are hardier than people think, I dissagree. Although there is mention of walleyes being present both above and below Onida reservior, there is no comment on the negative effect that they have had because of their presence. All fish species have certain characteristics that help them survive under certain conditions. You do not see bass and bluegill in cold water environments, you do not find trout and salmon in warm water environments. They each have their own niche and if the conditions are not right, they will not be successful. There may be a small population that can survive, but they cannot be prolific.

Lastly, do you understand that the single most important factor in fish populations on a year to year basis are the environmental conditions? A strong yearclass can be wiped out by bad weather/water conditions while a small yearclass can do very well if conditions are optimum.

Before we jump the gun and kill all walleyes on sight, I would simply ask that we wait and see. Besides, the only viable way of totally removing a fish species from a certain body of water is poisoning the ENTIRE watershed. This would be expensive and labor intensive in addition to obviously negatively affecting the other species in Ririe. Regards...[fishin]
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Either plot line reeks of conspiracy. A bucket bio guy or a mistake by F&G. I could not imagine any agency wanting egg on their face from a mistake like that. From what I read here it sounds like the rumor was around of a mistake before anyone really knew they were in there.

If there isn't a bounty or kill all you catch out on the
walleyes while they are tracking them I am guessing there isn't a real panic set off from the introduction no matter how it happened. I could not imagine them making any impact on the South Fork if any made it in there. The reservoir itself is the only place they could really take a stronghold in I would think. It looks like it is being approached as a wait and see what happens experiment no matter how they got there.
It might not be until a few lean water years in a row and then a recovery from that before any kind of determination can be made.
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psanders,

It seem fairly obvious that you haven't fished Ririe very much or you would understand that we have a fairly sterile biomass. Very little vegetation is present throughout the reservoir. What vegetation growth there is supports a very sparse population of perch that is not stunted from overpopulation. Any reduction in numbers will virtually make it unfishable for that species, especially throughout the winter.

The chub population is virtually nonexistant as well. This is evident by the very small and stunted class of bass that exist. Very few if any keeper size bass exist in any quantity in the reservoir, again due to a very small food base.

Most Cutthroat that are caught in the Reservoir are planters. The fish features and eel like body with a disproportionately large head due to again, a lack of food in Ririe.

Kokanee have been the one shining success at Ririe allowing a lot of people to bring their kids out with almost a guaranteed success for their days efforts.

Since what we do have is very fragile, perhaps you can understand how the F&G and the fishermen that call this reservoir their home water view the planting of a voracious and top tier predator such as the walleye with such trepidation. It will take very little to upset the balance of the existing fish we do have in Ririe. Even a small impact on the perch, trout, and bass will render the reservoir unusable for their pursuit. While there isn't enough food base for the walleye to thrive as evident by their slow rise in numbers throughout the watershed, they will have a hugely destructive impact on what already does struggle to survive in Ririe.

Since you state your "main intention" is to shed some "light," perhaps a little shown on the above information will help with your process to educate all of us ignorant fishermen.
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well, a couple thoughts on how this thread is going.

Psanders, where did you come from out of the blue like that? Two ideas on that. I think you are either a member here who actively particaptes and who decided to hide behind another name as you knew you were going to stir things up. If so, that is chicken.....t. You should have either commented under your real handle or kept your thoughts to yourself.
If that isn't the case then it seems you are an educated person and hope you continue to post here. I hope you don't just disappear off the forum. My thinking would be if you are a new member you would continue to participate. It is obvious you have followed it some and decided to jump in on this matter. Where were you on the recent Blackfoot thread?
Your input I think would be appreciated no matter who or how many agree with you or not. If nothing else it may make for some sporting threads.
MMDon, I have enjoyed your expertise and input here and am glad to get your insight and help on many things whether I am wondering myself or just reading what you have to say. Your passion for fishing and especially Kokanee is second to none. I have to say though that just because there are walleye in Ririe now I can't imagine more people trying to fish with live minnows. Maybe a few, but anyone who would do that now would have done that before, walleyes or not. This is not going to start a mad rush towards illegal bait fishing. Same people who pulled stuff before will still try and get one over, not more of them. I have more faith in people and would much rather see more dollars spent elsewhere than on more enforcement.
Both of you make good points on the walleye being there and there should be a concern of their impact on the reservoir overall and especially the Kokanee who appear to be the only species thriving there except for maybe suckers.
Without vegetation won't the long term effect on the walleye be similar to that of the perch and really just end up being a side species fighting to survive in a habitat that is not ideal for them?
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Does anyone know when the smallmouth bass were stocked in Ririe? How long ago?

If these are "accidental" fish, and it doesn't seem too likely, I don't think there is any attempt at cover-up.

All F&G have said is that they are illegal fish. No matter how a fish gets in the drainage, if they haven't been approved for stocking there they are "illegal".

Frankly, I think there are many people out there who don't follow the rules, especially about live bait. It would be very easy to "bucket bio" somewhere and not even do so intentionally. ---- A live-well full of lively little "minnows" from another reservoir (who knows where) may have been dumped in Ririe when the owner got nervous. Do you think they would care what species the minnows were?

Either way, no matter how the walleyes got there; the question now is what to do about them. So far it looks like efforts are going to be centered around keeping the walleye population numbers in check through anglers and possibly netting.

I think that MM Don is right in that the most immediate loser will probably to be the kokanee population. Studies and examples from other lakes bear that out. Maybe F&G will plant higher numbers to offset losses to the walleye.

Long term down the road --- the possibilities for good or bad are there --- no one knows. That is why it is illegal to move live fish!
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