Unfortunately they are:
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=605659;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]Link:[/url]
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I wish I knew of a way to get those damn ugly things out of FG and the area. I'd sure like to meet the Moron that thought this would be funny. I know a bunch of fisherman that might change their way of thinking. Always seems to be someone that just can't leave things ALONE.
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The "moron" was Wyo. game and fish, Big Sandy Res., in the Green River Drainage. Natural processes such as "downstream migration" did the rest!
The truth has finally surfaced about the origin of the lake trout in Yellowstone Lake, a natural migration, NOT BUCKET BOILOGISTS as was claimed for two decades.
In another decade or two, the truth will be plain for all in this case too.
If you believe any government agency, especially one who manages fish or wildlife, then he who believes them is the moron.
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I think you may be right, Utah DWR has in the past planted fish and then said it was bucketers as well...
I heard that the Wyo game and fish thought they was planting catfish and got Burbot in stead...
But you know how fishing stores go or get told around the camp fires...
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Jim, I have also heard that the Wy. G & F did the planting in Big Sandy, I heard they were planting catfish and had some burbot in the truck by accident.
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Thanks for the information Jim, I wasn't aware of the Wyo. F&G's stealth tactics. I thought that sooner or later the Burbot would show it's ugly head downstream . Sorry I guess I haven't been paying very close attention. I never did believe anything any government agency has said.
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While spending some time talking with my 82 year old uncle, born and raised in Wyoming, Sweetwater county, He remembers fishing for Burbot in the mid 40's in Ocean lake. He remembers driving their car out onto the ice of this lake, fishing for burbot and trout and bringing home loads of them.
They were considered a great eating, nasty looking critter to him. However he said that these fish moved from lake to lake up that way years ago to accomidate the needs and wants of the fisherman to provide them with more oppertunities to catch these fish. Im sure that you can figure out how these fish moved from lake to lake, just let our concious be our guides.
So, they were around long before the big Sandy incident. Im sure that the big Sandy incident happened. Ocean lake is in a whole other drainage if my memory serves me correctly.
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Your story is so FACT Filled that the Old Man didn;t even have a name!!!! Must have been in the OLD DAYS since no date was mentioned!!! Love Your Facts!!!
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Now you have gone and done it the WY. MOUTH is now involved and I'm sure he will straighten everyone out. LMAO[:p]
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"The "moron" was Wyo. game and fish, Big Sandy Res., in the Green River Drainage. Natural processes such as "downstream migration" did the rest!"
[#6000bf]So you are saying it wasn't "Bucket Bioligists" LOL...[/#6000bf]
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Sure sounds like the Poodle-Lover has a bone ta pick with the bigboy ... Wheres his facts @ ?? Oh wait he dont know jack bout [url "mailto:!@#$"]!@#$[/url] either ... Runnin those lips wont get a guy nowheres !!!! Bottom line there here and have been for a good while..More people need to stop bringin this same ole [url "mailto:!@#$"]!@#$[/url] up and go whack some ling and do there part...[
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] Bucket biolgists come in all shapes and forms with or without a badge 18- 80 yrs old..
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Hey Guys, I wasn't looking to start a war here , I don't like what the Burbot are doing to FG anymore than the rest of you. I'll pay closer attention from now on. I was under the impression that the Bucket Biologists were at Fault for this. Think I'll just keep my thoughts to myself, I've been here too long to make enemy's now. Sorry Guys.
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The rumor is that burbot were accidentally stocked, along with some catfish, in the Upper Green River drainage. Here's some related facts.....
Burbot were first found in the Green River drainage in 2001 when two juveniles were captured by WYGF below Big Sandy Reservoir. Since then they were sampled in Big Sandy Reservoir in 2003, below Fontenelle Reservoir in 2003, in Flaming Gorge in 2004, in Fontenelle Reservoir in 2005 (above the dam), and upstream of Fontenelle in 2007. They were found above two dams, so that's a result of more than one planting.
Catfish used to be stocked into Big Sandy Reservoir in the 1990's. Catfish are still stocked into Flaming Gorge, but have not been stocked into Fontenelle Reservoir (where burbot are also now found). WYGF acquires catfish for stocking their waters from state hatcheries in Arkansas and/or Oklahoma. Burbot are not raised in those hatcheries, so they couldn't have been "accidentally" stocked.
On another note, Idaho Game and Fish has tried to culture burbot in one of their hatcheries in attempt to stock some of their periled burbot waters in the Kootenai drainage. With extensive effort, they have not been successful in finding the recipe for culturing burbot. So at this time, the techniques for burbot culture are unknown and there is no hatchery production for burbot.
As we've seen in Flaming Gorge, burbot are an aggressive and opportunistic predator that show no bounds for exploiting a new ecosystem. The lower Green River is the most recent and lowest they've been documented within the drainage. It's unfortunate and obviously the saga will continue....
Hope it helps.
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Ocean Lake is in the Wind River drainage, east of the Continental Divide, which is within the native range for burbot. Burbot aren't native on the western side of the Continental Divide.
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Thank you Ryno for presenting FACTS instead of bias opinions, old tales, and rumors. The information you have posted clearly shows that the catfish stocking theory is false, and the simple fact that they have never been raised in hatcheries shows that it was adult fish that were planted.
Quite frankly it makes me sick to see all these people that have nothing good to say about the G&F, yet they still are more than happy to take advantage of the outstanding fisheries they've created. A great example is the fact that tarpon jim wouldn't have a guide service without the G&F, yet he has no problem calling them 'morons'. The lake trout your famous for are there because the G&F saw the potential for a great fishery and acted on it. Suggesting that they would destroy that on purpose is a bunch of BS.
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I had a guide service 10 years before I even thought of guiding on Flaming Gorge, so I'd have a guide service buddy. G&F has done nothing to protect large lake trout in over 20 years. (Snagging still legal, no slot limit, NO enforcement of current regs, etc) They have fed them with stocked rainbows and kokanee, but that was never their intention, and still pisses them off to this day. Lake trout in the Gorge were an accident, not a product of G&F. They washed down river, just like the burbot!
I have recordings of UTAH (not Wyoming) G&F officers and biologists saying they'd be happy if all the lakers disappeared in Flaming Gorge. Also, in one phone conversation, that he (in one case) didn't care "If I sein netted every single one of them out of there." And, I have a video tape of the now-retired biologist saying on Doug Miller's show a long time ago that the fishery would crash quickly if all fishermen didn't kill all the lake trout they catch, including the large ones like the one he was holding, due to a lack of forage. This was in the mid-90's, 15 years ago. Didn't even come close to happening.
I see it every day, all year, for two decades.
I never mentioned catfish, so I don't know that story. Sounds far fetched to me.
But I've heard them say, and even read in their own publications, that the Utah DWR would like to "Greatly reduce the number of trophy lake trout" in Flaming Gorge.
Well, they're getting their wish. Its crashing before our very eyes, and everyone who fishes here with any regularity for lake torut will back me up. And, its NOT BURBOT that are currently disposing of our 20-50 pound lake trout. Its over fishing and fish-killers, and too loose of regulations. The fish aren't starving. They're being killed-legally! [shocked] That's my gripe with G&F. I'll show you making someone sick!
If they really cared, they'd close Linwood Bay to fishing during the fall. They'd spend some money on a warden for the lake. (They just don't have anyone with the time to patrol the lake, the river and hunting seasons are a higher priority) They'd at least bring back a slot limit that protected fish that reached a size to become fish-eaters. And in my dreams, they'd have a maximum size limit for harvest, or perhaps a seasonal tag system. This nonsense of some people harvesting lots of large fish each season would stop. Mandatory catch and release on them for all guides too.
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This discussion has definitely taken a turn. I'm hesitant to respond with anymore information, in the event the discussion could just get more argumentative. As a UDWR biologist with the desire to monitor, manage, and promote fantastic fisheries (all facets) like Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the Green River I welcome you, or anyone else for that matter, to contact me when you have an opportunity to discuss these concerns in more detail. Give me a call if you have the time at 435-885-3164. You can also PM me or email me at [url "mailto:ryanmosley@utah.gov"][/url][url "mailto:ryanmosley@utah.gov"]ryanmosley@utah.gov[/url] if that would help. I'm really interested to hear more about your perspective on these concerns from the regulations to law enforcement to even the unethical issues you've presented here.
Thanks and hope it helps, Ryan Mosley
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"Newly hatched burbot are only about 1/8 of an inch long, are colorless, transparent and without a yolk sac. They are unrecognizable as a burbot until they are almost a half inch long, at which time they will have developed their fins and trademark chin barbel. Many will reach this length by early summer." Burbot spawn in Winter months.
[url "http://www.gotmyfishon.com/washington/fish/burbot"]http://www.gotmyfishon.com/washington/fish/burbot[/url]
The quote was found in the link above. Truth is Burbot are natural to certain drainages, from northern Washington/Canada/AK/Idaho/ and even Wyoming. They are not native to the Green River drainage so were introduced, I guess in Big Sandy Res, is the typical story. But lets face it a fish that is only 1/8 inch long as a larvae will be washed down stream eventually. At that size it is probably a forage to all other fish, like any other aquatic insect etc. of similiar size. The BAD part is the dang things grow, and they are voracious feeders once they get big.
People don't always introduce things illigelly. In fact the story of accidental stocking might be true. Supposedly that's how Tiger Musky got in Fish Lake, a guy who didn't know the area well enough stuck them in there thinking it was Johnson Res.
Either way it seems to me that the fish seem to adapt to the process. I remember during the ice fishing season guys reported finding small burbot in the stomach of the larger ones. And someone posted a picture of a Rainbow with juvenile burbot in it's stomach too. Truth is these fish might provide forage to the other fish in the long run. Seems like the rule to any fish is, "if it's smaller than me and tastes good I will eat it." Burbot are relateively a slow growing fish, so that means lot's of juveniles to be eaten for quite some time, or at least I hope it turns out that way. And then I just might get a solid gold shitter some day too!! [
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