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Why does the DWR stock so many rainbows? Are they easier or cheaper to raise? Easier for people to catch? Do they not reproduce very good or at all on their own?
Do bass and other species reproduce just fine so one stocking and they can grow their own population? The only reason I ask is looking at the stocking reports it's a ton of rainbows. It's also interesting how they throw in a Tiger trout stock in settlement or somewhere else just once (I'm assuming to help put a dent in the chubs?).
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Sterile Rainbow Trout are cheep and easy to raise.
They can be tricked into spawning when other strains of Trout can't.
Thus Rainbow Trout can be made to spawn, almost anytime that the Hatchery needs them to.
Sterile Rainbow Trout can be managed where it's important to be able to control the amount of fish in a given water.
They grow at a fast rate and fight well, when caught.
Rainbow Trout are just a good choice for many Utah waters.
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It is my understanding that we are a trout state. As mentioned before i know the rainbow is easier and cheap as well as they have them figured out. I also have been told that the state doesn't raise Bass and many others and often trade with other states for the species they want. Hence the trouble finding a disease free Tiger Muskie stock. I thought the state produced catfish but can't recall who or where i heard that. The Tiger trout supposedly has passed the testing phase and now is hopefull in being more infection and disease tolerant as well as a more aggressive fish and predator. My input is not doctrine but what i have gathered over the years..
Todd
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[quote Fish-or-die] Why does the DWR stock so many rainbows?
Do bass and other species reproduce just fine so one stocking and they can grow their own population?
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First: Rainbows are the most popular species to target in the state. Further, there aren't many places where rainbow trout reproduce successfully on their own. Without stocking, most rainbow trout would disappear from Utah.
Second: Bass do reproduce on their own. Consider Sand Hollow. The lake is chuck full of large mouth bass. In fact, there are enough that the DWR recently certified Sand Hollow in order to transplant some fish from Sand Hollow to Gunlock Reservoir. Sand Hollow is essentially a large mouth bass hatchery. Amazingly enough, the DWR initially stocked Sand Hollow with 80 (+- a couple) large mouth bass. That's it! Those 80 have turned into thousands!! Bass (and blue gill) are typically collected pre-spawn, then moved. This way, they spawn in the lake that needs the fish. 1 fish turns into 100's of fish very quickly. 100's of fish turn into 1000's of fish. It is very effective.
This happens at many bass lakes. New Castle Reservoir has been used for many years by the DWR for small mouth bass. The smallies in Minersville, Otter Creek, and Piute all came from New Castle. The origianl stock of bass in New Castle came from Flaming Gorge. Removing a 100 or so bass from these places is no big deal. What better hatchery could Utah ask for than these reservoirs?
Concerning the tiger trout: sometimes the hatcheries end up with excess fish. The hatcheries just grow the fish -- as many as they think will be needed. When regional managers place their orders for stocking, sometimes there is a surpluss of certain species. When there is a surpluss managers can then obtain these fish for additional stocking. They need to go somewhere - the hatcheries typically can't keep the excess fish. This is why you'll see places like Yuba getting a load of brook trout, or Piute getting mixed bags of cutts, tigers, rainbows, browns, etc.
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Is pike a trash fish here in Utah. Yesterday I went by montez creek(uintah county) yesterday and no fish. It would be nice to plant fish that reproduce in waters that are not the prime lakes. I think some perch and pike would make upper Montez creek a good irrigation lake.
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You'll never see pike (or any other non-native predator) stocked into any waters in the Uinta Basin most likely.
Those waters drain into the Colorado River System (Green River), which has several endangered species that are being protected.
There is a risk that any stocked fish above could make their way down and negatively impact the endangered species in the lower Green River and the Colorado River.
That's why it's only rainbow trout or cutthroat for the reservoirs and rivers up there.
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It's not just about predation, however, with species like pike. It's also about control of populations. Pike are a species that are very had to control in the West. Their populations balloon out of control very easily. There are no natural systems in place out here to control those populations, like there are in the Great Lakes area -- their native range. Put them out here, and you end up with lakes that are chuck full of starving 18" pike that continue to reproduce.
So, combine the population control issue with the downstream native fish populations, and you are pretty much going to get a "no" to pike \ perch.
The hardest part of this is dealing with the Feds. Even if the State wanted to stock these other species, the Feds would step in and prevent it. This is why places like Gunlock will not see catfish or crappie reintroduced to the lake.
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No need to worry about pike in the Colorado / Green River drainage. They're already there. Caught them outta the Green not far north of Green River.
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Thanks for the info.
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[quote GEEZER]No need to worry about pike in the Colorado / Green River drainage. They're already there. Caught them outta the Green not far north of Green River.[/quote]
That's correct -- but that doesn't mean there is no need to worry about the Colorado and Green. You're still not going to see a new introduction of pike or perch into a lake in these systems. Not a legal, anyway.
Again, look at Gunlock down south. The State can't plant catfish or crappie in the lake because of native fish downstream -- even though crappie and catfish have been in Gunlock in the past, and both crappie and catfish are in the Santa Clara below Gunlock.
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