Gorge Mack Pups--SOLUTIONS?

[doggonefishin]

One more comment.

[quote MACMAN] I don’t think the goal here is to eliminate the macs as in Yellowstone. [/quote]

This is correct (and I agree). So in theory, the threshold for what would be considered "success" is lower. However, the Yellowstone Lake experience (and what the articles discussed) shows us a few things. First, no limits, catch-and-kill, and half hearted netting resulted in zero net population reductions there. Only more aggressive approaches have resulted in declines. Second, there are possibilities that might work, but I doubt that a lot of anglers will go for it. I would even bet there would be a lot of complaining about raising or eliminating the pup limit, which is something most of the respondents on this thread seem to support.


The UDWR and the WG&F have been telling anglers for about 20 years that more pups need to be harvested. It obviously hasn't worked. Do anglers really want to get after the problem and support some real possible solutions or just prefer half hearted measures that may make them feel warm and fuzzy in the moment but have zero effect on the problem?
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[fishalot13]

i have read a lot of posts here about different things. Killing the mac'c or wasting them breaks my heart. As I have said earlier FG is my home. I grew up Bridger Valley and FG and the North slope Uintas are and will always be home. I like that there is so much interest in making the FG better. That makes me happy.

One thought I have had about harvest of mac's I cant eat 8 pups. I still have 2 meals in my freezer from november. they are not the safest fish to eat because of the long grown rate. My last trip out i caught 50+ pups and kept 8 but could not consume what i caught. something more drastic besides keeping might be needed as tough as it is to say.
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[Hail2dskins]

Seems like an opportunity for netting like at Utah Lake.  Let the people (business) netting the fish, keep any burbot, carp and lake trout pups they catch.

I don't want to go there.  Too much bycatch, and the lake trout haters start killing all sizes.  Any effort must be under control and a watchful eye.  They started netting in Blue Mesa in Colorado, and ruined the whole laker fishery.  Wanton killing of bigger lakers, witnessed and documented.  Again, don't even want to go there.
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TarponJim,
I agree what they did at Blue Mesa was disgusting and ruined a spectacular fishier.  

[wiperhunter2]

Seems like an opportunity for netting like at Utah Lake.  Let the people (business) netting the fish, keep any burbot, carp and lake trout pups they catch.

I don't want to go there.  Too much bycatch, and the lake trout haters start killing all sizes.  Any effort must be under control and a watchful eye.  They started netting in Blue Mesa in Colorado, and ruined the whole laker fishery.  Wanton killing of bigger lakers, witnessed and documented.  Again, don't even want to go there.
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TarponJim,
I agree what they did at Blue Mesa was disgusting and ruined a spectacular fishier.  

Just so you know, this board is for archiving post, I moved your first post to the main Utah board because you are are not likely to get many replies on this board. As was mentioned on your other post, it is best to always title your post with the body of water you are interested in, not all members will even look at a post, if it is not a location they are interested in.

[FishwithKids]

Hi All, Kinda new to the site and I just read this thread. This was back in 2017. The question I have is have we seen an improvement since? I know the limit has been raised to 12. I have seen more people targeting pups these last few years than I have in years past. I don't like the taste of lake trout either but there are some single ladies and families here in my town that absolutely love them and can't thank me enough when I bring them the fillets. I keep every pup I catch and encourage everyone I talk to to do the same.

Last season, 2020 I still caught lots of unhealthy lookin 18-22" pups so I know the problem still exists. Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are 4 years later.

Thanks

[Jbworkin]

Perhaps they need to go where Lake powell went and eliminate the limit and also let people use them as bait, and fertalizer in their gardens or on their farms. I know people hate the term waste fish but if you have too many then its just thinning the herd or good management.

Another idea is to have someone pick up the tab to provide a freezer and have fishermen drop their catch in it on the way out. Then pay to have them processed and donate the fish to the rescue missions. I think most fishermen would be good with donating fish to a good cause. I used to donate some of my wild game to the rescue missions until they started turning it down because it wasn't professionally packaged. Shoot, they used to clean the pheasants and ducks themselves when I donated my extras to them years ago. Now days it seems some beggers can be choosers. How things have changed... In any event, you may have to get them professionaly processed but its a good way to donate to those in need.

I know... That one part probably seems a little insensative. I appologize. I understand why they want them professionally processed.

[wiperhunter2]

This thread is a few months old and I don't want to go back through it a read three pages of post, so I'll just say this, in case it wasn't already mentioned. 
 It seems funny to me, that on the Idaho board there was a thread that talks about how the Idaho fish and game are netting Lake Trout(LT) out of Bear lake(BL) to put in another Idaho lake, when there are way too few Lakers in BL but in Flaming Gorge(FG) they can't seems to get rid of all the pups. If it were not for the sterilization issue it would seem that netting them in FG would be a much better way to deal with them, even if they did not go to Idaho. There are a few lakes in Utah that could benefit from having LT in them, like Jordanelle, Causey, maybe even Lost creek and Porcupine. Problem is, if they are not sterilized before being planted in these new lakes, could they over run these new lakes, like they are doing at FG? And is it even possible to sterilize bigger fish like that ?