12-20-2017, 08:09 PM
I agree that angler pressure has a hard time controlling populations. The bigger the body of the lake, the harder it is.
Case in point is Lake Pend Oreille in Northern Idaho. In the late 90's and early 2000's it had lots of Bows over 10 pounds and bunches of Huge Lakers. In the 70's and 80's it had monster runs of Kokes, but by the 90's the population of Kokes was down.
Now I contend that it was the result of lowering the lake during the Kokanee spawning season every year. There are two "strains" of Kokes. One strain, the one used in almost every state including Utah, spawns in rivers and streams. But, the strain in parts of Alaska and in Pend Oreille, by my contention, is the lake and shore spawner. I once documented this, but The Corps of Engineers was not about to keep the lake at full pool during the winter due to flood control requirements. It matters not, other then to say that Idaho and the Corps of Engineers chose to "reduce" the numbers of Lakers, and Bows, to increase the Kokanee, which they determined was required to feed the "Bull Trout" which they deemed are threatened. Funny how an introduced species is being protected (kokes) to feed a threatened species (Bull Trout) that is so plentiful in that lake that they are a nuisance. OK, enough complaining, it is a complex issue and impossible to fully explain.
As you can see, there are some similarities. Pend Oreille, the Big Pond, is one of the largest natural lakes in the US, perhaps the largest West of the Great Lakes, with a small dam to increase depth for power generation and flood control. FG is a pretty big Reservoir. Both are somewhat remote with limited populations near them.
They took fishing limits off the Bows and Lakers and prohibited catching the Kokes. It did not work. They started stocking the stream spawning Kokes and built hatcheries, but it did not work.
Last I knew, they had put a bounty on the bigger Bows and created a commercial fishery for the Lakers. Now they are allowing some Koke fishing the last I heard.
It is the commercial netting program that is/was making the difference.
I do know that smaller bodies of water can be impacted by fishing, but in the big waters, and waters with Lakers, well I am just not sure.
We have a tough condition, a real tough condition. I hope that a solution can be found. At this time, I can only recall what happened to the Big Pond. At least we could eat well while the Lakers and Bows were plentiful.
Sad memories, very
.
Case in point is Lake Pend Oreille in Northern Idaho. In the late 90's and early 2000's it had lots of Bows over 10 pounds and bunches of Huge Lakers. In the 70's and 80's it had monster runs of Kokes, but by the 90's the population of Kokes was down.
Now I contend that it was the result of lowering the lake during the Kokanee spawning season every year. There are two "strains" of Kokes. One strain, the one used in almost every state including Utah, spawns in rivers and streams. But, the strain in parts of Alaska and in Pend Oreille, by my contention, is the lake and shore spawner. I once documented this, but The Corps of Engineers was not about to keep the lake at full pool during the winter due to flood control requirements. It matters not, other then to say that Idaho and the Corps of Engineers chose to "reduce" the numbers of Lakers, and Bows, to increase the Kokanee, which they determined was required to feed the "Bull Trout" which they deemed are threatened. Funny how an introduced species is being protected (kokes) to feed a threatened species (Bull Trout) that is so plentiful in that lake that they are a nuisance. OK, enough complaining, it is a complex issue and impossible to fully explain.
As you can see, there are some similarities. Pend Oreille, the Big Pond, is one of the largest natural lakes in the US, perhaps the largest West of the Great Lakes, with a small dam to increase depth for power generation and flood control. FG is a pretty big Reservoir. Both are somewhat remote with limited populations near them.
They took fishing limits off the Bows and Lakers and prohibited catching the Kokes. It did not work. They started stocking the stream spawning Kokes and built hatcheries, but it did not work.
Last I knew, they had put a bounty on the bigger Bows and created a commercial fishery for the Lakers. Now they are allowing some Koke fishing the last I heard.
It is the commercial netting program that is/was making the difference.
I do know that smaller bodies of water can be impacted by fishing, but in the big waters, and waters with Lakers, well I am just not sure.
We have a tough condition, a real tough condition. I hope that a solution can be found. At this time, I can only recall what happened to the Big Pond. At least we could eat well while the Lakers and Bows were plentiful.
Sad memories, very
.