07-08-2020, 03:06 AM
Here's an article that was just released.
https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/after-promi...yette-lake
I have a couple issues with this article.
"In 2018 and 2019, Fish and Game staff removed over 1,400 Lake trout from Payette Lake. The suppression effort primarily targeted smaller, younger fish, leaving the larger, older fish for anglers to continue to catch in the popular lake trout fishery."
They report 1400 as the number of lake trout removed, but from the information I gathered this number is misleading because that was a minimum amount removed each year. So the number is actually over 3000.
The statement of "leaving the larger, older fish for anglers", is not true. From studies done in other fisheries they found that all age classes must be removed for a successful population reduction. I was specifically told that they are now killing all age classes of fish.
"The kokanee stocked this year should reach catchable sizes for anglers in two years, and lake trout enthusiasts can expect bigger, fatter fish thanks to a more abundant prey species."
As I stated in a previous post, Lake trout are extremely slow growing. I believe it's very misleading to state that, "Lake trout enthusiast can expect bigger and fatter fish". If they continue to remove all sizes and age classes of Lake trout until 2024, how long will it take the population to rebound? It takes them around 10 to 15 years to average 20 inches in length.
https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/after-promi...yette-lake
I have a couple issues with this article.
"In 2018 and 2019, Fish and Game staff removed over 1,400 Lake trout from Payette Lake. The suppression effort primarily targeted smaller, younger fish, leaving the larger, older fish for anglers to continue to catch in the popular lake trout fishery."
They report 1400 as the number of lake trout removed, but from the information I gathered this number is misleading because that was a minimum amount removed each year. So the number is actually over 3000.
The statement of "leaving the larger, older fish for anglers", is not true. From studies done in other fisheries they found that all age classes must be removed for a successful population reduction. I was specifically told that they are now killing all age classes of fish.
"The kokanee stocked this year should reach catchable sizes for anglers in two years, and lake trout enthusiasts can expect bigger, fatter fish thanks to a more abundant prey species."
As I stated in a previous post, Lake trout are extremely slow growing. I believe it's very misleading to state that, "Lake trout enthusiast can expect bigger and fatter fish". If they continue to remove all sizes and age classes of Lake trout until 2024, how long will it take the population to rebound? It takes them around 10 to 15 years to average 20 inches in length.