Conditions of Some of UT's Bass Lakes

[TubeDude]

In my non biologist mind the best solution seems to introduce some kind of a bait fish and keep them stocked, as they would benefit all the other species as well as bass, but there must be a good reason they have not.  I get introducing Tigers into Jordanelle to help eat the stunted population, but without introducing a new food source nothing really will come of it.  Powell has Shad, but Shad wouldn't do well up north with the die off they go though when water hits the 40 range and lower.  Utah has other native bait fish, some shiners and flathead minnows, etc.  It's a shame the smallies can't sustain themselves on the planter rainbows, as the size would limit which smallmouth could actually eat them.  The TVA system of reservoirs all go through some drastic water changes, although not to the same degree our lakes seem to.  Heck even reintroduce chub, since many lakes have proven smallmouth can keep the population down, so they wouldn't have to worry about an explosive population like in Strawberry.  Or just keep a healthy population of crawdads in our lakes, borrow some from strawberry, the trout dont seem to eat them like SMB do.

One of those things that is seemingly simple but in actuality ain't easy.  Others have made reference to the holy stature of the planted rainbows in Utah.  And the biology is that rainbows do not compete well with chubs...or almost any other species that eats the same meager diet of the hatchery pets.  Chubs outcompete rainbows over time...every time.  And the rainbows planted these days are far too large for all but the biggest and nastiest walleye or northern pike to consume.  Utah used to plant fingerling rainbows but it was observed that each planting was just a predator feeding program. 

Yes, Utah has some native species that are suitable forage for predators.  But our waters are either not fertile enough or the species not prolific enough for them to provide sufficient numbers on a consistent basis for predators to munch and grow on.  We definitely do not enjoy the same conditions of most of the fish factory lakes in other parts of the country.