07-25-2004, 03:20 AM
Ok, I'll bite.
Heres my take.
First you have to look at what makes jordanelle what it is today.
Today you have a relativley new reservior. In the overall sceme of things, jordanelle is a very new place. Lakes go through stages, there are three main stages that a lake will go through. Jordanelle is in the first stage still.
In this lake there is an abundance of features that produce great fishing. Lots of nutrients in the lake due to all the features that were flooded. Tons and tons of cover for forage to thrive in. Great water quality, and an overall picture perfect situation for growing big fish.
Does that sound like lake Oahe to anyone? You bet it does. Sounds like a lot of other lakes as well.
What happens is that as time goes on, the nutreint supply that was so plentiful becomes a depleted, the cover rots out and slowly dissapears, the forage either gets devoured or crashes, and the entire face of the lake changes.
Now, that takes a while to happen. But jordanelle took a while to get to where it is today. While most guys are just discovering smallmouth fishing at jordanelle, you have to realize the smallmouth fishing there has been good for seven years that I personally know of. At least thats the first time I fished it for smallmouth.
So, the question is, where can it go from here? Probably up for a few more years.
The main thing in preserving jordanelle will depend on factors beyond any angler or the DWR's control. The lake will change. It just will. Every lake does.
To maintain a great fishery, you have to have a balance. Not just balance between the perch and the smallies, but an entire balanced ecosystem.
One thing we know from other lakes that have been in this same situation is that balancing the lake as it changes is real tough. You generally have HUGE populations of fish to balance at that point. Just imagine thrying to feed all those smallmouth if the perch crashed. Bass would feed on bass, and stunt, and the entire place would change. The DWR would then have to change regs to try to get lots of the bass out of there kind of like at the gorge, but it usually doesnt work real well.
At that point, I personally havent heard of a success story where a lake was brought back to a real quality fishery from that type of situation.
Its a managment nightmare.
Now, is that going to happen to jordanelle? Who knows.
Could it easily happen? Oh yeah. Just look at 99% of the bass fisheries around. Starvation, Pineview, Mantua, Hyrum, Flaming gorge, you get the idea.
I think that in order to keep jordanelle on the up and up, the DWR will have to do EXTENSIVE studies on it. They will have to manage bolth the forage and the predators very closely. They will have to be proactive about it, and not wait until it is too late and the problem exists. They will have to have huge public support in harvesting bass and perch as well as protecting the cover and structure from litter and destruction.
Even then they will need a miracle to pull off what no one else has been able to do.
It is my OPINION that 7 years from today, jordanelle will be on a downward cycle and fishing there will be about equal to what it was seven years ago. 10 - 12 years we may have another starvation.
The state just doesnt have the manpower or money and rescources to do that extensive managment on one single lake. Ok, the state does, but they wont give it to the DWR.
Enjoy it while it is, becasue you are going to be telling your kids the old story, "I remember when......" and, "I used to be able to go up there and...." just like the stories of the good old days your dad and grandpa tell you.
Things change, its just part of the game. Jordanelle will change, and those changes will likley be in loss of cover, food, and the things that are currently producing such awesome results.
[signature]
Heres my take.
First you have to look at what makes jordanelle what it is today.
Today you have a relativley new reservior. In the overall sceme of things, jordanelle is a very new place. Lakes go through stages, there are three main stages that a lake will go through. Jordanelle is in the first stage still.
In this lake there is an abundance of features that produce great fishing. Lots of nutrients in the lake due to all the features that were flooded. Tons and tons of cover for forage to thrive in. Great water quality, and an overall picture perfect situation for growing big fish.
Does that sound like lake Oahe to anyone? You bet it does. Sounds like a lot of other lakes as well.
What happens is that as time goes on, the nutreint supply that was so plentiful becomes a depleted, the cover rots out and slowly dissapears, the forage either gets devoured or crashes, and the entire face of the lake changes.
Now, that takes a while to happen. But jordanelle took a while to get to where it is today. While most guys are just discovering smallmouth fishing at jordanelle, you have to realize the smallmouth fishing there has been good for seven years that I personally know of. At least thats the first time I fished it for smallmouth.
So, the question is, where can it go from here? Probably up for a few more years.
The main thing in preserving jordanelle will depend on factors beyond any angler or the DWR's control. The lake will change. It just will. Every lake does.
To maintain a great fishery, you have to have a balance. Not just balance between the perch and the smallies, but an entire balanced ecosystem.
One thing we know from other lakes that have been in this same situation is that balancing the lake as it changes is real tough. You generally have HUGE populations of fish to balance at that point. Just imagine thrying to feed all those smallmouth if the perch crashed. Bass would feed on bass, and stunt, and the entire place would change. The DWR would then have to change regs to try to get lots of the bass out of there kind of like at the gorge, but it usually doesnt work real well.
At that point, I personally havent heard of a success story where a lake was brought back to a real quality fishery from that type of situation.
Its a managment nightmare.
Now, is that going to happen to jordanelle? Who knows.
Could it easily happen? Oh yeah. Just look at 99% of the bass fisheries around. Starvation, Pineview, Mantua, Hyrum, Flaming gorge, you get the idea.
I think that in order to keep jordanelle on the up and up, the DWR will have to do EXTENSIVE studies on it. They will have to manage bolth the forage and the predators very closely. They will have to be proactive about it, and not wait until it is too late and the problem exists. They will have to have huge public support in harvesting bass and perch as well as protecting the cover and structure from litter and destruction.
Even then they will need a miracle to pull off what no one else has been able to do.
It is my OPINION that 7 years from today, jordanelle will be on a downward cycle and fishing there will be about equal to what it was seven years ago. 10 - 12 years we may have another starvation.
The state just doesnt have the manpower or money and rescources to do that extensive managment on one single lake. Ok, the state does, but they wont give it to the DWR.
Enjoy it while it is, becasue you are going to be telling your kids the old story, "I remember when......" and, "I used to be able to go up there and...." just like the stories of the good old days your dad and grandpa tell you.
Things change, its just part of the game. Jordanelle will change, and those changes will likley be in loss of cover, food, and the things that are currently producing such awesome results.
[signature]