08-22-2008, 03:21 AM
Jim,
The Gorge is fantastic fishery, and you're not hearing anything you don't already know. Heck, it's your office! LOL As a biologist like myself, or manager such as my supervisor, we're responsible for managing a fishery and forced to predict the future based on monitoring trends in the populations and angler catch. As anglers, I believe we become even more informed so we can look at a resource also as users or consumers.
Currently the lake is going through some changes. Burbot abundance has at least doubled in the last two years, and the lake now harbors at least 5 year classes. Kokanee abundance (for fish less than 14 inches) was at an all time low in 2007, even with supplementing the population by stocking 1.2 million fingerlings. Lake trout are doing well, and abundance has dropped over the last two years for fish less than 25 inches, possibly a positive effect of increased angler harvest. That's the abbreviated summary, for an extremely dynamic fishery.
As you know, large lake trout are highly dependent on kokanee and rainbow trout for forage. Anglers utilizing the lake, also target both species, but more specifically kokanee salmon. Therefore kokanees are a dual purpose fishery, important for anglers and for trophy lake trout. The last thing we, meaning UDWR or WYG&F or anglers, want to see is any changes which may cause a dramatic decline in kokanee removing a highly sought fishery and an important prey component for lake trout. Population estimates for kokanee (<14in) in the reservoir during the late 90s were near 1.2 million fish. Unfortunately, those numbers have continued to decline to last year's estimate of only 380K, 1/4 of what it used to be. This is likely a result of predation, and burbot have been documented feeding on kokanee eggs and 1-year olds. There may not be a problem with kokanee fishing or lake trout forage today, but at that rate the future is at least questionable.
Burbot, there's been lots of talk, and I think most of the forum members utilizing the Gorge know what's going on. The cookie cutter burbot out there right now is about an 18-inch fish. I've caught fish that size with 26 crayfish, 7 smallmouth, or even a 10-inch koke in it. An 18-inch female burbot will also produce up to a million eggs. To put that in perspective, kokanee only produce about 2000 eggs per female. That's a lot of eatin' with a lot of reproductive potential. Anglers like Fishley, are catching so many during the winter, burbot have the highest catch rates on the Gorge. That wasn't the case only 2 years ago.
Some people may call it "doom and gloom". Maybe, but it's tough to predict outcomes, so you do the best you can with what info you have available. With increasing effort, both agencies will continue to raise and stock kokanees, and try to halt the population decline or "crash". At the same time, both agencies will continue to persue ways to soften the blow (ex. angler harvest, tiger trout as a control method) from an exploding burbot population that is eating just about anything they can get their mouths on. Lake trout are currently doing well, but by keeping numbers of small fish at a manageable level, fish will maintain higher condition and bigger/healthier fish will continue to persist. Rainbow trout are provided by stocking, and in the near future, will come in two flavors, Eagle Lake and Kamloops strains. In the Gorge, shoreline anglers will benefit from the Eagle Lakes and trollers will benefit from the Kamloops. Rainbows and kokanees both depend highly on zooplankton for forage, which is fortunately abundant enough in the Gorge to support each of them.
Sorry for the long-winded reply to only a few of your comments, and I hope I didn't put anyone to sleep. Hopefully you'll simply understand the management decisions are designed for the benefit of the Flaming Gorge fishery so many anglers enjoy.
Thanks, Ryno
[signature]
The Gorge is fantastic fishery, and you're not hearing anything you don't already know. Heck, it's your office! LOL As a biologist like myself, or manager such as my supervisor, we're responsible for managing a fishery and forced to predict the future based on monitoring trends in the populations and angler catch. As anglers, I believe we become even more informed so we can look at a resource also as users or consumers.
Currently the lake is going through some changes. Burbot abundance has at least doubled in the last two years, and the lake now harbors at least 5 year classes. Kokanee abundance (for fish less than 14 inches) was at an all time low in 2007, even with supplementing the population by stocking 1.2 million fingerlings. Lake trout are doing well, and abundance has dropped over the last two years for fish less than 25 inches, possibly a positive effect of increased angler harvest. That's the abbreviated summary, for an extremely dynamic fishery.
As you know, large lake trout are highly dependent on kokanee and rainbow trout for forage. Anglers utilizing the lake, also target both species, but more specifically kokanee salmon. Therefore kokanees are a dual purpose fishery, important for anglers and for trophy lake trout. The last thing we, meaning UDWR or WYG&F or anglers, want to see is any changes which may cause a dramatic decline in kokanee removing a highly sought fishery and an important prey component for lake trout. Population estimates for kokanee (<14in) in the reservoir during the late 90s were near 1.2 million fish. Unfortunately, those numbers have continued to decline to last year's estimate of only 380K, 1/4 of what it used to be. This is likely a result of predation, and burbot have been documented feeding on kokanee eggs and 1-year olds. There may not be a problem with kokanee fishing or lake trout forage today, but at that rate the future is at least questionable.
Burbot, there's been lots of talk, and I think most of the forum members utilizing the Gorge know what's going on. The cookie cutter burbot out there right now is about an 18-inch fish. I've caught fish that size with 26 crayfish, 7 smallmouth, or even a 10-inch koke in it. An 18-inch female burbot will also produce up to a million eggs. To put that in perspective, kokanee only produce about 2000 eggs per female. That's a lot of eatin' with a lot of reproductive potential. Anglers like Fishley, are catching so many during the winter, burbot have the highest catch rates on the Gorge. That wasn't the case only 2 years ago.
Some people may call it "doom and gloom". Maybe, but it's tough to predict outcomes, so you do the best you can with what info you have available. With increasing effort, both agencies will continue to raise and stock kokanees, and try to halt the population decline or "crash". At the same time, both agencies will continue to persue ways to soften the blow (ex. angler harvest, tiger trout as a control method) from an exploding burbot population that is eating just about anything they can get their mouths on. Lake trout are currently doing well, but by keeping numbers of small fish at a manageable level, fish will maintain higher condition and bigger/healthier fish will continue to persist. Rainbow trout are provided by stocking, and in the near future, will come in two flavors, Eagle Lake and Kamloops strains. In the Gorge, shoreline anglers will benefit from the Eagle Lakes and trollers will benefit from the Kamloops. Rainbows and kokanees both depend highly on zooplankton for forage, which is fortunately abundant enough in the Gorge to support each of them.
Sorry for the long-winded reply to only a few of your comments, and I hope I didn't put anyone to sleep. Hopefully you'll simply understand the management decisions are designed for the benefit of the Flaming Gorge fishery so many anglers enjoy.
Thanks, Ryno
[signature]