03-13-2014, 04:44 PM
[quote rancid_crabtree]The walleye here in Utah are overharvested in my opinion. And do you only feed your family once a week or year. FORAGE FISH need to be planted when their numbers are low to stabilize the Preditor Fish to a good balance so they have food to eat. Kinda like the Plan to FEED THE NORTHERNS PLAN they are contoimplating in Yuba. And BTW 77 Degrees Water Temps hit Deer Creek and Stavation last year FYI.
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So, because fish need food (like people) more than just once a year, we should be feeding them baitfish at least once a week? Is that what you are saying? That sounds not only like a very expensive feeding operation, but really like trying to put more water in a full bucket. To get a better predator/prey balance, the best solution is harvest. Walleye harvest in Utah is so minute that the fisheries that have them don't even notice a difference.
The plan to feed northerns yellow perch in Yuba is an expensive one time PR decision….it is being done to appease the public and give the appearance that something is being done. The reality is that it won't help the northerns and it will not help increase yellow perch numbers. The problem with Yuba and perch all comes down to two things: 1) habitat for juvenile perch and 2) numbers of large predators--pike.
Also, I don't argue a bit that water temps hit 77 degrees on the surface at Deer Creek or Starvation…it isn't the temps at those fisheries that make the difference. Drive up the road to Jordanelle and water temps make a huge difference. Have you ever wondered why Jordanelle has very few, if any, walleye (they have been documented in the reservoir in the past)? That short drive UP the road in elevation and up stream leaves the reservoir cooler than Deer Creek downstream….that colder water means a shorter growing season and fishery where walleye cannot flourish. This is the problem with most of Utah's fisheries….so, we either have fisheries where the reproductive capabilities of walleye are too high, or we have a fishery where their reproductive capability is zero.
So, the question is why doesn't the DWR use supplemental stocking on a fishery like Jordanelle or other colder waters to establish walleye fisheries? The answer probably boils down to one thing: money. To give walleye a chance of making it through their first winter, the DWR would have to stock fingerling or holdover walleye…walleye stocked as fry would not survive their first winter. The cost of not only establishing a walleye brood stock and hatchery program along with stocking fingerling or holdover walleye is simply not feasible. And, in fact, it makes much more sense for a public that likes trout more, to stock the species of fish that does best in cold waters….trout! Like it or not, that's just how it is!
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So, because fish need food (like people) more than just once a year, we should be feeding them baitfish at least once a week? Is that what you are saying? That sounds not only like a very expensive feeding operation, but really like trying to put more water in a full bucket. To get a better predator/prey balance, the best solution is harvest. Walleye harvest in Utah is so minute that the fisheries that have them don't even notice a difference.
The plan to feed northerns yellow perch in Yuba is an expensive one time PR decision….it is being done to appease the public and give the appearance that something is being done. The reality is that it won't help the northerns and it will not help increase yellow perch numbers. The problem with Yuba and perch all comes down to two things: 1) habitat for juvenile perch and 2) numbers of large predators--pike.
Also, I don't argue a bit that water temps hit 77 degrees on the surface at Deer Creek or Starvation…it isn't the temps at those fisheries that make the difference. Drive up the road to Jordanelle and water temps make a huge difference. Have you ever wondered why Jordanelle has very few, if any, walleye (they have been documented in the reservoir in the past)? That short drive UP the road in elevation and up stream leaves the reservoir cooler than Deer Creek downstream….that colder water means a shorter growing season and fishery where walleye cannot flourish. This is the problem with most of Utah's fisheries….so, we either have fisheries where the reproductive capabilities of walleye are too high, or we have a fishery where their reproductive capability is zero.
So, the question is why doesn't the DWR use supplemental stocking on a fishery like Jordanelle or other colder waters to establish walleye fisheries? The answer probably boils down to one thing: money. To give walleye a chance of making it through their first winter, the DWR would have to stock fingerling or holdover walleye…walleye stocked as fry would not survive their first winter. The cost of not only establishing a walleye brood stock and hatchery program along with stocking fingerling or holdover walleye is simply not feasible. And, in fact, it makes much more sense for a public that likes trout more, to stock the species of fish that does best in cold waters….trout! Like it or not, that's just how it is!
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