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Stayed a couple days at my brother's place in Moab relaxing and seeing the sights.
Spent a couple hours at Ken's Lake and had a blast. We trolled from kayaks and caught a dozen nice sized rainbows(10-14") including a couple definite holdovers. One went close to 2 pounds with the hatchery stub fins growing back nicely.
Caught one 8 inch brown that I'm guessing came in from the stream. From shore I caught 3 8-10" largemouth; bodes well for the future.
The trout came mostly on flashy hardware (spoon and spinner) and a rapala. The bass were on a safety pin spinner with a plastic twisty tail.
Not a very big nor impressive looking spot but lots of fun.
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the report. We don't get many from that area. Good to know there is more than just the river. It used to be good for lots of nice cats and some northern pike. But, DWR has been trying to eradicate the GOOD fish and restock the worthless pikeminnows and other native species. I hate to see any species disappear, but also do not like to see them given preferential treatment while killing off good sport fish.[/#0000ff]
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From what I understand, pikeminnows can reach 6 feet long and weigh up to 80 pounds. And they are native. How are they worthless? Get a good population of those things going and I think they would be a bigger draw than the 1 pound cats and the few pike that were in there.
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[cool][#0000ff]The Colorado Pikeminnows USED to get huge...back in the days before there were dams and non-native species. I understand that they were "harvested" and utilized as food by the early settlers, in spite of their soft bony flesh. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Today it is rare to see any real big ones...or any at all. In spite of much effort to artificially propagate them and to replant them, they just do not do well under modern conditions. They are fish of muddy free-flowing rivers, devoid of other species to eat their defenseless young. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I apologize for the use of the term "worthless". No species is so bad that it should be allowed to become extinct. My feelings about the pikeminnow family probably stem from my experiences with them in the waterways of California, Oregon and Idaho. Wherever they coexist with steelhead and salmon they turn the tables and become the predators...raiding nests for eggs and consuming large numbers of smolts before they can make it out to salt water. They are not only NOT endangered, they have actually had bounties on them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Pikeminnows are protected in the Colorado River system. They cannot be fished or kept. They may get large, but they are not much as fighters, once hooked. To an angler, who is merely looking for a good fight...and maybe being able to take one home for the table...that makes them less desirable than pike or catfish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Happy to provide something for you to chime in on.[/#0000ff]
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