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So for the past two weeks below Gem Lake they have had the gates open blowing water down the river. They finally shut those gates down today at noon leaving pools of water in the rocks with stranded fish. As I was leaving I saw this guy hand catch this little sturgeon and run him over to the pond and release him. He said this was the third sturgeon he had seen in these pools. Another guy has loosed one he said was four feet and he had seen one more in the pool. Here is a picture of the little guy.
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May the lord bless the gentlemen who took the time to help these trap fish . Idaho Falls power should not make such drastic changes in water levels .
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Amen to that, Curt. Mike
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Im suprised fish and game isnt all over that. Would seem like stranded white sturgeon would be an issue
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+1 more on that.
F&G may not even know when they are going to cut the water that drastically. A few calls showing our concern might be helpful.
Upper Snake River
Regional Office
[url "http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&countryid=250&addtohistory=&address=4279+Commerce+Circle&city=Idaho+Falls&state=ID&zipcode=83401&submit=Get+Map"]4279 Commerce Circle[/url]
Idaho Falls, ID 83401
(208) 525-7290
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Never mind calling... I did. I talked to Dan at F&G. He will check it out, and see if they can't get better communication going.
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One other thing that he mentioned was that the power company usually has a guy that moves stranded fish. So maybe it is already taken care of.
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Yep, it was me. Thanks for the heads up, cpierce. I contacted Idaho Falls Power, and they agreed to give IDFG a heads up when the power plant comes off line (which is why flows end up switched from one side of the river to the other).
Thanks to the OP too for getting the word out on this.
Dan Garren
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Right on Dan. We all thank you. No if we can fix Idaho fishing license, things would be all around awesome. :-)
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Are those planted fish with chips? Or are they finally getting some reproduction? All the fish below American falls res are nasty beat up things. Native fish start below Shoshone falls.
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What are you talking about. I have caught close to a hundred the last three days and most are the most beautiful healthy fish you have ever seen. Today I caught three species of trout in addition to a whitefish carp an suckers. Same goes below Minidoka. Have caught over 30 trout at five pounds or better this year mostly on the fly rod in the snake.. We have verified from tags 2012 Kamloops planters at 9" which weight 3 pounds 14 oz. in Thirteen months in Walcott.
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The Kamloop is very similar to the hybrid in that both are sterile but both are far superior to a native trout. Have caught hybrids this year to 28" and a couple nice ones the last few days. A handfull of cuts as well as a lot of standard rainbows in the first twenty five miles below American Falls resevoir.
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Sturgeon is the topic blacktop.
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I was thinking the same thing Ron. Wondered how this would play out. Being a good citizen by saving the sturgeon, but breaking the law doing it?
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Initially when I walked by the pools I never even noticed the sturgeon in them, it wasn't till I came back and that guy was scooping him up and running over to river to put him in that I was like....Holy crap it's a sturgeon that's pretty cool! I don't know how much oxygen stays in a pool like that but I would rather take my fine than walk by and come back the next day to see it belly up! My friend is the foreman at the dams and he says they usually check all the pools and empty them of fish when they cut back the water from the gates. Honestly I was surprised that they hadn't done it yet. They had shut down the gates at noon and it was about six in the evening when that fish was moved. Damned if you do, damned if you don't! My mind never even went in the direction of not doing anything, I suppose guys like Ron who fish regularly for those fish would be more in the know of the do's and don'ts. Send me the fine....I'll pay it. To beautiful a fish to let it go to waste...I'm just sayin.
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no one here would look down on what you did. You did what anyone should do. Since you were with a guy from the dam that always does it then I am sure he had permission. Letting fish like that go to waste would be a sin. Good job!!
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I'd have done the same. It's easier to ask forgiveness than for permission.
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