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gets more than a facelift Utah DWR WHITEROCKS — When members of the Northeastern Regional Advisory Council and Utah Wildlife Board visited the Whiterocks State Fish Hatchery with employees from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources recently, most of them didn't recognize the place. The old, dilapidated, white, wooden hatchery building built in 1923 was gone. So were the old office/storage building and three sets of old, crumbling, concrete raceways. In their place stood a large, modern concrete block building. They also watched as construction workers quickly worked to finish pouring new concrete raceways. "We will be able to triple our production," said Ron Morrill, who manages the DWR hatchery near Whiterocks, about 30 miles northeast of Roosevelt. "The old hatchery could raise 45,000 pounds of fish under prime conditions; the new one should produce over 130,000 pounds of fish," Morrill said. "There will be fewer outside raceways, but the new ones will be wider and better designed so they will have about the same amount of space, but they will raise more fish. "It's in our new building, and some new technology, that we see the greatest changes," The new building contains a main room with 42 new troughs. There's enough space in the building that a truck can be driven into the center of it. This provides easy access to the troughs and makes it easier for hatchery personnel to move fish, equipment and other materials. "Each of the new troughs is worth about six of the old ones, and there were only 12 troughs in the old building," Morrill said. "Another room contains water columns and trays for hatching eggs. The large interior bay will allow us to work on trucks and other equipment, and then we have an office space and a couple of small storerooms for fish food and other things. The bulk of our fish food will be stored in another storage facility close to the outside raceways," The hatchery's improved technology includes an oxygenation system and baffles. "The entire fish rearing facility is tied into an oxygenation system," Morrill said. "A major limitation to fish production is the amount of oxygen available in the water. The more fish, the more dissolved oxygen is needed. Our system will allow us to inject oxygen into the water to maintain the oxygen at a high level, which translates to healthier fish and increased production. "Another improvement is the baffles, which direct water flow along the bottom to waste collection areas and then up over walls to spill into the next raceway holding area. The baffles will help increase oxygen levels while making it easier to remove waste and clean the troughs and raceways," The Whiterocks hatchery is already raising some fish, and should be in full production by late spring 2007. filled with Lake Trout Utah DWR DUTCH JOHN — Thousands of one- to five-pound lake trout are swimming in Flaming Gorge Reservoir. If you're a boat angler and want to pursue a fish that's easy to catch and good to eat, these smaller lake trout could be just what you're looking for. So many lake trout are in the reservoir that the lake trout limit for 2006 has been raised to eight fish (not more than one can be longer than 28 inches, however). Lowell Marthe, acting Flaming Gorge project leader for the Division of Wildlife Resources, provides the following tips for catching lake trout at Flaming Gorge this year: Lake trout In 2006, anglers have a great opportunity to take advantage of new fishing regulations at Flaming Gorge. Anglers can now keep up to eight lake trout, but only one may exceed 28 inches. The DWR is encouraging anglers to take home limits of small lake trout to help the fishery. Biologists from Utah and Wyoming feel there is an overabundance of lake trout less than 28 inches in the reservoir. In the future, that could mean trouble for the fishery when these small lake trout mature and switch from their current diet of crayfish and aquatic insects to a diet of fish. The kokanee salmon population at the reservoir is currently in a down cycle, and additional predation by lake trout could keep kokanee numbers from rebounding. Unlike their large relatives, small lake trout are exceptionally good to eat. Their flesh is often similar to rainbow trout and kokanee salmon in color, texture and flavor. Cooked fresh on a grill or baked in the oven, you'll be hard pressed to find a difference in flavor between small lake trout and the tastiest rainbow trout. So please do your part to help manage the fishery by taking home a limit of small lake trout. The small lake trout are also easier to catch than their big brothers and sisters. Early in the year is a great time to start pursuing them, as they concentrate in certain areas of the reservoir at the start of the year. Starting in late April and running through May, anglers will find concentrations of fish in the Wyoming end of the reservoir. Licensed Utah anglers can buy a $10 reciprocal stamp and fish the Wyoming portion of the reservoir. From the confluence area to Buckboard and south, bottom flats just off the old river channel and points coming out into the reservoir will hold numerous fish. The fish are relatively shallow (30 to 50 feet) and are typically quite willing to hit a jig or lure. Anglers can troll flat bottom areas using small plugs or spoons off a downrigger or jig when they see concentrations of fish on their graphs. Good colors for spoons and plugs include chartreuse, orange and white. Good colors for jigs include whites, browns and chartreuse. If you know the fish are there, but they're not biting, try tipping your jig with a small piece of sucker meat. As the summer progresses, the small lake trout will move south to cooler, deeper water and spread out onto many of the deeper points and structure in the reservoir. Later in the summer, anglers should fish in depths of 60 or more feet. Fishing jigs and plugs on downriggers or lead core line are good ways to catch deeper fish. Kokanee salmon In addition to the lake trout limit, anglers may keep four trout or kokanee salmon in aggregate, but not more than three of these fish may be kokanee salmon. As previously stated, the kokanee population in the reservoir is on a down cycle. However, kokanee salmon will be larger than they are during years when there are more kokanee in the reservoir. The DWR is encouraging anglers to practice restraint when fishing for kokanee. Once anglers have their three fish limit, please switch and fish for another species. Kokanee salmon do not fair as well with catch and release fishing as some other species do, such as bass and lake trout. This is especially true when the water temperature warm ups. By not catching and releasing kokanee salmon, you will help ensure enough fish remain in the population to complete a successful spawn this fall. Burbot Anglers should be aware that burbot, or ling, have entered the reservoir through the Green River in Wyoming after being illegally introduced to the drainage. salmon project Oregon DFW Oregon’s Coastal Coho Stakeholder Team continues to work on conservation actions to benefit coastal coho salmon. The stakeholder team advises both the State of Oregon and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) on Oregon’s Coastal Coho Project. Members of the team represent fish conservation, fishing, private land, timber, agricultural, tribal and other interests. The state of Oregon and the National Marine Fisheries Service began the collaborative project last year to address the conservation of coastal coho. The objectives of the project are to: * Assess the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds effort to conserve and rebuild coastal coho populations. * Use the assessment to assist NOAA Fisheries with a status review. * Use the assessment as a basis to seek legal assurances for local participants. * Use the assessment as a foundation for developing a conservation plan for coho. More information about the Coastal Coho Project and the stakeholder team can be found at Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. sets state record Colorado DOW To call this trout a lunker would be an understatement: 33 inches long, 17 pounds, 2.6 ounces. That’s the size of the Snake River cutthroat trout caught Aug. 28, 2005, in the Blue River by Rob Peckham, 48, of Oak Creek, CO. The fish set a state record for that species. The size of the fish was confirmed by Bill Atkinson, aquatic biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) in Steamboat Springs. Peckham, who has been fishing all his life, caught the fish while floating the river below Green Mountain Dam. He was using a rainbow-colored Rapala on spin-casting gear. Peckham explained that he has fished that section several times and had seen big trout there. Normally a fly fisherman, Peckham said he switched to spinning gear because he didn’t think he’d be able to bring in a giant trout on a fly rod. “I knew there were big fish in there, but I was surprised when I caught one,” Peckham said. Because the fish is not native to Colorado, the DOW has established Peckham’s catch as the record for the Snake River cutthroat category. The DOW maintains a separate category for native cutthroat species - Colorado River, Greenback and Rio Grande. The largest native cutthroat recorded in the state was a 16-pounder taken from Twin Lakes in 1964. The exact species is not known; but it was caught before the DOW started stocking the Snake River variety, said Robin Knox, the agency’s sport fish coordinator. The size of the fish gives evidence that the Blue River continues to be a high-quality fishery, Knox said. To view a picture of this new state record cutthroat go to Colorado record cutthroat. Granby Lake fishery Colorado DOW The start of the new year brings new fishing regulations at Lake Granby. Anglers will now be allowed to keep four lake trout instead of the previous two. The new regulation also removes the size limits for lake trout that were previously in place. Aquatic biologists with the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) believe the new regulations will better balance the predator-prey relationship and improve the overall fishery. "In this situation, we have to manage for a sustainable kokanee resource into the future. We don’t feel that we can meet this objective given the quantity of smaller lake trout we now have in the reservoir," said Billy Atkinson, DOW aquatic biologist for the area. "We had numerous public meetings and felt that most people support this effort to perpetuate the kokanee resource, which will result in a better quality lake trout fishery." Over the past few years, biologists have observed an increase in numbers of lake trout, which can negatively impact other species within the fishery. Lake trout, also known as Mackinaw, have the potential to grow to large size and tend to become aggressive predators as they grow. With higher densities of lake trout in Granby, the other fish species were diminishing and, in turn, the quality of the existing lake trout began to decline. "It was possible to catch lots of lake trout, but anglers weren't seeing the body mass and quality of fish that they were accustomed to," said District Wildlife Manager Kirk Oldham. "Granby's reputation as a world class fishery would eventually tarnish without this kind of active management." In addition to increasing the quality of the lake trout population, biologists are also hopeful that reducing overall lake trout numbers will help protect the precious kokanee salmon resource at Lake Granby. "We have very few lakes that allow us to spawn large quantities of kokanee salmon," explained Sherman Hebein, DOW senior aquatic biologist for the northwest region. "Because the kokanee are such a special resource for Colorado anglers, we need to make sure that they are maintained in viable populations where possible." The recent discovery of a large yellow perch population in Blue Mesa Reservoir in southwest Colorado has made the need to protect Lake Granby kokanee even more important. Yellow perch can pose a long term risk to the kokanee in Blue Mesa, which is the other major source of kokanee salmon eggs in Colorado. While they instinctually spawn, kokanee do not naturally reproduce in adequate numbers in Colorado, therefore the DOW spawning operation is critical to perpetuate the kokanee resource. "The kokanee and lake trout balance is an incredibly complex relationship where both species can thrive if properly managed," said Hebein. "We can make sure that both species thrive, but we also have to make sure that the balance is maintained. In doing so, everybody wins." in Scofield Reservoir Utah DWR A new game fish — the tiger trout — has been placed by the Division of Wildlife Resources in Scofield Reservoir. Tiger trout are a sterile hybrid, developed by combining the eggs of a female brook trout and the milt of a male brown trout. Because they're sterile, tiger trout grow fast, putting their energy into growth rather than reproduction. Tigers are also beautiful fish, renowned by anglers for their fight and their table quality. About 80,000 fingerling (3-inch) tiger trout were planted by the DWR in Scofield in early September. They could be catchable-size (nine to 10 inches) by next fall. The DWR has witnessed tremendous growth rates of tigers in other reservoirs. In Duck Fork Reservoir, for example, some fingerling tigers grew 12 or more inches in a single year. That's about double the rate rainbow trout will grow in a year. Utah chubs illegally introduced to Scofield The reason the DWR introduced another trout to Scofield is not entirely for sporting reasons. During surveys at the reservoir in the spring of 2005, DWR aquatics biologists discovered Utah chubs in their gill nets. That was the first time Utah chubs had shown up in surveys since the reservoir was treated in the early 1990s to remove undesirable fish populations, including Utah chubs. Apparently, the chubs were brought to Scofield by anglers who were using them as live bait. The practice of using live fish as bait is illegal. The discovery of chubs in Scofield could be catastrophic for the fishery. Utah chubs are extremely prolific. They reproduce rapidly and can outcompete game fish in a flat-water fishery. Joes Valley is a good example of this. Anglers, illegally fishing with live chubs, introduced this nuisance species to Joes Valley years ago. The number of chubs in the reservoir has prevented the Joe's Valley fishery from reaching its full potential. While trophy splake are still readily available, much of the reservoir's productivity is tied up in chubs. Fisheries managers are faced with trying to return this fishery to its full potential within financial and bureaucratic constraints that eliminate many options. Tiger trout could be the answer Scofield Reservoir is among the four top fisheries in Utah. Losing Scofield's fishery to an invasion of chubs would be devastating. Chemically treating the reservoir again to eliminate chubs would be very costly. In today's dollars, a treatment would cost a staggering $1 million. In addition, it takes years to satisfy the environmental and bureaucratic requirements that must be met before a treatment can take place. Hopefully, the tiger trout will be the answer fisheries biologists need to control the reservoir's chub population. Tiger trout — a great chub-fighting fish Chubs are commonly found in shallow water and shoreline zones, where they consume the food and occupy the space needed by young trout. As the trout grow, they often move to deeper, cooler water and lose contact with the chubs. This helps the chubs, because they're less vulnerable to attack from fish that are large enough to eat them. Tiger trout, however, are piscivorous (fish eaters) from an early age. They seem to be more willing to hunt for prey in shallower waters than many other trout subspecies are. Fisheries managers hope that tigers will keep Utah chubs from outcompeting and overrunning other game fish in the reservoir. collect fisheries information Montana FWP Since 1951, some anglers have belonged to an exclusive club of individuals who keep diaries of their angling experiences for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. At that time, about 350 dedicated anglers took on the job of keeping fishing logs. Compiling the information from these many individuals was tedious at best in the days of IBM keypunch equipment. But the angler's information was invaluable. For example, the 1955 Water Pollution Act called for each lake and stream in the state to receive a water quality classification. FWP used information from fishing logs to make the initial classifications. The logs were the only data available on some streams. If an angler's diary reported catching trout, that water was classified as being at a quality standard suitable for trout. Information gathered from anglers' logs also played a part in identifying when whirling disease first appeared in the state. A Pennsylvania angler's log helped fisheries managers deduce that whirling disease may have shown up in the Madison River as early as 1987. Today, over 800 anglers participate in the Fishing Log Program and you can too. Anglers who have volunteered to record their fishing activities in a log issued by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks comprise the Fishing Log Program. Locations fished, species and number caught, date and miscellaneous information are recorded in the waterproof log. An angler can record a "bragging" size fish if they feel that the fish they caught was of unusually large size for the water they were fishing. Once a year, FWP recalls the logs to record and process the data that the anglers have collected. At this time, the logholder will receive a newsletter with a summary of the previous year's data, a regional update of the fishing activities and some interesting or unusual fishing related articles. The information gathered from the logs is valuable for the management of our fisheries resources. To enroll in the Fishing Log Program, please submit your name, address and phone number to: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Fisheries Information Services 1400 South 19th Bozeman, MT 59718 or call (406) 994-6838 among the best in the west By Robert Crooks Since it's creation in 1922, Utah's Strawberry Reservoir has been known to angler's as one of the most productive trout waters in the west. However, in recent years the lake had fallen on hard times as numbers of rough fish rose while game fish populations dropped. By the late 1980's the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources determined the lake needed to be rehabilitated and developed a plan to accomplish the enormous task, which was completed in 1991. Since it's successful treatment, the reservoir's fishery has seen ups and downs, but is now finally starting to come into it's own as the west's best spot for large Bonneville Cutthroat. Utah DWR recently compleated annual netting surveys to determin the current status of the lake's fishery. The Deseret Morning News was there to do a story on the "Berry" and it's fish. Results look promising for anglers interested in stillwater trout fishing. Check out the story links below. Strawberry story--Deseret Morning News Utah DWR Strawberry Reservoir home page important to anglers Montana FWP Nearly every angler in the state has a favorite, often secret, fishing access site. "With 320 fishing access sites to choose from across the state, anglers enjoy good access to the state’s blue ribbon streams and rivers, lakes and reservoirs," said Allan Kuser, FWP fishing access site coordinator. Most of the fishing opportunities at these access sites are on rivers and streams. Fifty-eight sites are on lakes and reservoirs, including 14 warm water fisheries stocked by FWP. "As fishing access sites grow in popularity, more people find that they are attractive places to enjoy Montana’s waters, picnic, walk their dogs, maybe camp overnight," Kuser said. Currently, 49 sites charge for overnight camping. The cost is $7 with a current fishing license and $12 for people without a fishing license. Camping fees help cover the additional expenses to maintain these sites for overnight use. A guide to the 320 fishing access sites in the state is available at FWP regional offices. It contains directions, maps, details on facilities, fees, and camping opportunities. Or go to the FWP web site by using the links below. FWP regional offices Montana fishing access sites new state record brown trout North Dakota Game and Fish
The 35.5-inch fish broke the old record of 25 pounds, 4 ounces taken by Dean Malenius of Evelyth, Minn. in 1987. North Platte's miracle mile Wyoming Game and Fish
The Miracle Mile, that stretch of the North Platte River between Seminoe and Pathfinder reservoirs got over 700 tons of gravel spread just upstream of 90 large boulders to improve trout spawning. "We (Game and Fish Department) began to notice erratic and declining brown trout recruitment in the river the last few years," said Paul Mavrakis, G&F fisheries biologist in Casper. So the G&F surveyed the spawning habitat in the Miracle Mile, which is actually more than 10 miles now due to drought reducing the size of Pathfinder Reservoir. Mavrakis says in most river systems the preferred spawning gravel of 1-to-4-inch diameter washes downstream over time, but is replenished from feeder streams. With only one small tributary feeding the Miracle Mile, combined with upstream reservoir development, the upper reaches of the stretch were very deficient of adequate spawning areas. Thanks to funding from the Bureau of Reclamation, who operates the North Platte system reservoirs, and Colorado Interstate Gas, the improvements were constructed Nov. 1-3. Front-end loaders built a weir with the desk-size boulders across a side channel and then spread the 700 tons of spawning gravel over an approximate 90-by-100 foot section just upstream. "Its kind of a novel approach to create spawning habitat," Mavrakis said. "There's little history on this design, so we will be monitoring the project to evaluate how fish respond to the gravel and what high river flows will do to the gravel." Mavrakis said the G &F expects to learn a lot in the first year after installation. "Based on what we learn, some adjustment may be necessary to maximize the structure's function," he said. "If the design is successful, perhaps this approach to improving spawning habitat could be used in similar locations below dams." The fall-spawning brown trout are not stocked in the North Platte and hence are totally dependent on natural production. With brown trout spawning peaking around Thanksgiving, he hopes the improvements will immediately benefit the population. Mavrakis expects the new spawning habitat to also benefit rainbow and cutthroat trout on their spring spawning run and supplement stockings to continue providing sought-after fishing in the stretch. The Wyoming Flycasters donated signs to educate anglers not to wade through the redds, or spawning beds, but there are no new fishing restrictions. Retired Casper Fish Supervisor Larry Peterson said the Miracle Mile got its name in the 1960s. A Denver outdoor writer wrote that it was a miracle that after the intense fishing pressure the stretch endured that it continued to offer good fishing and anglers quickly accepted the title. |
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