03-17-2004, 04:02 PM
"[size 1]Where did these people at the DWR go to school? They need to get them some better books on how to properly manage our wildlife"[/size]
The southern regional fisheries manager graduated from USU with a bachelors in fisheries management, then went on to CSU and got his masters. He now has over 30 years of experience. It sounds to me like you have all the answers. What schooling do you have? How much experience do you have?
With Otter Creek, it was a boom and bust cycle. About every 4 years, the chub population would explode, and the trout population would take a dive. The reason you got such good growth, and large trout was because they were given a fresh start after poisoning. No competition from chubs for a few years, and plenty of food produced fantastic fishing for the trout. It is in the same situation right now. When the dam was repaired, it was once again given a fresh start. Fishing has been fantastic for the last 3 years. Give it another 4 years, and let's see where it is at. Minersville is another good example. Chubs have always been a bit of a problem out here, along with angler, and bird, harvest. The fish could never get big enough to take advantage of the chub population. So, with the introduction of special regs, and a new stocking schedule, the fish are now able to get big enough to start eating chubs. This doesn't always keep the chubs in check, and I think Minersville was starting to get a chub problem, before the dam was repaired, and the lake was drained. If we get some water in Minersville, you can be sure to have some fantastic fishing again in a year or two.
"[size 1]They need to manage things yearly based upon gill nettings and samples." Why do you think they decide to poison lakes? Gill netting is done all the time. When was the last time you were around to pick chubs out of a gill net that was set in a lake with a chub problem? I can promise you, that isn't too much fun. [/size]
[size 1]The DWR does a great job managing our resources. They can't, and never will, be able to satisfy every outdoorsman. They try to do what they think is best for the resource, and I think that for the most part, they do a pretty good job. I'd like to hear from everyone which lakes they think the DWR has screwed up, and why.[/size]
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The southern regional fisheries manager graduated from USU with a bachelors in fisheries management, then went on to CSU and got his masters. He now has over 30 years of experience. It sounds to me like you have all the answers. What schooling do you have? How much experience do you have?
With Otter Creek, it was a boom and bust cycle. About every 4 years, the chub population would explode, and the trout population would take a dive. The reason you got such good growth, and large trout was because they were given a fresh start after poisoning. No competition from chubs for a few years, and plenty of food produced fantastic fishing for the trout. It is in the same situation right now. When the dam was repaired, it was once again given a fresh start. Fishing has been fantastic for the last 3 years. Give it another 4 years, and let's see where it is at. Minersville is another good example. Chubs have always been a bit of a problem out here, along with angler, and bird, harvest. The fish could never get big enough to take advantage of the chub population. So, with the introduction of special regs, and a new stocking schedule, the fish are now able to get big enough to start eating chubs. This doesn't always keep the chubs in check, and I think Minersville was starting to get a chub problem, before the dam was repaired, and the lake was drained. If we get some water in Minersville, you can be sure to have some fantastic fishing again in a year or two.
"[size 1]They need to manage things yearly based upon gill nettings and samples." Why do you think they decide to poison lakes? Gill netting is done all the time. When was the last time you were around to pick chubs out of a gill net that was set in a lake with a chub problem? I can promise you, that isn't too much fun. [/size]
[size 1]The DWR does a great job managing our resources. They can't, and never will, be able to satisfy every outdoorsman. They try to do what they think is best for the resource, and I think that for the most part, they do a pretty good job. I'd like to hear from everyone which lakes they think the DWR has screwed up, and why.[/size]
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