11-15-2004, 03:57 AM
Its tough to say if the perch are going to cause a crash in the lake trout or kokanee chain. I personally don't think they are going to be much of a problem. I've sent many e-mails to Dan Brauch the fish Bioligist in that area and he has told me most of the perch that they have shocked up are in the back of coves and in farely shallow water, which are places kokanee don't spend much time in. If the DOW would just wait another month or two to release larger kokanee fry I doubt perch would be able to eat them although perch are highly fish predatious.
Blue Mesa's kokanee run also has cycles, some years fish run large and arn't as plentiful and some years there's a ton of them but their a couple inches smaller. Last years kokanee egg harvest was terrible but the Roreing Judy fish hatchery reported the largest run they've ever had so I doubt the lakers made that much of an impact in a year. It would be nice if they could live harmany, they are about the finest eating fish there is.
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Blue Mesa's kokanee run also has cycles, some years fish run large and arn't as plentiful and some years there's a ton of them but their a couple inches smaller. Last years kokanee egg harvest was terrible but the Roreing Judy fish hatchery reported the largest run they've ever had so I doubt the lakers made that much of an impact in a year. It would be nice if they could live harmany, they are about the finest eating fish there is.
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