White fish?

[HFT]

What is your opinion of White fish?
Do you like to catch them?
Do you think they compete with trout for food?
Do you think they get in the way of your catching Trout?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]My opinion is that they are fun to catch and they have helped bend my stick on days the trout were scarce or sulking. I grew up playing with them along the Snake River, in my native Idaho, so I always have a soft spot for them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yeah, they are not flashy fighters, and they don't jump, like rainbows, but neither do cutts. They are not as tough as browns, and not nearly as purty, but they can provide some pleasant exercise.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also like them on the table. They are good smoked too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Do they compete with trout? Of course. They eat the same diet so obviously if the stream is full of whities there is less food for the trout. The upside is that their younguns help feed the larger browns.[/#0000ff]
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[katghoti]

I've said it thousands of times. Whitefish are necessary in the rivers and streams. In some places they are the only natives left. They are a great monitor for stream health. If the whitefish population drops due to water conditions, the trout aren't far behind. They fight hard, and can make a dull day exciting. I have caught them on nymphs and dry flies, and have had them jump once or twice. I have never eaten them, but return them all to the stream to fight another day. Montana has a blooming caviar business based on the whitefish and their roe is now sought after by culinary critics and restaurants. Their meat is smoked, makes good table fare.

Remember, if you throw them on the bank to die you are breaking the law. These fish are not rough fish, in fact they are cousins to trout. If you don't want them, return them.

katghoti
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[ruger]

Gotta love those whites. Like others, they have saved many a trip. The irony is that every time I am specifically trying to target browns on the Weber, It catch more whites. In my last trip, I decided to target the whites and caught more browns! Go figure. I'm not much of a fresh water fish eater, so I've never tried them smoked or otherwise.
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[HFT]

Caviar? interesting,I did not know! there is a gold mine in the Weber river. Know how do I prepare it!

Tube dude Which end do you light? You knew that was coming! lol!

I enjoy catching white fish and since I don't keep any, it does not matter to me what is bending my rod ,as long as it is big.
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[campfire]

To answer more of the questions, let's look at and compare the Weber and the Provo. In both streams the two dominant game fish are whitefish and browns. Actually nowdays there may be more rainbows than whitefish in the Provo but that does not make any difference for the discussion. On the Provo browns are by far the most numerous fish. On the Weber whitefish make up I would say at least 80% of the fish caught. The Provo has an overpopulation/stunting problem. The Weber does not. This tells me that factors involving the nature of the streams like stable flows durring the brown spawn on the Provo, more silting tributaries on the Weber, etc. are more important in determining the population ratio of fish than the interaction of the two species (browns and whitefish). Since the Provo has an overpopulation/stunting problem and the Weber does not and the Provo is dominated by trout I submit that whitefish do NOT compete for space or food with trout. I do not think that fewer whitefish would necessarily mean more trout on the Weber. More brown probably does mean fewer whitefish on the Provo. I do think that more stable flows on the Weber durring the brown spawn would result in more browns and probably fewer whitefish. Whether that would improve the fishery is debatable. Right now the quality of fish (both whitefish and brown) seems to be better on the Weber. I would rather catch trout but I do not mind catching whitefish especially big ones.
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[DKStroutfitter]

I once read an article in which the DWR was asked why the Whitefish population was go good in the Weber river.
The DWR spoksman replied, " We don't know why the Whitefish are doing so well in the Weber River. We have done nothing the help them!"[]
Whitefish belong in the rivers and I also enjoy fishing for them.
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[IceRod]

Campfire, I wonder how harvest effects the brown to white ratio. I have not spent much time fishing the Provo, so I dunno if many people keep fish. On the Weber I see quite a few guys who fish with spinners that are carrying a couple of larger browns on a stick. I have never seen white fish harvested on either river.
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[campfire]

IceRod,
I fish mostly the middle Weber and so my perspective may be a little skewed because of the close proximity to Park City which I am sure has a higher percentage of catch and release minded flyfishermen than I suspect the lower river has. But I cannot remember the last time I saw anyone harvest anything from the middle Weber. But I suspect that because of the population ratio there are more whitefish harvested than browns numberwise simply because there are far more whitefish caught than browns. The Regs at least where I fish the most are similar to the Provo, the fishing pressure is not nearly so great as the Provo yet the Provo has an over population problem while the Weber does not. Like I said I rarely fish the lower river but my best information is that the population ratio is similar to the middle section. I agree that there is probably more harvest on the Weber than the Provo percentage wize but the milder fishing pressure tends to soften the impact on the fishery in comparison. Because the fishing pressure is less on the Weber I still think that other factors have a greater influance on the population rdatio. I strongly suspect that the biggest reason that there are so few browns in the Weber is that there is anything but stable flows durring the brown spawn. The whitefish spawn later and in deeper water and I think are less impacted by changes in flow. But like I mentioned, better recruitment of browns might be a double endged sword. Better brown recruitment might result in the same problems the Provo now has. How many people you know have caught 20 inch + browns and whitefish from the Weber? How many 20 inch + browns are caught on the Provo lately?
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