Jell-O in Yellowstone Lake
Enjoying the joys of others and suffering with them- these are the best guides for man. A.E.
I say if it works leave it alone, leave the Jello out, let the new trout thrive, there doing well, leave it be and enjoy catching them... just my 02...
SO if they find out that cutthroat eliminated some other fish are they gonna do away with them also?
Sometimes these folks have waaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands.
With that said, please use Strawberry and hand out straws.
Last edited by Big Bad Wulff; 02-12-2009 at 03:40 AM.
Good fishing technique trumps all.....wish I had it.
If they use jello (how much would it take to smother an entire lake's worth of fish eggs?)...why NOT use flavored?
There's still adult fish in the lake. May as well make them "extra tasty". I'm thinking maybe "wild raspberry" flavored...
David Merical
St. Louis, MO
I think they should do everything possible to get rid of the Lakers.
They've found that Lakers are killing cutts (Native)... the cutts aren't running up the creeks as much, and it has affected bear and other piscivoris predation in the park that relied on large numbers of cutts.
Plus... the Lakers are wiping out the cutthroat trout that made Yellowstone fishing what it is! NOT ACCEPTABLE
Anybody who illegally introduces something should be brought up on the strictest charges possible.
The cutthroat spawn in the tributary streams and migrate to the Lake. This "Adfluvial" lifecycle allows them to grow bigger then if they were just residents of the streams.
Lake trout eat the cutthroats (all sizes), and also eat food that would feed the cuts.
In other lakes there are always compromises made, but generally there is often a large enough prey base to feed Lakers and other fish, or at least where Lakers have been introduced, nobody noticed a difference (few users, not enough info, met the objectives to start a fishery, etc). Lakers weren't introduced to Yellowstone till the mid 80's, and people already have fishery expectations... cutthroats.
I'm not sure what the natural prey base was like in the Lake, but I'm sure the balance has been destroyed and Lakers are preying more on their own young than anything else (my speculation only).
In 2010 there will be the next big trout conference in West Yellowstone, if anybody is interested, it will be a great conference (science).
http://www.wildtroutsymposium.com/
I'm sure the Cutthroat/Lake trout interactions will be one of the topics.
Being from a Great Lakes sate I can certainly appreciate why the "Lakers" are so devastating in a fishery where they have no natural predator. They can get rather large although this one may be exceptionally so:
http://www.reelfishingreports.com/ph...lake-trout.jpg
If the intent is to eliminate the species that was illegally inroduced then why not encourage the public to harvest them? I am not familiar with the troubled waters so I ask if there is anything about the waters or regulations that prevent this? Do the regulations need to be modified in a manner allows for culling/illimimnation of this species not harmful to the waters?
In my opinion, there are not enough people/visitors, that fish in Yellowstone Lake. Lake Trout are also more difficult to locate, because they inhabit deep water for most of the year. Yellowstone Cutts are easier to catch, so that is what visitors target.
I don't think it is realistic that Lake Trout could be eliminated from Yellowstone Lake. The Government Grant is only to study what the best course of action would be. Here is a Quote from Phil Cooper, Idaho Fish & Game, Topic: Lake Pend Oreille: "It's not realistic, nor is it our goal to eliminate lake trout completely from Lake Pend Oreille but what we want to do is manage lake trout at a level where they don't risk collapsing native cutthroat and bull trout populations; or important sport fisheries, like kokanee and rainbow."
End Quote.
Doug
Enjoying the joys of others and suffering with them- these are the best guides for man. A.E.
uh-Ooh, sounds like the lake has additional serious threats to the Cut throats in addition to the lakers:
http://www.yellowstoneparknet.com/fi...egulations.php
The most effective fishing that I know of for lakers in the Great Lakes is through the use of motor boats, down riggers and trolling with spoons/lures. I don't think I would want to see that done on Yellowstone Lake. Ironic that out there we are talking getting rid of the lakers while the Great Lakes are struggling to increase their populations. The Sea Lamprey, another nonative invasive species, devastated the Lake Trout in our area.
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