02-14-2017, 11:37 PM
[#0000FF]If it were not for the struggling population of June suckers...backed by the feds...the pike would be a lot more tolerable by DWR.
It's funny though. Northern pike were planted as an experiment several decades ago but never seemed to take hold. Then, once the pike population in Yuba exploded...after the last drought drawdown...more anglers hit Yuba and targeted the pike. Then...as if by magic...pike suddenly started showing up in Utah Lake. Bucket biology? Nah! More likely live well liberation.
The northerns have a well-set table at Utah Lake. Multiple species that are just a good snack size. And the Junies have no pesky spines so they go down nice and smooth. Interestingly, in the natural habitats of northern pike in the midwest various species of suckers and other meaty minnows make up the major part of the toothy critters' diet.
You raise a good question about losing the funding if the Junies can't make it. If the combination of drought, toxic algae, predator imbalance and other factors finish off the remnants of the suckers it is highly likely the federally funded program for killing carp will come to an end. That would mean we would all have to buy cans of newly legalized corn and do the carp reduction on our own...in between playing with pike.
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It's funny though. Northern pike were planted as an experiment several decades ago but never seemed to take hold. Then, once the pike population in Yuba exploded...after the last drought drawdown...more anglers hit Yuba and targeted the pike. Then...as if by magic...pike suddenly started showing up in Utah Lake. Bucket biology? Nah! More likely live well liberation.
The northerns have a well-set table at Utah Lake. Multiple species that are just a good snack size. And the Junies have no pesky spines so they go down nice and smooth. Interestingly, in the natural habitats of northern pike in the midwest various species of suckers and other meaty minnows make up the major part of the toothy critters' diet.
You raise a good question about losing the funding if the Junies can't make it. If the combination of drought, toxic algae, predator imbalance and other factors finish off the remnants of the suckers it is highly likely the federally funded program for killing carp will come to an end. That would mean we would all have to buy cans of newly legalized corn and do the carp reduction on our own...in between playing with pike.
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