01-08-2018, 11:24 PM
[quote odthefly]Last year they seemed to be catching a lot of chub. Any chub this year? Why the difference in one year do you think?[/quote]
Several thoughts.
First. Last year the bucket (reservoir) was completely full of fish. It had been drawn down to roughly 13% of capacity for 3 winters in a row. All of the fish were competing for food. The chubs thrive under those conditions, and the trout struggle. Hence the UDWR stopped planting Rainbow Trout, and watched thousands of Cutthroat Trout starve. Many people commented that the Cutthroat looked like shoelaces, or Auschwitz victims. There is roughly 5 times the amount of water in Scofield this year compared to last. If the number of fish stayed the same, there is a whole lot more elbow room, and less competition for food. Some of it depends on what people are using for bait, or to tip their jigs. If you want to catch chubs, you'd probably do better with worms or nightcrawlers. And you might need to fish in areas that don't have as many trout. When there's not much water, everything is crammed together. When there's plenty of water, the chubs might want to be in the shallows and the weeds.
Second. Thousands of chubs shied away from the colder runoff and were swept over the dam. (Before the UDWR installed the control). I doubt that enough of them went over the dam to cause the population to crash. There were certainly enough left in the reservoir to spawn. Unless they've got enough predators to control the population of chubs, they'll spawn again and again, and we'll be right back where we've been for the last 17 years.
Third. Tiger Muskies will do quite well in Scofield. They'll eat chubs or trout... whichever swims in front of their noses when they're hungry. They won't do much to reduce the chubs, but they will be well fed.
Fourth. Has anyone seen a Wiper yet? I'll be surprised if they don't die before it warms up enough for them to start feeding well.
Time will tell. Tiger Muskies haven't proven to be too effective at reducing populations of their prey in any other waters in Utah. Maybe they'll put enough in to have that effect. But to think it happened in 7 or 8 months is being rather optimistic. Especially when it took Walleye almost 20 years in Starvation.
[red]⫸[/red][orange]<{[/orange][yellow]{{[/yellow][green]{{[/green][size 4][blue]⦇[/blue][/size][blue]°[/blue][#8000FF]>[/#8000FF]
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Several thoughts.
First. Last year the bucket (reservoir) was completely full of fish. It had been drawn down to roughly 13% of capacity for 3 winters in a row. All of the fish were competing for food. The chubs thrive under those conditions, and the trout struggle. Hence the UDWR stopped planting Rainbow Trout, and watched thousands of Cutthroat Trout starve. Many people commented that the Cutthroat looked like shoelaces, or Auschwitz victims. There is roughly 5 times the amount of water in Scofield this year compared to last. If the number of fish stayed the same, there is a whole lot more elbow room, and less competition for food. Some of it depends on what people are using for bait, or to tip their jigs. If you want to catch chubs, you'd probably do better with worms or nightcrawlers. And you might need to fish in areas that don't have as many trout. When there's not much water, everything is crammed together. When there's plenty of water, the chubs might want to be in the shallows and the weeds.
Second. Thousands of chubs shied away from the colder runoff and were swept over the dam. (Before the UDWR installed the control). I doubt that enough of them went over the dam to cause the population to crash. There were certainly enough left in the reservoir to spawn. Unless they've got enough predators to control the population of chubs, they'll spawn again and again, and we'll be right back where we've been for the last 17 years.
Third. Tiger Muskies will do quite well in Scofield. They'll eat chubs or trout... whichever swims in front of their noses when they're hungry. They won't do much to reduce the chubs, but they will be well fed.
Fourth. Has anyone seen a Wiper yet? I'll be surprised if they don't die before it warms up enough for them to start feeding well.
Time will tell. Tiger Muskies haven't proven to be too effective at reducing populations of their prey in any other waters in Utah. Maybe they'll put enough in to have that effect. But to think it happened in 7 or 8 months is being rather optimistic. Especially when it took Walleye almost 20 years in Starvation.
[red]⫸[/red][orange]<{[/orange][yellow]{{[/yellow][green]{{[/green][size 4][blue]⦇[/blue][/size][blue]°[/blue][#8000FF]>[/#8000FF]
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