05-11-2006, 03:10 PM
Gshorthair did do an excellent job in explaining the ecological pyramid. I find it interesting that both the walleye guys and the Hepps praise what was said but have markedly different outlooks on this subject.
PBH, you are absolutely right about the perch in Fish Lake. Mantua will probably be the same. Perch are an ecological disaster in any lake that has large areas of permanent aquatic vegatation and relatively stable water levels. There are several lake in Utah that I pray never have perch show up in them. There is a contrast though between lakes like Fish Lake and Mantua and the bathtub public reservoirs where perch are currently managed. These have little to no permanent aquatic vegetation, major fluctuations in water level, lots of "non-native" predators, little structure, and lots of fishing pressure, especially during ice season. The fish also are subjet to numerous natural die-offs, all of which offset the negative impact perch can exert. I fail to believe the DWR would go to the great effort in re-establishing a perch population (Yuba) or preserving an existing one through special regs (Deer Creek) if they viewed them as a universal evil for all situations as you portray them. Now back to Jordanelle. While it currently does have more vegetation than the "mature" reservoirs, it is subject to significant draw downs, (the drawdown of 2004 slammed the young-of-year perch) and has those non native predators and the natural die offs to exert some control over the numbers. You say that when the predators (smallies) are eating other predators (perch) the system will fail. Stomach content analysis and angler observation clearly show that this has ALREADY been taking place for some time and the smallies #1 food in there is already perch. The success of the smallie fishery there speaks for itself that the relationship has been a good one for the bass up to now. The other thing asserted was that chubs can serve as a good forage for the non-native predatory fish such as smallies and eyes. In the 70's, the DWR had an underachieving trout fishery that was full of chubs. They planted smallies and eyes in the hope that they would utilize the chubs and have a stable fishery. The predators ate through the chubs quickly and now the chubs are pretty much gone and the predators are stunted. That lake is appropriately named Starvation.
The truth is Jordanelle will inevitably decline into the "average" category as a fishery, as the flooded woody vegetation rots away. This happens in every new lake as it matures. It will happen whether the dominant forage is perch, chubs, or both. When it does there will be a legion of anglers that will wrongly blame the DWR, harvesting, no harvesting, perch, predators, the governor, and conspiracy theories for it.
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PBH, you are absolutely right about the perch in Fish Lake. Mantua will probably be the same. Perch are an ecological disaster in any lake that has large areas of permanent aquatic vegatation and relatively stable water levels. There are several lake in Utah that I pray never have perch show up in them. There is a contrast though between lakes like Fish Lake and Mantua and the bathtub public reservoirs where perch are currently managed. These have little to no permanent aquatic vegetation, major fluctuations in water level, lots of "non-native" predators, little structure, and lots of fishing pressure, especially during ice season. The fish also are subjet to numerous natural die-offs, all of which offset the negative impact perch can exert. I fail to believe the DWR would go to the great effort in re-establishing a perch population (Yuba) or preserving an existing one through special regs (Deer Creek) if they viewed them as a universal evil for all situations as you portray them. Now back to Jordanelle. While it currently does have more vegetation than the "mature" reservoirs, it is subject to significant draw downs, (the drawdown of 2004 slammed the young-of-year perch) and has those non native predators and the natural die offs to exert some control over the numbers. You say that when the predators (smallies) are eating other predators (perch) the system will fail. Stomach content analysis and angler observation clearly show that this has ALREADY been taking place for some time and the smallies #1 food in there is already perch. The success of the smallie fishery there speaks for itself that the relationship has been a good one for the bass up to now. The other thing asserted was that chubs can serve as a good forage for the non-native predatory fish such as smallies and eyes. In the 70's, the DWR had an underachieving trout fishery that was full of chubs. They planted smallies and eyes in the hope that they would utilize the chubs and have a stable fishery. The predators ate through the chubs quickly and now the chubs are pretty much gone and the predators are stunted. That lake is appropriately named Starvation.
The truth is Jordanelle will inevitably decline into the "average" category as a fishery, as the flooded woody vegetation rots away. This happens in every new lake as it matures. It will happen whether the dominant forage is perch, chubs, or both. When it does there will be a legion of anglers that will wrongly blame the DWR, harvesting, no harvesting, perch, predators, the governor, and conspiracy theories for it.
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