08-01-2010, 04:02 PM
The Magic valley is a poor place for catfishing. I can tell you all that I have spent a great deal of time going after them and have had limited success. I don’t conceder my self to be a great cat fisherman but I do ok in Western Idaho.The fact is we need our voices to be heard. The F&G needs to understand that we want catfishing opportunity in the Magic Valley. I work in a trout hatchery. We turn all of our trout into females so they look better for the meat market. Those fish are sterile fish that cannot reproduce. It is my opinion that the catfish the F&G buys from Leo Rays catfish farm are sterile cats. They are planted in several locations all over Idaho and NONE of them in any location will reproduce on their own. In lake Lowell there is no Natural reproduction. But in the river a couple of miles away there IS natural reproduction. I have had endless talks with F&G and Idaho Power on the subject of catfishing in Southern Idaho. Water temp and elevation is always to blame for the lack of reproduction. The Idaho Power people to be honest have no idea where the cats are that they plant. They dump 20,000 cats a year into Milner and nothing to show for it. The fact is catfish reproduce in areas with water temps in the mid 70’s and a LOT of areas have cats that are higher in elevation. I have made endless cases to prove that cats could naturally reproduce if we had viable breeding stock. Some things I would like to see.
#1- I would like to see channel cats caught in the Brownlee area brought into Milner, and Lower Salmon falls in Hagerman. Not just a hand full, I mean let’s bring in a couple of thousand 5 to 8 pound breeding cats into each area for several years to try to get a base.
#2- I would like to see Flatheads brought in and planted into both areas. Flatheads are predators and would help to reduce the Pikeminnow and carp populations. The river from Minadoka to Hagerman is mostly thought of as a waste of time. There are a few areas of semi decent trout fishing but not many and nothing like it used to be 20 to 30 years ago. Some good areas for bass but for the most part are stunted. And Sturgeon are ok in a few areas. Flatheads would reduce the trash fish and also thin some of the bass to allow the others to get a little bigger.
#3- if cats are bought we should get them from a source that we know for a fact that they are fertile. The farm we get them from now has a vested interest in selling us sterile fish. If he sold us fertile fish we would no longer need him.
# 4- Limits need to be put in place on Magic Valley catfish. We have a limited resource, why do we have an unlimited harvest? Either length limits or harvest limits need to be put into place. If we transplant a bunch of breeders from Brownlee we need limits in place for a while to protect them so they can become established.
It is funny. We had a F&G meeting here in the Magic valley a little while back it was called a fish fry. They served Crappie, and catfish neither of which can be caught in our area with any regularity. I have been told in the past that what people want in the magic Valley is Walleye, trout and bass. I don’t believe that to be true. If it is why did they serve Catfish instead of trout? The fact is it takes a catfish 10 years to get to 21” in Idaho for the most part. We will never have a good population of breeding catfish until someone in the F&G really wants it to happen. Until then we will have to travel to the western side of the state to find good catfishing. What we can do for now is call the F&G office in Jerome. Let them know that the catfish program in the Magic Valley is NOT meeting expectations. We want better catfishing and we want naturally reproducing fish planted into our waters. The man to call is Doug Megargle at the Jerome F&G, 208-324-4350.
I also asked them to plant crappie into both milner and Lower salmon falls. If you want this to happen you need to call and let him know. Ron
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