01-16-2014, 05:32 PM
[quote RyanCreek] and Yuba also offers them a great food source in the way of carp. Yuba pike are not stunted like they are in Redmond,[/quote]
Much of what you have said I agree with; however, I want to make a couple points relating to the above quote: The size of northern pike that actually consume carp will vary with the seasons. Carp are usually only a primary component in the diets of small northern pike during the summer months when juvenile carp are present. On the flip side, large pike will utilize carp throughout the year including the winter months. Generally speaking, the only carp consumed by small pike are little young of the year carp that measure less than 4 inches in length. But, in winter the carp that are consumed are greater than 4 inches and usually greater than 8 inches.
The problem you get with carp being a major food source for pike is that since they are only available for a short window of time, the small pike struggle to find food sources except for that time period when small carp are available. This will dramatically slow their growth throughout most of the year. In Yuba, as the population of pike grows and the number of small pike utilizing that small carp food source grows, growth will also slow. And, the number of pike converting to a larger carp diet during winter will also slow...and eventually you end up with a stunted population like Redmond.
So, the question is how do you avoid this from happening? Some are suggesting that we protect the large fish...and harvest only the small fish. It is true that by protecting those large fish you will have increased predation of carp; it is also true that by protecting them you assure that they remain in the reservoir. The question is whether or not this will help the fishery maintain and grow a large number of big predators and sport fish. With slowed growth rates in smaller pike because their primary food source is only available during the summer, fewer pike are going to reach sizes where they can utilize carp year round, and eventually the pike that are already big will be gone and you will have nothing to replace them!
Personally, I think the key is eliminating as many pike as possible to help increase the growth rates of the smaller pike. The reason we have big pike in Yuba now is because the pike had a head start on the other fish in the reservoir. This head start resulted in fast growth rates....as the reservoirs proverbial bucket, though, has filled the growth rates are undoubtedly slowing down. We need to harvest pike in order to get those growth rates high enough that small pike are converting to larger sizes of carp as a food source and are utilizing those fish year round.
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Much of what you have said I agree with; however, I want to make a couple points relating to the above quote: The size of northern pike that actually consume carp will vary with the seasons. Carp are usually only a primary component in the diets of small northern pike during the summer months when juvenile carp are present. On the flip side, large pike will utilize carp throughout the year including the winter months. Generally speaking, the only carp consumed by small pike are little young of the year carp that measure less than 4 inches in length. But, in winter the carp that are consumed are greater than 4 inches and usually greater than 8 inches.
The problem you get with carp being a major food source for pike is that since they are only available for a short window of time, the small pike struggle to find food sources except for that time period when small carp are available. This will dramatically slow their growth throughout most of the year. In Yuba, as the population of pike grows and the number of small pike utilizing that small carp food source grows, growth will also slow. And, the number of pike converting to a larger carp diet during winter will also slow...and eventually you end up with a stunted population like Redmond.
So, the question is how do you avoid this from happening? Some are suggesting that we protect the large fish...and harvest only the small fish. It is true that by protecting those large fish you will have increased predation of carp; it is also true that by protecting them you assure that they remain in the reservoir. The question is whether or not this will help the fishery maintain and grow a large number of big predators and sport fish. With slowed growth rates in smaller pike because their primary food source is only available during the summer, fewer pike are going to reach sizes where they can utilize carp year round, and eventually the pike that are already big will be gone and you will have nothing to replace them!
Personally, I think the key is eliminating as many pike as possible to help increase the growth rates of the smaller pike. The reason we have big pike in Yuba now is because the pike had a head start on the other fish in the reservoir. This head start resulted in fast growth rates....as the reservoirs proverbial bucket, though, has filled the growth rates are undoubtedly slowing down. We need to harvest pike in order to get those growth rates high enough that small pike are converting to larger sizes of carp as a food source and are utilizing those fish year round.
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