05-24-2016, 04:18 PM
[#0000FF]There is another consideration. In the lakes of the east and midwest where they have added artificial structure, the lake levels are generally fairly constant. It is not practical to put that pricey stuff in a lake like Jordanelle that rises and falls many feet on an annual basis...and you never know where the water levels are going to be at spawning time. It is different every year.
I lived quite a while in Arizona and observed their efforts to add plastic trees and other structure in some of their lakes...also dammed impoundments, subject to seasonal drawdowns. In the years when water levels were up, they did indeed provide structure. But in other years they were ugly green trash on a dry lake bottom...subject to vandalism and theft. Knowing the Utah crowd, the artificial structure would be burned or end up in someone's backyard the first time the water level dropped below where the stuff had been planted.
Bottom line...a great idea in theory. In practice there are too many variables and go-wrong factors.
Another also...the lakes in Arizona are full of threadfin shad and there are never any stunting problems. To the contrary there are largemouths over 17 pounds and smallmouths about half that size. And big bluegills...and catfish...and even walleyes. Oh yeah, lots of crappies between 2 and 3 pounds and getting over 4. And down there there are no size restrictions so plenty of larger fish leave the lakes with no visible effect on populations or size.
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I lived quite a while in Arizona and observed their efforts to add plastic trees and other structure in some of their lakes...also dammed impoundments, subject to seasonal drawdowns. In the years when water levels were up, they did indeed provide structure. But in other years they were ugly green trash on a dry lake bottom...subject to vandalism and theft. Knowing the Utah crowd, the artificial structure would be burned or end up in someone's backyard the first time the water level dropped below where the stuff had been planted.
Bottom line...a great idea in theory. In practice there are too many variables and go-wrong factors.
Another also...the lakes in Arizona are full of threadfin shad and there are never any stunting problems. To the contrary there are largemouths over 17 pounds and smallmouths about half that size. And big bluegills...and catfish...and even walleyes. Oh yeah, lots of crappies between 2 and 3 pounds and getting over 4. And down there there are no size restrictions so plenty of larger fish leave the lakes with no visible effect on populations or size.
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