The truth is that those pups are sexually mature and reproducing too…remember, because of slow growth, many of those pups are older fish. You are right, though, in saying that harvest of even the bigger fish will help.
If the angler you encountered was Larry Tullis, he talks about this encounter in one of his books. He had named the cut “Slash.”
Maybe, maybe not.
“I was also under the impression that the Burbot were going to decimate the young laker population by eating the eggs, is that not happening?”
**I can’t provide a definitive answer on that one. But I have sent a PM to Ryno…our member who lives on the Gorge and can probably address that question. Hopefully he will review our posts and supply the real info we need.
Removing some of the breeders from the pool would seem to be a good move in reducing the spawning population. But, as has been pointed out, there are a lot of the smaller macks that are already sexually mature and spawning too.
It is ironic that when burbot first showed up in the Gorge the anguished cries of the mack pack were that the lake was doomed. Now we have a surplus of macks. Some problems are preferable to others. I’m sure that the overall ecology has changed for both better and worser…depending on your personal point of view.
Flaming Gorge has gone through several big changes since I first fished it in the 1970s. The lake was overrun with chubs then…and had a plentiful supply of mega brown trout that lived off the chubs…producing a still-standing state record of just over 31 pounds. There were also some bodacious 'bows…like the 26# kamloops strain caught by a Colorado float tuber on a fly rod.
The chubs got slurped up by the smallies and other species and we no longer see big browns and bows. The fishing for macks and kokes are the mainstay of the lake these days…along with smallies, decent rainbows…and burbot.
Ya gotta wonder what’s next for that big pond.
**
I don’t know who he was and it would be really funny if it was him and he wrote about this incident. I CAN tell you that the way he carried on and the language he was using in front of my wife got him precariously close to being scuttled into that deep hole in the green river!
Mike
Ya gotta wonder what’s next for that big pond.
[/b][/#0000FF]
I totally agree, thing will change. It is possible that the Macks will learn to feed on the burbot, and provide a food source.
You just never know. I know a lake in Montana where the best Rainbow and Brown fishing is the year after the Burbot have a good spawn.
You just never know for sure. Managing a fishery is an art form, not a science.
**I don’t think any lakewide percentage studies have been done, but there have definitely been “burb-ettes” in the innards of macks. Ditto for smallies. Smallies eat burbs and burbs eat smallies. What a system.
**
“If you have a boat, a half-way decent sonar, and an electric motor, the small lakers are all over the lake.”
I got waders, a homemade kayak, and a plumb-bob on a string. That leave me totally out? That’s why I love ice fishing…I can walk as far as the next guy.
The catch and keep stigma is definitely an issue, but anyone that wants to see more/bigger lake trout should TEACH the next guy how to catch some little ones. Take a kid with you next trip AND his dad, take your ward buddy, or your neighbor, help the guy at the next hole refine his technique. Invite a guy from this site who has never been or never been successful, etc…spread out on the ice by all means.
I know this flies in the face of established fisherman culture (keeping spots and techniques secret is a time-honored tradition), and I know in light of my previous post it might seem like I am “fishing” for an invite. Well, sure, and I have had invites I couldn’t take up on in the past, but it’s not just me.
I took three trips a year for three years awhile back trying to figure out the burbot and lakers, which I wanted to take home. Though I got an awful lot of help and advice on this site, from the biologists, at the burbot bash, etc.., I still caught nothing, but I did get made fun of by one of the popular kids on BFT for not catching any fish. My total hunting and fishing budget for the year might be as low as $500.00. With limited equipment, a 7 hour round trip, and at least $120.00 in gas and supplies every time (and that’s in my Suzuki.) I just can’t afford many other failed experiments.
AND, I know it’s not just me. This community is full of decent guys that know what they are doing, and decent guys that would LIKE to know what they are doing. Here is a resource that can stand the pressure.
If you want to win a battle, you might want more allies!
The kayak could work if you launched near where you were going to fish, and there’s many places pups stack up in easy paddling range, but without a sonar on it, you’ll be fishing for needles in a haystack. They hold in very specific areas for the most part, or roam open water where trollers can pick them up. Blind fishing is just tough. I’d never attempt it, even knowing the lake as well as I do. Wouldn’t even consider it. “Can’t catch 'em where they 'aint.” And even with the population boom, most of the 90 mile long lake is “where they ain’t” except for a straggler here and there.
I do know that shore anglers and others do catch multiple pups on most of their outings though. Check the facebook pages for Flaming Gorge ice fishing and other Flaming Gorge fishing groups. I’ve seen pictures there. As for tackle, a rod and reel with some tube jigs is pretty low budget. If you weren’t catching pup lakers through the ice, my strong guess is you just weren’t on 'em. (see can’t catch 'em where they aint.) Most people are saying they can’t keep from catching them! But they’re only fishing where the sonar says there’s fish. Paddle and hunt. Or, drill a hole and look. Repeat until the sonar lights up.
Zero for nine trips, to me, means a serious missing piece of the puzzle. Sonar? If that’s not it, and you’re sure you are where the fish are, right under you, then disregard this whole mess because its another puzzle piece.
Great discussion, thanks everyone, and Pat asked me to reply to some of the questions posed in this thread. I apologize for my delay, but hope I can provide some insight. Sorry if I miss some too.
Springbuck (and others)- I recognize the issues with catching lake trout, and I’m still a student after fishing and working on the Gorge for 11-years. I consider them a very moody fish and rate them closely to that of a walleye, where one day I’m catching and the next I’m not with no explanation of what changed. Their behavior has always fascinated me, and I would really love to know what “turns” a lake trout on. Having said all that, we repeatedly get questions from anglers about lake trout, burbot, etc angling techniques and always want to help. We try to do outreach and we’ve recently produced some documents that will hopefully help out on your next trip(s). Here’s a link to a few on the WGFD website.
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/…ing-Gorge-Management
Being icefishing season is rapidly approaching, here’s a link to a KSL Outdoors show we did last winter, about targeting small lake trout through the ice.
https://www.ksl.com/…ups-at-flaming-gorge
I know some of the other responders have provided some great suggestions on how to target pups, but hopefully these resources will help you out too.
Tubedude and Troll- Unfortunately, we rarely see burbot in lake trout stomachs, or any other sport fish for that matter. Yes, it does occur, but not as much as I would hope. Ironically, we see more burbot in burbot stomachs than anything else. But that’s a good thing too!
A bioenergetics study completed on lake trout in Flaming Gorge in the mid 1990s showed that lake trout between 23-32 inches have the highest consumption rates for prey fish, including kokanee salmon and rainbow trout.
The current regulation allows for limited harvest of big fish >28-inches and that’s within an angler’s right. I personally don’t harvest fish greater than that being I prefer to eat pups and feel safe feeding them to my family and friends. Small lake trout are obviously more abundant, easier to catch, high in omega 3 fatty acids, but low in mercury content. Large lake trout are high in mercury due to their age and the bioaccumulation of toxins. I enjoy angling for big lakers, have no desire for skin mount, therefore I release the larger fish.
Small lake trout (<25-inches) are actually sexually mature in Flaming Gorge and obviously the most abundant, problematic component of the population. I’ve even seen sexually maturity in 12-14 inch lake trout.
6X7- Snagging is illegal in Utah, but only when the snagged or foul hooked fish is harvested can it be cited. Foul hooked fish should be immediately released as discussed on page 13 of the 2018 Fishing Guidebook. The gashes, marks, wounds, etc you see on lake trout could be a result of them getting foul hooked, but recognize that they can also occur without the intent to snag. For example, I fish for lake trout quite a bit and I have unintentionally foul hooked my fair share. I’ve even foul hooked them while trolling crankbaits. They are aggressive, long-lived predators but very “durable” relative to other fish species. A 30-40 year old fish in the Gorge has likely been caught several times and is going to usually have scars to show the years.
Hopefully I’ve filled in some of the informational gaps. Thanks a bunch everyone and Happy Holidays!
Ryno
**Thank you sir. We appreciate your excellent input.
Merry Christmas from the rest of us at BFT.
**
Maybe we could get a party buss going kind of like the ones that will take you to Wendover.
That would be a sight to see one of those making its way down into Lost Dog. [;)]
So . . . What to do? I have started a new thread so as not to congest this one, and for clarity. Please look for it, or click here: http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=1028753;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread
Maybe we could get a party buss going kind of like the ones that will take you to Wendover.
That would be a sight to see one of those making its way down into Lost Dog. [;)]
No. You don’t want one of those party buses…like they run to Wendover. Who wants a bunch of drunk old farts running around on the ice while you are trying to fish?
As long as we could get to catch and keep there limit of pups then all would be good.
If I could catch several of them a day over three days, And bottled them night that would be great but I would probably be over the possession limit. I just need know how to prepare them and how long to pressure cook them .
**Go to your fave search engine and plug in “canning trout”…or pressure cooking fish. There are lots of videos and web pages on the subject.
HERE’S A LINK from Yahoo
**