I can’t seem to get it to work…don’t know why.
Day two report has been posted. Check OutdoorsGoneWild.com for the report.
I don’t know if brown trout live that long, but look at the few lake trout that were just caught a little while back and those fish were way old. something to think about. later chuck
There has been complaining about how Utah doesn’t have fisheries with monster fish. After witnessing this gill net study, and hearing the results of the gill net studies at Deer Creek…I am convinced that the DWR is doing a fantastic job of fish managment with the budget they are allotted.
What were the results of the Deer Creek gill net study???
I couldn’t seem to find the day two report?
I made a better link on the main page to the day two report. You can view with the below link too.
http://outdoorsgonewild.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=152
Result didn’t show any Walleyes but alot of areas in the lake didn’t get netted.
HOLY CRAP!!! Nice work, Cliff and CBR! Thanks for sharing. Craig, I think I’m going up there for my birthday (next Wed. the 11th.). I had a feeling that there were probably some big browns in there (even though I’ve never caught a big one in there) but 21 pounds??? HOLY CRAP! THat is awesome news! With the amazing variety (and size) of fish in Lake X, I think It may become my favorite Utah Lake. Too bad there’s so many damn water skiers on it in the summer, though!
Yes, Lake Trout (Mackinaw’s) do REALLY live longer than browns, and any other member of the Trout family. From watching Doogie Miller’s show a couple of weeks ago he mentioned on his brain teazer segment that Mackinaw’s are NOT in fact members of the Trout family, but actually members of the CHAR family (which have a longer life span than trout). I didn’t know this info before that. Really surprised me. I always thought Macks were members of the trout family.
Lake trout do live a lot longer than the other trout species. As far as them being from the char family, I don’t know but it is plausable. I researched this topic a lot when we started catching big fish at bear lake. Bear Lake is a completely different fishery than Flaming George and the fish grow at a much slower rate. I have spoke to two biologists on the lake who told me that they believe that the lake still contains lakers from the first planting well over 20 years ago. This is one reason that not one of the big lakers that I have caught out of there has come home with me. I just can’t justify keeping a 20-30 year old fish for nothing more than a trophy-they typically don’t taste good.
This is a Laker that I caught last year. It was tagged, but the tag was so old and was rotting out of the skin that I could not even read any numbers or other info from it. Jake
I hate to burst any bubbles but many of the huge brown trout can live over ten years.
Look at the word AVERAGE: It means: Common, fair, mediocre, middle, normal, ordinary, so-so, standard, usual.
Average age means: middle range of age. Not the longest lived or shortest lived.
The average age for example means that you take, lets say 100 fish 60 percent die before one year either due to predation, disease, or other natural causes, another 20 percent die by 3 years again by predation, disease or other natural causes, but the last 20 percent will live to 20 years old, That last 20 percent will be your trophy fish.
The brown trout (Salmo trutta ) is a salmonid and is also known as German brown trout, German trout, Lochleven trout, or European brown trout.
**Brown trout, a European relative **of the Atlantic salmon, arrived in North America as early as 1883. These resourceful fish managed well in degraded habitats no longer suitable for brook and other trout.
At the same time, the browns proved they could grow faster and live longer than the other kinds of trout. Their reputation as a wary fish that tends to feed at dusk or night may account in part for their durability.
Brown trout are among the wariest of fish,so fishermen are the adult brown’s chief predator.
The largest brown trout ever taken was hooked recently in Arkansas,weighing just over 40 pounds.
Juvenile trout live on insects and grubs, but when a brown trout reaches about 12" in length it can change diets. At that size it can catch and eat other fish up to half its own length. Such a sizeable meal is rich in protein and may require less effort to obtain. As a result trout which discover this food source soon pack on the weight. Growth curves which may have been gentle can now explode.
Egg development is dependent on water temperature. If the water is cold, development is slow. Water temperatures govern development of the fry. Cold water slows their growth. It can take 2 years for the fingerlings to turn into trout, and it may be 3-5 years before the fish are a takeable size.
Brown trout can grow to be quite large. Fish weighing up to 68 lbs have been recorded in Europe. Typically they range 5-7 lb.
Brown trout live up to 14 years and can spend as long as 9 years in the sea.
It is highly unlikey that even with an unrestricted food supply, a trout will ever get to be 21 pounds at 6 to 8 years of age.
The food + age all have to be porportional…
Average age is ordinary age, middle of the road age.
Contact the DWR and they will give you a copy of the Deer Creek report. The reports are public. Or even better, go with them and see for yourself, it is an eye opener… They could use the help to pull the nets and count the fish…
This years as told to me, by the DWR this last week, said no perch were found in the Deer Creek gill net study and the walleye were thin and long, The trout were still in good shape, and perch remains were found in the stomach contents. The fish were as large as those in Jordanelle…
Thanks bassrods, I just couldn’t beleve a trout could grow that fast in a resevoir. later chuck
Thank you Bassrods and Paul for the firsthand reports. They were very informative. Since I am sitting here at home watching my Saturday off get rained out[:(], what better diversion than to “talk” about the results on one of our favorite spots. (or opine, blather, babble etc.)
- Lots of chubs found, but no young ones. The lack of young chubs means that they aren’t going to take over the lake and be a problem like down south. The predators are keeping them in check. They are an asset to the smallies and browns and not a threat to the bow fishery. Good!
- No walleye in the nets. (BTW, has anyone heard from Paul? I hope he is OK[;)].) The stories of a huge population explosion of eyes eating all of the forage are greatly exaggerated. Good! (IMO)
- Fewer perch. I assume that is based on comparison to previous years net results. The less successful recruitment from last year may be positive too. If the perch are impacting the smallie reproduction, a drop in the numbers is positive. It was also the idea of the 50 fish limit? Since there aren’t a huge number of eyes gobbling up the perch, it is reasonable to assume that the fewer “young of year” perch are caused by the low water levels impacting fry survivability. The few of us that fished the X on the hard deck this winter can attest that there are still a very large number of perch in there to feed the big predators and us. Additionally, higher water levels will improve perch spawning success this year. So, all-in-all, that net finding isn’t bad either.
- Those trout! Gravy! I hope a few of them have a taste for smallie lures this year.
Bottom line, it looks like we will have a great year at the X! Hey look, it is breaking up outside, maybe I can hit the water after all[:)]. Tight lines.
Has this lake got your attention yet? If not…
Update…per Richard Hepworth, DWR. That Brownie at the Nelle was actually 33 inches long. He quoted the wrong measurement to me on the 5th.
Wow…you all know what that means…
I don’t have to say it…but I will…just so it’s perfectly clear…
We seem to have a potential NEW State record C&R Brown Trout still swimming in Jordanelle…and up for grabs.
Thanks Fische for the information on the standing state record that was caught in 2001 in Jordanelle. That alone is incentive enough to go after those lunkers still lurking in the deep.
Sorry didn’t get this in earlier, but got busy getting ready for my next tournament.
Tight lines…
I’ve had several requests as to where the nets were placed. See information over on the other web site.
Good luck…tight lines.
Doggonefishin,
Ha I’m ok, just been very busy with taking care of my mom on her birthday and taking care of both my wife and both moms on mothers day. It’s been a long weekend plus I’ve had to work over the weekend at the hospital.
I am still waiting for the report from Richard Hepworth which will include his opinions on the state of the X.
Bassrod, I knew it was 33 inches long as I was two feet from Richard when he measured it. Still it’s a whoppin’ fatty big fish!!!
As for the nets… I’ve had reservations about the nets, but we need to realize that the placements of the net is not just for walleyes only. It’s to catch all kinds of baitfish and their predators for the studies. This is perfectly ok with me because most baitfish swim the shoreline shallows or shoreline shallows with drop-offs. DWR is being very consistent and clear on their intent.
However, I am sure if they wanted to spend more time and money (which they don’t really have) at this time of the year, they could do gillnetting of waters more than 40 feet deep and see what’s there.
However at this time of the year with water being cold, it would not do well to do the standard gillnetting, but if DWR would come back in June/July, (which I am sure they will) they would find walleyes in their shallow nets, I absolutely guarantee you that there are walleyes in there right now.
There are some small evidence pointing to their existence, from my observance of DWR’s recordkeeping of their gillnet studies.
-
We are missing a few year-class perch. Most of the perch we gillnetted were very small arounds 3-5 inches long. Where are the older ones? The mystery deepens… however I observed the cutting of the browns and rainbows, their food did include tiny perch in their stomach contents. Still doesn’t account for the larger perch (6-11 inches which were non-existant on the day 1 results).
-
We didn’t see any tiny baby smallies in the nets either… (shouldn’t have said this)
-
We didn’t see any tiny baby chubs either…
-
I observed on one of the nets, there was a giant hole in it which looked like it got shredded by something with teeth trying to escape…
Uh oh… Richard Hepworth did tell me on the boat that last time they did gillnetting, they had one huge monster walleye in their net…
The mystery deepens… and it ain’t no loch ness but a monster nonetheless.
I’m gonna wait for Hepworth’s mail and will keep you posted on whether my suspicions rests my case…
Here are some highlights from the 2 days of gill netting @ Jordanelle Reservoir.
I was talking to my dad about this over the weekend at his house, and he mentioned that he says he caught what he swore was a walleye out of Jordanelle last fall from his canoe. They were catching perch and a couple tiny smallies, when he brought in a 6 or 7 inch fish that at first just looked like another perch, but when he got it closer, he said it totally looked like a baby walleye!! He’s been fishing for 40 + years and is the one that taught me how to distinguish between different species, so I trust what he says. He said he was quite surprised to get a walleye out of there but there you have it. This was on the Rock Cliff side at the end of summer or early fall.
same place and about the same time of year i caught a litte 8" eye while chasin some smallies. no doubt it was an eye. i too thought at first it was a perch but when i got it to my tube i was rather shocked i had an eye. even showed it to some other fishermen just for some second opinions and we all agreed it werent no perch!!!
This is just in! I got the 2nd day report and opinion from DWR Central region. Those guys know their stuff and they did not go to USU for nothing. They are the fishery biologists for the state. I respect their position and knowledge. The things I have already known was also confirmed true or otherwise by Richard Hepworth.
This is what his letter to me had to say.
“The netting went good on friday. We did not get any more bass and no walleye. We did however continue to catch more nice brown trout. The nets also had a lot of perch and chubs. It looks like our perch population may have started to level off. One thing I want to stress with you is that the reason we still have such large browns and a good smallmouth bass fishery is because we do NOT have very many walleye. I KNOW there are some in there and realize that someday the walleye population will probably take over the lake. But it will cause the loss of a world class smallmouth fishery and the loss of the brown trout you witnessed last week”.
With that said, I did notice a leveling off of the perch population (year class is missing) and no baby bass in the nets. Jordanelle’s very deep water up to 260 feet with its craggy bottom structures making for lots of neat places for fish to hang out, and my sonor does go off like crazy and I see many many big fish down there.
I would give anything to gillnet down that deep and see what’s actually down there… I mean it my sonar really goes off its rocker when I pass over a certain area of Rockcliff’s mouth of the canyon, and it shows huge fish, but have never caught anything big that deep. I suspect those huge fish whatever they might be, are feeding off the year class perch and baby bass…