**Hey Roger, I do not pretend to know everything that is behind decisions made by DWR. But, I do have several good friends and acquaintances within the Division and I have been able to sit in on some presentations with charts graphs and diagrams of what has occured with Strawberry over the years. **
In the olden days, Strawberry was a mishmash of species…several species of trout and lots of “rough fish”. Trout that survived the bigguns and outcompeted the chubs and other nontrout species sometimes grew BIG. That is what a lot of us like to remember. But, if we are honest, we have to admit that the bigguns were rare. Much more common for folks to take home a cooler full of planter bows, with few over 15 inches.
I was around during the first big poisoning project in the fall of '61. Tons of dead fish floating on the surface and an amazing variety. Surprising that any trout could live there.
I was living out of state when they joined Strawberry and Soldier Creek and did the second big mass poisoning. But, I closely followed the progress of the recovery. As expected, the lake exploded with rapid fish growth and great angler success…until the chubs came back. Chubs outcompete most trout for food resources and raid the nests of trout that spawn. Bad chubs.
The decision to heavily stock Bear Lake Strain cutts, and to establish a slot limit, was a well planned effort to put a hurtin’ on the minnows…both redsides and chubs. A positive side benefit was that it also produced some humongous cutts in a short period of time. Those under the 22 inch slot were plentiful and easy to catch. The big ones were not as common, but they made your day whenver you hung one.
The charts and graphs showed that before the slot limit, there were VERY FEW fish caught in Strawberry that were over 3 years old or longer than about 19". In the third year after the slot regulations were put into place, netting surveys showed remarkably high numbers of fish over 20 inches and an amazing number over 25 inches. The bigger ones had been almost nonexistent in previous netting surveys.
With the increased number of big ol’ meat eatin’ cutts, DWR had to rethink their rainbow and koke planting strategies. Instead of planting 4" fingerlings…CUTT CHOW…they had to plant larger rainbows to escape MOST of the bigger fish. As you have observed, even a 12 inch rainbow is not safe from the biggest fish in the lake. But, a lot more of them moved out to the open lake, fed well on zooplankton and grew larger fast enough to have a high survival rate.
Last year was the first year for mass planting of larger bows. If it continues, Strawberry should evolve into a much better rainbow fishery with less focus on the cutts. Right now, a rainbow is considered a prize, because of their relative rarity. But, for many trollers this last year the small bows were almost a pest. They won’t be pests this next year, now that they are getting some shoulders. And, the survivors from this year will be chunky 5 pounders by next year. I don’t know many serious fishermen who don’t get excited about catching numbers of 5 pound rainbows.
**There are still pockets where the chubs seem to be hanging in there, but overall the “minnow” population of Strawberry has plummeted. The cutts have done what they were supposed to do…almost too well. Us guys who like to use minnows used to be able to get several days worth of bait at Strawberry with one cast net throw near the marina. Now you have to really look to find enough minnows to make it worth setting a trap or throwing a cast net. **
Since the chubs have been knocked down a few pegs, there is no reason to plant tigers…other than as a diversity in the species available. I suspect that they would do okay, but are not needed to “bat cleanup”. Ditto for browns. Used to be a few bigguns come out of there every year. Still see one once in awhile. Also used to be some nice brookies in Strawberry. Haven’t heard of any for a long time.
How’s this for a BRIEF reply?
[fishin]