08-06-2019, 02:38 PM
Kent -- this discussion is showing why we disdain the perch so much.
The perch changed everything in Fish Lake. They, for the most part, have eliminated the chubs, which were the primary food source for Lake Trout.
Lake Trout will forage on insects and plankton until they reach ~24". At that point those fish must convert to a strictly pisciverous (fish) diet if they are to grow any bigger. If they convert they quickly grow to over 30". This is the bottleneck mentioned by wormandbobber.
Without the chubs, lake trout and splake struggle to get through this bottleneck, and thus the number of trophy lake trout is limited while the number of mature small (<24") lake trout is high.
For many years the stocking of rainbow trout was basically an expensive feeding program for those fish.
At the same time, due to a missing population of chubs - which are an open water plankton feeding fish -- there was a whole niche in Fish Lake that was not being utilized. Further, with better access to hatcheries producing kokanee than in the past, the availability of kokanee provides a good match to fill that niche, and at the same time provide better prey for lake trout and a sport fish opportunity to anglers.
You also mentioned the size of the splake today vs. in the past -- I think this is easily credited to stocking practices and the increased popularity of ice fishing. When splake were first introduced, and for the next 10 - 15 years, they didn't stock nearly as many as they have in more recent years. It's the same old analogy of "how many jelly beans can you put in a jar?". The answer depends on the size of the jelly beans. You can put in a few big jelly beans, or a whole bunch of small jelly beans. It all depends on whether you want quality or quantity.
Like wormandbobber, I feel optimistic about the direction that Fish Lake is heading, and that it's best days are yet to come.
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The perch changed everything in Fish Lake. They, for the most part, have eliminated the chubs, which were the primary food source for Lake Trout.
Lake Trout will forage on insects and plankton until they reach ~24". At that point those fish must convert to a strictly pisciverous (fish) diet if they are to grow any bigger. If they convert they quickly grow to over 30". This is the bottleneck mentioned by wormandbobber.
Without the chubs, lake trout and splake struggle to get through this bottleneck, and thus the number of trophy lake trout is limited while the number of mature small (<24") lake trout is high.
For many years the stocking of rainbow trout was basically an expensive feeding program for those fish.
At the same time, due to a missing population of chubs - which are an open water plankton feeding fish -- there was a whole niche in Fish Lake that was not being utilized. Further, with better access to hatcheries producing kokanee than in the past, the availability of kokanee provides a good match to fill that niche, and at the same time provide better prey for lake trout and a sport fish opportunity to anglers.
You also mentioned the size of the splake today vs. in the past -- I think this is easily credited to stocking practices and the increased popularity of ice fishing. When splake were first introduced, and for the next 10 - 15 years, they didn't stock nearly as many as they have in more recent years. It's the same old analogy of "how many jelly beans can you put in a jar?". The answer depends on the size of the jelly beans. You can put in a few big jelly beans, or a whole bunch of small jelly beans. It all depends on whether you want quality or quantity.
Like wormandbobber, I feel optimistic about the direction that Fish Lake is heading, and that it's best days are yet to come.
[signature]