11-15-2004, 04:46 AM
I am a little concerned about this. If they can eat a lot of the kokanee and plankton (kokanee forage base) that would hurt the lake trout. However I wouldn't worry about it that much. The CDOW doesn't know what they are talking about when it comes to much of anything. They make a mockery of fisheries management and are the laughing stock among organizations.
Blue Mesa has tons of rainbows, though because again of faulty management, most run small, under 5 pounds. Though there are bigger ones that that, they are few and far between. But with all the rainbows that are stocked and naturally occur in the system, they will help make a dent in the perch population as rainbows love young perch or any baitfish they can catch. The browns eat them as well and so do the lakers. The CDOW also does not like lake trout. They really don't like any large predators. But they do like rainbows and browns, even though they too are large predators. Lake trout and kokanee live in harmony and for Sherman Heibein and others to blame lake trout for smaller kokanee runs is just an attempt to cover their butts. They don't do much of anything right.
Tyler
[signature]
Blue Mesa has tons of rainbows, though because again of faulty management, most run small, under 5 pounds. Though there are bigger ones that that, they are few and far between. But with all the rainbows that are stocked and naturally occur in the system, they will help make a dent in the perch population as rainbows love young perch or any baitfish they can catch. The browns eat them as well and so do the lakers. The CDOW also does not like lake trout. They really don't like any large predators. But they do like rainbows and browns, even though they too are large predators. Lake trout and kokanee live in harmony and for Sherman Heibein and others to blame lake trout for smaller kokanee runs is just an attempt to cover their butts. They don't do much of anything right.
Tyler
[signature]