Illegally stocked fish in a community lake.
 

Hi,
I am hoping someone can help, I live in a new neighborhood in SE Calgary (Mahogany). The lake is not yet complete, when the lake is complete our community is going to stock it with trout(next summer). I am on the lake pretty much everyday, except I have been away for the last 5 day for work. Anyway when I was on the lake last night it has appeared someone took it upon themselves(within the last 5 days) to introduce perch and a few other species) into the lake. I know all it could take is a bucket to ruin the lake. Granted perch are fun to catch, but no other fish species will be able to survive as perch like to feed on smaller fish (ie. stock trout, etc). Is there anything I or the community can do before it gets out of hand???

Trout wont be stock untill next summer IF the lake will be complete(who knows), I figure it wont be untill 2014. By then the fish that were put in there now will have taken over by then.

any ideas,??
thanks in advance,
MahoganyMan

I'd talk to an expert....

Give Lorne at Ackenberry Trout Farms a call. http://www.ackenberrytroutfarms.com/

Thx, I called and was givin some good info, I think I need to rig up a harpoon and pull out the snorkel gear!!

MM, got any pics?

I understand the problems with the whole bucket brigade transplants, but what i don't understand is when there is so much interest in perch or walleye, why stock with trout all the time. Couldn't some of these community , public, ponds and reservoirs be stocked with perch or walleye?

You are not allowed to stock perch or walleye...those are the government rules.

The perch population will explode in Mahogany unless the lake is drained or treated with rotenone. With no trout there presently you could try using small mesh sized seine nets to get rid of the perch. At Sundance lake, we use 4 fyke nets to control perch. We just try to keep the perch numbers down a bit so there is enough food left over to support some growth for the trout and the remaining perch.

It would be great to charge the bucket stockers with a huge vandalism fine. I'm sure the housing developer would be ****ed to know their plan for a trout lake for the residents has been ruined.

You could let us go to fish your lake, you wont have any fish within couple days. :)

Get in touch with Sundancefisher here on the forum and check out a few of his posts/pics. He's been working hard on area lake to get rid of the perch and stock trout.

You say perch and a few other species.

Did you catch any of these fish?

Could you be more specific.

I too live in mahogany
 

Mr. Mahogany man I too live in mahogany and someone has grossly misinformed you the lakes date if completion is not till 2017 and they are not looking to stick the lake till the following year!! I bought my house in mahogany in 2009 thinking I would b fishing every nite by now!!!!! The mahogany homeowners assoc. has jerked me around all these years about dates and now that I've got my answer I'm ****ed... I would have built in chestermere had I known that!! My girls will b all grown up by then and fit the next 6 years me and u get to pay for the building of thus lake!!! I am putting my house up for sale because if this and although I am not a law breaker I commend the person who did this ( I warned the mahogany hoa this would happen if they didn't put trout in fast) ........ NOT ALL is lost here buddy perch will not destroy the trout population yes it's unwanted because of stunting and competition issue but this is an ecosystem like any other I have fished almost all the other Calgary lakes ( sundance, midnapore, bonuvista, and the trout thrive in all these lakes half the size. I personally watched a fly fisherman walk up to the bank at sundance and in less than 10 minutes catch and release a 5 and 8 lb fish. If u don't believe these " perch infested water keep trout good to to lake bonivista there is a nice restaurant on the lake and the cooks been feeding the trout for years throw a chunk of bread in and enjoy the pig show.. In the mean time I'm moving outta town by a river where there is no homeowner assoc. to keep me from fishing been waiting for 3 years to fish MY community lake and would have to wait another 6 years.... By the way I can back this all up and give you the contact info to check my story... Good luck while you stay here just a tip for you thought in about three years those perch will b jumbos so take the opportunity to harvest if you can ( :( I almost wanna stay just for that) Happy fishing everyone

I'll bring the camera and snorkle gear tonight and try.
Developer has been contacted.
That's our plan of action so far!!

Thank you
I seen a perch or a really small walleye, 6". Then at least 5 fish rise, all at the northwest side of the lake.



Thank you for taking time to reply.
MM

Perch
 

Btw.... The reason I was told they will not stock the lake till 2018 is because this is gonna b a huge lake and only a portion is complete the other section is separated and when they break the dam all the fish will die... I suggested there is a community if fisherman in mahogany that would b willing to " salvage these fish but u just got excusess so if this is true the perch present prob. Won't survive... But rest assured it only takes one idiot in a lakes lifetime to introduce perch. But as far as I'm concerned mahogany isn't prepared to stock the lake at all !!. Here's why I believe this I have been fighting over this for 2 and half years and after the first year they kept telling me they were not going to stock it because of some fancy filter on the lake they won all these awards for ... So then after a year they changed it to a dated thing and since then the dates have gotten more and more distant with each passin hoa meeting.. And I dunno about u but I could fish on a log in the middle of that lake but I didn't move here single... I moved here with a wife who love fishing like me and 2 girls we want to teach our passion to. And how do I take my 2 small girls out fishing on this lake ( if it was stocked ) with my only options of watercraft being a paddle boat or paddle board ?? The only dutiable boat for me to take my girls out in is their rescue boat?!?! All the other community's have small aluminum row boats that would b perfect! Like I said I could and would love to fish off all the "modern " option they have but MY KIDS!!! If I go fishing alone it's not gonna b in a Calgary community lake!! Unless I got no time to boogie somewhere decent. Sorry to bring the drama but like u said I've been stewing on this for years... I'm easy to please ... Let me fish

The only reason (OK 95% of the time) there are fish over 5lb in these community lakes where there is perch present today is because they were stocked at that size. Sundance lake stocked fished at 3-6lb and then the next fall fish at 6-12lb were stocked. That was about 3.5yr ago. Try and find a fish over 6-7lb today. You can watch these big fish lose weight month by month since the perch have devoured most of the scuds and other large invertebrates in the lake. Prior to perch introductions the trout could actually grow at a reasonable rate. Growth rates are significantly reduced with perch bellies around.

Perch in the new lake will grow well initially to a good size, and then they will stunt to 4-5" with no predators around. Not much to eat on a 4"er.

Talk with the experts on the board.
Sundancefisher / Badback

Or got any proof...

Could the fish have gotten in when water was added? I know around Lethbridge that the water in some of the community ponds is brought in from canals which are linked to other water systems and there are many other species that get into the lakes other then the stocked fish.

If they pulled water from another water source then I could see some fish getting through and starting a population in your community lake.

This is true...

Speaking of which, you know that pike pond I was telling you about Nate? Apparently it gets stocked with trout now every year... Little do they realize that as soon as the trout get in there, the pike have full stomachs... ><

how abought stock something like brookies or browns that will prey on the perch. just a thought. like NP said the fish were probably in the water used to fill the lake as small walleye do not travel well.

Can they eat the perch? My understanding was that trout can't eat perch because of their spines and only walleye and pike can eat them.

I've seen browns back in the uk feeding on small perch like a bait ball. I lost a big brookie on lake nippigon that took a small perch I had hooked,many years ago. they will feed on perch to a size of say 6" or less. they luv sculpins a fish much better protected than a perch. I am of the understanding rainbows other than gerrard shy away from schooling fish.

The lake was filled by letting a fire hydrant run for months ... I don't dispute the fact perch don't do any benefit to the trout but I deffinatrly don't believe in poisoning a lake to kill everything and start over .... I think this is a no brainier poison in our lake not a good idea and when I fish sundance ( as recent as last year) I consistently see big fish now weather that is because of your friends diligent effort or not I dunno but I see the same thing in like I said bonivista, bonavrnture, mckenzie, so...??? And for the record when I fish sundance I noticed a sign basically stating the rule was to dispatch of all perch caught...? I dunno about u guys and I'm no tree hugger but I don't believe anyone can make me kill a fish I don't intend on eating ... Say what u want but every sucker or small perch in a community lake goes directly back to the ecosystem it came from! I fish for sport and occasionally for the harvest .

And for the record ( if u believe anything they say) the mahogany hoa said that when the other 2 sections of the lake are complete the lake will b drained as the dam is disassembled and the whole lake will b refilled ( that's why I was told they won't put rainbows in now)..... So walla perch are gone..... But who r we kidding we are never gonna exterminate perch from community lakes lets get creative on enhancing the ecosystem..... Worth checking out:---- Darrel cronzy owned a private pond on his land he has worked on for years to develop different sub ecosystems he's got like 10 different species in there

Surely GoldScud, SundanceFisher, and BadBack know what they are talking about. As they've been fighting to reverse the damage done by perch on lake Sundance. From the look of things at Sundance, they will always have perch, it now comes down to population control so that not all stomachs will go hungry.

Sad to see another good possibility ruined by the introduction of perch. Although if 4" perch is your cup of tea, and all you want to do is fish, regardless of size, then I can foresee a very popular kids' fishing spot.

In time, Fishnafterwork too might come to be selective after landing only 4" perch on every cast. Maybe, in time, someone will discretely thank the bridgade for the perch, and ask if they can also dump a couple buckets of muskies into Mahogany. :sEm_oops2::medium-smiley-035:

I have learned to appreciate the 4" fish as much as the bug ones but yes u make valid points I do not want to c that lake taken over by stunted perch.... Best case the mahogany lake will c this as I am gonna fwd it to them and they put in some rainbows ..... Then when they drain it the community of fishermen can do a salvage before the refill and the restock will b only trout....( c how long that lasts...... And about the musky ya why not I like the idea now ur thinking outside the box add a bunch of various sized structure and " hiding" places and while yr at it lets add some walleye whitefish pike and dare I say a bass.... Why is it so crazy to think its out there in nature naturally but we believe one fish will ruin everything .... I still have my doubts but let it b clear I do not agree with illegal stocking!!!!! And thanks for the spirit ogre I love the passion for fish it's what makes Alberta the best place to freely fish

It's not that the perch are "unwanted" in Sundance, it's that they are wayyyy overpopulating and eating almost all of the food in the lake. With the netting, they are seeing more bigger fish, and less stunting. So it's obvious we need to control the perch population to maintain a healthy lake

and Goldscud...

Well it was a busy one at the lake today, and I managed to sneak away for a quick snorkel. People swimming was bringing up silt making it hard to see the bottom. I continued out in the lake further and I found no fish. I did manage to find Tiger salamanders which to me may look similar to a perch when in the water. I am not sure if these salamanders rise like fish but these guy's may have been what I saw. I seen five salamanders in total, each one was between 8-12" from nose to tip of the tail. Bulky little buggers too!! I am going to snorkle the part of the lake where I seen the fish when it clears up, but hopefully thats what I saw paddleboarding the other night...

If the HOA is going to drain the lake before breaking the dam, we should be able to go for a bonk off when the water drained?

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attac...1&d=1341894355http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attac...2&d=1341894373
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attac...1&d=1341894392

Very cool. You may see those salamanders sitting head up in the water and darting down when you approach.

This appears doubly good, as there are salamanders, and hopefully, no fish.

Like I mentioned before, a minnow trap may be an effective method to find possible fishies.

Yea, no fish so far!!, fingers crossed. Pretty amazing down in the lake already too, I seen plenty of shrimp and other creatures that fish will have a hayday with. I kinda though a snorkle in the lake may be boring, in fact it was fun and I can't wait to go back out...deep too which is great for the monsters!!