Quote:
Originally Posted by 59whiskers
All trout lakes that are stocked should be catch and keep fisheries. That could take pressure off native fish in streams on the east slopes. Seen lots of winter kill fish wasted over decades in the spring time on many stocked trout lakes in Alberta.
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The winterkill is a fair point. On lakes that fish are likely to survive the winter, I do believe that reduced harvest regulations can be a good thing. I may be in the minority, but a stocked lake that's catch and keep and fish rarely survive to grow bigger than 12 inches before being harvested will not steer me away from fishing a stream with native trout, but a stocked lake with reduced harvest regulations that regularly grows 20+ inch trout will definitely draw me to fish there instead of a stream with native trout.
Also, what do we need to classify as wasted stocked trout? Stocked trout that are harvested at 10 inches the first time they're caught definitely aren't wasted. At the same time, I don't believe we should just call 24 inch trout that die in winterkill wasted simply because they don't get eaten - they have provided entertainment to several anglers, whether through being caught multiple times or simply by drawing anglers to pursue them in the lakes they inhibit.