No more Perch in Trout lakes

[Penner]

Originally Posted by DoUCWhatIC

Penner,

You have made some great points and I commend you on your patience. Some individuals are completely ignorant to this issue but seem compelled to provide unproductive and often attacking commentary. I suppose that is just reality on a public forum. Eat your soup with a fork if you want!!!

I appreciate the comments. I don't think anyone involved in this discussion has been ignorant, to me at least. It’s been a good passionate discussion. Nothing wrong with that. As long as HPF stays clear we should all be good.

P.S. Apparently you can eat/drink “Chunky” with a fork or spoon but I can hardly get that crap down the gullet. Yuk!

[McLeod]

But again , why is it that you can keep some Perch from some stocked Trout lakes but then a few miles down the road you won't be able to keep any perch from a stocked lake?
This is what makes no sense to me.

[Morph1]

Sorry for my attitude in the previous posts ,
but to me what makes no sense is that most of the pot holes are already stocked with the illegal fish, how will this procedure benefit those lakes ??
I mean if there is some future sort of plan lets hear it all .

Cheers !

[gpguy7]

#3 We must find away to discourage people from fishing for perch. If they cant fish for them, they wont want to become amature bioligists

I tend to disagree with this comment, most people like to fish for perch, even in the summer months I'll CnR the perch all day long. In my opinion it's just more fun to jig for a perch than to use a bobber and worm for a little rainbow.

Yes the illegal stocking of perch has and will continue to ruin trout stocked lakes. The only lake I've ever witnessed with both of them existing side by side is Sardine Lake near Drayton Valley. and I think the only reason they do is because the pond gets winter killed each year. And this pond I believe is illegally stocked with perch as well.

I'm not sure if the new regs will help at all, but something has to be done to stop this.

[DoUCWhatIC]

SRD has a complicated plan to deal with affected waters. Each waterbody will be assessed individually. Some will be chemically treated. Some will be drained (where possible). Some will be subject to forced winterkill attempts. Some will be netted. Some won't be salvaged at all. It obviously won't happen overnight! Unsuccessful attempts have and are expected to occur. At least there is a commitment to try to tackle the issue!

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by McLeod

But again , why is it that you can keep some Perch from some stocked Trout lakes but then a few miles down the road you won't be able to keep any perch from a stocked lake?
This is what makes no sense to me.

Problem has been in removing perch only to have someone restock. The new regs should help and with the new regs come new punishment like having to "pay" for the fixing of the vandalism...which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars...and maybe millions. That liability should scare even the stupidest of the bunch.

GPGUY7...I find it really hard to believe that you would prefer to catch and release 4 inch perch all day then 12 inch or bigger rainbows all day. Studies and actual lakes have proven that the new 1 over 20 rainbow regs have drastically improved the sporting nature of fisheries. Unfortunately until the perch are removed...pot hole lakes that could benefit from this new management regulation will have to wait. I find at Lake Sundance that people are super excited to "learn" how to catch 4-6 inch perch. They come back once or twice more and then it is a waste of their time. While some people would rather catch something than watch TV...most likely 99% of people would say no thanks...there is paint to watch dry instead.

There is a solution to this problem and that is for someone to come forth and turn in their buddy. I strongly suspect this is being done by a very, very small number of people. Education is also a key so having it drummed into people's head the shear stupidity of the act of illegal perch stocking may hopefully finally get through to the right guys.

[gpguy7]

Sundance, I'm not saying I like to catch 4 inch perch. I said I prefer to catch perch over a stocked rainbow. Being up in Grande Prairie we don't have the issue of 4 inch perch, and stunted growth like down south. There's nothing wrong with catching trout, but up here there isn't a lot of fishing in the area and it seems like stocked trout is getting old. Hopefully that clears it up.

I don't agree with the illegal stocking, I was just stating I prefer to catch an 11 inch perch over an 11 inch rainbow.

[addicted]

maybe a more positive option could be netting the perch and transplanting them to other lakes in the areas that naturally have perch popullations , but could use a boost from fresh stock. If you think about it alot of these perch could then reach a really nice size and contribute to increasing good populations in some lakes that in recent years you just don't see or catch as readlily. Like my dad tells me of years back at wabamun where guys would be lined up on the dock shoulder to shoulder catching perch. They would and could be a very good asset to have in these lakes to boost popullations of other game fish walleye, pike, burbot, even whites.

Just a thought

"maybe a more positive option could be netting the perch and transplanting them to other lakes in the areas that naturally have perch popullations , but could use a boost from fresh stock. If you think about it alot of these perch could then reach a really nice size and contribute to increasing good populations in some lakes that in recent years you just don't see or catch as readlily. Like my dad tells me of years back at wabamun where guys would be lined up on the dock shoulder to shoulder catching perch. They would and could be a very good asset to have in these lakes to boost popullations of other game fish walleye, pike, burbot, even whites.

Just a thought"


Sounds good in theory but it comes down to cost and effectiveness. Trying to remove perch with non-lethal methods (traps/nets/angling etc) costs a ton of money and needs to be done very frequently (likely every year). Draining a lake or poisoning with rotenone (or both) is very expensive and controversial, not a method thats easily utilized anymore. I know there's lakes that would really benefit from perch stockings (at least to feed the pike and walleye) but then other factors come into play as well. More species in a lake make management more time consuming and expensive (or so the story goes). Spreading parasites and disease also makes the government hesitant to move fish around in many situations.
Removing every fish from a large waterbody without draining or poison is next to impossible, even if you have millions of dollars to spend on crews of netters to work for months straight its tough.
I really like the new regulation, at least it's worth a try. Some lakes are obviously just being accepted for what they are, and a perch limit of 15 remains. There's just no removing perch from lakes like Cow where the surface area and weed density make it so tough to cover the entire thing. I still think stocking brown trout instead of rainbows in some of the illegally stocked lakes would be another good idea but i don't think the money is there to give it a try (browns, especially big ones will eat a lot of other fish).

[shedcrazy]

I think it is worth a try...Hopefully it will protect the lakes that do not have perch in them yet. Most of my favorite trout lakes do not have perch in them yet and I hope this regulation change will help. Too many times people only think of the lakes they know and there are many that do not have perch in them yet. It is too late already for the lakes that are illegally stocked. Sorry but fishing pressure alone will not wipe out the perch in lakes like Hasse.

It is not our fisheries managers that illegally stocked these lakes so the real idiots are these guys. Sorry but I disagree with the statements to take management of fisheries away from fishery biologists and let fisherman do the management. Some of these same fisherman are the reason we have this problem.

Fishery and wildlife management do need more money (habitat improvement, COs, stocking, surveying, etc) so let's do our part and let our government reps know that...That is how we will better manage our lakes and wildlife for the future.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by gpguy7

Sundance, I'm not saying I like to catch 4 inch perch. I said I prefer to catch perch over a stocked rainbow. Being up in Grande Prairie we don't have the issue of 4 inch perch, and stunted growth like down south. There's nothing wrong with catching trout, but up here there isn't a lot of fishing in the area and it seems like stocked trout is getting old. Hopefully that clears it up.

I don't agree with the illegal stocking, I was just stating I prefer to catch an 11 inch perch over an 11 inch rainbow.

The point is that in the context given (ie. illegal perch stocking in a trout lake)...such perch while they may grow big for a short time...soon they stunt and all you have is 4 inch perch. It is that short sighted nature of the idiots that do these stockings... They ruin one fishery after another and then they die and our kids are left with useless fisheries. I understand your interest in catching 11 inch perch but putting it into perspective would you want to catch 4 inch perch instead of 11 inch trout? I don't think you would.

Therefore you have to understand the problem and see the logic in a solution. You have to stop the cancerous spread of illegal perch. Perch in a pike, walleye, burbot, whitefish lake are natural and controlled by mother nature.

Problems with lack of perch in natural populations is over exploitation and poor management. That issue is another topic all together.


jrs...I agree. Transplanting live fish is fraught with peril. That is why stocking is conducted from a controlled hatchery most times and with eggs that have only been in the hatchery. I believe one rare live fish transfer was browns from the Bow into the Red Deer.