Star Lake Status for Saturday April 2, 2011

[Paul C]

I went for a very early morning fish and it is sad to report that minnows are coming up the holes looking for oxygen. The holes further out from the boat launch have less activity.
Here is a photo I took before sunrise. I would like to ask any forum member to go out with a underwater camera to check the conditions under the ice in shallow and deep water. Then post your results.
Thx Paul C I hope those photos turn out to be positive.

[J-C]

At Hasse on wednesday near the island there were dead perch on the bottom. I think there was a partial winter kill there and it's in the area. Not sure about any other of the pothole lakes but it isn't looking very good.

[AxeMan]

Ya, that doesn't look so good Paul. It seems like it is shaping up to be a bad year for winter kill again.

[greylynx]

Paul:

Were those sticklebacks you pulled out?

One of the toughest fish in these parts.

[Jwood 456]

The governemnt should come up with a system where if they here that a lake is ready to winterkill, they can get out to the lake right away with oxygen trucks and pump oxygen into the lakes. I don't know if that would be feasible though.

[huntsfurfish]

Originally Posted by Jwood 456

The governemnt should come up with a system where if they here that a lake is ready to winterkill, they can get out to the lake right away with oxygen trucks and pump oxygen into the lakes. I don't know if that would be feasible though.

Expensive, and SRD has enough funding problems.

Long term could install aerators.

Cheaper to restock. (And many lakes get yearly stocking anyway).

Anyways, it is to bad that some winterkill/summer kill.

[Paul C]

Originally Posted by greylynx

Paul:

Were those sticklebacks you pulled out?

One of the toughest fish in these parts.

Those little minnows are not sticklebacks. That was my first concern.
Those hog rainbows I caught last year were full of minnows.

[Paul C]

Originally Posted by Jwood 456

The governemnt should come up with a system where if they here that a lake is ready to winterkill, they can get out to the lake right away with oxygen trucks and pump oxygen into the lakes. I don't know if that would be feasible though.

This is a good suggestion. About five years ago I phoned SRD and asked if they have short term solutions for putting oxygen back into a lake.
At that time Mr. Spencer ( biologist ) toyed with the idea of cutting holes and use a industrial air compresser to put air back into the lake.
But as stated this is not feasible and was shot down by senior management at srd.
I was impressed with his concern for the status of lakes in Alberta. I can only hope Star Lake will survive.
Paul C

[FishingFrenzy]

Winterkill/summerkill sucks..

How do lakes recover after winterkill? Do we lose the lake or does it just take a few years for the population to recover?

[Paul C]

Originally Posted by FishingFrenzy

Winterkill/summerkill sucks..

How do lakes recover after winterkill? Do we lose the lake or does it just take a few years for the population to recover?

If Star Lake has total winter kill it will take many years to recover those trophy rainbows.

[Dust1n]

LOL tha funny that they look like there going upstreem but all froze in. seroius matter though and theres alot of lakes with airraters it is just to costley.

[Penner]

Originally Posted by Fish Hunter7

LOL tha funny that they look like there going upstreem but all froze in. seroius matter though and theres alot of lakes with airraters it is just to costley.

Not all that uncommon for Star Lake. I believe roughly 6 years ago was the last time it had a complete winterkill which may seem awful at first but that winterkill also took care of all the illegally introduced Perch that were in Star Lake. It would be nice to see that happen to Hasse Lake!

[Tyangelo]

Hit up both Hasse and Star today. Agreed, minnows did not look like sticklebacks, but they sure filled the holes. Didnt see a thing. In Hasse, the water was ultra murky. Most places I could see much father than just past the flasher transducer! Didn't see a single fish.

[Drewski Canuck]

Seeing how expensive Rotenone is, and how the Province is not keen on treating certain lakes, perhaps a cheap way to ENHANCE Winterkill on some of our waters should be looked into. Mother Nature having done most of the work for us, if we could consume the rest of the oxygen in Edmonton Beach, Star, Hasse, etc, then restocking these trout lakes to make a return to the good old days would make sense. As I understand it, over a million dollars a lake would be needed for Rotenone. Surely, if we could collapse the lake under the ice when in late March the oxygen is dropping, the ground work could be set to return these lakes to quality fisheries that they once were.

Drewski

[sureshot]

Why does everyone have a hate on for perch, am I missing something?

Andy

[fishinggeek]

headed out to sauer and chicakoo. not a bite. others said no fish all day and seen a couple dead fish on the botton at chicakoo. not a good sign for all the trout ponds near edmonton.

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by sureshot

Why does everyone have a hate on for perch, am I missing something?

Andy

well its either trout / or anyother fish vs. perch and perch most of the time looses because they are a pest to some ppl and repopulate fast. i like erch but i think they should stalked in small ponds and the bigger lakes let the trout and anything other swim then u got a good chance of perch and a good chance of whatever else and you wont be full of hate when u get a perch

[Dust1n]

i like perch btw!

[Doc]

Originally Posted by sureshot

Why does everyone have a hate on for perch, am I missing something?

Andy

Nothing wrong with Perch unless they're in a stocked Rainbow Trout lake. Most Rainbows won't eat Perch because of the spines. Perch and Rainbows eat the same food and since Perch will continually reproduce and the trout can't without moving water, the Perch eat the trout out of house and home not only stunting the trout but stunting themselves. Without a predator like Pike to keep Perch populations under control, you'll be left with millions of tiny Perch.

Originally Posted by fishinggeek

headed out to sauer and chicakoo. not a bite. others said no fish all day and seen a couple dead fish on the botton at chicakoo. not a good sign for all the trout ponds near edmonton.

Chickakoo is known to winterkill most years, if we're hearing about dead fish at Hasse, it's almost a guarantee that Chickakoo is dead.

Originally Posted by FishingFrenzy

Winterkill/summerkill sucks..

How do lakes recover after winterkill? Do we lose the lake or does it just take a few years for the population to recover?

They stock the lake every spring and we just wait for the trout to grow again. Trout will grow a lot faster if there is a complete winterkill as now there is no competition for food.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by fishinggeek

headed out to sauer and chicakoo. not a bite. others said no fish all day and seen a couple dead fish on the botton at chicakoo. not a good sign for all the trout ponds near edmonton.

I'll add Peanut Lake to the list of known possible winter killed potholes. Let's see...........the lakes that I've heard of so far are Peanut, Morinville, Chicakoo, Hasse, Sauer and possibly Star. Did I miss any? Lake X is still okay though.

It might be worth starting a thread with a province wide list of known winter killed lakes.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by Doc

Nothing wrong with Perch unless they're in a stocked Rainbow Trout lake.

x2 There are plenty of lakes with nice eating sized perch in them if that's what you are fishing for. There's no need to put them into trout ponds/lakes where they'll stay small.

[Penner]

Originally Posted by Doc

Nothing wrong with Perch unless they're in a stocked Rainbow Trout lake. Most Rainbows won't eat Perch because of the spines. Perch and Rainbows eat the same food and since Perch will continually reproduce and the trout can't without moving water, the Perch eat the trout out of house and home not only stunting the trout but stunting themselves. Without a predator like Pike to keep Perch populations under control, you'll be left with millions of tiny Perch.

Chickakoo is known to winterkill most years, if we're hearing about dead fish at Hasse, it's almost a guarantee that Chickakoo is dead.

They stock the lake every spring and we just wait for the trout to grow again. Trout will grow a lot faster if there is a complete winterkill as now there is no competition for food.

Exactly.

[Garry B]

Originally Posted by J-C

At Hasse on wednesday near the island there were dead perch on the bottom. I think there was a partial winter kill there and it's in the area. Not sure about any other of the pothole lakes but it isn't looking very good.

Aside from the dead ones did you see any living ones? I'm guessing it will be 3-4 weeks before that lake sees any open water, so if there are any perch left alive they they will be fighting a race against time.

[J-C]

Not a single live fish on the camera. Drilled about 15 holes nothing but dead perch. Hopefully everything in there is dead.

[italk2u]

lesson to bucket brigaders...don't #$@& with mother nature.

[Garry B]

Originally Posted by J-C

Not a single live fish on the camera. Drilled about 15 holes nothing but dead perch. Hopefully everything in there is dead.

Wow, sounds like carnage for sure. Some IFs.

IF a more than a handful of perch survived in the deep basin they will reproduce and fill the lake again.

IF it is entirely dead there will be no fishing this year as FW had no plans for stocking it with trout because of the perch.

So as much fishing there as in a swimming pool. Sad.

[Paul C]

I spent time last year reading up on winter kill in small lakes. The research pointed out that there is never 100% total kill. Something usally survives. Perch have a higher resistance to low oxygen in the water. I can only hope star lake is spared from this.
On a lighter note Salters Lake had some nice size rainbows rising near the aerator last saturday.

[pipco]

Originally Posted by Paul C

On a lighter note Salters Lake had some nice size rainbows rising near the aerator last saturday.

Paul C,

We dragged the pontoons through the mud at Salter's two years ago and had some decent fishing. Do you think the water levels will be up at least a bit with the snowfall this year? I agree it would be a shame if Star winterkills.

Thanx,
stan

[Paul C]

Paul C,

We dragged the pontoons through the mud at Salter's two years ago and had some decent fishing. Do you think the water levels will be up at least a bit with the snowfall this year? I agree it would be a shame if Star winterkills.

Thanx,

stan
I think the water level will be higher there this year but only time will tell.
Last year the dock was sitting on mud. The area around the lake has had good snow fall.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by Garry B

Wow, sounds like carnage for sure. Some IFs.

IF a more than a handful of perch survived in the deep basin they will reproduce and fill the lake again.

IF it is entirely dead there will be no fishing this year as FW had no plans for stocking it with trout because of the perch.

So as much fishing there as in a swimming pool. Sad.

I wonder if SRD will rethink not stocking trout into lakes due to high populations of perch (ie Hasse & Peanut Lake) if the lakes have winter killed and the perch are gone? Or, will they just write them off as being perch lakes from now on and dump some perch in.