Bull trout article

[fish-on-bend]

This story was in the March 4th Bend Bulletin. An interesting read about bull trout and kokanee populations.
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/NEWS0107/803040403/0/FRONTPAGE

[stupenny5]

Thank you for posting :)

[FallRiverGuy]

Thanks for posting that link Joe. When I talked to Ted Wise the other day he said the same thing. ODFW is being conservative with the Kokanee population because they don't know what effect the new fish passage will have on the Kokanee population due to out migration. They want to keep enough around to feed the bull trout. If the Chinook become established there will be another predator of Kokanee. So even thought it looks like the Kokanee population is higher this year, the catch limit will be reduced to provide a population buffer.

[Dullhook]

This is a very interesting article which answers a lot of questions. Thank you for sharing this information. I'd been wondering why they were considering cutting the koke limit to 5 in a natural reproduction water system since that usually results in more but smaller fish. This explains the reasoning very well.

As far as reestablishing a returning run of Sockeye from the ocean...it's sure worth a shot but with today's environmental and physical obstacles it would be a very:thisbig: long shot indeed!

[Jimmy]

"That’s because last fall, the number of bull trout spawning in the Metolius River dropped by more than a third, from 974 to 601. So the bull trout population now appears to be declining, following the pattern of its kokanee prey, he said."

"The kokanee population seems to be on a slight upswing now, he and Hodgson agreed."

"And, a previous study found that bull trout actually eat more insects than they do kokanee."

After reading the article I think mother nature will take care of itself. I hope they don't increase the catch of bull trout.

[fish-on-bend]

Jimmy-- Rick Arnold had a petition at his booth at the Redmond Sportsmans show. It was a proposal to make the bull trout harvest a slot limit. Up the limit to 2 from 12-24" and all over 24" must be released. I signed it. I catch way more in that slot size than I used to, but very few over 24" anymore. 3 years ago I hardly caught anything under 22."

[Davy]

I just hope that if the sockeye experiments are to "their" liking that the bull trout don't become a "casualty" for the sake of restoring the salmon runs. Since bull trout are "endangered" it sounds farfetched now, but down the road.....

[fish-on-bend]

I agree Dave, the science behind this is sketchy at best. Odds are pretty slim for either of these runs to re-establish themselves. On the other hand........what if?:pray:

[bwild]

I have mixed feelings on the qty of bulls being kept. I'd prefer it to keep the limit at one, but am not opposed to a slot limit.

But this also begs the question, is it just a cyclical thing? Food source up (i.e. Kokanee), then Predator up (i.e. Bull Trout). Food source down, predator down.

An experiment was done with elk in a controlled environment up in AK about 20 years ago on a small island. The population of elk kept increasing and increasing, until finally, they had eaten all the grass and browse. They then died off quickly, however, there was a small population that sustained itself and then increased again.

I too am kind of nervous when we start trying to play mother nature by introducing new runs of fish to see if they can get the old runs back. I think that idea was abolished the minute they put Round Butte Dam in. IMHO, since the bull trout are so predatory, I'm almost guessing it's not going to work. But like Joe said, "What if?" That scares the heck out of me.

[fish-on-bend]

And in the name of trying to return to "native species" then we must eliminate the kokanee, rainbows, and browns........and of course the smallmouth. We are long past the point of no return here.

[moknots]

And in the name of trying to return to "native species" then we must eliminate the kokanee, rainbows, and browns........and of course the smallmouth. We are long past the point of no return here.


Good point! At least they aren't trying to reintroduce wolves and grizzly bears, at tax payer expense!

[THE KIWANDA KID]

And in the name of trying to return to "native species" then we must eliminate the kokanee, rainbows, and browns........and of course the smallmouth. We are long past the point of no return here.

Joe you are so right. Pandoras box is now open. Things will be very interesting to say the least. I do hope for balance in all matters and with any luck there is good things to come. lets all just keep those fingers crossed. TKK

[Davy]

I didn't mean to sound negative, my fingers are indeed crossed and definently, "what if"? It would be cool if we could have it all, wouldn't it.?

I am new to the BT fishery there you all have shared with me and think it's unique and special and all that goes with it and just wish I had been in on it the last few years or more. Now,, to perhaps, see it go away, sadden's me. I just hope it doesn't.