ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH

[jopes]

Was there more kokanee stocked in alcova last year?

[WGFFishBio]

Was there more kokanee stocked in alcova last year?

Just took a look and according to our database, 16,000 kokanee were stocked in Alcova in 2015.

[jopes]

Just took a look and according to our database, 16,000 kokanee were stocked in Alcova in 2015.

Thank You

[WGFFishBio]

What fish are being stocked in area#4 reservoirs?

Response from the Green River supervisor.

Most area #4 reservoirs are stocked with trout, a few are stocked with Kokanee salmon.  Depending on the reservoir and the management goals we routinely stock one or more of the following: rainbow trout, Bear River cutthroat trout, Snake River cutthroat trout, Colorado River cutthroat trout or tiger trout.  We also stock Kokanee salmon in Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Fontenelle Reservoir and High Savery Reservoir.

[WGFFishBio]

And what happened to small mouth in Bridger pond?

Response from Green River supervisor.

As you may know, the smallmouth bass were doing quite well in Jim Bridger Pond following their introduction to help control the numbers of white suckers in the pond.  Unfortunately burbot gained access to the pond from the Green River through the pipeline that fills the pond.  Following introduction burbot spawned and the population increased rapidly.  Recent netting operation have documented some of the highest catch rates we have seen in local reservoirs.  As with the Flaming Gorge smallmouth population I suspect the smallmouth population in Jim Bridger Pond has succumb to burbot predation.

[WGFFishBio]

Does Wyoming have any restrictions for using a combination of beads and spinners above the hook, on the leader section of a tip-up line? 

In 2014 there were GF notices regarding bead placement in relation to a hook, but I recall that was viewed as a snagging technique, has a formal decision been made on that as well?

Example of tip-up leaders:

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

Your setups look fine by me. The use of beads and spinners are legal. The issue with "beading" was the bead was above a bare hook and the fish did not "voluntarily take the hook into its mouth", thus a method for snagging. As long as you are not snagging, you are fine. Thanks. And sorry for the delay in response.

[gemcityslayer]

How many tiger trout were stocked in Woodruff Narrows reservoir?  Are they going to be stocked annually?  I recently moved across the state for work and I'll be giving this body of water a shot... looking forward to catching some tigers in there.

[mark d.]

Well they poisoned Bridger pond to remove walleye that not one single person would have complained about catching. Are there plane's of poisoning out the ling and restocking the bass in Bridger pond?

[mark d.]

Game and fish should consider making trot lines legal in the green river system for ling only. Would that be a possibility?

[gemcityslayer]

Game and fish should consider making trot lines legal in the green river system for ling only. Would that be a possibility?

I would love to hear the answer to this one as well.  I'm afraid I know what they are going to say, they will be against it.  Just like they are against the idea of using perch for bait.  Utah allows trotlines (15 hooks max) and they charge a small fee for the license.  Seems to me like a good way to generate a little more revenue for the G/F.  They are probably afraid too many trout will get gut-hooked.  The advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion though.  Would be sweet if our G/F department had an email address or something where anglers could submit ideas and proposals for changing regs or adding new regs.

[mark d.]

I would love to hear the answer to this one as well.  I'm afraid I know what they are going to say, they will be against it.  Just like they are against the idea of using perch for bait.  Utah allows trotlines (15 hooks max) and they charge a small fee for the license.  Seems to me like a good way to generate a little more revenue for the G/F.  They are probably afraid too many trout will get gut-hooked.  The advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion though.  Would be sweet if our G/F department had an email address or something where anglers could submit ideas and proposals for changing regs or adding new regs.

 


A store bought trot line normally comes with twenty five hooks and circle hooks would eliminate almost all gut hooked fish. Sure would be a way to knock back the ling numbers...

[mark d.]

Well they poisoned Bridger pond to remove walleye that not one single person would have complained about catching. Are there plane's of poisoning out the ling and restocking the bass in Bridger pond?

[lippy]

dumb question never used a trotline but how do they work vertically with 15 or 20 hooks wouldn't most of your hooks be up in the water column?   

[mark d.]

dumb question never used a trotline but how do they work vertically with 15 or 20 hooks wouldn't most of your hooks be up in the water column?

Used horizontal after ice out as close to bottom as possible without snagging

[gemcityslayer]

dumb question never used a trotline but how do they work vertically with 15 or 20 hooks wouldn't most of your hooks be up in the water column?

I don't think anyone would use them for ice fishing....vertically they wouldn't work very good for targeting ling....

When people use them for catfish they set them off the shore and you put a weight down at the very end and maybe a couple between to keep the baits closer to the bottom.  I really don't know why they are illegal here there are a couple lakes I can think of that would be really fun to trotline fish... (Glendo / Grayrocks?)  Same thing goes for jug lines?  I don't see the reason for banning them either.  Again, would be pretty fun to set 2-3 at night before you go to bed and see what you catch in the morning. 

[Special]

Question to the Game and Fish.

We are starting to get the state wide minnows. Very nice and good size. I was under the assumption that everywhere I was purchasing state wide they were the medium size minnows. Well after asking and looking into the minnows they are the large minnows, 2- 2.5 inches average. A good minnow but come spring I'm looking for 3-5 inch minnow. I've understand from conversations among the Bait Dealers they can buy a bigger minnow from the Arkansas hatchery to sell but not cleared by the game and fish. Big minnows big fish!!!! Come spring I can catch a 3 plus. cub or shiner/flat head sucker. But doing so I'm restricted to my region. State can be available anywhere. Is there anyway that you could grant the dealers to purchase a cub or X that can have some size.  Like the state just want a bigger minnow. What say you?

[WGFFishBio]

Question to the Game and Fish.

We are starting to get the state wide minnows. Very nice and good size. I was under the assumption that everywhere I was purchasing state wide they were the medium size minnows. Well after asking and looking into the minnows they are the large minnows, 2- 2.5 inches average. A good minnow but come spring I'm looking for 3-5 inch minnow. I've understand from conversations among the Bait Dealers they can buy a bigger minnow from the Arkansas hatchery to sell but not cleared by the game and fish. Big minnows big fish!!!! Come spring I can catch a 3 plus. cub or shiner/flat head sucker. But doing so I'm restricted to my region. State can be available anywhere. Is there anyway that you could grant the dealers to purchase a cub or X that can have some size.  Like the state just want a bigger minnow. What say you?

At this point, the only minnow allowed for import into Wyoming from the hatchery in Arkansas is fathead minnows. Minnow dealers can import small, medium, and large fatheads. Some of the large fatheads that I've seen have been about 3 inches. The other two species that the hatchery in Arkansas raises for sales are golden shiners and a fish called the black salty. These are not approved for import into Wyoming. If a larger minnow like a creek chub is what you desire, your best bet would be to find a dealer in the region in where you want to fish to supply you with minnows. Or, as you mentioned above, stay in the region where you captured them with you seining/trapping license.

[mark d.]

[WGFFishBio]

How many tiger trout were stocked in Woodruff Narrows reservoir?  Are they going to be stocked annually?  I recently moved across the state for work and I'll be giving this body of water a shot... looking forward to catching some tigers in there.

Reply from the Green River supervisor. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department started stocking tiger trout into Woodruff Reservoir in 2014.  The current plan is to stock 10,000 three inch tiger trout annually for the next few years.  Every year or two we will evaluate the trout population with gill nets.  If the tiger trout return well in the gill nets and they return well to anglers stocking will continue.  If they not perform well stocking will be eliminated.
 
One of the challenges all stocked trout have had in Woodruff Reservoir is winter reservoir elevations.  In recent decades the reservoir is typically drawn down to low levels by fall and the water levels remains low through the winter.  The low reservoir levels through fall and winter have resulted in low overwinter survival of stocked trout.

[WGFFishBio]

Well they poisoned Bridger pond to remove walleye that not one single person would have complained about catching. Are there plane's of poisoning out the ling and restocking the bass in Bridger pond?

Response from the Green River supervisor. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has no plans to chemically treat Jim Bridger Pond to remove burbot.  Burbot were illegally introduced into the Green River drainage at several locations during the late 1980s and 1990s (best guess).  Burbot spread throughout the drainage rapidly.  Burbot first gained access to Jim Bridger Pond prior to the 2014 treatment via the intake that fills the pond from the Green River.  All fish, including the burbot, in Jim Bridger Pond were killed during the 2004 chemical treatment.  A few short years following the 2004 chemical treatment burbot re-established in Jim Bridger Pond via the intake from the Green River.  The population has built since then.
 
The Green River fisheries crew has had some success reducing burbot numbers in Jim Bridger pond through experimental netting operations.  Jim Bridger pond is uniquely suited for such efforts given its small size and the habitat features in the reservoir.  The fish crew will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of using nets to reduce the number of burbot and their impact on the fisheries in Jim Bridger Pond.
 
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has no plans to stock bass in Jim Bridger Pond.

[WGFFishBio]

Game and fish should consider making trot lines legal in the green river system for ling only. Would that be a possibility?

Response from the Green River supervisor.  The Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources have experimented with trot lines and evaluated their effectiveness on burbot.  When we have tried trot lines for burbot, both in the Green River and in Flaming Gorge Reservoir the by-catch of trout exceeded the number of burbot caught.  Given that trot lines are likely to catch more non-target species than burbot it is unlikely the Department would propose legalizing trot lines for burbot.

[mark d.]

Thanks for the reply

[mark d.]

Response from the Green River supervisor.  The Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources have experimented with trot lines and evaluated their effectiveness on burbot.  When we have tried trot lines for burbot, both in the Green River and in Flaming Gorge Reservoir the by-catch of trout exceeded the number of burbot caught.  Given that trot lines are likely to catch more non-target species than burbot it is unlikely the Department would propose legalizing trot lines for burbot.

Is there a natural predator that would reduce their numbers ?  With the numbers of burbot in the green river system I'm in the belief they are here to stay... What are the future goals, plan's or whatever?

[WGFFishBio]

Is there a natural predator that would reduce their numbers ?  With the numbers of burbot in the green river system I'm in the belief they are here to stay... What are the future goals, plan's or whatever?

Response from the Green River supervisor. In fact lake trout and smallmouth bass co-evolved with burbot in their native range.  At some point the biological controls that help keep burbot in check in their native range will start helping control burbot numbers in Flaming Gorge.  We are increasingly seeing burbot in the stomachs of lake trout and smallmouth bass.  We are even seeing increasing levels of cannibalism among burbot as they deplete their food resources.

The WGFD has worked diligently since the illegal introduction of burbot west of the continental divide to modify regulation allowing for maximum exploitation of burbot by anglers.  Burbot were reclassified as a non-game species west of the continental divide.  Harvest is unlimited with a must kill regulation in place.  We now allow the use of artificial light while fishing, including while underwater spear fishing for non-game species.  We also spend considerable time educating people about the consequences of illegal introductions.  Burbot is a classic case study of the ecological consequences of illegal introductions.

The Green River fisheries management crew for several years has been partnering with the sponsors of the Burbot Bash and the Burbot Classic on Flaming Gorge Reservoir during the winter.  We hope to partner with the sponsors of the La Barge Ding the Ling on Fontenelle Reservoir during the winter of 2017.  These derbies are a great opportunity to highlight the issue with illegally introduced species such as burbot, educate folks, and draw anglers to local waters to help remove burbot from the system.  Every burbot that is removed is a saving in sport fish.

We are continuing our efforts to research the life history of burbot in the Green River drainage with the goal of identifying one or more "Achilles Heels" in their life history that we can exploit.

[mark d.]

Thank you. I will be doing a little more night fishing to try and thin them out

[thirdeye]

A letter to the editor in the Casper Star Tribune on 2/20/16 mentions the possibility of raising the limit on walleye in Pathfinder Res in 2017.  Would you explain why this is under consideration?

[rbmchief]

A letter to the editor in the Casper Star Tribune on 2/20/16 mentions the possibility of raising the limit on walleye in Pathfinder Res in 2017.  Would you explain why this is under consideration?

And do you know when the public comment or meeting is in Casper?

[WGFFishBio]

A letter to the editor in the Casper Star Tribune on 2/20/16 mentions the possibility of raising the limit on walleye in Pathfinder Res in 2017.  Would you explain why this is under consideration?

Thanks for the question. This is the response from a Casper Regional Fisheries Biologist.

The Casper Region Fisheries Management Crew proposes raising the walleye limit from 6 to 12 fish at Pathfinder Reservoir as a means to return some balance between the trout and walleye fisheries.  We anticipate the effects of the regulation change to include a slowly reducing walleye population overall, and fewer very large walleye (greater than 24 inches) over 3-5 years.  Most importantly, we hope the regulation change would improve the survival of stocked rainbow trout, which is the goal of the proposal.  Increased survival of stocked trout is badly needed to reverse the substantial decline in trout fishing at Pathfinder over the last several years.  Trout fishing continues to be the most popular at Pathfinder despite complaints about poor fishing compared to years past. 

Walleye recruitment benefited tremendously from the high water years of 2010-2012 at Pathfinder and the growing population subsequently capitalized on the consistently abundant forage provided by stocked trout - to become the fishery it is today.  Walleye at Pathfinder display an atypical increase in their growth rate once they reach 18-20 inches - because they can begin exploiting the 9 inch stocked trout as forage.  Unfortunately, this scenario developed at the expense of the trout fishery.  Since 2013, rainbow trout catch rates during monitoring surveys declined by 43% and the late spring angler catch rate has declined 76%.  Therefore, we'd like to try to return the rainbow trout fishery to the prominence it once had at Pathfinder and we feel this can happen and still provide a fairly good walleye fishery as well. 

[WGFFishBio]

And do you know when the public comment or meeting is in Casper?

Meeting dates and times for public comment have not been determined as of yet. Regional crews are still working on proposals for regulation changes. Stay tuned to our website at https://wgfd.wyo.gov/ for more information. I will try to post meeting dates and times when they are announced as well.

[duckman111]

About when do the walleye spawn in buffalo bill res?