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Author Topic: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH  (Read 227340 times)

Offline chriswy

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #30 on: Jan 24, 2011, 02:05 PM »
My question is why are live bait fish only able to be used in certain waters. It seems that the majority are the only places where there are Walleye. Just curious to know what the reasoning is for area 4 which is pretty much Trout area that you cant use live minnows.

thanks,

chris

Offline WGFDFishBioLander

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #31 on: Jan 24, 2011, 05:40 PM »
Thank you for inviting us to participate in the IceShanty site.  We hope that we will be able to make some meaningful contributions and help answer questions regarding the biology and management of some of Wyoming's fishery resources.  The Lander Region of the WGFD includes the Wind River drainage from just below Boysen Reservoir upstream to the headwaters, excluding waters within the Wind River Reservation.  All three biologists who make up the Lander Fisheries Management Crew plan to participate under the WGFDFishBioLander login.  In this way we hope to be able to respond to questions in a timely manner. Thanks!!

Offline WYeyes

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #32 on: Jan 24, 2011, 05:47 PM »
Thank you for inviting us to participate in the IceShanty site.  We hope that we will be able to make some meaningful contributions and help answer questions regarding the biology and management of some of Wyoming's fishery resources.  The Lander Region of the WGFD includes the Wind River drainage from just below Boysen Reservoir upstream to the headwaters, excluding waters within the Wind River Reservation.  All three biologists who make up the Lander Fisheries Management Crew plan to participate under the WGFDFishBioLander login.  In this way we hope to be able to respond to questions in a timely manner. Thanks!!

Thanks for joining the site guys. Good to have you onboard.

Offline LT

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #33 on: Jan 24, 2011, 05:51 PM »
To all our newbie WY G&F guys, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you will find our open water site, MyFishingForum, owned by the same company as this, joining is simple, click on it and join using the same screen name etc you use here. We welcome you and invite you to migrate with us when we go there in the spring. Again, thanks. Don
                                                  Ye Olde recently Retired IS Mod :tipup:
         

Offline cspencer

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #34 on: Jan 24, 2011, 07:00 PM »
My question is, Are their living fish in twin buttes? whent and fished it today no luck herd they stocked it/
Work is for people who do not no how to fish

Offline jiga_guppy

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #35 on: Jan 24, 2011, 11:08 PM »
Question to the Sheridan Fish Bio. Is there methane gas in the Acme pond? Or any other thing that would make the fish unsafe to eat?
If you are going to cry be quick about it. Then get back to fishing.

Offline WGFDFishBioLander

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #36 on: Jan 25, 2011, 10:43 AM »
I have a question about Glendo,
Why does it seem like there is a smaller population of larger walleye in it? ( 24"- 32")

There is sooooo much food, cover, lack of competition, etc...
And yet we rarely here of any fish breaking the 3lb mark. Compared to other lakes in Wyoming with fewer walleye and less available food.

Thanks for your time guys. This is great having you on here!

Although I'm a fisheries biologist in Lander, I was the Glendo fisheries biologist for four years before transferring to my current position in Lander so I'll be able to answer this question.  The main reason for the lack of bigger walleyes in Glendo in comparison to other WY waters is the higher level of mortality caused by fishermen.  That is why we put the minimum length limit on the Glendo walleye fishery - to increase the size structure of the Glendo walleye population so Glendo anglers can catch bigger fish.  Glendo has a higher fishing mortality than any other walleye fishery in the state, and those smaller age-1 and age-2 (and some age-3, depending on what time of year you catch them) walleyes less than 15 inches got hammered by fishermen.  So, the minimum length limit should increase the size structure of the Glendo walleye population and eventually allow angler to catch larger walleyes.  But remember, this is a new regulation and it will take 5-6 years to see the full effect so please be patient.

That being said, I doubt we will ever see a lot of trophy walleyes (i.e. > 28 inches) coming out of Glendo compared to other WY reservoirs because there is a biological phenomenon going on in Glendo.  Walleyes in Glendo grow faster than walleyes in other reservoirs for a couple of reasons.  You hit the nail on the head with the forage – there is a ton in Glendo compared to other WY reservoirs.  But because Glendo is at a lower elevation than most other WY walleye fisheries, it has a longer growing season (probably April - Oct.) than higher elevation reservoirs like, for example, Seminoe.  The water temperatures at Seminoe warm up much later and cool down much earlier than Glendo, and there is likely only a 3-month growing season.  Now, it is well documented in fisheries science that fish that grow faster have shorter lives than fish that grow slower, and this is very apparent when comparing the Glendo walleye population to other WY populations.  The oldest walleye I aged (and I aged over 500 in Glendo easily) in Glendo was age-12 (and that was 1 fish), and I rarely aged walleyes older than age-8.  In Pathfinder and Seminoe I regularly aged fish older than age-10 and even aged some walleyes older than age-20.  So, even though walleyes initially grow faster in Glendo, walleyes in a lot of other reservoirs live longer and have the potential to eventually grow bigger, especially when they grow big enough to eat all of the large suckers and stocked rainbow trout that live in other reservoirs.

Offline WGFDFishBioLander

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #37 on: Jan 25, 2011, 11:02 AM »
Good question. This is pretty much refered to as a "maximum" size limit, whereas only one walleye over 24" and the rest under 24". These regulations are used when: it's necessary to protect the broodstock, the walleye population is a highly exploited population, there is a low density of mature fish, and there is low recruitment. This could, over time, increase to trophy potential. But keep in mind, the fishery must be highly exploited for any regulation to take affect. To my knowledge (other WGF'ers can help me out here) Glendo is the only walleye fishery with a high enough harvest for a regulation to work (that's why there is a minimum reg). So possibly over time, with any type of regulation (max length,  minimum, or slot limit), the risk of "bunching" (most fish are of one or two size classes) exists (unless it's been determined, like Glendo, that there is enough harvest for the reg to work). Hope this helps.   

This question was answered very well by WGFFishBio but I can add a bit to it.  In general, maximum size limits do not work very well in walleye fisheries.  Biologically, maximum length limits work best with fish that mature later in life and have low fecundities (meaning they do not produce many eggs).  It takes these types of fish (for example, sturgeon or lake trout) a long time to reach the age and size where they can spawn, and once they reach spawning size it may be beneficial to protect them and the few eggs they produce.  Walleyes become sexually mature relatively fast (maybe as soon as age-2 for males and age-4 for females in Glendo, but this definitely varies by lake), and have high fecundities (can have over 100,000 eggs).  So, it does not take many female walleyes to produce the eggs needed to maintain a walleye population.  And, even if there are a couple consecutive poor year-classes of walleyes, it won't be long before another year-class arrives that can spawn relatively quickly.  When working on Glendo (and now on Boysen) I hear a lot of comments from anglers that would like to see the big "spawner walleye" protected with a maximimum length limit.  Their heart is in the right place because they want to see their walleye fishery protected.  But, biologically, a maximum length limit on a walleye fishery rarely makes sense, and I can't think of any walleye fishery in WY where one would be appropriate.

Offline WYeyes

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #38 on: Jan 25, 2011, 11:58 AM »
This question was answered very well by WGFFishBio but I can add a bit to it.  In general, maximum size limits do not work very well in walleye fisheries.  Biologically, maximum length limits work best with fish that mature later in life and have low fecundities (meaning they do not produce many eggs).  It takes these types of fish (for example, sturgeon or lake trout) a long time to reach the age and size where they can spawn, and once they reach spawning size it may be beneficial to protect them and the few eggs they produce.  Walleyes become sexually mature relatively fast (maybe as soon as age-2 for males and age-4 for females in Glendo, but this definitely varies by lake), and have high fecundities (can have over 100,000 eggs).  So, it does not take many female walleyes to produce the eggs needed to maintain a walleye population.  And, even if there are a couple consecutive poor year-classes of walleyes, it won't be long before another year-class arrives that can spawn relatively quickly.  When working on Glendo (and now on Boysen) I hear a lot of comments from anglers that would like to see the big "spawner walleye" protected with a maximimum length limit.  Their heart is in the right place because they want to see their walleye fishery protected.  But, biologically, a maximum length limit on a walleye fishery rarely makes sense, and I can't think of any walleye fishery in WY where one would be appropriate.


Thank you for the expansion of the answer. That leads me to another question: The limit on Rainbow trout at Boysen includes only one fish may be 20" or longer. I have heard that rainbows do not spawn successfully in Boysen. That being the case, spawning would not be an issue. What is the reason for the one fish over 20" limit ? I assume, maybe wrongly, that it is to increase the numbers of larger catchable fish  for anglers ? And if that is the case why could not the same thing be done for walleye ? Say one fish over 24"-26", to increase trophy potential ?

Offline doublehaul

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #39 on: Jan 25, 2011, 12:51 PM »
It's great to have the G&F on here to learn the reasons behind why things are done the way they are.
I was one who thought that releasing the bigger walleyes was better for the fishery, but it appears that it is not neccessary from a spawning standpoint. But that was only part of the reason. If the larger fish are mostly released(not all) than it stands to reason that the trophy potential for a body of water would be increased.

+1
The trophy potential will increase for a fishery. It absolutely kills me when walleye fishermen complain to me about "how the fishing used to be" "we would always catch eyes over 10 lbs. every year". My next question to them is-Do you release any fish you catch?  99% of the time their response is "no, they are so tasty."  If you catch and keep every 26+ inch walleye you ever land on Glendo how are those fish ever going to reach 30 inches? I hear ya on the shorter life span thing, but they also grow faster. The big eyes are in there, most of which I've seen pics of on the walls of the local bait shop and stores around Glendo. Every photo I've seen has been of a dead fish. Are we seeing a pattern here?

Oh, my question......Sorry, got a little off the topic.

Of the creel surveys and netting you've done on glendo what % of fish would you estimate exceed 25 inches?  How many eyes have you sampled that are estimated over 30 inches? 
So many fish, so little time.

Offline augergas

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #40 on: Jan 25, 2011, 02:39 PM »
As far as Glendo goes, has the 15" minimum been in effect long enough to tell if there is any effect on the walleye? Size or population? Was there ever any consideration of a slot style limit (1 fish over 22" or something like that?). As a biologist, does it all come down to mortality rates or is there any emphasis on size or trophy quality?
Lastly, any thoughts of lowering the daily walleye limit on Glendo? It's very interesting to hear the reasoning behind the management decisions on these lakes.

I have kept a spot in Glendo the last couple years and was surveyed several times prior to the 15" minimum being enacted. It's encouraging that angler opinion carried weight in the decision. I assume there wasn't any hue and cry for more of a trophy fishery during this research.

The Nebraska waters I fish have a 15" minimum, 1 fish over 22" and 4 fish limit on eyes. I do think it does some good in a little lake like Minatare that gets a great deal of fishing pressure, but it is a bit sickening to see all of the dead fish in the hot summer months when many folks are dead sticking worms. I recall when the 15" minimum was first considered in NE, it was for Minatare. There was a great deal of pressure brought on by the local anglers and the Nebraska G&P was reluctant to enact a restriction on one lake. Now it is statewide. I think that in the grand scheme, it has probably helped the lake. I wonder if there is some way of judging catch and release mortality though? Minatare is surrounded by shore fishermen all summer and that combined with worm fishermen anchored in boats makes for huge numbers of gut hooked fish.



Thanks again.

Offline BottomDweller

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #41 on: Jan 25, 2011, 03:27 PM »

great thread.  thanks, WyoG&F, for your time.   :thumbsup:

Offline WGFFishBio

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #42 on: Jan 25, 2011, 03:52 PM »
Question to the Sheridan Fish Bio. Is there methane gas in the Acme pond? Or any other thing that would make the fish unsafe to eat?
The Acme or Kleenburn Ponds are old coal pits, but to our knowledge there is nothing wrong with eating the fish from there. Hope this answers your question.

Offline wally pounder

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #43 on: Jan 25, 2011, 06:26 PM »
why is it the game and fish is so worried about the walleye in buffalobill res? i fish it quite often and it has ben  several years since i have caught a native cut, i catch a lot of cut bows,rainbows,browns and lakers ,all non native fish. so are the walleye going to hurt the native cut population more than all of the other non native fish?  are there any  pure native cuts left in buffalo bill.    one more question did the sauger run up the shoshone to the north and south fork before the damms were built .

Offline WGFDFishBioLaramie

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #44 on: Jan 26, 2011, 03:32 PM »
Can you offer any information to packers? Everyone i talk to seems to have different opinions on type of fish, and quality of fish in this lake.  Maybe you might be able to offer some info?

TTips,

This lake has a diverse fishery.  Game fish present are black crappie, channel catfish, green sunfish, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, walleye, and yellow perch.  There are a number of other native non-game fish present in this lake as well, such as the suckermouth minnow, which is an native nongame fish sensitive species.  The Laramie Fisheries Management Crew stocks Packers Lake annually, as natural reproduction of this species is somewhat variable.  The WGFD stocks around 6,000 walleye fingerling annually, 5,000 rainbow trout (8-10 inches) annually every fall, 3,000 fingerling black crappie biannually, and 9,000 largemouth bass biannually.  We stock channel catfish when available from out-of-state sources, the last catfish stocking was in 2008.  The Laramie Fisheries Management Crew samples Packers Lake about every 3 years.  In 2006 walleye captured during sampling ranged in length from 9 to 26 inches, black crappie we caught up to 11 inches, and yellow perch up to 9 inches.  In 2008 walleye captured ranged in length from 5 to 22 inches and largemouth bass captured ranged in length from 7 to 16 inches.

Offline WGFDFishBioLaramie

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #45 on: Jan 26, 2011, 03:47 PM »
My question is, Are their living fish in twin buttes? whent and fished it today no luck herd they stocked it/

cspencer,

Water can enter Twin Buttes Reservoir via a canal originating from Lake Hattie, but prior to 2010 this had not occurred since 1999.  Due to the lack of fresh water the reservoir quickly become a highly saline environment.  Since 2004 catch rates of rainbow trout were above 1.00 fish/hour (this is basically an index of their abundance, something to compare over time), but declined in 2007 and 2008.  In addition, the mean length of rainbow trout decreased since 2006.  One possible cause for this decrease in growth and survivability is the increasing salinity of the reservoir.  Due to the concern of possible rising salinity levels a water sample was taken on June 17, 2008.  Many parameters were tested for, but some stand out; conductivity was 20,400 mS/cm and total dissolved solids (TDS) measured 23,856 ppm.  Conductivity is the ability of water to conduct an electrical current, with dissolved ions being the conductors.  Salinity is a measure of the amount of salts (i.e. sodium chloride, sodium, carbonate, and sulfate) in the water.  Total dissolved solids are the measurement of the total ions in a solution, most accurately measured in a lab.  In freshwater, TDS is often used to indicate the same thing as salinity.  Twin Buttes Reservoir was developed in 1972 and prior to the construction of permanent inlet and outlet structures and the addition of fresh water, high salinities (up to 37,000 ppm TDS) precluded a fishery.  The purchase of water rights, as well as runoff water from Mortenson Draw, added fresh water to the reservoir and reduced the salinities to about 10-12,000 ppm TDS.  The ocean typically has a salinity of 33,000-37,000 ppm.  The Speas Rearing Station has stocked Twin Buttes Reservoir since 2002 and the water at the hatchery has a conductance of 616 mS/cm.  Using the standard equation for converting conductivity to TDS (mS/cm x 0.5), the TDS of Speas Rearing Station water would be 308 ppm.  Survival of rainbow trout stocked into Twin Buttes Reservoir was most likely affected by osmotic shock.  Due to the low survival of stocked rainbow trout, stocking was deleted for 2009 and 2010.  Stocking was deleted for 2010 prior to the influx of water into Twin Buttes from Lake Hattie.  Recent water quality test have indicated salinity levels are back to safe level for stocking.  Just around 2,500 rainbow trout brood culls (14-16 inches) were stocked through the ice the last week of December 2010 at Twin Buttes and regular stocking will resume in the spring of 2011.           


Offline WGFDFishBioLander

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #46 on: Jan 26, 2011, 04:05 PM »
Interesting information - thanks for sharing.

Can you (or anyone else) give a general overview of your thoughts on the catfish population in Glendo?  They seem to be some of the healthiest cats I've seen anywhere for their size.  Very thick, broad and fat usually.  Small heads and giant bodies  (These huge shad die offs every winter probably can attribute to this).  Can the same general phenomenon you described above be applied to catfish?  Bigger specimens come from Boysen because they are growing slower?   Also on what level do the catfish successfully spawn in Glendo?

What is the largest cat you've sampled out of Glendo?
Also:  I noticed the state record drum was caught at Glendo - but I've never heard of anyone catching them there recently.  Is there still a population of drum in Glendo?
Thanks - Moose.


I'll see if someone on the Casper crew (who manages Glendo) can better answer this question.  I haven't worked on Glendo for almost 2 years now, but here are my general thoughts.  There is a lot of forage for them, so they are healthy fish.  However, population numbers are way down, mostly because there have been shortages in hatchery catfish (we usually get our catfish from Oklahoma or Arkansas) and there have been quite a few years recently where we have not been able to stock.  Most of the current Glendo population is made of larger, older individuals.  There is an ongoing study looking into how successful catfish are at naturally reporoducing in Glendo, but preliminary data indicate they are not very successful. 

I can't really answer the slower growing/longer living question of catfish in Glendo vs. Boysen becasue we do not have much for aging data on Boysen catfish.  In fact, we haven't stocked catfish into Boysen since 2005 because of the possibility that the stocked catfish may be preying on juvenile sauger (another ongoing study).  So Glendo is similar to Boysen in that there hasn't been many catfish stocked recently, and the population is made up mostly of larger, older individuals.  We think that catfish in the Wind River/Boysen area probably are a bit more successful at reporduction that in the North Platte/Glendo system.

Drum do not currently exist in Glendo.

Offline WGFDFishBioLander

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #47 on: Jan 26, 2011, 04:11 PM »

Thank you for the expansion of the answer. That leads me to another question: The limit on Rainbow trout at Boysen includes only one fish may be 20" or longer. I have heard that rainbows do not spawn successfully in Boysen. That being the case, spawning would not be an issue. What is the reason for the one fish over 20" limit ? I assume, maybe wrongly, that it is to increase the numbers of larger catchable fish  for anglers ? And if that is the case why could not the same thing be done for walleye ? Say one fish over 24"-26", to increase trophy potential ?

You are right that rainbow trout do not successfully reproduce in Boysen.  We will likely eliminate the "1 trout over 20 inches" regulation for Boysen.  If approved, it will go into effect in 2012.  You are right that protecting spawning rainbow trout is not an issue in Boysen.  We would like to eliminate this regulation so that anglers can harvest more rainbow trout that we stock for them to catch.

Offline doublehaul

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #48 on: Jan 26, 2011, 04:49 PM »
Thanks for the information, as always.

Would the G/F actively search for a new trading partner if you guys cannot get catfish in the next few years?  Would be sad to see the cat populations at Glendo take a dive.

I think they are a great sport fish and I've read the G/F has believed they are under utilized as a resource.  Just wanted to put in my strong opinion that it would be really sad to see the cats take a hit or disappear.  I know most people don't fish for them but they are a great fish.  They seem to do very well in there too so it would be a shame like I said.

---




I'll ask one more and then take it easy on the questions for awhile.   What information can be shared on the population of remaining Flathead Catfish in the state?  They were stocked into the Platte and Nebraska gave the Wyoming G/F a certain number of them to try out?  Something like that?   How rare are they - do you guys believe there are still some in the system?

Thanks again - Moose.
May I please add to this question? 

With Nebraska being so close to Glendo reservoir, if there was enough public interest from all of us WY residents would the WYGF consider ever stocking Flathead catfish in addition to channel cats? (In Glendo that is)

Since the donated  flathead cats were "experimentally stocked" in the North Platte has the WYGF had any $$$ put away for the purchase of more flathead catfish?

If there was enough public interest would the WYGF ever consider stocking Flathead catfish anywhere in the state?

In your professional opinion, what would be the most ideal lake or river system to stock Flathead catfish in WY? (given WY had the funding and public interest)

Has the WYGF ever considered stocking blue cats in reservoirs?

That was a bunch of questions, but I really like to catfish. Thank you for your input.
So many fish, so little time.

Offline WGFDFishBioLander

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #49 on: Jan 26, 2011, 04:56 PM »
As far as Glendo goes, has the 15" minimum been in effect long enough to tell if there is any effect on the walleye? Size or population? Was there ever any consideration of a slot style limit (1 fish over 22" or something like that?). As a biologist, does it all come down to mortality rates or is there any emphasis on size or trophy quality?
Lastly, any thoughts of lowering the daily walleye limit on Glendo? It's very interesting to hear the reasoning behind the management decisions on these lakes.

I have kept a spot in Glendo the last couple years and was surveyed several times prior to the 15" minimum being enacted. It's encouraging that angler opinion carried weight in the decision. I assume there wasn't any hue and cry for more of a trophy fishery during this research.

The Nebraska waters I fish have a 15" minimum, 1 fish over 22" and 4 fish limit on eyes. I do think it does some good in a little lake like Minatare that gets a great deal of fishing pressure, but it is a bit sickening to see all of the dead fish in the hot summer months when many folks are dead sticking worms. I recall when the 15" minimum was first considered in NE, it was for Minatare. There was a great deal of pressure brought on by the local anglers and the Nebraska G&P was reluctant to enact a restriction on one lake. Now it is statewide. I think that in the grand scheme, it has probably helped the lake. I wonder if there is some way of judging catch and release mortality though? Minatare is surrounded by shore fishermen all summer and that combined with worm fishermen anchored in boats makes for huge numbers of gut hooked fish.



Thanks again.

The 15" minimum has not been in effect long enough to determine any effect on the walleye population at Glendo.  The regulation just went into effect in 2010.  It will take at least 6 years or so (maybe even longer) to get a good idea on how it is working.  Let me explain.  Anglers won't see any effect until at least 3 years into the regulation, because it takes 3 years for walleye in Glendo to reach 15 inches.  But the reason I say at least 6 years is because you can't evaluate a new regulation based on one year-class of fish.  If we have at least 4  year-classes of fish under the new regulation in Glendo we should have a pretty good idea how it is working.  Walleye spawning success is very erratic and there are lots of environmental variables that infulence a year-class strength (for example, weather, being eaten by other fish, including cannibalism) that are out of a biologist's control.  By looking at the regulation's effects over many years on multiple year classes, we won't be evaluating the regulation over a short time frame where we could possibly have successive strong or weak year classes that may influence our data.

A "1 over 22 inches" is a maximum length limit.  Please see my earlier post on this subject.  But I'll give you some more info.  Yes, it was considered and shot down quickly by our agency because we had good data showing that it would have no effect. We looked at over 3 years of creel data from Glendo from 2006 - 2008(over 1,300 angler interviews).  Only 7 anglers(0.5%) harvested more than one 20-inch walleye, and 0 harvested more than one 22-inch walleye.  All this maximum length limit would do would unnecessarily restrict a few anglers who want to take few biger fish home.  There would be absolutely no biological effecton the Glendo wallye population.

We also briefly considered lowering the daily limit, but shot that down pretty quickly too.  Lowering creel limits rarely has any effect on any fishery because most anglers don't consitently catch a daily limit of fish.  But, we again looked at creel data and data from a walleye tag-reward study to determine the effects of reducing the creel limit.  The tag-reward study showed that about 35% of the Glendo walleye population is harvested by anglers every year.  By looking at creel survey data we can pretty accurately estimate total harvest and the number of anglers that actually catch a daily limit.  We estimated that this total mortality would drop to 33% with a five fish limit, 30% with a 4-fish, and 25% with a 3-fish limit.  So, we would only be reducing total annual mortality by 10% by cutting the daily limit in half.  Plus, I don't know many Glendo anglers that would be happy with a 3-walleye limit on Glendo.  The 15" minimum that we implemented on Glendo is the best regulation for improving the size of Glendo walleyes because it will protect the younger, smaller fish from harvest and allow them to grow bigger.  The opinion survey that you mention showed that the public overwhelmingly supported the 15" minimum option.

You are correct that there will be some gut-hooked fish that have to be released because of the 15" minimum regulation.  That is just a fact of life when you have a length limit.  But, when looking at the big picture, the postives of the new Glendo regulation should outweigh the negatives and the walleye fishery will beneft.

Offline WYIfish

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #50 on: Jan 26, 2011, 05:13 PM »
Area 4
Any chance of changing the sorry state of the Big Sandy Res.?
Thread killer

Offline TTipsword

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #51 on: Jan 26, 2011, 05:57 PM »
TTips,

This lake has a diverse fishery.  Game fish present are black crappie, channel catfish, green sunfish, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, walleye, and yellow perch.  There are a number of other native non-game fish present in this lake as well, such as the suckermouth minnow, which is an native nongame fish sensitive species.  The Laramie Fisheries Management Crew stocks Packers Lake annually, as natural reproduction of this species is somewhat variable.  The WGFD stocks around 6,000 walleye fingerling annually, 5,000 rainbow trout (8-10 inches) annually every fall, 3,000 fingerling black crappie biannually, and 9,000 largemouth bass biannually.  We stock channel catfish when available from out-of-state sources, the last catfish stocking was in 2008.  The Laramie Fisheries Management Crew samples Packers Lake about every 3 years.  In 2006 walleye captured during sampling ranged in length from 9 to 26 inches, black crappie we caught up to 11 inches, and yellow perch up to 9 inches.  In 2008 walleye captured ranged in length from 5 to 22 inches and largemouth bass captured ranged in length from 7 to 16 inches.

Thank you very much.

Offline WYeyes

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #52 on: Jan 26, 2011, 06:54 PM »
You are right that rainbow trout do not successfully reproduce in Boysen.  We will likely eliminate the "1 trout over 20 inches" regulation for Boysen.  If approved, it will go into effect in 2012.  You are right that protecting spawning rainbow trout is not an issue in Boysen.  We would like to eliminate this regulation so that anglers can harvest more rainbow trout that we stock for them to catch.



Thank you for your reply.

Offline WYIfish

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #53 on: Jan 27, 2011, 07:12 PM »
Area 4
Any chance of changing the sorry state of the Big Sandy Res.?
Thread killer

Offline jiga_guppy

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #54 on: Jan 27, 2011, 10:33 PM »
Question for the Sheridan fish Bio. Which pond are the Crappie in out of the 5 of the Maverackis ponds if any?
If you are going to cry be quick about it. Then get back to fishing.

Offline cbtrtbum

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #55 on: Jan 27, 2011, 10:56 PM »
This is a great thread. Thanks so much to the guys with the great questions, and the G&F guys for taking the time to participate on our great site. Awesome!!!

Offline SJ1991

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #56 on: Jan 28, 2011, 12:01 AM »
I got a ? ... How long does it take for a big mack (30+ lbs) to get that big?

Offline augergas

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #57 on: Jan 28, 2011, 09:48 AM »
I have learned a great deal of info in this and the Keyhole thread. I would like to thank the WGF biologist for enightening us on these management decisions.

Offline WYeyes

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #58 on: Jan 28, 2011, 11:13 AM »
I know as biologists you guys spend quite a lot of time on the water collecting data. Netting, shocking,water sampling, creel surveys, and more I am sure I missed.

My question concerns creel surveys.  I spend quite a bit of time fishing year round, and can only remember being surveyed once in the last 3 years. I realize that the people doing creel work can not be all places at all times.

I wondered what % of the data collected is supplied by creel surveys , or what weight is given to creel survey data ?
Has there ever been any thought given to anglers being given a survey form(similar to a big game survey) at the time they purchase their license to kind of keep a log of fishing activity, or an online survey ?
Would this kind of information be usefull ?
Or would it be unreliable ? cost prohibitive ? lacking in enough participation to make it usefull ?


Offline wyohikeit

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Re: ASK THE WYOMING GAME AND FISH
« Reply #59 on: Jan 28, 2011, 06:20 PM »
Randy Merrit's 30 pound Laker was 40 years old he was told by the Game and fish
Time on the ice is always worth more than money

 



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