The ice fishing VT boards are sponsored by:

Author Topic: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?  (Read 19192 times)

Offline Registered Kayak

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 138
  • ..............and then there were none.
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #30 on: Feb 17, 2017, 08:18 AM »
Unless an eagle dropped it in there, which... Is a possibility.

Offline Afv

  • IceShanty Rookie
  • **
  • Posts: 19
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #31 on: Feb 17, 2017, 09:30 AM »
 Maybe Bigfoot put it in there ?

Offline FlyPredatorVT

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 178
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #32 on: Feb 17, 2017, 10:08 AM »
Bait bucket biology by bigfoot... silly  sasquatch, stick with berries...
Avid fly angler, rookie ice fisherman, lifetime fish geek

Offline Crayfish2

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 525
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #33 on: Feb 17, 2017, 11:17 AM »
I had a perch carcass I just filleted from Colchester pond that was slowly moving...... Couple tapeworms. And white worms in the flesh..... It all went into the trash. Never again!!

Agreed!  I'll never keep anything out of Colchester Pond.  I remember "Perch Bait's" first big smallmouth.  We had the canoe on Colchester Pond drowning some worms when his "Snoopy Pole" slammed down against the side of the boat and he started screaming for help (he was probably 12 at the time ;D).  He pulled it together and ended up landing the biggest smallie I'd seen in a LONG time!  We decided to keep it.  What a mistake ... so full of white worms in the meat that we had to throw the whole thing away.  Made me sick for killing that fish for nothing.  There and Arrowhead Lake, pretty much everything gets thrown back for that reason.

Offline Light liner

  • Team IceShanty Maniac
  • **
  • Posts: 1,857
  • Rather be judged by 12 then carried by 6.
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #34 on: Feb 17, 2017, 04:58 PM »
I've been hearing that pike get caught every now end then at the reservoir.
It's been like that last couple years.
Champlain
Memphremagog

Offline lowaccord66

  • Team IceshantyInsanity
  • ****
  • Posts: 10,899
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #35 on: Feb 21, 2017, 07:12 PM »
They do exist in the Winooski, at least I've caught pike near Bolton, but I don't think they can get to Waterbury by themselves... I don't think any fish can get there by itself with two dams to cross.

Everyone automatically assumes it was a person who did it...the mob mentality on that front is rediculous.  Who knows how they got in there?  Does that part really matter to the fishery?  I'm sure the tank scrubbers that are stocked there don't know any different.  I will make note of the location though because pike that eat trout grow fast! 

Offline troutcrazy

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 528
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #36 on: Feb 21, 2017, 09:51 PM »
Everyone automatically assumes it was a person who did it...the mob mentality on that front is rediculous.  Who knows how they got in there?  Does that part really matter to the fishery?  I'm sure the tank scrubbers that are stocked there don't know any different.  I will make note of the location though because pike that eat trout grow fast! 
Do you have a different theory as to how they got there?  Because I can't think of another likely scenario, other than human activity.

Offline rbobby

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 160
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #37 on: Feb 22, 2017, 09:27 AM »
I guess they've been they're a while, just not a huge population of fish.
That's why there's not much trout!

Offline lowaccord66

  • Team IceshantyInsanity
  • ****
  • Posts: 10,899
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #38 on: Feb 22, 2017, 10:37 AM »
Do you have a different theory as to how they got there?  Because I can't think of another likely scenario, other than human activity.

I am not one to make a baseless speculation but if you talk to a fish bio or do a Google search there are plenty of other ways a species can setup in a different body of water including flooding which your state has seen a bit of in the past. 

Offline shiveringjoe

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 591
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #39 on: Feb 22, 2017, 10:46 AM »
I am not one to make a baseless speculation but if you talk to a fish bio or do a Google search there are plenty of other ways a species can setup in a different body of water.
Yes there are many natural ways for fish to move, but Waterbury reservoir is at least 15 miles from the closest water with established pike populations and there is a big dam between it and the winooski.

Offline lowaccord66

  • Team IceshantyInsanity
  • ****
  • Posts: 10,899
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #40 on: Feb 22, 2017, 10:57 AM »
"From August 28 to 29, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene delivered rainfall ranging from approximately 4 to more than 7 inches in the Winooski River Basin in Vermont. The rainfall resulted in severe fooding throughout the basin and signifcant damage along the Winooski River. In response to the fooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, conducted a new food study to aid in food recovery and restoration and to assist in food forecasting. The study resulted in two sets of food maps that depict the fooding for an 8.3-mile reach of the Winooski River from about 1,000 feet downstream of the Waterbury-Bolton, Vermont, town line upstream to about 2,000 feet upstream of the Waterbury-Middlesex, Vt., town line."

Point being I'd think flooding moved some pike into the res. Before blindly jumping on the all so popular bucket biologist track....

Offline VTMatt

  • Team IceShanty Maniac
  • **
  • Posts: 1,122
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #41 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:00 AM »
"From August 28 to 29, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene delivered rainfall ranging from approximately 4 to more than 7 inches in the Winooski River Basin in Vermont. The rainfall resulted in severe fooding throughout the basin and signifcant damage along the Winooski River. In response to the fooding, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, conducted a new food study to aid in food recovery and restoration and to assist in food forecasting. The study resulted in two sets of food maps that depict the fooding for an 8.3-mile reach of the Winooski River from about 1,000 feet downstream of the Waterbury-Bolton, Vermont, town line upstream to about 2,000 feet upstream of the Waterbury-Middlesex, Vt., town line."

Point being I'd think flooding moved some pike into the res. Before blindly jumping on the all so popular bucket biologist track....

More chance of a pike growing wings and flying into the res than it migrating flooded water, lol.

Offline lowaccord66

  • Team IceshantyInsanity
  • ****
  • Posts: 10,899
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #42 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:02 AM »
More chance of a pike growing wings and flying into the res than it migrating flooded water, lol.
 

Ha!  I expected a logical retort from you!  Nice work!   ;D

Offline VTMatt

  • Team IceShanty Maniac
  • **
  • Posts: 1,122
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #43 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:03 AM »
 

Ha!  I expected a logical retort from you!  Nice work!   ;D

The logical response was posted just before your last one, so no need to explain anything.

Offline shiveringjoe

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 591
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #44 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:11 AM »
Just for your information, the dam is over 100' tall with a near vertical spillway and there is a really steep gorge on the little river before you get to the winooski. I also doubt there are any pike on that section of the winooski. Yes Irene caused some big flows in that area but there is nothing in the watershed that "should" have pike.

Offline rbobby

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 160
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #45 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:13 AM »
Just for your information, the dam is over 100' tall with a near vertical spillway and there is a really steep gorge on the little river before you get to the winooski. I also doubt there are any pike on that section of the winooski. Yes Irene caused some big flows in that area but there is nothing in the watershed that "should" have pike.

Oooooh hit a nerve!

Offline shiveringjoe

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 591
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #46 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:17 AM »
I'm not usually one to argue on the internet with strangers but I am definitely annoyed that you found a pike in there.

Offline rbobby

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 160
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #47 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:21 AM »
That makes 2 of us.

Offline spot

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 756
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #48 on: Feb 22, 2017, 11:29 AM »
Just for your information, the dam is over 100' tall with a near vertical spillway and there is a really steep gorge on the little river before you get to the winooski. I also doubt there are any pike on that section of the winooski. Yes Irene caused some big flows in that area but there is nothing in the watershed that "should" have pike.

There's another, smaller concrete dam at the head of that gorge, which makes two impassable barriers fish would need to fly over.
May the fish be with you.

Randy

Offline thefishingweatherman

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 569
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #49 on: Feb 22, 2017, 12:19 PM »
I gotta agree with shiveringjoe and vtmatt on the flooding thing. While Irene did produce astounding amounts of rain across the area, the dam at waterbury res is far too tall and steep for any fish to swim past, even if water was being discharged on the spillway, which drops 140 feet over a distance of 770 feet of exposed bedrock. I can't really imagine a pike getting up that, especially during the extremely high and dirty discharge that would have happened there with Irene. Most of the time, the spillway is not even operational - all the water goes through the turbine. Upstream of the res are mostly mountain brooks and one mid sized river, none of which drain any pike water, that I am aware of anyways.

Offline lowaccord66

  • Team IceshantyInsanity
  • ****
  • Posts: 10,899
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #50 on: Feb 22, 2017, 12:27 PM »
Just for your information, the dam is over 100' tall with a near vertical spillway and there is a really steep gorge on the little river before you get to the winooski. I also doubt there are any pike on that section of the winooski. Yes Irene caused some big flows in that area but there is nothing in the watershed that "should" have pike.

I am now informed.  I could very well be wrong in making my point and that's fine.  This has been better reading than:

"Dang bucket biologists let's get them"  which is a defeatist attitude that casts a black cloud on all fishermen with any anti's.  We keep beating that drum and the next thing you know water bodies will be closed "to prevent the man made introduction of non native species" 

Offline thefishingweatherman

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 569
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #51 on: Feb 22, 2017, 02:07 PM »
"Dang bucket biologists let's get them"  which is a defeatist attitude that casts a black cloud on all fishermen with any anti's.  We keep beating that drum and the next thing you know water bodies will be closed "to prevent the man made introduction of non native species"

You seem to be suggesting that we ought to ignore the fact that stocking fish into new waterbodies is illegal, lest some cabal of anti-fishing folks get some extra ammo? Can't really buy into that idea. Fact is, the evidence points to illegal stocking in this case, and whoever did it should be held accountable if and when they are caught, however unlikely that may be. If we all just sit silent on the sidelines, next thing you know we'll all only have asian carp to catch someday.

Offline peteinvermont

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 325
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #52 on: Feb 22, 2017, 02:26 PM »
I know the odds are long, but would it be possible that the pike was introduced to the res by way of bait buckets?  Meaning, a very small pike is caught in a minnow trap, and the bait was (illegally) used then the remaining bait dumped? 

Not that it matters at all, but I was trying to be optimistic and think of a way pike might have been unintentionally into'd there. 

Offline Crayfish2

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 525
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #53 on: Feb 22, 2017, 02:41 PM »
I know the odds are long, but would it be possible that the pike was introduced to the res by way of bait buckets?  Meaning, a very small pike is caught in a minnow trap, and the bait was (illegally) used then the remaining bait dumped? 

Not that it matters at all, but I was trying to be optimistic and think of a way pike might have been unintentionally into'd there.

I was thinking along those same lines.  Seems highly possible.

Offline thefishingweatherman

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 569
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #54 on: Feb 22, 2017, 04:48 PM »
I know the odds are long, but would it be possible that the pike was introduced to the res by way of bait buckets?  Meaning, a very small pike is caught in a minnow trap, and the bait was (illegally) used then the remaining bait dumped? 

Definitely possible, but this is why the state has rules about transporting bait you caught yourself from one waterbody to another. If you are catching your own bait, you're only supposed to use it on the same waterbody. Otherwise, you purchase it from a licensed vendor, and I don't know any of those that sell baby pike. Unless birds dropped at least 2 pike in there, seems pretty likely this is the result of lawbreaking, given the watershed.

Offline lowaccord66

  • Team IceshantyInsanity
  • ****
  • Posts: 10,899
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #55 on: Feb 22, 2017, 05:36 PM »
You seem to be suggesting that we ought to ignore the fact that stocking fish into new waterbodies is illegal, lest some cabal of anti-fishing folks get some extra ammo? Can't really buy into that idea. Fact is, the evidence points to illegal stocking in this case, and whoever did it should be held accountable if and when they are caught, however unlikely that may be. If we all just sit silent on the sidelines, next thing you know we'll all only have asian carp to catch someday.

I can see how it comes off that way and can appreciate the thoughtfulness.  Unfortunately it's difficult to get things across the line 100% with typed words.  Anyways, I am not suggesting that. What I am suggesting is, that it's the default answer posed in a number of these cases, oftentimes without warrant.  In this case maybe not and again I do understand and am happy to be wrong for the sake of discussion.  I think we can all do a better job of being vocal about these things without providing fodder for those that wish to prevent us from fishing.  Birds and the fish thing is interesting. 

I agree with you we can't be silent.  Self policing is very important.  Avoiding the mob mentality and not being perceived as a bunch of beer drinking idiots is also important. 

However, I do laugh over the irony. Our government can decide to shove tank scrubbers where ever they wish.  Anyone ever read about what's happening to the Pacific Salmon with all the supplemental stocking from the feds...of the same species...it's an angle I think should be understood if this topic is to be discussed.

You should google up Kingfisher moving fish and read about it...neat stuff. 




Offline thefishingweatherman

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 569
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #56 on: Feb 22, 2017, 06:23 PM »
I can see how it comes off that way and can appreciate the thoughtfulness.  Unfortunately it's difficult to get things across the line 100% with typed words.  Anyways, I am not suggesting that. What I am suggesting is, that it's the default answer posed in a number of these cases, oftentimes without warrant.  In this case maybe not and again I do understand and am happy to be wrong for the sake of discussion.  I think we can all do a better job of being vocal about these things without providing fodder for those that wish to prevent us from fishing.  Birds and the fish thing is interesting. 

I agree with you we can't be silent.  Self policing is very important.  Avoiding the mob mentality and not being perceived as a bunch of beer drinking idiots is also important. 

However, I do laugh over the irony. Our government can decide to shove tank scrubbers where ever they wish.  Anyone ever read about what's happening to the Pacific Salmon with all the supplemental stocking from the feds...of the same species...it's an angle I think should be understood if this topic is to be discussed.

You should google up Kingfisher moving fish and read about it...neat stuff.

I appreciate the thoughtful response! I agree that self-policing is the key, or even better, adhering to the law. While I agree that the govt doesn't always get it right, at least science is used to inform decisions these days. Too many people think they know more than anyone else, and decide to take matters into their own hands, like I suspect happened here at the Res with an illegal stocking of pike. Just takes one bad apple with big, grandiose ideas to screw over a whole waterway.

I am reading a book right now called "Totem Salmon" which goes into the history of Pacific Salmon from the time of Native American's arrival to present. It also goes into the decline of the fish's once mind boggling numbers, once the white man arrived, and saw the fish as nothing more than food. The need for regulations became clear, and the government started programs to manage the fish. Initially, not much science was behind these programs, so there was a lot of experimenting happening. Eastern salmon and trout were transplanted out west, and pacific trout and salmon transplanted back east, screwing up fisheries in both places. Today, more science is used, which leads to more well studied approaches, and more conservative programs, which isn't a bad thing. The government is not immune to bad ideas though, which is why we all must keep a watchful eye. Even so, it still beats someone taking matters into their own hands, like is what I think happened with the Res, hence the need for these discussions, and vigilance. In Maine, where fishing regs are more strict than here in VT, pike are spreading to such a degree that in some waterbodies, you are legally REQUIRED to kill them when you catch them... Might not be a bad idea in this case, in my opinion...

Offline ice fiend

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 780
  • im a die hard ice fishing addict 'nuff said
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #57 on: Feb 22, 2017, 07:24 PM »
Anybody wonder how pike ended up In the lamoille river  somebody dumped a ton of em into lake lamoille and after Irene they got pushed down stream into the river itself I've seen huge pike in the lamoille in Johnson
i told myself id be back by 2 i guess i didnt factor in that the fish were biting

Offline spot

  • Team IceShanty Addict
  • *
  • Posts: 756
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #58 on: Feb 22, 2017, 07:25 PM »
I think that requiring fishermen to kill any species of a NEWLY invasive nature is a good idea. It might not get rid of the threat but it might slow its growth. If indeed pike are breeding in Waterbury, allowing them to reach legal size before keeping them gives them at least one breeding season.

I'm not suggesting the elimination of non-native species everywhere, just to be clear. This line of thought is entirely for the new infestations, because those are the ones where it has a chance of working as intended.

The state has quite a lot of pike water which is not a bad thing, but pike don't need to be everywhere and shouldn't be.

Not too long ago pickerel appeared in my favorite little brook trout pond that's out in the middle of nowhere. Someone had to carry them in quite a long way, because the nearest road is several miles away.
May the fish be with you.

Randy

Offline EyERipLip

  • Team IceShanty Regular
  • ***
  • Posts: 356
  • Above the Ice, under the influence
Re: There's pike in the Waterbury reservoir?
« Reply #59 on: Feb 22, 2017, 08:08 PM »
man there's a lot of pike haters out there!!!

 



Iceshanty | MyFishFinder | MyHuntingForum
Contact | Disclaimer | Privacypolicy | Sponsor
© 1996- Iceshanty.com
All Rights Reserved.