Question...would you eat fish from Sloans?

[Sixxer]

I've always been a catch and release whenever I fish at Sloans Lake in Cheyenne. I'm wondering if anybody eats the day's catch? That is all

Sixxer

[wyoming_man]

I have wondered that myself, but then again they tell you to eat walleye out of Seminoe sparingly.  I guess we are doomed wherever our catch comes from!   

[7lazy77]

Think I would have to PASS on eating fish out of there!

[jopes]

I have wondered that myself, but then again they tell you to eat walleye out of Seminoe sparingly.  I guess we are doomed wherever our catch comes from!   

Thats funny.  Seminoe is up river from glendo but glendo has no restrictions on fish eating like seminoe has

[Keith Walters]

It might be the Sinclair refinery just a few miles upriver from Seminoe.  Also there are veins of coal running diagonally into the lake at many spots.  It is a neat lake to fish in July for big walleyes!

Good fishing,

Keith

[Matt R.]

I'd eat 'em! I grew up in denver and ate the fish out of the lake near my parents house all the time,



AnD i tUrneD 0uT fFFFffFFFfFffff iNe!!

[WYLINGIT]

I grew up in Cheyenne and couldn't swim in the lake, Deadmans itch... I've heard the lake is bottomless and there is some body's not recovered still in there. If you were starving and didn't have anything else to eat or wanted to become a zombie.... I'd say go ahead. I wouldn't eat them out of Absoraka either. My 0.02

[wyohunter]

I grew up in Cheyenne and couldn't swim in the lake, Deadmans itch... I've heard the lake is bottomless and there is some body's not recovered still in there. If you were starving and didn't have anything else to eat or wanted to become a zombie.... I'd say go ahead. I wouldn't eat them out of Absoraka either. My 0.02

I grew up hearing the same stories, but they had the lake almost drained last year and I had my boat out there last summer and 12' is about the deepest spot in the lake. But ever so often they stop the swimming in the summer do to water quality...
I am sure that if it posed any health risk they would post it big time just because of the liabilities involved.

[Sixxer]

I'm getting the idea the general consensus is Not to eat from the lake. That was my initial impression, and the stories about the lake remain in people's minds. I can attest it is only about 12 feet at its deepest (they had it drained last year). I think the water sitting there without any movement causes the water quality issues.

Sixxer

[350orbetter]

Should have just said "yeah those perch fillets from Sloans that look so good rolled in bread crumbs and fried up in your favorite cast iron skillet will kill you right away" but that wouldn't have been right. The biggest health concern regarding fish from Sloans is cholesterol levels associated with eating lots of fried fish (one I'll just have to live with when luck is good). As long as the fish are properly cooked then the fish from Sloans are safe to eat. Here's 0.02 worth...

The most common reason for warnings not to consume fish caught from certain watersheds is almost always due to bioaccumulation of mercury in the fish high on the food chain. There is no evidence of harmful mercury levels in Sloan's Lake. The beach at Sloan's Lake frequently is closed as a result of E.coli levels exceeding the MCL of 235 organisms per 100 ml for public swimming beaches. Considering that Sloan's is a duckpond and that many dogs use that particular watershed as their regular pooping spot as they are walked around the lake it's not surprising that the fecal coliform count routinely exceeds the MCL and the beach is closed for swimming. Here is what Laramie County Health Dept says about the level of E.coli that is permissable for public swim beaches:

"Fecal Count:

Water is tested twice weekly (at Sloan's Lake) during the swim season. A 100ml sample of water is delivered to the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory and tested for the level of E. Coli in the water. According to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Rules and Regulations, swimming areas shall have 235 organisms or less. Levels above 235 constitute closure of the beach until the level drops to 235 or less."

Here's another article on the health implications of E.coli in recreational water...
 
"Escherichia coli, commonly referred to as E. coli, is a member of a group of organisms known as coliforms: common bacteria found in the digestive system of humans and animals.  This organism is usually not a cause for concern, as there are only a few strains that cause serious disease in humans.  One of these strains is responsible for causing Traveler’s diarrhea, and the second is E. coli O157:H7, which contaminates meat and leafy vegetables.  This strain (O157:H7) can cause serious hemorrhagic diarrhea and can have long term, if not fatal, complications.
 
The presence of E. coli is used as an indicator to monitor the possible presence of other more harmful microbes, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and norovirus. Some possible sources of fecal contamination include: agricultural runoff, wildlife that uses the water as their natural habitat, runoff from areas contaminated with pet manure, wastewater treatment plants, and on-site septic systems.  Heavy precipitation may cause these organisms to be washed into creeks, rivers, streams, lakes, or ground water.  If this water is used as a source of drinking water and is not treated, or is inadequately treated, it may result in illness.
 
Diseases acquired from contact with contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illness, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic, and wound infections. The most commonly reported symptoms are stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever.
 
When E. coli exceeds the permissible level in recreational water, it results in the closing of beaches, ponds, lakes, and swimming and fishing areas.  There are lower thresholds for levels of bacteria in drinking water from public water systems, which have been set by the Safe Drinking Water Act.   If this level is reached or exceeded, consumers are advised to boil water they use for cooking, drinking, making baby formula, and for brushing teeth."

Basically the issue in Sloan's Lake is bacterial concentration that is monitored due to the presence of the swim beach. If the beach weren't there the bacterial levels wouldn't be monitored and folks wouldn't think twice about eating the fish. However, since the beach is there and occasionally is closed as a result of an out-of-bounds sample stemming from wayward duck droppings then the beach gets closed and folks wonder.

Good luck and bon appetite.

[Matt R.]

350, you are not being so rude as to imply we actually "COOK" our fish! For shame to you sir! For shame!


Thanks for the explanation, I used to do water testing and I think the majority of anglers would be really surprised how clean most urban water actually is, with of course the exception of bacterial contaminants from waterfowl.
 

[Keith Walters]

Matt, Once I saw a TV show where they filleted their fish and poured lime juice over the fresh fillets.  They left them like that for an hour or so and ate them.  I never could bring myself to try it, but if I do, I will surely use the fish from Sloans!!!!

Good fishing (eating),

Keith

[Matt R.]

Matt, Once I saw a TV show where they filleted their fish and poured lime juice over the fresh fillets.  They left them like that for an hour or so and ate them.  I never could bring myself to try it, but if I do, I will surely use the fish from Sloans!!!!

Good fishing (eating),

Keith

Ha! Cevetch'e, Mexican sushi! I love it. And yes I eat RAW FISH! I'd fillet a fish on the ice and eat it. Soo good!

Keith, hit me up next time your up this way and we'll drag Don out and watch him catch perch!

[jopes]

Matt, Don't worry, Keith is quite the perch catching machine as well! 

[350orbetter]

We lived in The Netherlands from '05-'08. Gained a real appreciation over there for how good raw fish could be. The Dutch prepared raw herring by soaking it in a pickling brine and then slicing it thin and serving it much like cold cuts. Great stuff.

[thushbeck]

The crappie from Sloans are very good to eat as soon as we can find them again.  I expect they are in schools around the open water on the lake which is much too dangerous to approach.  The water quality is similar to most small lakes in Nebraska and a few in eastern Wyoming. 
It would be nice to have this lake managed for fishing a little better to improve the perch and crappie size.

[pkandrew]

The water actually has been pretty clean since they drained it last year I have eaten fish from there.

[bbkyle35]

the vast majority of fish parasites/diseases are killed when you cook them, so I wouldn't be worried. The taste might not be all that great, but nothing harmful to your health. For example, in the 1990's and early 2000's the walleye out of Ocean lake during the summer didn't taste that great due to irrigation runoff, but now since the EPA regulations they are just as good as Boysen. Mercury is a concern in fish that are higher overall in the food chain, but panfish are not a concern. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to eat fish out of Sloans, and I plan to this winter!

[MountainMan]

...Mercury is a concern in fish that are higher overall in the food chain, but panfish are not a concern....

It is surprising how many bodies of water have mercury warnings in place. I did some digging around on the Nebraska Game and Parks site once and found a list of very popular lakes with advisories that pregnant women avoid eating fish from them. Lots of mercury around agricultural communities.

[Wyofarmer]

It is surprising how many bodies of water have mercury warnings in place. I did some digging around on the Nebraska Game and Parks site once and found a list of very popular lakes with advisories that pregnant women avoid eating fish from them. Lots of mercury around agricultural communities.

Now don't go blaming agriculture. There's a lot of other factors that come into play also...   

[bbkyle35]

one thing that probably contributes to the Platte river reservoirs mercury levels is the old time gold prospecting. They used to use mercury to pull gold out of black sand and no doubt some of it ended up back in the river. The south pass gold rush was along the sweetwater, which runs in there, there were also some gold claims upstream of Seminole.

[Keith Walters]

Ha! Cevetch'e, Mexican sushi! I love it. And yes I eat RAW FISH! I'd fillet a fish on the ice and eat it. Soo good!

Keith, hit me up next time your up this way and we'll drag Don out and watch him catch perch!

Will do, Matt.  I am in Cheyenne with family for Christmas and won't be home until Wednesday.  Would like to get up there soon to give Don a fishing lesson!

Later,

Keith 

[DeadSeaFisher]

If you keep it, eat it. And pig out on it guilt free, no matter how hormanal or crazy your preggo significant wants to try it.

[Kinkyline]

   I would be more concerned over the crap they sell in the supermarkets than what comes out of our lakes in Wyoming. :-

[benwyo]

   I would be more concerned over the crap they sell in the supermarkets than what comes out of our lakes in Wyoming. :-

Your right there, no knowing where the supermarket fish has come from or what it was feed or how old it is...
Good Comment Kinkyline......
Benwyo

[Keith Walters]

   I would be more concerned over the crap they sell in the supermarkets than what comes out of our lakes in Wyoming. :-

I would agree with that.  Actually, I would gladly eat fish form Sloan Lake, but had to play around a bit with the raw fish comment.

Good fishing,

Keith

[wyotoach]

The fish from Sloans are just fine to eat. I'll race you to the lake to catch them too as this third leg I've grown, since eating fish out of there, comes in really handy. I actually take my students there in the spring and we keep a mess of perch and fry them up the next day at school. They're all still kicking. 350 hit the swimming closure on the head.

Where I'd REALLY love to catch and eat some fish from <and I think we need to petition the city> is the golf course lakes. I'd pay a daily green (ice) fee to get out there and poke some holes. I've seen some lunker crappie and bass. If they let a dozen people on a day at a $18 fee they could be making a few bucks over the winter.

[Sixxer]

I used to work at the gold course 9 years ago as a groundkeeper boy. Mowing greens, weed eating, etc. There was one worker that got caught fishing one early Sunday morning. I talked to him and he said there are some big fish in that part of the lake. Nobody is allowed to fish it, so that makes sense.
 

[Dirty P]

most health concerns with mercury in wyoming is from the long term ingestion, like a fish a day for years. for most of us who dont eat alot of fish this is not even an issue. i have and will eat fish out of sloan, but most are to small to keep! but each to their own, if you dont trust it dont eat it.