Kokanee Conservation

[kokaguy1]

Last summer I was looking at a picture that a guy had posted of his resent trip to Wickiup Reservor in Central Oregon. The pic showed 3 lines of neatly positioned Kokanee I believe the total catch to be 75, 25 per line. Many of these fish were very nice fish.
I believe the limit at wickiup is 25 per angler per day so I assume these fish were caught by three people. I got to thinking what on earth are they going to do with all these fish? This was not a one day trip as it sounded, as they were vacationing at the lake so I can only imagine how many more they dredged out of this body of water.
So I posted a reply to this fisherman asking, why take so many fish, aren't you worried that down the road the fishery will suffer if everyone took this many fish each day they go out?
Well I got a reply basically saying that it's okay to take that many as these are salmon and are just going to die anyway and they need to be harvested.
Well today I was reading an artical out of the The Spokesman Review talking about Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho where there was an emergency closure do to a lack of returning fish for spawning and the limit now has been lowered from 25 per day to 6 per day.
So I guess my question is are Kokanee anglers the least bit worried about loosing their fishery to over harvesting if so, not every Kokanee fisherman in on the same page....or maybe I just need to be more educated on this fishery? Help me out here please

 

[trollmonkey]

It would probably depend a lot on if the lakes population of kokes was able to spawn and sustain itself.In a lake that has to be stocked and has no reproduction It probably would not hurt to utilize as many as possible.The best answers would come from the local biologists for a particular lake.Having different limits on different lakes is a good thing because it is probably more representative of what the conditions are on a particular water. 2cents On a lighter note I hope the dude had help cleaning all those kokes.101duh101

 

[SuperD]

This is also going to be a state to state issue as each probably manages their Koke fishery differently. Personally, if the rules are set to a specific limit, then by all means a fisherman has the right to catch and keep that many. Failure to get desired breeding is generally due to other factors like a die off of fingerlings 3 years before so the population wasn't there to begin with. The Koke lakes we fish here in CA are always a crap shoot, some good, some bad, some big, some small. Since Kokanee fishing is the most obvious of plant and take fisheries around, I don't worry too much about its demise. There are great Koke groups like Kokanee Power that work diligenty to keep our fishery strong but there is still going to be good years and bad years. While my own personal beliefs about catch and keep may differ from the guy in the boat next to me, I can't lose sleep over what is done within the law.

 

[twisted lines]

As a relatively newbie to wickiup, more power to him! If I see it I will tip my hat to them, I have yet to come close in a day there but I have caught a lot more then 5. Can drive either way about 30 miles and fish a lake that has a 5 fish limit if that makes me feel better, NA!!!!!! Two guys on this site can do it and that is why I keep checking just to see if they share more tips to catch just 1 more each trip, and yes I have tied a few more up tonight because of there kindness in sharing what works for them. Thanks guys..........TL

 

[DLM]

I believe the limit at wickiup is 25 per angler per day so I assume these fish were caught by three people. I got to thinking what on earth are they going to do with all these fish?

In my house we eat them!

I don't know how many fish I took home last summer, but it was several hundred. It is just the wife and I at home now. We smoked some and froze some, but they are almost gone, and will be all gone by the time this years fish start biting in earnest.

In most lakes, overpopulation of fish is a much greater danger than over harvest. I think Suttle and to a lessor degreee Billy Chinook are prime examples of this.

 

[sthoge]

I think it really comes down to each lake and what that lake can support. If a lake starts to get over fished and the numbers dwindle, then it's up to the state to come in and change the limits to control it. I don't agree with anybody that waste fish because they have too many to eat or process. The problem with CDA Lake and others in the State of Idaho isn't from overfishing but due to a FUBAR mistake that the Fish and Game made by planting Chinook salmon in the lake. Take that along with someone illegally planting Pike there as well and you have a couple of very agressive species that have decimated the Koke populations.

 

[SuperD]

I'm curious how lowering the 2011 limit helps a lack of returning fish for 2010. There may be an abundance of fish return in next years breeding stock. Not sure how the fish biologist would know.

 

[kokaguy1]

Thanks everyone for your opinions and insight. Can't wait to hit the lake this year, smoked Kokanee really sounds good right now.