Pelican Lake update

[fishnate]

I know there are a bunch of you wondering what's up with Pelican Lake. We just had our Pelican Lake Advisory Committee mtg and I thought I'd pass along an update. Pelican lake is progressing well. Bass and bluegill have been transplanted and both species had very successful spawns in 2019 with young-of-year bass and bluegill found throughout the lake. An additional 80,000 bluegill fingerlings were transplanted this past fall, 2019. Don't get too excited to fish just yet. With only a small percentage of adult fish available, bluegill are averaging only 0.75' to 2.3" in length and bass are averaging only 3.7" to 5.7". Harvest of bluegill is prohibited throughout 2020 to protect the spawning adults. Currently there are only 3,000 adult bluegill and 143 adult bass so good luck finding them anyway. A little more patience is required. In the mean time, a fish screen has been installed upstream to help prevent future unwanted fish from reaching Pelican. A sediment catch basin has been constructed to reduce sedimentation of Pelican. Several other projects are in the works including dredging of select areas, campground improvements and construction of a new fishing pier. Here's a link for more information, https://wildlife.utah.gov/news/wildlife-...tions.html
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[scartinez]

Thank you for the update. I can't wait to start putting a hurt on those largies once the population rebounds. Going to be awesome!
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[gofish435]

Thanks for the news and the time you put in on the committee.

Pelican is such a fun place to fish and hopefully in a few years it will be good again.
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[lakepowellnut]

Thanks Nate! You beat me to reporting on the meeting, but I was up fishing Scofield today.

One of the action items was to get input from anglers on fishing regulations.

There are a couple of proposals that would limit the quantity of bluegill, and put a limit on how many bluegill that can be kept over 9”. What are your suggestions? We’d live to hear!
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[k2muskie]

Great work on Pelican by region biologists and the funding from the state’s Blue Ribbon Fisheries Advisory Council. In addition these biologists working with land owners on canal upgrades for Pelican. This rebuilding of Pelican has been a collective effort from numerous individuals and state bodies. A job well done
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[fishnate]

I hope you did well at Scofield. I'll be on ice tomorrow at a lake X. Your request for input on regulations wasn't just for me I'm sure, we'd love to hear what other anglers are thinking.

As mentioned regulations for 2020 are set already with no harvest allowed on bluegill. Not sure why bass aren't under the same regulation, but I doubt any could be found with so few catchable bass in there currently

Anyway moving forward I believe that any fish can be over harvested so I would be in favor of a smaller limit of 10 or 15 on bluegill to begin with as the population gets established, but allow any size initially. I've also thought about a split season to protect spawning populations, like May 1 through July 31 10 bluegill then 20 the rest of the year.

I'd also like to protect the bass, but with current trends of C&R they may not need much extra regulation.

Anyway just some thoughts. We have time for inputs to look at many different options. My opinion will undoubtedly evolve with new data and other ideas. The DWR is planning to send out surveys next year, I believe. Watch for those so each of you can be heard.
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[a_bow_nut]

If these fish have the parasites in them too then I doubt that harvest will be a problem.
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[riverdog]

They don't come from the hatchery infected with parasites. However the parasite will be reintroduced by birds as long as there are the right snail and fish in the enviroment. I imagine the warm shallow water is part of the reason the infection becomes so prevalent there. Probable have a few years until most fish are infected there.
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[Kent]

[quote riverdog]

However the parasite will be reintroduced by birds as long as there are the right snail and fish in the enviroment.

[/quote]

Curious why you feel the parasites would have to be reintroduced? I would assume that they are still there after the lake was poisoned.
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[a_bow_nut]

The things that I wonder is how long they can survive without a host and if any hosts survived the treatment?

Hoping for the best either way.
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[fishnate]

According to DWR a significant kill occurred to the snail population with the rotenone. This won't halt to parasite, but it may slow it down for a time. We'll see in time.
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[riverdog]

Because the parasite needs the birds, snails (as mention rotenone will kill some snails) and the fish for its lifecycle. It doesn't reproduce even if the birds are still there without the other 2. It will take some time to ramp back up with all 3 animals in place to the very high levels of infection Pelican suffered from.
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[doggonefishin]

[quote riverdog]Because the parasite needs the birds, snails (as mention rotenone will kill some snails) and the fish for its lifecycle. It doesn't reproduce even if the birds are still there without the other 2. It will take some time to ramp back up with all 3 animals in place to the very high levels of infection Pelican suffered from.[/quote]

This is correct. If the snails are knocked back then there may be a delay before the fish have parasite burdens similar to pre treatment. If they have come back rapidly, then there won't be much of a difference from pre rotenone, because the waterbirds, (the definitive end stage host) will be there in abundance, pooping in the water and intiiating the life cycle.
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