11-18-2004, 02:53 AM
If I can outsmart elmblad (DOW biologist) on some of his false facts during a phone conversation I had with him the other day, it proves they are dumb. I was pleading with him to put tiger muskies in at least one of the lakes on the mesa that used to have great cutthroats or rainbow trout populations (lots of times both), but now are almost pure white sucker. I asked him to just try it in one isolated lake which does not connect to any others that is mostly suckers (lots of lakes like that to choose from) I told him it would do the following:
reduce the white sucker population, therefore increase the rainbow and cutthroat populations because suckers and rainbows compete for food like bugs. Also, suckers enjoy fish eggs and I have personally seen suckers just "sucking up" trout eggs. Therefore trout pops. would increase and a trophy fish possible in the tiger muskies that would form.
He replied to this by saying: "but the tiger muskies would decimate the trout populations."
To this I replied: the tiger muskies would actually prey on the suckers much more than trout. It is common biology if you think about it; the suckers are bigger, slower, and more oily than the trout. They are the obvious prey of the tiger muskies. Tiger muskies would certainly increase the rainbow population (and cutthroat) because they don't compete with trout for the same food sources (mostly bugs, freshwater shrimp) like the suckers do. Sure the tiger muskies would eat some trout, but you currently have much more suckers than trout anyway in these lakes, and fishing is nothing short of crappy. The suckers would be wiped out, and the trout and tiger muskies would emerge. The tigers, in time, would be caught and kept out of the lake and mostly only trout would remain, which, with the large populations of freshwater shrimp and other bugs, would make the trout grow to large sizes. I have seen it in other remote reservoirs on the mesa with freshwater shrimp, for example Y and S reservoir which was plum full of 3-5 lb. cutthroats (a few bows as well) and many fish easily in the 10 lb. range. The tiger muskies would be the perfect solution.
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reduce the white sucker population, therefore increase the rainbow and cutthroat populations because suckers and rainbows compete for food like bugs. Also, suckers enjoy fish eggs and I have personally seen suckers just "sucking up" trout eggs. Therefore trout pops. would increase and a trophy fish possible in the tiger muskies that would form.
He replied to this by saying: "but the tiger muskies would decimate the trout populations."
To this I replied: the tiger muskies would actually prey on the suckers much more than trout. It is common biology if you think about it; the suckers are bigger, slower, and more oily than the trout. They are the obvious prey of the tiger muskies. Tiger muskies would certainly increase the rainbow population (and cutthroat) because they don't compete with trout for the same food sources (mostly bugs, freshwater shrimp) like the suckers do. Sure the tiger muskies would eat some trout, but you currently have much more suckers than trout anyway in these lakes, and fishing is nothing short of crappy. The suckers would be wiped out, and the trout and tiger muskies would emerge. The tigers, in time, would be caught and kept out of the lake and mostly only trout would remain, which, with the large populations of freshwater shrimp and other bugs, would make the trout grow to large sizes. I have seen it in other remote reservoirs on the mesa with freshwater shrimp, for example Y and S reservoir which was plum full of 3-5 lb. cutthroats (a few bows as well) and many fish easily in the 10 lb. range. The tiger muskies would be the perfect solution.
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