04-04-2014, 08:07 PM
There is some great fishing in Idaho. I think we have a good mix of both native and non-native species to go after. But not everyone will always be happy with a current condition somewhere. There are things that we can do about it. Go to your local F&G office and talk to the biologists there about your concerns. At the same time express your appreciation for their efforts. Then ask what you or your club can do to help.
They have a really hard job and will never please everyone. Most of them are there because they love their work. It couldn't be for the non-existent money! Budgets for them are always tight. Most people either don't know or forget that our F&G depts are funded only by license sales, not from general state funds. In recent years costs have skyrocketed, while sales of licenses has gone down. A pat on the back can go a long ways.
Walleye and perch will be cyclic in our reservoirs. A few good walleye spawning years such as abt 2010, followed by our last couple of years of drought just about guarantees an imbalance in the feed levels.
The management plan for SFCR is focused on that cyclic problem. Sorry pdf files don't copy and paste well.
Here is some of the management plan info on SFCR:
Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir was completed in 1912 and until the spring of 1984 was considered
a closed system. As a result, it has received plantings of many species of fish through the years.
Record snows in the drainage caused the reservoir to fill and spill for the first time in the spring of
1984. No evidence has been found to indicate that any fish survived the spill below the reservoir.
It currently has a greater variety of game fish species than any other reservoir in the area. Game
species currently in the reservoir are rainbow trout, Yellowstone cutthroat trout x rainbow trout
hybrids, brown trout, yellow perch, black crappie, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and
walleye. Salmonids are maintained by hatchery stocking. Walleye and kokanee are the two most
recent additions and both species have done well; however kokanee stocking was halted in 2010
when no kokanee were harvested despite increased stocking levels. With the addition of walleye,
numbers of nongame fish have declined and an additional forage species, the spottail shiner, has
been introduced to supplement the forage base.
The walleye fishery in Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir is very popular with anglers. An angler
survey undertaken on the reservoir in the summer of 1995 indicated approximately 2,900 walleye
were taken by anglers and the number taken per year has been steadily increasing. Trophy-size
walleye are occasionally caught in the reservoir with two state record fish being caught during the
last 5 years. Naturally reproducing walleye populations tend to be very cyclic with a few years of
strong age classes followed by years of low numbers. Walleye forage is also influenced heavily
by walleye abundance which contributes to the walleye cycles and may impact walleye growth.
Trout fishing remains good in the reservoirs with the stocking of larger catchable rainbow trout and
limited numbers of fingerling Yellowstone cutthroat trout x rainbow trout hybrid fingerlings
On going plan:
Monitor angling pressure and harvest. Annual monitoring of both
walleye and walleye forage species. Establish fishing rule options
depending on walleye population chara
cteristics. Emphasize species
diversity. Evaluate return rates of stocked hatchery trout, alter
hatchery requests accordingly
T
[signature]
They have a really hard job and will never please everyone. Most of them are there because they love their work. It couldn't be for the non-existent money! Budgets for them are always tight. Most people either don't know or forget that our F&G depts are funded only by license sales, not from general state funds. In recent years costs have skyrocketed, while sales of licenses has gone down. A pat on the back can go a long ways.
Walleye and perch will be cyclic in our reservoirs. A few good walleye spawning years such as abt 2010, followed by our last couple of years of drought just about guarantees an imbalance in the feed levels.
The management plan for SFCR is focused on that cyclic problem. Sorry pdf files don't copy and paste well.
Here is some of the management plan info on SFCR:
Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir was completed in 1912 and until the spring of 1984 was considered
a closed system. As a result, it has received plantings of many species of fish through the years.
Record snows in the drainage caused the reservoir to fill and spill for the first time in the spring of
1984. No evidence has been found to indicate that any fish survived the spill below the reservoir.
It currently has a greater variety of game fish species than any other reservoir in the area. Game
species currently in the reservoir are rainbow trout, Yellowstone cutthroat trout x rainbow trout
hybrids, brown trout, yellow perch, black crappie, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and
walleye. Salmonids are maintained by hatchery stocking. Walleye and kokanee are the two most
recent additions and both species have done well; however kokanee stocking was halted in 2010
when no kokanee were harvested despite increased stocking levels. With the addition of walleye,
numbers of nongame fish have declined and an additional forage species, the spottail shiner, has
been introduced to supplement the forage base.
The walleye fishery in Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir is very popular with anglers. An angler
survey undertaken on the reservoir in the summer of 1995 indicated approximately 2,900 walleye
were taken by anglers and the number taken per year has been steadily increasing. Trophy-size
walleye are occasionally caught in the reservoir with two state record fish being caught during the
last 5 years. Naturally reproducing walleye populations tend to be very cyclic with a few years of
strong age classes followed by years of low numbers. Walleye forage is also influenced heavily
by walleye abundance which contributes to the walleye cycles and may impact walleye growth.
Trout fishing remains good in the reservoirs with the stocking of larger catchable rainbow trout and
limited numbers of fingerling Yellowstone cutthroat trout x rainbow trout hybrid fingerlings
On going plan:
Monitor angling pressure and harvest. Annual monitoring of both
walleye and walleye forage species. Establish fishing rule options
depending on walleye population chara
cteristics. Emphasize species
diversity. Evaluate return rates of stocked hatchery trout, alter
hatchery requests accordingly
T
[signature]