03-13-2015, 02:10 PM
[#0000FF]Totally agree about the unlikelihood of huge browns still residing in the Gorge. I was around in the late 70's...during the days (and nights) of Ray Johnson and all the big browns. Conditions were definitely different.
Browns need lots of food to attain large proportions. In the 70's Flaming Gorge was wall to wall chubs. The water inside protected areas was brown with them during their spring spawn. And they were visible all around the shoreline the rest of the year. Heavy predation by smallmouths and macks whittled down the chub population...not to mention the mega-munching browns...reduced the chubs to a point below the "tipping point". They disappeared over the next few years as predators ate the babies faster than the surviving big ones could spawn them. And then most of the big adults died off.
There are still chubs here and there in the system but not enough to support a super race of giant browns. Now the macks pattern mostly on kokes and baby bows. However, there have also been some baby burbot in their tummies. But unless the browns were taught to live on burbot they would have a tough time getting enough to eat to allow them to get huge.
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Browns need lots of food to attain large proportions. In the 70's Flaming Gorge was wall to wall chubs. The water inside protected areas was brown with them during their spring spawn. And they were visible all around the shoreline the rest of the year. Heavy predation by smallmouths and macks whittled down the chub population...not to mention the mega-munching browns...reduced the chubs to a point below the "tipping point". They disappeared over the next few years as predators ate the babies faster than the surviving big ones could spawn them. And then most of the big adults died off.
There are still chubs here and there in the system but not enough to support a super race of giant browns. Now the macks pattern mostly on kokes and baby bows. However, there have also been some baby burbot in their tummies. But unless the browns were taught to live on burbot they would have a tough time getting enough to eat to allow them to get huge.
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