Jordanelle survey

[fishgiver]

Today DWR is conducting a survey to check the growth of the introduced spiecies, should be Very interesting.
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[Anglinarcher]

Indeed. Let us know what you hear.
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[fsh4fun05]

I'm excited to see the results.
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[doggonefishin]

I suspect that what you are referring to is the fall gillnetting survey they do every year at this time. (they do a spring study as well)


All of us that fish there are anxious to hear what was found. That said, the "unofficial" survey done this summer (fishing) was favorable. I think things are looking up at Jordanelle if we have another good water year next year.
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[Troll]

k
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[perchinski]

I was there helping the DWR pull nets Tues. I was in the boat that worked the north arm. Fascinating to see what comes from where. Some nets shallow, some deep.
Chubs still abound, but more & bigger perch, bigger bass, with the usual big browns & rainbows. One 25" musky (from river arm) and one 9" wiper. Most surprising were the number of kokanee hauled in. Nets set at same spots Oct-to-Oct, at 3pm, then yanked 9am day after, for 3 consecutive days so they can determine how lake compares to other years. Except for the chubs, all fish counted, measured, weighed and stomach-sampled.
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[fishgiver]

Many Thanks for the photo !
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[fsh4fun05]

Maybe it's just me but I would think the numbers and sizes of the chubs would be just as important. Maybe not stomach samples as much but those chubs do play their role.
That muskie though...[]
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[doggonefishin]

Thanks for the update. Good information!


I agree that the chub information is important and when I helped the DWR with the gillnetting there a few years ago they kept track of chub numbers and size as well. My question for this year would be if all of the chubs were the large, old ones that typically are collected or are there some younger ones showing up? With all the reflooded weeds and structure that were submerged this year for the first time since 2011, I was wondering if young chubs would appear from the enhanced structure and cover?
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[perchinski]

Chubs are all clones....same size, same wt.
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[Anglinarcher]

I suspect that any chubs from this years spawn would be too small to be caught by the nets...... go between the mesh.

[a_bow_nut]

I'm surprised to see the spawning colors on the salmon. Thought that it would be another year or two before they started spawning.

That tiger sure looks interesting. Amazing how fast that they can grow.
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[fsh4fun05]

What size? What weight? Was there a lot of them?
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[SBennett]

Anyone know the numbers of stocked kokanee from the original planting?
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[perchinski]

I was on that Jordy committee, and here are the #s stocked --- approximately 60,000 kokanee in April of 2016, 25,000 two-inch wipers in August of '16, 9,000 six-inch tiger muskies in July of '16. Can't recall the size of the kokes. Hope this helps.
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[wiperhunter2]

I guess it depends on how old the kokes were when they were stocked but if they were less than two years old, it is surprising they would be spawning so early. I always thought kokes had be be 3 or 4 years old before they spawned[:/]. Amazing growth on the Tigers, I had no idea they could grow that much in less than 1.5 years.
Thanks for the info.
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[SBennett]

It does, thanks Mike!
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[PBH]

[quote wiperhunter2]I guess it depends on how old the kokes were when they were stocked but if they were less than two years old, it is surprising they would be spawning so early. I always thought kokes had be be 3 or 4 years old before they spawned[:/]. [/quote]

I'm sure the kokanee were stocked as fingerling.

you always get early spawners. This is common with all Pacific salmon species. Some fish just head in early and attempt to spawn. Heck, the biggest Spring I've ever landed was a 24"er. Hardly what a normal Spring would be.

a 4 year return is just an average.
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[wiperhunter2]

[quote perchinski]I was on that Jordy committee, and here are the #s stocked --- approximately 60,000 kokanee in April of 2016, 25,000 two-inch wipers in August of '16, 9,000 six-inch tiger muskies in July of '16. Can't recall the size of the kokes. Hope this helps.[/quote]

[quote perchinski]I was there helping the DWR pull nets Tues. I was in the boat that worked the north arm. Fascinating to see what comes from where. Some nets shallow, some deep.
Chubs still abound, but more & bigger perch, bigger bass, with the usual big browns & rainbows. One 25" musky (from river arm) and one 9" wiper. Most surprising were the number of kokanee hauled in. Nets set at same spots Oct-to-Oct, at 3pm, then yanked 9am day after, for 3 consecutive days so they can determine how lake compares to other years. Except for the chubs, all fish counted, measured, weighed and stomach-sampled.[/quote]

I guess I can believe that because if the pic above that Troll posted was from the gill netting at Jordanelle but that is still a huge amount of growth in one year for both the kokanee and the tiger. Comparing that koke to the wiper that was 9" from the quote above, it would look to be at least 13 to 14" from a fingerling size that is amazing growth and the tiger from the quotes above 6" to 25" seems like a crazy amount of growth in over a year time span. With unlimited amount of food, I guess it just shows what can happen and gives me hope for the same thing to occur at another lake that we talk about at lot, where Tigers, Eyes and Wipers were recently introduced[].
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[Troll]

We have to also remember that these new stocking s are being introduced into an environment that is ideal for them. Given some time things will become more balanced in the predator/prey ratios and the growth rates will adjust to that ratio.

There is also the growth rates of the individual species to consider. Most fish have a growth curve not a flat line. What that means is that nature has provided that they grow faster in their youth, as do all animalia. This is to get them up to a size that is defendable and can withstand predation. Like most animals, fish grow more in the first year than the second, more the second than third and so on.
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