Scofield Survey Update

[gofish435]

I received a brief summary of the Scofield Spring survey results from the Aquatics staff in the Price Office and they said it was okay to share on BFT.

Cutthroat
Catch rates for cutthroat trout slightly higher than 2017.
Lengths ranged from 11 to 27 inches.
Average length was 14.5 inches.
Several cutthroat collected between 16 and 27 inches.
Largest cutthroat 27 inches and 9.22 lbs; fish was released.

Tiger Trout
Catch rates for tiger trout slightly higher than 2017.
Lengths ranged from 10 to 28 inches.
Average length was 14.5 inches.
Several tiger trout collected between 20.5 and 28 inches.
Largest tiger trout 28 inches and 10 lbs; had a 6-inch chub in stomach.

Tiger Muskie
Collected 2 tiger muskie in nets.
Average length was 19 inches.
Each tiger muskie had a 2-3 inch chub in stomach.

Utah Chub
Continue to see general decline of Utah chub catch rates in spring gill net surveys.
Catch rate was 63 fish/net night.
Average size Utah chub is 9.6 inches.
The average size Utah chub is increasing, indicating an older population.

Thanks to the hard working folks in the Southeast Region of the DWR for sharing this information.[]
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[Browntrout]

Thank you for the update. Much appreciated.
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[k2muskie]

Thanks for sharing. IMHO way better outlook then killing it off to have the same outcome in future. But time will tell plus intel says more tiger muskies will potentially be stocked.

Per reports I’m seeing on other social media sites improved angler experiences are being posted.
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[Fishin_Fool78]

Awesome! I would love to see some more tiger musky in there too.
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[Joe_Dizzy]

Sounds like a real fishing boom at Scofield for the next few years. Thanks for posting this.

I assume the musky population will be controlled based on the chub biomass? Because we all know what's NEXT on their menu. []
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[gofish435]

[quote Joe_Dizzy]Sounds like a real fishing boom at Scofield for the next few years. Thanks for posting this.

I assume the musky population will be controlled based on the chub biomass? Because we all know what's NEXT on their menu. [][/quote]

I'm sure that the biologists will keep a close eye on the their progress on the chubs.

Another thing to keep in mind, once they have some kind of screen installed on the outlet of the dam, they will be stocking some sterile walleye.[]
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[wiperhunter2]

For some reason I thought they had already stocked the walleye, so just wipers and TM so far?
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[gofish435]

[quote wiperhunter2]For some reason I thought they had already stocked the walleye, so just wipers and TM so far?[/quote]

That is what I understand. I think they plan to stock more sterile walleye than wipers so the USFWS want some protection in place to keep fish from getting into the river.

I think there is some doubt about the wipers being able to survive the winter at Scofield. I think it is the highest elevation water that has been stocked with wiper so it will take a while to see how well they do.
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[Lonnie]

They want the protection due to the price river (lower fish creek) Being a direct tributary to the green river (endangered species issues) Similar situation to the red fleet res project. They have to have the safeguards or risk losing funding
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[retch_sweeney]

Thanks for the info. Did they estimate what percentage of the total biomass each species represents?
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[gofish435]

[quote retch_sweeney]Thanks for the info. Did they estimate what percentage of the total biomass each species represents?[/quote]

Your welcome.

The survey was done on May 10th so I'm sure they haven't had time to put the full report together. The update was just a quick summary of their findings.
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[kmg37]

[quote Lonnie]They want the protection due to the price river (lower fish creek) Being a direct tributary to the green river (endangered species issues) Similar situation to the red fleet res project. They have to have the safeguards or risk losing funding[/quote]

But that lower fish creek is so infested with chubs right now just below the dam. WAY WORSE than the lake. I wish they would do something about that. Plus, if they are going to be preventing predatorial fish like tiger trout from going from the lake into the river, won't that make the problem much worse, and really hurt the quality of fish to be found in the river there?
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[Lonnie]

You bring up a good question. Though I don't think the tiger trout would be an issue because of the miles of warm water along the lower price river. I don't think the trout would survive and adapt to the warm water. I have never seen trout in the price river down through woodside to the green river confluence. However I wonder about tiger muskies? How do they adapt in river system ?
I think walleye adapt and survive in warm water ??
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[kmg37]

Walleye seem to do just fine in Utah Lake, so I imagine they are good warm water fish
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[Anglinarcher]

Tiger muskies would probably do well in the warm river water if they ever got there in numbers. I have caught their parents in warm water so I expect their offspring would handle it as well.