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[#0000FF]Just got an email from Chris Crockett...DWR. They wanted me to post this up to solicit help and input from our members.
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Our current goals are twofold
1. Determine where pike are spawning/congregating
2. Collect pike for a bioenergetics study to determine diet and potential impacts to both the sportfish community and June sucker.
Anglers can help us with both these goals by either telling us where they are catching pike on Utah Lake and/or providing us with the Utah Lake Northern pike they catch. Below is a list of the information that would be helpful. All of this could be sent to me via email, [url "mailto:chriscrockett@utah.gov"]chriscrockett@utah.gov[/url] or anglers could simply give me a call 801 234 9639.
Help UDWR identify areas where illegally introduced Northern pike are spawning and/or congregating in Utah Lake. Northern pike have the potential to negatively impact the existing sportfish community and the Federally endangered June Sucker.
Angler Name:
Angler Contact Information (phone or email):
Location of Pike Capture:
Date of Capture:
Pike Length and/or Weight: (an estimate is fine):
Reproductive Condition (expressing eggs or milt?):
Send information to Chris Crockett, [url "mailto:chriscrockett@utah.gov"]chriscrockett@utah.gov[/url] 801-234-9639
If you'd like to donate a Utah Lake Northern pike to UDWR to assist with a bioenergetics/diet study please keep the pike on ice and/or frozen as soon as possible after capture and contact Chris Crockett (UDWR Fish Biologist) to schedule a drop-off/pick-up near Springville, UT. As a token of our appreciation the first 15 anglers that provide us with a Utah Lake caught Northern pike and all relevant information will receive a Rapala lure (one per angler). Please note all pike donations should be scheduled with Chris, the UDWR front office in Springville isn't equipped to handle donations or provide Rapalas.
Chris Crockett, [url "mailto:chriscrockett@utah.gov"]chriscrockett@utah.gov[/url] 801-234-9639
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So are they contemplating allowing the pike to stay as a UL gamefish and lift the kill order? Just curious.
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[#0000FF]Nay. Not so. They are simply trying to learn more about "the enemy". At this point nobody at DWR knows much at all about the population density, prime habitat, preferred hangouts, size ranges, reproduction, etc. They want to know more so they can better formulate plans for eradication.
KNOW THY ENEMY.
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As a preface I follow rules and kill orders as written, but wouldn't the Pike keep the carp numbers down? If so, is that so terrible?
Just my two cents (3 cents if you're Canadian)...
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All things being equal, I would love to have Northern Pike at Utah Lake.... So if we are taking a straw poll mark me as a YES!!
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They probably eat their fair share of small carp but they also slurp up the June suckers. That gives the DWR heartburn. If we could convince the pike to only eat carp then that might work but that ain't gonna happen.
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Does that meant they owe me a lure? [laugh]
I see them all the time at the freeway culvert on Hobble. Donated a small one.
There would have been another one too, but I accidentally snagged it in the shoulder and let it go, per regs.
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What if we put a bunch of signs in the water for the Pike....
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WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE AND THE FISH AND GAME IN THIS STATE?????????? Northern pike are one of the best sport fish alive! save the suckers? wth? don't we have enough of them? I go all over to catch these awesome fish! if we had more here people would actually have something more to show then a 10" trout they sat all day to catch! just my thoughts 
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[quote chaddyboxers]WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE AND THE FISH AND GAME IN THIS STATE?????????? Northern pike are one of the best sport fish alive! save the suckers? wth? don't we have enough of them? I go all over to catch these awesome fish! if we had more here people would actually have something more to show then a 10" trout they sat all day to catch! just my thoughts [/quote]
It has nothing to do with whether they're great gamefish or not. The June Sucker is an Endangered Species. If the the Feds don't think the DWR is doing enough to reestablish the sucker, they'll take over management of Utah Lake and most likely attempt to kill everything in Utah Lake and all of its tributaries.
Matt
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Understood! just saying this is a great sport fish. They need to find more waters to put them in. A few years ago in Yuba, people that caught them went crazy over catching them for a reason! DWR ask us for license money and many other fund to support fishing AND hunting in this state and feel that (my opinion) they care more for other things then what the people that fund the DWR WANT! I AGREE suckers are important to keep around but also think maybe other waters may be better for them! they can live in any waters, and live with non aggressive fish like trout. put them in Tibble and other waters like that!
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Sorry 1 more thought I would like to add... 90% of the fish in UL are aggressive fish. cat's, large mouth, walleye!
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Unfortunately there is no other known place for the June Sucker and Utah Lake is listed as its Critical Habitat.
The Critical Habitat designation has some potentially big impacts if the Feds decide they become necessary.
Here's the statement from the recover program site:
The June sucker, named for its annual June spawning run, is endemic to Utah Lake. This means there are no other places in Utah or the world where June sucker live naturally. The June sucker numbers have gone from millions in the early 1800s, to a natural population of less than 1,000 today. The June sucker was federally listed as an endangered species with critical habitat in April 1986. Factors contributing to its endangered status include impacts to its natural habitat, water development, and predation or competition with nonnative fish. The June sucker was listed as endangered due to its localized distribution, failure to recruit new adult fish to the population, and because of threats to its continued survival. In an effort to ensure against the threat of extinction the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program was established.
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Thank you for that info MasterDaad! didn't know that!!! sure wish Utah would find more homes for these fish though. Not sure if your a Pike hunter but I sure am! I travel all over for them and would like to find more in my back yard to catch! although I know a lot about fish and fishing, I don't know it all and thank you for letting me know this... I will try to keep my pie hole shut tell I have all the info before I spout off
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I dunno if that's accurate. I see your point, but I'm guessing that the carp and white bass that I think largely leave the June Suckers alone make up a lot closer to 90% of the lake's fish than the cats, largemouth, and walleye combined.
That being said... I'd be in favor of spending all the money the DWR is funneling into June Suckers on a big ol' aquarium to keep a few hundred in... then introducing something that could really start keeping the carp in check. Pike sounds like a good option to me 
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A few years ago i was fishing the river running into east canyon and saw 1000s of fish splashing around spawning in the river. Black with white bottom, looks exactly like all pictures of june suckers ive seen. A friend and i ended up catching a couple males with streamers. We later saw them in a huge school in the lake and caught one again on a streamer. As far as i can tell there were more than enough to repopulate utah lake....
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[#0000FF]Those were undoubtedly plain old Utah Suckers. They live in many Utah streams and lakes...even in Utah Lake.
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[quote Ezpz13]As a preface I follow rules and kill orders as written, but wouldn't the Pike keep the carp numbers down? If so, is that so terrible?
Just my two cents (3 cents if you're Canadian)...[/quote]
[#0000FF]As a preface, yes, pike do eat carp...and everything else. Only problem is that they generally go for the less spiny prey...like suckers...before they pattern on other species.
Yuba is a good example of pike not being a good way to control carp. The pike finished off the trout and then worked their way through the perch and walleye before lowering their standards to feed on carp. And even at their peak the pike were not able to make much of a dent in the carp population.
Wherever pike and carp coexist there will always be plenty of carp. Too many.
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From my personal perspective the June Sucker's fate was sealed in the 1800's. The efforts to save it in its "natural habitat" (as if Utah Lake is anything like the natural habitat it was in the 1800's) may be admirable, but IMHO, futile.
I'd love a great Pike fishery 10 minutes from my house.
But the way the Endangered Species act is written and sometimes enforced, there is a real chance things could get much worse rather than better .... not just for UL but for the reservoirs in the tributary system.
So I'm all for cooperating with what I view as a Lost Cause in order to avoid consequences I may really hate.
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[quote LOAH]Does that meant they owe me a lure? [laugh]
I see them all the time at the freeway culvert on Hobble. Donated a small one.
There would have been another one too, but I accidentally snagged it in the shoulder and let it go, per regs.[/quote]
[#0000FF]If you did hand off your pikette and supply the info desired I would think Chris would likely make it retroactive. He's a good guy. Yours is the kind of first hand experience they are seeking to help learn more about that species in Utah Lake.
PS...I doubt if you would have gotten busted for keeping and donating that "shoulder taker". And, I know it is common to refer to a biggun as a fish with "shoulders". But anatomically impossible.
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