BIGGER TROUT ARE EXPECTED : MILD WINTER MEANS FISH WILL BE IN GOOD SHAPE FOR OPENER.Byline: Brett Pauly Daily News Staff Writer Most of the major fishing lakes The Fishing Lakes are a chain of four lakes in the Qu'Appelle Valley cottage country some 40 miles (64 km) to the northeast of Regina, Saskatchewan. The perimeters of Pasqua, Echo, Mission and Katepwa Lakes in the Eastern Sierra were not covered not covered Health care adjective Referring to a procedure, test or other health service to which a policy holder or insurance beneficiary is not entitled under the terms of the policy or payment system–eg, Medicare. Cf Covered. in ice nearly as long as in normal winters, meaning there will be bigger trout, and perhaps more of them. ``The fish are in very good shape this year because we had a very mild winter with good water quality. They have gotten a head start,'' said Curtis Milliron, associate fishery biologist with the Department of Fish in Bishop, who tested fish progress at Crowley Lake Crowley Lake is a reservoir on the upper Owens River in southern Mono County, California in the United States. It was created in 1941 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) as storage for the Los Angeles Aqueduct and for flood control. on April 9. ``Some two and half weeks before the opener they were at a good-opener size. They are accelerating faster than the trend I am accustomed to.'' In May and June each year, trout grow about an inch a month. This year the fish may have already attained that rate, Milliron said. ``That's pretty substantial growth, and they could be large fish,'' he said, anticipating Saturday's trout-season opener. Steve Parmenter, another DFG DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) DFG Department of Fish and Game DFG District Factor Group DFG Data Flow Graph DFG Difference Frequency Generation DFG Diode Function Generator DFG Dog Faced Gremlin biologist, explained the process. When a lake is free of ice, there is more sunshine and oxygen in the water, and that translates to more food production, he said. The sun's warming rays prompt the growth of aquatic vegetation and forms the food base for everything that the trout eats, whether it be zooplankton zooplankton: see marine biology. zooplankton Small floating or weakly swimming animals that drift with water currents and, with phytoplankton, make up the planktonic food supply on which almost all oceanic organisms ultimately depend (see (floating microscopic animals) or insects. Milliron noted that Crowley was ``full with midge midge, name for any of numerous minute, fragile flies in several families. The family Chironomidae consists of about 2,000 species, most of which are widely distributed. The herbivorous larvae are found in all freshwaters; the larvae of some species live in saltwater. larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. and water fleas.'' And the profusion of light makes it easier for trout to see their prey; the fish are active and ready to feed. Without ice, there is also less chance for the fish to die in mid-winter. However, that phenomenon is usually not a big factor, Parmenter said. The Department of Water and Power's annual Eastern Sierra snow survey conducted April 1 revealed 114 percent of normal water content in the snow. Last winter's water content level was 187 percent of normal. June Lake was only caked in ice for a month and a half. Normally it's under ice for up to four months. And Crowley Lake never completely froze, also unusual. ``Last year it was sheet rock - a foot or two thick,'' Plakos said. Despite the forecast of larger trout, nothing is certain, the biologists warned. The flip side Flip side In the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). of the lack of ice is that the birds have more access to the fish. And lately, colder temperatures have slowed biological activity. ``We would think that the fish have gotten a big start, but never underestimate the power of nature to fool any scientists,'' Parmenter said. DFG senior hatchery hatchery a commercial establishment dedicated to the hatching of bird eggs to provide day old chicks and poults to the poultry industry. hatchery liquid the contents of unfertilized eggs. Used in petfood manufacture. biologist Mike Haynie noted that the mellow winter won't equate to any abnormally great growth rate. ``It remains to be seen if the angler will be able to tell much of a difference,'' he said. ``I mean a fish that would normally be about 14 inches won't now be 22 inches.'' ``It's not going to cause a lot of size records to fall,'' Parmenter said, ``for the simple reason that it takes a lot of years for those fish to grow.'' CAPTION(S): Map Map: (color) TROUT OPENER '96 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion