# A serious question for all you fish experts.



## fixed blade XC-3 (Sep 11, 2007)

Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if strawberry went to Catch and release only, and people actually followed the rule?

How big would the cutt's get? Then would they end up with stunted growth later on down the line?

It seems every time a slot limit is established, the fish always end up right under that size, with maybe a couple over, so this got me wondering.


----------



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

Fixed Blade I'm by no means a fish biologists. From my novice prespective I'd think growth rate all depends on the fish species and overall forge base. Now, if they're a fish that can reproduce then they could become stunted as they're in competion with each other. Whereas, a sterile stocked fish isn't necessarily in competion with it's own kind for food year- after-year. Again I'm no expert. :wink: 

I've been told by DWR experts TM in Utah waters can live to 9-11. The first 6 years is the fastest growth rate anywhere from 6-12 a year inches depending on the forge. Pike and Musky experts from the midwest are truly amazed at how fast TM in Utah grow. It's believed by the DWR this is in large part due to the mandatory C&R (one over 40"), climate, and forge. :wink: :wink:


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

I think K2Muskie is on the right track. My understanding is that there is not nearly enough natural reproduction of the cutthroat trout at Strawberry to sustain the fishery. Most are stocked. The rainbow there are strile so there is no real risk of over populating and stunting of the trout. Populations could easily be controlled by the number of fish stocked. It might be more financially practicle if the DWR did not have to stock so many fish to replace harvested fish. If Strawberry were catch and release only I don't think growth rate would be effected but the fish would have a LITTLE longer to get bigger. Most of the trout would get very big and they would do a better job of controlling the chubs. However, trout do not live forever and I think trout do not live as long as say tiger musky. So if there were no harvest many of the biggest fish would die of natural causes. I think this would be a big waist. Why not harvest some of those "trophies" that would die soon anyway? I think the slot limit has prooved itself and is working. I would, however, like to see all trout encludded in that slot. My 2 cents.


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

One other thought on the ecconomics of stocking Strawberry. If there were no harvest, trout could get bigger. The bigger the pescivorous fish in the fishery the bigger stocked fish have to be to excape predation. It costs more to raise fish to a larger size so there would be some advantages financially if the DWR did not have to stock as many fish to replace harvested fish and they could raise fish to a larger size so more survive. The fewer game fish the pescivorous fish eat the more chubs they will eat.


----------



## ScottyP (Sep 12, 2007)

Any money the DWR would save in stocking would pale in comparison to the money they would lose in license sales. Strawberry receives an enormous amount of pressure and many dollars from one day or one week license sales from people who want to at least have a chance at a keeper. It aint gonna happen but if it did, campfire is right. The cutts rely on egg gathering and hatchery help to get the numbers right and the rainbows are sterile, so stunting could never occur with the DWR controlling those two key variables.


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

ScottyP, 
I certainly agree that many fishermen that frequent Strawberry would be unhappy if the regs were changed to catch and release only. Many feel that current regs are too restrictive. But I am not sure that fishing lcense sales would suffer that much. I have a hard time thinking that there are that many fishermen who buy a fishing license ONLY to fish strewberry and harvest fish. The days of stuffing the freezer with "FREE" fish are long gone. The present regs at Strawberry allow only limited harvest(only rainbows and cutts outside the slot while the great majority of fish caught fall into the manditory release slot) anyway. License cost and fuel cost prohibit the freezer stuffing practices of yesteryear. I think the prevailing attitude of most of the fishermen at Strawberry is to enjoy fishing and catching fish and many would like to take A FEW home to eat for asthetic reasons. I have a had time thinking that that many fishermen would simply not buy a fishing license just because they could not harvest fish at Strewberry. And the DWR revenue lost by those few that would not might just be more than made up in the sale of out of state licenses. Strawberry is allready an extremely popular fishing location. If it were to become the trophy fishery that even more restrictive regs would create, it has the potential to be a destination fishery comparable to Heneries Lake. I am not saying that would be alltogether good (It is allready very crowded). I am just saying that the loss of revenue would not be that great.


----------



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

The problem I'm seeing with what's been said so far is that nobody is thinking about the biomass. If none of the existing biomass is removed, there is no room for each fish to grow larger, right?

Sure, you'd see some of the already larger cutts get huge, but mostly, I think the average size would eventually decrease, since there is _some_ natural recruitment in the lake with all the many tributaries that the valley has.

Nobody takes the fish out and they just keep reproducing. What that means is that the reservoir's biomass would have to be spread out over more fish, limiting their attainable size, rather than a larger population of big fish.

At least, that's what the DWR doctrine would lead me to think. I could be up in the night.


----------



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

The biggest problem with the biomass at Strawberry has been, is and allways will be CHUBS. There is not enough natural reproduction of trout to worry about over population of trout. Chubs on the other hand are very successful and very prolific, much more prolific than trout. The chubs compete with trout for food and space. But if the trout are big enough, aggressive enough and numerous enough to use the chubs as forage then that part of the biomass that is chubs (at least the smaller ones) becomes forage biomass rather than competative biomass. But as long as we are speculating as armchair biologists, I suspect that strawberry would not be that much different as a catch and release fishery than it is now. There would still be very few small trout because they are also forage for the larger trout. The DWR would/could stock fewer medium size trout to replace those that are now harvested but without that harvest there should still be plenty of them. The biggest fish could get even bigger but many of them would die of old age. So I think there might be a fewer bigger trout and Strawberry would become even more of a trophy fishery than it is now but not a lot different than it is now. But there would be a lot more trophy rainbows, that is if the catch and release that Fixed asked about were to enclude rainbows.


----------



## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

Trout live to be 6 years old or so...yes? I'm sure there are plenty of fish that old in Strawberry right now. (28" - 32" ?) People don't catch them all that often because they aren't fishing for them and fish that big aren't likely to strike the same lures/baits fished in the same way as smaller fish. If you want to catch fish over the slot, fish accordingly. I'm no expert by any means, but I've found a few strategies that work... sometimes. :wink: 

If Strawberry was C & R only, I suspect the population would do well but people wouldn't catch nearly as many.


----------

