Berry Flavored Water

Vanilla said:

Lots of diverse birds out there and it was cool watching them out-fish me

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I like birds. But those darned fish-eating birds are terrible for trout! Remember, birds don't practice catch-and-release. They just consume!

A study done in 1988 (see attached study at bottom) observed "The estimated consumption of catchable-size trout by loons and cormorants at Minersville in 1988 was greater than the estimated sportfish harvest by anglers". This was prior to harvest restrictions being put in place at Minersville. Further "Our study suggests that cormorants had a negative impact on some put-grow-and-take trout fisheries throughout southwestern Utah... The impact of cormorant predation on sportfish was greatest at Minersville and Otter Creek reservoirs. Potential consumption of trout at those two waters was estimated to be greater than 5kg per ha for at least one year during the study".

Importantly: "...survival of stocked trout has been shown to be related to size at stocking, with larger fish generally showing better survival and return to anglers. Consequently, fishery managers have responded to low survival in southwestern Utah reservoirs by increasing the size ...of stocked fish, as well as adjusting stocking times."

"At Minersville Reservoir the UDWR has initiated a new sportfish management program integrating pisciverous birds into the overall reservoir management. Proposed changes at Minersville include altering the timing of stocking as well as increasing the size of fish stocked, addition of new species of sportfish, and angling regulations designed to maintain a population of larger trout less vulnerable to predation."

Cormorants are evil. They out-fish anglers about 4:1, love trout, and never throw anything back.

Vanilla said:

Yes, it is true that fish eating birds eat fish and don’t practice catch and release. We should alert the Wildlife Board. Maybe they can designate Strawberry as a pay to play fishery for only those that can shell out hundreds of thousands per year to be members so we can save it from the birds!

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For the love of all that is Holy, don't do that! The WB will cut the fishing season there. (among other things)

I think PBH likes that picture above more than any he has in his collection.

On a (semi) serious note, from what I recall from the management plan at the Berry, because the big cutts readily devour fingerling stocked trout, the division already has to stock larger planters in there so most of those birds are eating chubs and crawdads and such and are not seriously threatening the trout. Pelicans do cause problems in a few weeks, when they congregate near river inlets and intercept spawning cutts heading upstream. May not be as big of deal this year with the river as high as it is.

I like watching fish eating birds while I fish. My favorite to watch are the ospreys. One time I was kicking a fly around a small lake I like to fish. I was catching my share and enjoying the day. Some good-ole-boys arrived and were shore fishing and emptying a few beverages. They weren't catching much though. The osprey came by and flew around for a bit, then dove and caught a trout fairly close to my "friends". I never tire of seeing that. But I nearly rolled out of my float tube laughing at the ranting, raving and cussing that the GOB's did after the osprey caught a fish like that and they had been unsuccessful all afternoon.