Check out this product to create a fish habitat in your pond…and be “green”!!

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“Cast A Fly…Catch A Student” National Fishing in Schools Program

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Double Duo–Spring Fling Trophy Shoot Event

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Check out the latest educational opportunities available through the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission! There’s something for everyone!

Written by admin on April 15th, 2011

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Tags: archery, Bow Hunting, Canoeing, fishing, hunting, muzzleloader, Nebraska Game & Parks, outdoor education, rifle, shotgun, Women & the Outdoors

The Big Bucks are on their way!!

Written by admin on March 15th, 2011

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Tags: bucks, hunting, Monster Bucks of the Past, Nebraska Big Buck Classic, Whitetail Deer

On a hot day last summer, biologists from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks ventured to Danaher Creek, deep in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, and caught hundreds of young purebred westslope cutthroat trout.

The fish made the 24-mile journey out of the wilderness on the backs of mules, packed in water-filled coolers fed with bottled oxygen. Once out of the wilderness, they were transported to their new home at the Sekokini Springs hatchery in Coram.

“We had 100 percent survival,” FWP biologist Matt Boyer told interested anglers last week.

Many of those fish and their offspring will have a new home in the Necklace Chain of Lakes in 2012 as part of an ongoing effort to preserve westslope cutthroats in the South Fork.

Since 2007, the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Conservation Project has slowly, but surely, been replacing non-native fish and hybrids in lakes in the South Fork drainage in an effort to preserve some of the last remaining purebred strains of westslope cutthroats in the nation.

This year, the effort will continue in the Necklace Chain of Lakes in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. In late August, FWP biologists and technicians will treat the small lakes and a portion of the outlet stream with rotenone, a chemical that kills fish.

Rotenone is not hazardous to humans, but it prevents the absorption of oxygen across a fish’s gills. Death comes quickly. Rotenone was first used by South American and Asian natives to catch fish. It was originally derived from the roots of the derris plant, a pea species from Asia, and the lonchocarpus plant, from South America.

Rotenone will be hauled in by mules and applied to the Necklace Chain of Lakes. Biologists will cut the bladders of dead fish that rise to the top to prevent attracting bears and other birds.

The treatment can linger up to three months, biologists note. A chemical that neutralizes rotenone will be applied downstream from the outlets of the lakes to prevent harm to fish further downstream.

All told, the treatment will take a few days. The following spring, the effects of the rotenone will have dispersed, and the lakes can be re-stocked with purebred westslope cutthroat trout.

Prior to treatment, lakes in the conservation project were rife with non-native fish, including rainbow trout, rainbow-cutthroat crosses and yellowstone cutthroat crosses. The worry among biologists is that the continued hybridization of westslope trout with non-native fish eventually will wipe out the purebred cutts in the South Fork.

To date, Black, Blackfoot, Big Hawk, Clayton and Wildcat lakes have been treated and re-stocked. Many of the lakes are fishing well already, Boyer said, and some lakes already have natural fish reproduction just a year after being re-stocked.

Several other lakes are being treated through an effort known as “swamping,” where hundreds of purebred westslope cutthroat trout are added to a lake that contains hybrid fish. As the fish breed overtime, it’s hoped that the hybrid genetics will be squeezed out of the population.

All told, the entire project will cover 21 lakes in the Bob Marshall and Jewel Basin area. Biologists have also teamed up with the Backcountry Horsemen of the Flathead for packing services.

There are challenging waters ahead. Handkerchief Lake poses challenges because the outlet stream, Graves Creek, is short and flows into the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Biologists will have to be careful not to kill trout in the reservoir itself.

One the of the last lakes to be treated will be Sunburst, a large lake in the Bob Marshall that will need thousands of pounds of rotenone for treatment

—————

A state hatchery in Coram recently received the final funding it needs to complete its construction. The Sekokini Springs Westslope Cutthroat Isolation Facility, located off the North Fork of the Flathead River near Blankenship Bridge, is one of two hatcheries in Montana where wild, genetically pure strains of trout are accepted.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council recently approved about $1.8 million in funding for the state-run hatchery that’s been operating as an advanced conservation hatchery for more than a decade. The funding will be used over the next few years to finish the hatchery’s master plan, which calls for an outdoor pond and stream habitat to complement the indoor isolation facility.

While other hatcheries rely on the state’s only westslope cutthroat brood stock at the Washoe Park Trout Hatchery in Anaconda, Sekokini Springs will serve as a diversity resource for Montana waters that have lost genetically pure strains of westslope cutthroat trout over the years, said Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Brian Marotz, who helped manage the Sekokini hatchery since it was acquired by the state in 1998.

Sekokini Springs operated as a private rainbow trout farm for about 40 years on land leased from the Flathead National Forest. The state acquired the improvements, including a 60-by-40-foot building with concrete raceways, for about $70,000. The building was insulated to prevent condensation, damaged siding was replaced, and the artesian springs that supply the facility were capped and piping was installed to secure the water supply from airborne contaminants.

Sekokini Springs is used to quarantine juvenile cutthroat collected from wild sources. The fish are held in raceways, tested for disease and genetic purity, and eventually certified for use as a hatchery resource. FWP has identified about 50 genetically pure strains in the wild to draw from, mostly in South Fork drainages. Cutthroats in other drainages have been exposed to hybridization with rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout strains.

Ironically, Sekokini Springs may have been a primary source for rainbow hybridization in the lower Flathead River system. The hatchery likely “leaked” fish over the years into the North Fork Flathead River, Marotz said. The hatchery now is entirely contained, and its waste water is disposed of through a special drainfield.

With the new funding, the building will be expanded, and two large, still-functioning ponds will be restored and converted into four ponds. Another pond will be created to grow wild feed. Grasshoppers and meal worms already are being cultivated at the hatchery.

That Could be Your Fishing Pond

It’s a dream many pondmeisters share. Young son or daughter, in the boat, enjoying the outdoors on your very own fishing pond. Birds flit above, something with scales spanks water’s surface not far from the boat.

For years, pond and lake owners carefully practice pond and lake management tactics. Proper fish stocking, adding cover or fish structure, fish feeding, pond fertilizing, dealing with runaway aquatic vegetation growth.

Long years, short years, go by raising the family, working hard at what you do. Stealing time to go fishing, and enjoying your pond and the outdoors.

Recently, there have been a number of pond owners who let us know if what they are doing is working and they are having a ball. Here are a few photos and some stories to share.

Johnny Tanner, III is a wonderful family man from Carrollton, Georgia. He takes care of a fourth generation grocery business while being the quintessential husband and father, doing what good men do. Of course, his bride takes pretty good care of him, too. She makes great chicken pie. I know that, first hand.

Johnny lives on a lake, plus has property with its own lake, a pet lake project dating years ago. Eight or ten years ago, Johnny renovated the lake just outside of town, restocked it with fish, and is doing everything he can do to have the greatest bass lake he can create.

He is exceptionally passionate about it. He believes in lake management. He believes in proper fish stocking. He believes in God and Country.

In the meantime, Johnny has spent countless hours doing what he can do with the lake behind his home. It’s a community lake with few rules, and few helpers. Over time, Johnny has added fish cover, especially Christmas tree brush piles. He has kept logs of his bass catches, tagged fish, and kept pretty good records. He has tagged fish weighing four to nine pounds.

He has a new story to tell.

Here are his words.

“On September 26, 2004, my son John (who is 8 years old and uses a baitcaster) and I were at Lake Carroll in Carrollton, Georgia about to go for a ride in the boat. I suggested we put a fishing rod in the boat. While we are out there we might as well fish a little bit. Fishing conditions were terrible but we put a rod in anyway. After an hour we had not caught anything. Winds were from the east at 15-20 mph. (Isn’t there a saying that if the wind is from the east the fish bite the least?) It was the day Hurricane Jean was coming up the eastern coast.

“John had picked out a 1/2 oz white spinnerbait. It was 7:00 pm and I cast it out 3 or 4 times trying to find some submerged trees. We had put out several trees in an area using the old pickle bucket method (May – June 1999 Pond Boss article X Marks The Spot). When I finally came across the top of them a bass hit and almost took the rod out of my hand. It was pulling the drag pretty good when I asked John if he wanted to bring it in.

“I handed the rod to John and immediately he said ‘Daddy the fish is going to pull the rod out of my hands.’ I repositioned his hands so the left hand was in front of the reel and the butt of the reel was in his stomach. It was a standstill for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, John started to get some line back on the fish as I moved the boat closer in her direction. John got the trophy bass closer and when she saw the boat, she went straight down. I thought for a minute that the rod was either going in the lake or going to break in half.

“My son John was straining with all he had.

“Finally, the fish came up and I almost had a stroke. I reached down and picked up the giant bass and brought her in the boat. The hook immediately came out of the fish’s mouth. At this point I had no idea how much this fish weighed because I had never, ever seen one this big.

“I had a set of Normark digital scales in my tackle box that went up to 10 pounds. When I put her on the scales, they started flashing like they were broken. I tried it again and again they flashed double zero. Finally, I let the fish down easily on the scale and watched them register 4 pounds the 5 then 6… .7… .8… .9… .then flash. I knew we had the bass of our lives. (My biggest bass ever is 9 pounds 3 oz. which I tagged and released in this lake).

“We got back to the dock and I had another digital scale that went up to 15 pounds. When I put her on those scales they registered an amazing 12 pounds and 4 ounces. I checked the scale when I got back home and it was correct to the ounce.

“The first thing John said is ‘Daddy, can my name be on the plaque,’ which I replied that he had done more work than I had so yes when we get her mounted we will both be on the plaque. What I didn’t tell him is that if I had known the fish was that big, he probably wouldn’t have gotten the rod.

“We kept her alive for a couple of hours in a cooler full of lake water and I debated whether to release her or keep her. I finally thought that in that particular lake I have records going back to 1994 of releasing between 150 and 200 bass that I have personally tagged. Their weights are from 4 pounds to 9 pounds. I also knew that a bass this big probably would have been in the neighborhood of 15 years old or more and had very little life left. So I decided to keep her. It was a tough decision, but when I saw the look on John’s face, and quickly reflected about my life, fishing with my Dad, and looked back at John, it was an obvious decision. I knew John may never see a fish this large again. We have always practiced catch and release and continue to do so.

“Lake Carroll is about 150 acres and full of Crappie and Gizzard Shad. The bass (even the big ones) have plenty to eat.

“Now, Little John and I have a fishing story that neither one of us will ever forget.”

Then there’s 30 acre Fin & Feather Club Lake in Atlanta, Texas. Gordon Pynes and his neighbors are conscientious about pond management in their pristine east Texas fishing hole. A number of people live around the lake and this club works to educate their members. Years ago, the lake was a vegetated mess full of algae and aquatic vegetation, when one of the members took it upon himself to become the caretaker. He had a pond management agenda, one that didn’t necessarily jibe with the rest of the membership. After all, they hadn’t done much pond management, except stocking a few fish now and then. The proactive member got their attention; they united and created a good pond management strategy. They limed the acid water lake to adjust the ph levels, fertilized the pond as needed, set up some fish feeders, and began culling slot bass.

The results on their fishery have been predictably amazing.

Electrofishing surveys have yielded bass larger than twelve pounds. Take a peek at the photos of recent fish collected, weighed and measured.

Then, there’s Stan Graff. You might remember the Pond Boss Magazine cover story several years ago. Stan has had hundreds of gar removed from his 30 acre lake in northeast Texas. With fish feeding stations, and moderate aquatic vegetation control, the program has yielded quick results. Slot sized bass, without competition, have grown to look like footballs with a mouth.

You can’t wipe the grins off the guys’ faces. Fishing is fun again at Flagg Lake.

Everyone enjoys looking at giant fish. But, knowing the effort it takes to provide the best habitat, best forage fish, best genetics and best pond management to create a moment in life is staggering to think about. Everything must come together at the right time, at the right place. Even when the stars line up, there’s no guarantee what you do will work. But, here are three shining examples where pond management has paid off.

POND BOSS Magazine is the world’s leading resource for fish, pond and fisheries management information including discussions on muddy water, raising trophy fish, fish feeding, building a pond, algae control and more. Check us out at www.pondboss.com or contact Bob Lusk, the Pond Boss himself, at 903-564-5372. His books, Basic Pond Management, Raising Trophy Bass and Perfect Pond, Want One, may be purchased by calling 800-687-6075 or ordering online at www.pondboss.com

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Fisheries Biologist

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