Spokane Tribe to kill walleye on Spokane River during general spring closure

[yelp]

What a joke..If you fish for walleye in Lake roosevelt. pay attention. Boycott the Tribes.  Don't support new casino in Spokane or use any casinos, fuel, don't use two river marina go to seven bays instead or miles creston store. etc.. Write state representatives.    Big fish eat small fish period.  There are large trout that eat walleye and bass fingerlings.   

http://nwsportsmanmag.com/2012/03/16/spokane-arm-walleye-bounty/


http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/outdoors/2012/mar/16/spokane-tribe-offers-bounty-roosevelt-walleyes/

[bearpaw]

That's interesting news. I would like to see their reasoning and what they hope to accomplish. It's hard to form an opinion without knowing all the facts. Neither of those stories have any real info. I can say this, Roosevelt is an artificial ecosystem and that's just the way it is, we need electricity so we need to make the most of it.

My dad was born in 1926 used to go with his dad to buy salmon from the indians fishing at Kettle falls. He remembers fishing the columbia before coulee dam. He sat on the mountainside and watched crews log off the reservoir banks while the dam was being built.

I grew up along Roosevelt and fished it daily all summer and as often as I could in spring, fall, and winter. There were native trout, burbot, and sturgeon, but only a few people knew when, how, and where to catch them for many years. Roosevelt was full of suckers, predatory squawfish, carp, and peemouth. I have caught thousands of each. The peemouth were so infested with parasite tapeworms, we would fish for them, set them on a rock, stomp them to get the tapeworm out, and then go burbot fishing that evening, that's the best burbot bait I ever found. My point before I got off the subject with tapeworms, is that Roosevelt was a cesspool of scrapfish until walleyes were introduced, I think in the late 70's.

By the 80's we were catching unbelievable amounts of big walleye. The average fish was 20" to 24" and then the size began to taper off as they overpopulated and ate up all the scap fish. Today the suckers, carp, squawfish, and peemouth are nearly non-existant. The netpens provide a good source of trout, so trout fishing is better than it ever was for most people and somehow the smallmouth have survived and actually seem to have increased in numbers. Sturgeon were overfished and we lost that fishery, but overall, fishing today in Roosevelt is a far better experience for most people than back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's when nobody fished it because most only caught scapfish.

The tribes have tried to get kokanee going but nothing comes back to the hatchery, I think everyone figures the walleye are eating the kokanee. That is possibly why the Spokanes are after the Walleye. I think the biggest problem with Roosevelt is that they use it for flushing salmon and controlling winter runoff. The lake bottom is mostly bare sand and rocks due to frequent draw downs, so certain food is limited and few fish get to successfully spawn, there is no easy answer to that problem. I would like to see more done with net pens to raise native species of fish as that bypasses the spawning problems and walleye predation.

I am interested in hearing why they are after the walleye, but at this point I doubt they will have a large impact.

[yelp]

Thanks for the reply.  IT seems tribal reps were at bighorn show showing pics? or some evidence of Walleyes eating kokanee?  None of there arguments are based on science.  the loss of spawning habitat to the native troutbecause of the dams.  The issue is the state closes the arm to fishing to protect the walleye spawn and the tribes apparently disagree with this.  Just creating more federal jobs and $ for tribal members.     not sure.  Large Rainbows and Tripoids released into Roosevelt eat food that the native fish eat.  There is always going to be competition.  Deadend argument for sure. 

[TommyH]

I had heard that the wallys eat 90 something percent of all the kokes.

[yelp]

 

[Curly]

The walleye fishery is great in Roosevelt.  Sure they are not native, but so what.  Walleye do well in there (as do smallmouth) and should be embraced.  Like Bearpaw already stated, times have changed because of the dam; there is no going back to how it was pre-dam.

This really pisses me off that the tribe is offering a bounty to their members for walleye while the State closes the waters to try to protect the walleye during the spawn.   That is outrageous.  Great management there.......

[Curly]

Crap like this is why I won't let my wife go to the casinos or take her to the buffet at the casino.

BTW- my post above, I didn't word very well because I'm so pissed.  I don't want anyone to think I'm bashing WDFW this time.  They are actually managing walleye fairly well; it is the tribe that have their heads up their asses this time. 

[bearpaw]

I had heard that the wallys eat 90 something percent of all the kokes.

That's what I more or less heard too, but I think it's more like 99%. I think they only got back single digit numbers of fish at the Sherman Cr hatchery. I wonder if kokes could be reared in a small lake somewhere as breeders fish, stripped of eggs, moved from a hatchery to net pens, and relaesed when they get to a certain size?

Of course, kokes never were in high numbers in roosevelt. I have only ever caught a few in all my years of fishing the lake. With the walleye it might be more feasable to try and raise salmon to release like they do in the great lakes.

[bearpaw]

For those that don't know, the issue is Salmon.

Kettle Falls used to be the biggest inland gathering place for indians in the northwest to fish for Salmon. Hudson Bay built the first inland trading post in about 1801 to 1803, at Kettle Falls because it was such a major gathering place for Indians from as far away as Montana.

When Coulee Dam was put in the salmon runs ended. The tribes are trying to find a fish resource to replace the lost runs.

[Curly]

So they are trying to use Kokanee to replace the salmon that once were in abundance?

I do feel a little sorry for them and it is sad that a lot of salmon runs are now extinct.  They just didn't give fish ladders any thought back then.  But what's done is done, and walleye is a great fishery there............there is not a good reason (IMO) to try to reduce the walleye fishery in favor of Kokanee. 

Sounds like kokanee can't even reproduce naturally in the lake and they need a hatchery to sustain the fishery.  Whereas walleye reproduce naturally and don't need any help; sounds like walleye are a better fish to keep in the reservoir.

It would be a shame however, if the tribe stopped stocking kokanee for the walleye to eat........

[yelp]

For those that don't know, the issue is Salmon.

Kettle Falls used to be the biggest inland gathering place for indians in the northwest to fish for Salmon. Hudson Bay built the first inland trading post in about 1801 to 1803, at Kettle Falls because it was such a major gathering place for Indians from as far away as Montana.

When Coulee Dam was put in the salmon runs ended. The tribes are trying to find a fish resource to replace the lost runs.

Seems like it would be cheaper raising them and eating them?

[bearpaw]

Eventually something needs to be found so the government quits throwing money at the loss of salmon.

It seems to me that there could be a lot of fish farming on the reservoir which could be fairly self sustaining and provide plenty of fish for the tribe, and with some good deal making maybe some big fish turned loose for sport fishers.

I'm all for partnerships that benefit everyone.

[Austrian Hunter]

Thanks Dale, I actually enjoyed reading your first post on this topic!!! 

[yelp]

Yep but it seems that its their way or the highway.  I think they are wasting their time.  There are more walleye spawning areas than the Spokane arm or the Sanpoil.  A waste of time and money.  But that is the federal government for ya!  There was even a proposal to increase walleye limit to 16 on Lake Roosevelt.  I fish the lake all the time and its rare that I get all 8 walleye.  Most fisherman catch what they want to eat.  I release all 22" and above walleyes.  The reason like mentioned above kokanee fingerlings are targeted by walleye is where they raise the damn kokanee..rivers, creeks where walleye spawn?  Stupid!  Raise them until they are 8-10" and release them. 

[sled]

Crap like this is why I won't let my wife go to the casinos or take her to the buffet at the casino.

BTW- my post above, I didn't word very well because I'm so pissed.  I don't want anyone to think I'm bashing WDFW this time.  They are actually managing walleye fairly well; it is the tribe that have their heads up their asses this time. 

  mine goes anyway!  Stil pisses me off.