Recent surveys of Ogden-area fisheries have revealed mostly good news regarding the health of local fish populations, but have also highlighted some areas of concern.
Fish surveys serve as an important tool in managing fisheries to provide anglers with the best fishing experience possible. They can help determine whether predators that have been introduced are having the intended effect, how native species are interacting with non-natives, and provide other information critical to maintaining a healthy balance.
On a brisk morning last week, biologists from the Division of Wildlife Resources were out on Pineview Reservoir hauling in gill nets they had placed the previous day.
Part of their purpose was to determine the survival of fingerling tiger muskie planted earlier this year, but they were also trying to measure populations of panfish, such as perch and crappie.
The first of four nets brought up yielded disappointing results: Several dozen perch, none large enough to be considered keepers, and no other species.
"It's encouraging because it tells us there will be good fish coming up," said Craig Schaugaard, regional aquatics program manager for the DWR. "The future really looks good, but the fishing might not be so good this year."
A second net yielded a more promising catch, with a few good-sized perch and crappie.
"We'd still like to see more larger ones, but this is better," Schaugaard said.
Pineview is managed with an emphasis on panfish, a name given to certain species that generally don't outgrow the size of a frying pan, and are caught primarily for food rather than sport.
So where does the tiger muskie, a sport fish renowned for its size and ferocity, come in?
Tiger muskie were first introduced into Pineview in 1988 as a way to control perch populations. Too many perch competing for a limited food supply, and cannibalizing each other in a reservoir where there is scant vegetation for the young to hide in, was resulting in fewer large, edible perch.
The four nets placed this year yielded just one tiger muskie, but Schaugaard said that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't doing well.
"The nets don't catch a lot of muskie because they're ambush predators, so they don't move around a lot," he said. "Just because the nets don't catch them, it doesn't mean they're not in there."
Fishery managers like to use the tiger muskie as a control predator because, as a hybrid species, it doesn't reproduce. That allows biologists to control populations through stocking and harvesting.
"There's some evidence they may reproduce, but not much," Schaugaard said.
Muskies have been stocked regularly in Pineview since the mid-1990s, and the reservoir has grown into Utah's premier tiger muskie fishery. Both the regular state record and catch-and-release record fish were pulled from Pineview's waters.
"They've done very well because there are tons of small fish to eat," Schaugaard said.
The Pineview fish survey is conducted once a year.
Earlier in October, volunteers worked with DWR biologists to survey fish populations in the South Fork and main stem of the Ogden River.
Much like the Pineview survey, the Ogden River survey produced some mixed results.
Those who conduct river surveys generally use electric currents to temporarily stun fish instead of using nets. Such was the case with the Ogden River survey, which is conducted once every five years.
DWR biologist Paul Burnett said it was encouraging to find healthy Bonneville cutthroat trout, which is listed as a sensitive species and was being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act until about a year ago.
"We found some nice fish holding in the habitat structures we created on the South Fork several years ago," Burnett said.
He said he was somewhat concerned that only two whitefish were found during the survey, noting that drought conditions in recent years could account for the low numbers.
On the whole, officials say the river appears to be sustaining healthy fish populations, although overfishing of trout has become a concern lately, with some fishermen taking more than their limit. Still, he said the survey revealed exceptional brown trout numbers.
The evidence suggests that Ogden's fisheries are in pretty good shape overall, at least for now.
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