PDA

View Full Version : Lake Elsinore stocking



sweetfish
01-14-2009, 04:46 PM
I found this kind of interesting for all those who fish Lake Elsinore. I wonder if there will be a strict catch and release regulations on these "stripers".


04:35 PM PST on Wednesday, January 14, 2009

By AARON BURGIN
The Press-Enterprise

While some people live to eat, the 18,000 new Lake Elsinore "residents" eat to work.

The18,000 hybrid striped bass fingerlings were released into the lake as part of the city and the Lake Elsinore and San Jacinto Watersheds Authority's effort to curb the proliferation of another tiny fish that could wreak havoc on the lake's delicate ecosystem.

"It may be good eating to them, but they will be doing some valuable work for us," said Pat Kilroy, the city's director of lake and aquatic resources.

The hybrid striped bass released Wednesday, known to anglers as "stripers," weigh less than one-quarter of a pound and can fit in the palm of a regular-sized hand.

After 15 months of "good eating," the 80 percent of the fish that will survive -- not counting ones picked off by seagulls Wednesday -- will grow to be 18 inches and up to two pounds, Kilroy said.

The fish stocking marks a shift in the nuisance fish targeted by the city and the watersheds authority, which was formed in 2000 to steward $13 million in water bond money. Carp was seen as the primary culprit of the lake's poor water quality and imbalanced fishery.

The carp-removing efforts, which began with the initial harvesting in 2003, have drastically reduced the bottom-feeding fish's numbers in Lake Elsinore. After removing 1.3 million pounds of carp in the five years following the first harvesting, the city this year harvested about 15,700 pounds, far below the 90,000 pounds the watersheds authority mandates it is supposed to remove annually.

"Which is a good thing," Kilroy said. "We've kind of been the victims of our success."

Now, threadfin shad, a minnow whose population has exploded in recent years from 3 million to more than 25 million, pose the biggest threat, Kilroy said. The shad should number less than 1 million in Lake Elsinore.

The tiny baitfishes are problematic at the lake because they eat tiny zooplankton, which benefit the lake by eating the algae. While city officials said they have not had a serious algae bloom since 2005, the shad have reached critical levels.

The hybrid striped bass will each eat about 700 threadfin shad. Because the stocked fish are sterile, officials said they don't have to worry about throwing the fishery out of balance the other direction.

A handful of spectators were on hand Wednesday to watch Dennis Burkett of Pacific Aqua Farms deliver the truckload of fish to the lake. Local angler Steve Argle said it was exciting to see the lake transformed over the years.

He said he recently caught a two-pound striper, a huge catch compared to years past when there wasn't a striper in sight on the lake.

"What the city has been doing here is incredible," he said.

Reach Aaron Burgin at 951-375-3733 or aburgin@PE.com

JENSEN500
01-14-2009, 05:39 PM
They are actually called "wipers" and have been in the lake for quite sometime! They are some of the hardest fighting fish ive caught,not to mention their huge appetite! They are a huge benefit to this lake imo.

dodoman
01-14-2009, 07:58 PM
a few 5-6 lbers came out of there the other day.

Senor Rambone
01-15-2009, 12:17 AM
i remember that place as a kid . It lost my r/c car as I drove it out of range and out of my control just to see it fly full speed into the lake.:Angry:

LEAD DEVIL
01-15-2009, 09:41 AM
No no no-lake elsinore is not improving,its very bad.stay away from my lake.