By Bryce Neilson, The Cisco Kid
September is the month many people start fishing for Lake trout. If you are a Facebook follower, you may have seen Travis Hobbs post about a large lake trout that he recently caught. It is time to revisit these large fish in Cisco’s Sonar.
When I was a kid my Dad used to take me down to the family’s historical fishing hole, Fish Lake. This high, natural lake was my first exposure to “Mack”, a common name for lake trout. My grandfather and great grandfather fished the “mac run” for years trying to catch a big one. When I was 11 fishing in the lake I caught a 20 pound mac. I was treated as a “master fishermen”, and even won a record player in a local fishing contest. They said that would be the biggest fish I would ever catch.
Years passed and I ended up at Bear Lake as a fisheries biologist, and started learning about Salvenitus namycush. Lake trout are native to Canada and the Great Lakes region. They are actually not a trout, but a char. They are related to brook trout, arctic char and other chars around the world. They are a cold water fish found in the northern hemisphere and are fall spawners. They are slow growing and commonly live over 20 years. Growth is steady up to 10-15 years and then, depending on the productivity of the water growth slows down. I have seen mature Lakers who had been tagged and later recaptured that hadn’t grown over a couple of of inches in years. Lake trout typically spawn over large boulders (rip rap) in lakes. In Bear Lake that includes Cisco Beach, marinas and the Rockpile. Tiger trout, which are stocked throughout Utah, are a sterile cross between lake trout and brook trout. They are commonly called Mackinaw, which comes from the Great Lake Lakes, Mac or Lakers. Now fisheries scientists are calling the lake char which is a term I have yet to adopt.
Lake trout were fish stocked in Bear Lake in 1919 from the Federal hatchery that was built at the head of Big Spring Creek in Round Valley. The lake trout stocking and fishery were incidental for years until after WWII when the states took over fish management in the lake. Big lake trout were occasionally caught and talked about but it was not the norm. Stocking lake trout began in the 1960’s when Utah stocked 30,000 fish per year. That increased in the 1970’s but the Idaho Fish and Game became paranoid that they would take over Bear Lake like they did northern Idaho lakes and displace cutthroat. In never followed this philosophy for three reasons. 1. There is limited spawning habitat, big rocks, in Bear Lake. 2. The endemic species have evolved as egg predators and would likely consume the majority of lake trout eggs deposited. 3. Bear Lake is a carbonate lake which means it is vary unproductive and has a constant “rain” of calcium carbonate precipitating at all times which would cover and suffocate any remaining eggs and if any did hatch, there would be nothing for them to eat. I know there is some limited natural reproduction, but not enough to take over the lake. Politics won this battle by fear and lack of common sense, so now only sterile lake trout are stocked. The hatchery eggs are placed in hot water briefly, right after they are fertilized, to create an additional set of chromosome’s which allows them the develop eggs and spawn but with no resulting offspring.
Today there is a good lake trout fishery because anglers are targeting the lake trout with acoustics and new lures. A big mac is always a great addition to one’s catch. Each fish eats 1000’s of cisco during its life but that is the way ecosystems work. Keep a mac and save a cisco’s life.C
September is the month many people start fishing for Lake trout. If you are a Facebook follower, you may have seen Travis Hobbs post about a large lake trout that he recently caught. It is time to revisit these large fish in Cisco’s Sonar.
When I was a kid my Dad used to take me down to the family’s historical fishing hole, Fish Lake. This high, natural lake was my first exposure to “Mack”, a common name for lake trout. My grandfather and great grandfather fished the “mac run” for years trying to catch a big one. When I was 11 fishing in the lake I caught a 20 pound mac. I was treated as a “master fishermen”, and even won a record player in a local fishing contest. They said that would be the biggest fish I would ever catch.
Years passed and I ended up at Bear Lake as a fisheries biologist, and started learning about Salvenitus namycush. Lake trout are native to Canada and the Great Lakes region. They are actually not a trout, but a char. They are related to brook trout, arctic char and other chars around the world. They are a cold water fish found in the northern hemisphere and are fall spawners. They are slow growing and commonly live over 20 years. Growth is steady up to 10-15 years and then, depending on the productivity of the water growth slows down. I have seen mature Lakers who had been tagged and later recaptured that hadn’t grown over a couple of of inches in years. Lake trout typically spawn over large boulders (rip rap) in lakes. In Bear Lake that includes Cisco Beach, marinas and the Rockpile. Tiger trout, which are stocked throughout Utah, are a sterile cross between lake trout and brook trout. They are commonly called Mackinaw, which comes from the Great Lake Lakes, Mac or Lakers. Now fisheries scientists are calling the lake char which is a term I have yet to adopt.
Lake trout were fish stocked in Bear Lake in 1919 from the Federal hatchery that was built at the head of Big Spring Creek in Round Valley. The lake trout stocking and fishery were incidental for years until after WWII when the states took over fish management in the lake. Big lake trout were occasionally caught and talked about but it was not the norm. Stocking lake trout began in the 1960’s when Utah stocked 30,000 fish per year. That increased in the 1970’s but the Idaho Fish and Game became paranoid that they would take over Bear Lake like they did northern Idaho lakes and displace cutthroat. In never followed this philosophy for three reasons. 1. There is limited spawning habitat, big rocks, in Bear Lake. 2. The endemic species have evolved as egg predators and would likely consume the majority of lake trout eggs deposited. 3. Bear Lake is a carbonate lake which means it is vary unproductive and has a constant “rain” of calcium carbonate precipitating at all times which would cover and suffocate any remaining eggs and if any did hatch, there would be nothing for them to eat. I know there is some limited natural reproduction, but not enough to take over the lake. Politics won this battle by fear and lack of common sense, so now only sterile lake trout are stocked. The hatchery eggs are placed in hot water briefly, right after they are fertilized, to create an additional set of chromosome’s which allows them the develop eggs and spawn but with no resulting offspring.
Today there is a good lake trout fishery because anglers are targeting the lake trout with acoustics and new lures. A big mac is always a great addition to one’s catch. Each fish eats 1000’s of cisco during its life but that is the way ecosystems work. Keep a mac and save a cisco’s life.C
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