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This is a new survey
project that the GBF Conservation Committee has agreed to test in order to
provide interested fish biologists data that
indicates the specie, size, and condition of fish in Gerle
Creek Reservoir. Bill King will act
as the on-site coordinator Wednesday, Sept 28th for a day of fishing
at Gerle Creek Reservoir (Gerle Lake), source of large 13”
plus brown trout!
As a
bonus to make this event even more interesting, biologists have developed a
survey form (see below), which I’ve reformatted and linked for
on-line printing from a GBF webpage by clicking here
and printing in Landscape format with .25” margins, or in an EXCEL
Spreadsheet here (Right Click and Save As to your hard disk) to
collect data about the fish condition and other fishing specifics. We hope
to demonstrate the need for improvement in stillwater fisheries and the beneficial effects
of proper catch & release flyfishing. The ultimate goal is the creation
of several quality stillwaters restricted to barbless hook, catch &
release fly fishing where only non-motorized watercraft are allowed.
A
very interesting study titled ”The Influence of Hook Type, Angler
Experience, and Fish Size on Injury Rates and the Duration of Capture in an
Alaskan Catch-and-Release Rainbow Trout Fishery” by JULIE M. MEKA, U.S.
Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, as published in the North
American Journal of Fisheries Management
24:1309–1321, 2004 ©Copyright by the American Fisheries
Society 2004. This study of catch & release effects
on fish in Alaska
is available in Adobe PDF format here
(Right Click and Save As to your hard disk).
An optional purpose of
the study is to determine the effectiveness of various flies when fishing
from a float tube, pram, or pontoon boat in stillwater. You can switch flies as you
find a specific hatch developing in your fishing spot. September brings the highest emergence
rate prior to winter set-in when mayfies (pale
and dark form), alder flies (helgimite) and
stoneflies (perlididae) are present. (ref. S.
Lehr)
If interested, you can
read Reservoir Fisheries Technical Report (5.8 MB pdf) to find data on Gerle Lake
and other stillwaters in the Crystal
Basin. This survey
may evolve and expand to other stillwaters next year. In the meantime, you
can use the form whenever you fish local stillwaters and send in your catch
data.
If you are interested in
fishing for browns in Gerle Lake
Sept 28th during
the highest emergence rate prior to winter set-in, call Bill King at
530.677.4439 or email him at bill.king001@comcast.com.
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