Posted on 09/10/2007 8:32:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
California Fish and Game today began poisoning a Plumas County lake in an attempt to eradicate the population of northern pike.
Crews began dripping and spraying 300 gallons of rotenone on the creeks and other tributaries feeding Lake Davis. An additional 16,000 gallons of the organic poison -- deadly only to gilled creatures -- will be placed in the lake itself beginning Sept. 25.
The poison will kill all the fish in Lake Davis, which will be restocked with native trout, according to Ed Pert, manager of the $16.7 million project.
"If we don't get them this time, we will have to weigh whether it's humanly possible to eradicate pike in Lake Davis," said Pert.
Meanwhile, Lake Davis and its watershed in Plumas National Forest will be closed to the public until the water is free of rotenone.
The northern pike -- large, skinny fish with a snout full of sharp teeth -- could take over the entire ecosystem of the lake, Pert said.
"We're concerned not only about the damage pike are doing to Lake Davis, but also about the possibility they will escape the lake and enter the state's other waters," he said. "That could put more constraints on how we move water around California -- so pike eradication not only has environmental implications, but social and political implications as well."
The state poisoned Lake Davis in 1997, but within 18 months, the pike were back. Today, Pert reckons there are hundreds of thousands in the lake and its watershed.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
I thought northern pike were a good game fish....
you get a 15-20 pounder or bigger on a hook ,, oh yeahh,, lots of fun.
they eat just fine too,,
Too bad , Lake Davis doesn’t freeeze over,, spear fishing .. no limit :-)
Illegal immigrants.
The pikes’ problem is, they’re from the north. Otherwise they’d be adopted as the new state fish.
They’re prized sport fish in the Midwest.
No matter how well they argue their view, this statement alone sounds very stupid.
by the way.... what happened to acid rain?
I know. :)
Cool fish. Like American barracudas. I think it’s ridiculous they’re trying to poison the fish.
Especially in a state which actually worries about protecting urban mountain lions. Which periodically eat some of the state’s citizens out for a bike ride, or a jog.
Typical nonsense.
There is nothing the state of California can’t screw up,.... repeatedly.
Minnesota native here, I’ve seen a couple nice sized fish mounted , I never caught more than a 4 or 5 pounder, that was plenty for me,, I’ll stick to panfish and crappies.. the northern pike bite on anything.. and do in other more desireable game fish. We used to have some lakes like that.
Two words: Fishing Tournament!
Evidently these pike are not politically correct. Perhaps they are homophobic. Or even Republican.
Fun to catch and OK to eat.
Don’t see why trout & pike couldn’t coexist, trout will eat their own young come to that. Would have thought any spread of pike would be self limiting as they like pretty cool water.
Check out this LTE to our local yellow rag about a Bear attack in one of our new “Heritage” parks and the insane replies. We are collectively insane here on the West Coast.
http://blogs.kitsapsun.com/kitsap/letters/archive/2007/09/bears_humans_need_to_take_some.html#more
I’m also in the same area as the Whale hunters from this weekend. I saw an old hippie shipyard worker wearing a tee shirt that best describes our collective...”I used to be schizophrenic, but we’re better now!”
You obviously don't know anything about this or how important it is that these voracious predators not escape into the delta waterways.
At the expense of salmon and trout. I sure wouldn't make that trade.
DFG is right to take it out, but they haven't been successful so far. It isn't easy because the area is volcanic. Apparently there are underground streams that feed the lake.
Perhaps if you lived here you would think otherwise. Davis Lake is one of California’s premier trout fisheries. The pike can’t play nice with others, and if they escaped this lake they could get into the Feather River drainage all the way to SF Bay. Still seem ridiculous? And by the way, there are plenty of lions up here too.
I’m an ex-Hoosier. When I left in the ‘70’s the local powers that be in Southern Indiana stocked a huge power plant reservoir and reclaimed coal stripper pits with Pike as a tourist draw as were many municipalities back then.
I personally have never fished for one. Our sport fish and God to some, is the Salmon. They have a wide weight range and when you hook a “slab”, there’s not a fish that fights in a more spectacular fashion.
HAHAHA.
I think that’s what it is.
Northern Pike are so military. Like ROTC or something. Worse. Like Boy Scouts.
Trout are so tolerant. And well dressed. And well, gay.
Davis lake, is a college campus.
Is this eradication or full employment for bureaucrats? My take is the latter. The more they fail, the bigger the job will get.
This kind of thing is too important to leave to a dependent bureaucracy.
I have a plan that will save CA $16.7 million - just furnish some rowboats and dynamite and we’ll get a bunch of good ole boys out there for some real sport fishing.
Where is the PETA outcry???? Or the other PETA outcry? people eating tasty animals......
If they poison that lake enough times, they’ll create a new, poison-eating Godzilla fish.
History shows again and again...
Wrong. Lake Davis does freeze over. Ice fishing is great, and they have snowmobile races that go onto the lake.
Nonsense you say ? Lake Davis is at an elevation of about 6000 Ft. The outlet is Grizzly creek, which runs into the middle fork of the Feather River. Some idiot from back East where Pike are a game fish brought some and introduced them to Lake Davis.
Should the Pike get into the middle fork of the Feather River, it is clear sailing for them to go into the Sacramento River.
The Sacramento River is home to all kinds of fish, including salmon. With no predator fish to counter the Pike you could kiss sport fishing goodbye.....trout, salmon, and others.
Oh, maybe the alligator would be a good predator to introduce to get rid of the Pike.
Are you sure you would like some of the above results if the Pike were not iradicated from Lake Davis ?
Thanks for that info, I didn’t realize it was that high up.. I prefer ice fishing , easier to keep the beer cold. ;-)
explosives have been considered.. it’s a big lake too..
OK take it easy. :)
Just joking around. I actually don’t care strongly one way or the other, just like railing against dumb bureaucrats.
I suppose if I had a cabin on a mountain lake with trout in it, I’d probably feel differently. From down here in the concrete, it just seems funny is all.
Hope it all works out.
On the info, you are welcome. For further clarification, I lived in Portola when the lake was first poisoned. Calif. Fish and Game had a good plan...drain the lake down so that the water level was the lowest it could be, this would be late summer when the water temp. was the highest. It was a good plan.
Then the environmentalists, anti-sportsmen and the Sierra Club got into the act. They kept putting stopping measures and challenges in front of the eradication effort that time went into Fall before the poison was introduced. By this time the water temperature had dropped considerably, making the poison not useless, but effectiveness very much diminished.
This time the Fish and Game are able to control all the process. We will see if they are effective.
Some homesick midwesterner probably stocked the pike in the lake.
Good game fish but they trash the native trout...
DFG is far better prepared this time around. I’m hoping that the restock takes hold and the lake will be back to producing big trout in a year or two. Boy, with the lake kill and the Moonlight fire both in full swing, we seem to be taking the brunt of things this month.
I remember the whole sordid affair.. We did a family camping trip or two there in better days..
Just joking around. I actually don’t care strongly one way or the other, just like railing against dumb bureaucrats.
I like to rail on bureaucrats also....it is a hobby of mine.
In this case with Lake Davis, the first time of the poisoning the bureaucrats CAVED IN to the environmentalists.
The poisoning was delayed way longer than the optimum time so that the water temp. had dropped so low as to cripple the effectiveness of the rotenone. As a matter of fact temperature wise you might be interested in knowing that the number of days per year it does not freeze at night up there is less than 80.
It wound up costing millions of dollars in lost revenue, as Lake Davis is a big attractor of tourists, sportsmen, and others.
Businesses in the area “took in the shorts” when the lake was no longer an attractive magnet. It took over 3-4 years for the lake to recover and business too. The small Pike that survived the poisoning have grown into the problem today. Hopefully they will get it right this time....low water level and high temperature.
Thanks for the rest of the story; somehow I knew the Sierra Club and the eco-psychos would play into this. Glad some cooler minds prevailed this time.
OK, how important is it?
That’s why I like you Mark, you go straight to the core of the issue.
Conservatives need to learn how make a habit of it. That's where the moral high ground really is.
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