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Lake trout fishing at Priest Lake will continue |
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February 2, 2018 |
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By Roger Phillips
IDFG Public Information Specialist
Fish and Game will continue managing Priest Lake
as primarily a lake trout fishery while also
protecting native cutthroat trout and bull trout
in Upper Priest Lake.
Over the past several years, F&G fisheries
managers have done extensive public outreach to
see if a management change was warranted at
Priest Lake, but found there was not clear
public sentiment that favored it.
“Simply put, fishing opportunity in the
foreseeable future is likely to be about the
same as it has been in recent years,” regional
fish manager Andy Dux said. “Lake trout will
continue to be abundant, kokanee will persist at
low densities, but large in size. Cutthroat
trout will also be present in moderate
densities, and smallmouth bass will remain
abundant.”
Fish and Game, with help from the Priest Lake
Fishery Advisory Committee, presented anglers
and the public with three management choices:
status quo, reducing lake trout populations to
boost the kokanee fishery and other game fish
species, or slightly reducing the lake trout
population in an attempt to get a corresponding
increase in other species.
Fish and Game did several surveys and multiple
open houses to gauge public interest in changing
management for the lake.
• The random mail survey of anglers showed 52 percent did not want change
vs. 48 percent who wanted change.
• An email survey of anglers showed 45 percent did not want change and 55
percent did want change.
Resident anglers who frequently fish Priest Lake
showed the most support for maintaining the
existing fishery. Anglers who used to fish
Priest Lake, but don’t now, were most likely to
support change. In general, resident and
nonresident anglers had similar opinions, and so
did anglers from all the counties surveyed.
“We were clear from the start that
unquestionable support for change was necessary
in order for a drastic shift in management to be
publicly accepted and successful,” Dux said.
Changing the management of the Priest Lake would
require substantial time and resources from the
department and patience from the public. Without
a clear mandate for change, fisheries managers
decided it was best to continue with the current
management.
“We had tremendous participation from the public
during this process, which gives us confidence
that we understand public desires for the Priest
Lake fishery,” Dux said. “The Priest Lake
fishery is a public resource, so periodically it
is important to ask the public how they want to
see it managed. We learned there isn’t quite
enough support to justify major change, but we
didn’t have a good read on that until we asked
the question.”
Priest Lake’s fisheries have steadily changed
over time. The lake’s native sport fish are
cutthroat trout, bull trout and mountain
whitefish. Non-native lake trout and kokanee
were introduced decades ago, and for many years,
kokanee supported the lake’s most popular
fishery.
Kokanee were also an important food source for
bull trout and lake trout, which attained trophy
sizes. That balance between predators and prey
fish lasted into the 1970s, then fell apart.
Mysis, a small freshwater shrimp, was introduced
in the late-1960s to provide more food for
kokanee. Unfortunately, young lake trout feed on
shrimp until the fish switch their diet to
kokanee.
Mysis allowed the lake trout population to grow
at the expense of kokanee, which also happened
to a lesser extent as lake trout preyed on, or
outcompeted, cutthroat and bull trout.
Fish and Game has curbed lake trout population
growth in Upper Priest Lake to relieve pressure
on those native fish.
Fisheries managers have in the past attempted to
boost kokanee numbers by stocking more, but
those efforts were thwarted by lake trout
predation. Millions of kokanee fry, as well as
hundreds of thousands of juvenile cutthroat,
were stocked without a noticeable increase in
the populations of either species.
While fishing at Priest Lake is different than
decades ago, it’s still an attractive place for
anglers who enjoy catching lake trout.
“Plenty of fishing opportunities lie ahead for
Priest Lake anglers,” Dux said. “Anglers looking
for unique fishing opportunities in a scenic
location will find them at Priest Lake.” |
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