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Fishing at Priest Lake is at a crossroads |
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July 13, 2017 |
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By Roger Phillips
IDFG Public Information Specialist
Fishing at Priest Lake isn’t what it used to be,
which is fine for some anglers, but others would
like to see it change. Fish and Game wants to
know if the current management is still working,
or if change is needed.
“We want the anglers to tell us what kind of
fishing opportunity they want, which will
dictate how we manage Priest Lake over the next
10 to 15 years,” Fish and Game Regional
Fisheries Manager Andy Dux said.
Currently, Priest Lake is mostly a lake trout
(also known as Mackinaw) fishery, and few of the
once-abundant kokanee salmon remain. Native
cutthroat trout are available in modest numbers,
and native bull trout are nearly gone, except in
Upper Priest Lake.
Historically, the lake had a larger kokanee
population that supported more anglers and
fishing effort, more than double the angling
hours currently expended by lake trout anglers.
Kokanee also provided food for lake trout and
bull trout, allowing them to grow to record
sizes. The current state record lake trout, a
57.5-pound monster, came from the lake in 1971,
which coincided with its abundant kokanee
populations.
In 2013, Fish and Game formed the Priest Lake
Fishery Advisory Committee consisting of local
stakeholders representing varying interests. The
group worked with F&G staff over the past
several years to look at Priest Lake’s current
fishing opportunity, and weigh that against its
potential.
The committee developed three alternatives upon
which F&G is asking anglers to provide their
preference:
* Alternative 1: Continue existing management primarily for a sustainable
lake trout harvest fishery and continue native
fish conservation efforts in Upper Priest Lake.
* Alternative 2: Restore a kokanee fishery capable of supporting high
catch rates and harvest while enhancing native
cutthroat trout and return to limited cutthroat
harvest. Also, increase native bull trout to
allow for a trophy fishery, while managing for a
low-density lake trout population. Continue
native fish conservation efforts in Upper Priest
Lake.
* Alternative 3: Provide mixed-species fishing opportunity by reducing
the lake trout population to support moderate
catch rates and harvest while allowing kokanee
to reach moderate densities and provide moderate
catch rates. Provide conservation benefit and
improve fishing for native cutthroat and bull
trout. Continue native fish conservation efforts
in Upper Priest Lake.
The department is hosting three public meetings
in July, and you can see below for details on
times and locations. F&G will also conduct a
random survey of license-holders and an online
opinion poll in late-summer or fall.
Why only three alternatives?
The Priest Lake Fishery Advisory Committee was
tasked with developing a short list of
alternatives for broader public consideration.
At first, each committee member had a separate
alternative, then the members worked to find
common ground, make modifications and settle on
three options.
Fish and Game staff provided technical guidance,
which helped to focus on ideas that were most
feasible and would provide the desired fishing
opportunities.
Fisheries managers did not advocate for a
particular option. They spent years working on
the successful kokanee restoration on Lake Pend
Oreille and shared with the committee some of
the valuable lessons they learned in the
process. Even with this guidance and experience,
the alternatives for Priest Lake still face
challenges and have risks.
A brief history of Priest Lake’s
fishing
Priest 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 not only provided great fishing for
anglers, the fish were also an important food
source for bull trout and lake trout, which
attained trophy sizes. That balance of predators
and prey fish lasted into the 1970s, then
quickly fell apart.
Mysis, a small freshwater shrimp, was introduced
in the late-1960s to provide more food for
kokanee.
Unfortunately, mysis tipped the balance in favor
of lake trout, which feed on shrimp until the
fish grow big enough to switch their diet to
kokanee.
Mysis allowed the lake trout population to grow
at the expense of kokanee, whose population
crashed in the mid-to-late 1970s and have never
recovered. This also happened to a lesser extent
as lake trout preyed on, or outcompeted,
cutthroat and bull trout. That is why Fish and
Game tries to curb lake trout populations in
Upper Priest Lake to relieve pressure on those
native fish.
Fish and Game previously attempted to boost
kokanee numbers by stocking more of them, but
those efforts were thwarted by predation by the
lake’s abundant lake trout. Millions of kokanee
fry, as well as hundreds of thousands of
juvenile cutthroat, were stocked, but to no
avail.
“You have too many lake trout mouths to feed,
and the kokanee disappear as soon as you put
them in,” Dux said.
Are lake trout bad?
It is easy to argue that the establishment of
lake trout in Priest Lake was a bad thing, but
having a lake trout-dominated fishery now isn’t
necessarily good or bad.
Lake trout caused declines in native cutthroat
and bull trout, and collapsed the popular
kokanee fishery. However, the damage they caused
is largely done, and what remains is a different
fishery that generates about half the angler
effort on Priest Lake that it historically had.
But lake trout are a desirable sport fish for
many anglers, and since the 1980s, Fish and Game
has managed the Priest Lake primarily for lake
trout, while focusing on conserving native fish
in Upper Priest Lake.
Maintaining the current fishery is an acceptable
option, so long as anglers understand what
fishing will be like. In the presence of lake
trout, kokanee will remain depressed except in
occasional years, such as 2012, when they bumped
up a bit before crashing again. Good kokanee
fishing will remain sporadic and fairly
unpredictable.
Lake trout are far more abundant than they were
historically, offering a consistent fishery with
good catch rates for anglers who target them.
However, frequency of the trophy-sized lake
trout has dropped from decades ago because
although mysis provide a stable forage, they
don’t provide enough nutrients for lake trout to
reach trophy sizes.
The average lake trout is currently about 15 to
25 inches, and it generally takes 10 to 20 years
for them to reach those sizes. While average
size has declined, these mysis-fed lake trout
have bright orange filets that are excellent
table fare for anglers.
For anglers who like targeting native cutthroat
trout, the existing fishery will likely offer
good catch rates into the future. However, the
cutthroat population will provide limited or no
harvest opportunity at current levels. Bull
trout are essentially nonexistent in the main
lake, so they will only be encountered in Upper
Priest Lake, and no harvest is allowed.
Parallels between Priest and Pend
Oreille
Part of the interest many anglers have in
changing Priest Lake’s fish management is the
success of restoring kokanee at Lake Pend
Oreille. That lake had a similar situation with
a collapsed kokanee fishery following an
increased lake trout population.
Fish and Game did an extensive, multi-year
project to dramatically reduce lake trout and
afterward saw a rapid resurgence of kokanee. The
kokanee fishery was reopened, and angling effort
quickly expanded. Now, anglers are catching lots
of kokanee, while others are still catching a
few large lake trout and Pend Oreille’s famed
trophy rainbows.
“Lake Pend Oreille is a case study that provides
us with the confidence we can bring back a
fishery like what Priest Lake previously
supported,” Dux said.
After the recovery of kokanee at Pend Oreille,
some anglers asked Fish and Game to do something
similar at Priest Lake. However, other anglers
value having the option to either pursue kokanee
at Pend Oreille, or lake trout at Priest Lake.
That’s why fisheries managers want to learn if
there’s a majority of anglers who prefer one
over the other that would trigger a management
change at Priest. If change is preferred,
managers can determine the best strategy, what
it would cost, and how to pay for it.
Sometimes a happy medium isn’t so
happy
The obvious answer may seem to be splitting the
difference and somewhat reducing the lake trout
population in an attempt to grow more kokanee.
Theoretically, it’s possible and likely would
produce a fishery that appeals to the greatest
number of anglers.
Unfortunately, this alternative is the least
predictable. It’s difficult to know how much of
a reduction in the lake trout population would
be needed to produce a corresponding gain in
kokanee, or how long it would last.
What’s likely to occur is a short-term see-saw
between those species, a fishery that is less
stable, and a constant challenge of determining
the right number of lake trout to remove in
order to balance the predator-to-prey ratio.
Biologists know despite short-term fluctuations,
long-term conditions would still favor lake
trout, so it would likely require constant, and
potentially expensive, management for a modest
change in the ratio between lake trout and
kokanee.
“We don’t have a great track record of being
able to manage for a balance between predator
and prey in these big lakes systems, particulary
without the level of resources we had available
on Lake Pend Oreille,” Dux said.
However, if there’s an overwhelming desire for
that option, biologists would do their best to
make it happen.
What if nothing is done?
Simply put, the lake’s fisheries will remain
mostly as they are now. Fishing will be mostly
for lake trout, and their average size will
remain in the 15-to-25 inch range with an
occasional larger one, but Priest Lake is
unlikely to produce many of the trophy-sized
lake trout it had in the past.
The small population of kokanee will likely
persist, and in rare years when conditions favor
them, there will be a modest, but short-term,
blip in the population. Fish and Game and its
partners will continue to protect cutthroat and
bull trout in Upper Priest Lake.
"This is the most predictable and easiest
alternative to implement," Dux said. "The
current fishery certainly is good in the eyes of
many anglers, and if this option has broad
support, Fish and Game will stay the course with
existing management."
Public involvement opportunities
Anglers and others interested in the management
planning process for Priest Lake have several
opportunities to comment.
Public meetings will be held:
* Thursday, July 13, 6:30 p.m., The Inn at Priest Lake, Coolin.
* Monday, July 24, 6:30 p.m., Priest River Events Center, 5399 U.S. 2,
Priest River.
* Thursday, July 27, 6:30 p.m., IDFG Panhandle Region Office, 2885 West
Kathleen Avenue, Coeur d’Alene.
Later this summer, Fish and Game will mail out
surveys to a randomly selected number anglers,
and at the same time, make an online poll
available on Fish and Game’s website, https://idfg.idaho.gov,
for whoever wants to take it. Fisheries managers
plan to make a decision on how to proceed with
the lake’s management by the end of 2017. |
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