Vallecito Gillnet Survey 2012

I got a chance to peek at the results of the 2012 gillnet survey performed on May 10th. I guess for me the news was good and better... Walleye were 29% of the catch. Sure, they say don't eat more than one a month, but heck I can share, and Walleye are very very good to eat. Second on the list were Kokanee Salmon at 21% of the catch! Food, and Food! Next were Rainbow Trout at 17% and White Suckers at 15%, Northern Pike at 9%, Brown Trout at 5% and Smallmouth Bass at 2% Like I've said before, what a diverse fishery! I'm no biologist but this sounds like a great mix of fish to me. The largest fish was a 15 pound Pike. Hopefully the new allowing of spear and bow fishing (in which it's easiest to go for the big ones) won't take its toll on the large Pike population. I've heard that when all the large Pike are removed from the water there is often a bloom of smaller Pike, suggesting that Pike may thin their own herds. I have seen absolutely no research on this matter, and have not observed it myself so I have no reliable way of knowing if it is true, but it sort of makes sense to me. I've seen Pike hit such a wide variety of lures that I'd imagine they're not above a little cannibalism. Feel free to comment!

Either way, I'm happy to have such a diverse selection of fish nearby. Within a 25 mile radius we've got Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Cutbows, Brown Trout, Brook Trout (Don't be fooled, they're actually Char), Walleye, Pike, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Green Sunfish, Channel Catfish, Yellow Perch, Crappie and last but not least the extremely edible Kokanee Salmon. I probably missed something there too. Oh yeah, Crayfish! Say what you want about them, but, the state has done a great job with Southwest Colorado. We have both warm and cold water fisheries and a great balance of sport fish and native fish. If you scroll down the pages here you'll see that I've been on these waters a lot in the past months and I must say it's been really nice.