Re: CATCH & RELEASE
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Posted by GLAMACH on August 05, 1997 at 10:57:37:
In Reply to: Re: CATCH & RELEASE posted by Hooker on July 22, 1997 at 22:03:05:
Thank you for the info, Hooker. I enjoyed reading this. Prior to this I was very confused where the problems were. > That's great for Arkansas, but not Georgia. The water quality
> here is totally different. Arkansas has a limestone base under
> their streams that releases a continuous supply of lime into the
> water which produces streams of incredible fertility. Lime which
> is calcium carbonate is used by aquatic insects to create their
> exoskeleton. Therefore a stream that is rich in limestone will have
> a superb insect food chain for the trout.
> The Chattahoochee on the other hand is an essentially sterile river
> because it's bed is a granitic monolith that contains very little
> soluble limestone. In fact, the only place the food chain gets a boost on
> the Hooch is at sewage outfalls.
> The Chattahoochee is an artificial trout stream created by the frigid
> water from the bottom of Lake Lanier. The DNR stocks about 200,000 trout
> a year into the Atlanta Hooch, and of this number, about 190,000 will die
> before the next year. They are eaten by otters, ospreys, trout, stripers,
> bass, and cormorants; starved ; and flushed down the river to warmer water
> where they hyper-metabolize. Notice that I didn't include fishermen as a
> predatory factor. Anglers have very little impact on the Chattahoochee trout
> population. Even if there was no fishing allowed in the Hooch, the carry over
> from one year to the next would not exceed 5%, because the ability of the river
> to feed and shelter large numbers of trout through the winter simply doesn't
> exist. This is a sterile, polluted, artificial, put and take trout stream.
> I think the DNR does a fabulous job with their management of the Hooch,
> and they deserve a pat on the back for giving Atlanta anglers the opportunities
> that they provide us with to catch trout.
> Trying to apply management practices and test results from Arkansas to the
> Chattahoochee is like comparing apples and oranges. It is two totally different
> situations.
> The one situation that I think it does help is to release trophy
> fish that are 15+ inches. These fish have learned how to survive in a harsh
> environment. They have switched to a piscatorial diet, and they are now big
> enough to outcompete the stockers for food and shelter and continue to grow. These
> are the fish that Atlanta Anglers need to be releasing to create a semi-trophy
> trout stream.
> I see so many "purist" scoffing and commenting about the "trout killers"
> taking stockers out of the river. I'm personally glad they do remove these fish
> because the river is grossly overstocked anyway, and by removing these "extra" fish,
> they make more food and shelter available for the trophy fish and improve the condition
> of the trout herd. > Hooker
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