Demise Of Trout In Alpine Lakes
One of the pleasures of high country is finding remote mountain lakes to fish, unfortunately that experience could soon become a mere memory I’m Susan Allen stay tuned on today’s Open Range to learn why trout numbers are dwindling. There have been reports of declining trout numbers in high mountain lakes. What is happening to the fish? My grandfather who grew up on a farm at the base of Mt. Hood told tales of taking fingerlings into Hood’s alpines lakes in the thirties. I was always fascinated by his stories of transporting fish using pack horses and mules. For over a hundred year folks out west have dedicated themselves to stocking high mountain lakes with trout, problem is that those trout weren’t native and we now know that non-native trout can destroy native organisms most notably frogs and salamanders. Despite the high public demand for lake fishing, in the past few years biologists with the National Parks system have discontinued stocking in many alpine areas like Washington’s North Cascades and most recently the Sierra Nevada’s in California due to environmental concerns. In 2008 the National park Service issued a statement that basically said that unless congress would intervene (they haven’t) non-native fish would be banned in many high country lakes. Within decades trout could be gone more reason to get into the high country and fish this summer. Always catch and release, especially in lakes with low numbers of large trout meaning it probably hasn’t recently been stocked and most likely won’t ever be again. Lets keep em there as long as we can. I’m Susan Allen
