"Catchability" Tested

Anglers in southcentral and southeast Idaho will have a chance to participate in a first-of-a kind research effort designed to increase the "catchability" of Idaho hatchery trout. At the same time, anglers may be lucky enough to win a $50 cash drawing being held for each of 16 study waters. Fish and Game researchers Dan Schill and Joe Kozfkay are currently trying to see if hatchery trout can be made easier to catch through selective breeding. The goal is to produce better fishing for anglers while saving their limited license dollars. The study began back in 1998 when 2,750 baby hatchery rainbow trout from the Hayspur Hatchery were placed in raceways. The fish were reared for a year and then marked with individually numbered tags. From June to September1999, the trout were caught and released repeatedly with project biologists carefully tracking the number of times individual fish were caught. Those fish caught more than twice during the study were held for an additional six months until large enough to be bred, at which time they were mated only with other easily- caught fish. Those fish caught only once or not at all were removed from the study. The offspring of the easy-to-catch fish are now large enough to be stocked into Idaho waters. According to project biologist Joe Kozfkay, the idea is to see if the experimental fish are easier to catch than the fish normally stocked. Equal numbers of experimental and "normal" fish are being tagged and stocked in 16 streams and reservoirs in eastern Idaho and the Sun Valley area. The stocking was scheduled to be completed by June 7. Waters included in the study include Ashton Reservoir, Roberts Gravel Pond, Gem State Reservoir, Sand Creek Pond #3, Mackay Reservoir, East Harriman Fish Pond, Henrys Fork at Macks Inn, Buffalo River, Birch Creek, Snake River at Idaho Falls, Warm River, East Fork Big Lost River, West Fork Big Lost River, Big Lost River below Mackay Reservoir, North Fork Big Wood River and Trail Creek (Big Wood system). Fish and Game is asking anglers to remove jaw tags from any tagged fish caught in these waters, flatten the tags, and mail them back to the Nampa Fish Research Office, 1414 E. Locust Ln., Nampa, Idaho 83686. Kozfkay requested that anglers straighten and flatten the tags before mailing them. Otherwise, they often get chewed up by mail sorting machines and are lost. Any angler who turns in a tag will have their name entered into a drawing for $50 cash, one chance for each tag they send in. The tags will be returned upon request. To increase angler interest, there will be one drawing for each study water. Stocking hatchery trout is expensive. On average, only one in three trout stocked in streams is caught. As a result, it presently costs Idaho sportsmen about $1.50 for each stocked trout caught and kept. Kozfkay will be comparing the number of tags returned from the experimental groups versus the normal group to evaluate the new program. The researchers indicated that the same kind of experiments have demonstrated that "catchability" is passed down from generation to generation in largemouth bass in Illinois and Texas. However, no such experiments have been done for hatchery trout. "We know that hatchery trout stocked in Idaho are caught at rates similar to trout stocked in other states" Schill said. "Still, we are trying to do better by breeding only those fish that appear to be unusually catchable". Kozfkay added that "anything we can do to increase the percentage of stocked trout caught by anglers is just good business, not to mention making fishing better."