A Swift Brown
First, it was the salmon that went over the falls and into the Swift last October and that was a good thing. But Mother Nature has left the faucet running well into Spring and now into early Summer and the catch at the Y Pool now includes smallmouth bass, pickerel (yes, it's true, I've seen the photos) and (this is the real killer) YELLOW PERCH!
Now, I don't think that the rainbows need to worry since they are big enough to fend for themselves. Same for the browns for now. It's the brook trout that I worry about because whenever smallies and yellow perch enter brook trout country the brook trout lose. One only has to go back to the early 20th century to when some "do-gooder" decided that it would be a nice thing to fish for smallmouth in Maine's brook trout waters. In go the bass and the trout decline! (The same can be said about the early push to expand LL Salmon and smelt into most of Maines coldwater lakes, lakes that were populated by massive brook trout and their special prey, the blueback trout. The smelt overwhelmed the bluebacks and the salmon out competed the brook trout and the rest is history.
There is something valuable at stake here and that is a balance that we see in the Swift. Brook trout have thrived up and down from Cady Lane. There may not be a denser brook trout population in New England. They, in turn, provided a food source for the apex predator - the brown trout. Brookies over 20 inches and browns over 8lbs means something is going right!!!! Yellow perch and smallmouth don't belong. The question is what can we do about it?
A Swift Brookie
Please use the comment section or just email me direct concerning catches of anything other than trout in the Swift for the rest of the year. We need to keep track of this.
Book Me On A Freestone In June!!!!
Ken
12 comments:
Per Mass regs, in lower Swift, fish harvest is allowed until June 30th. If there is concern about yellow perch and SM Bass, should there be a concerted effort to get many anglers to fish for them and harvest as many this month? Reminder that for SMB, there is a 12" minimum and 5 fish bag limit. But it appears there are no size or quantity limits for yellow perch.
Link to regs:https://www.mass.gov/guides/massachusetts-freshwater-fishing-regulations
Andrew,
Good point.
Ken
I think we may be over reacting a little. I know this is a fly fishing blog but whenever I spin fish the swift I've always caught largemouth/smallmouth/pickerel especially in certain areas. I think as fly fisherman targeting trout you don't realize how many are actually in there. Around the jabish brook confluence has always been LOADED with bass and there is absolutely no shortage of brook trout in that area. You can catch pickeral non stop from the boat launch down to the dam and the brookies are fine there as well. The real worry should be about those yellow perch, I don't think they'll do well in the swift but I know they'll decimate juvenile brook trout while they're in there. Yellow perch are great eating, make a meal out of them before they do the same to our brookies!!!
Question - the CR section - where many of those SMB/perch hang, it's not "CR for trout"... It's CR.. so technically, I think tossing a fish on the bank or bringing a SMB home for a fry is illegal - regardless of it's positive/negative impact on the fishery. Is that correct - the legality?
I dont know about past overflow's, but I dont remember one at this time of year... SMB's are spawning now... So there could be new food for the trout/bass in 6 months, baby SMB's... but that could create a new question - does a breeding population of smallies impact the river positively?
My understanding is that perch are a native fish in our ecosystem... so my hope is that brookies have a familiarity with those beasties... When it comes to SMB's, that's going to be a fish that eats the heck out of a brookie population...
Going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming year. In many cases I'd be good witht he smallies... in this one, I'm hopping they dont have a great run of things.
Ryan51993,
I disagree! First you say "we may be overreacting a little" but then end up saying "The real worry should be about those yellow perch......but I know they will decimate juvenile brook trout while they're in there". That's what I'm talking about!!! Maine tried to keep yellow perch out of Moosehead Lake but they got in (the theory was that they were used for bait) and now they threaten the native brook trout. The places that you mention on the Swift are marginal trout habitats.
Hibernation (Will),
The CR situation that you mentioned was addressed on this blog a month ago. You must release ALL SPECIES caught above route 9 ALL YEAR and half the year below Route 9 to Cady Lane.
The last time we had an overflow in the Summer was in early July in 1999 (check my blog post from that time.) I don't remember seeing or hearing about S.bass, Y.Perch or pickerel during that event. It was short lived and nothing like this year.
Brook Trout and Y.Perch don't mix and never have. Yellow perch are more detrimental to BT than smallies since they really work in schools and will hit a spawning bed in mass and not as a single fish.
You ask "does a breeding population of smallies impact the river positively?" ANSWER- NO WAY IN HELL
Ken
State of Maine has a well documented history of trying to protect brook trout on its Rapid River after SMB entered the waters. Here is a report about that work: https://www.maine.gov/ifw/docs/fisheries-reports/2017/rapidriverfisherymanagment.pdf
Unless you like to catch smallies Ken... Which I do... but that's where the res proper, millers, housy etc all come into play... The swift below the res is a human made trout ecosystem. Should stay that way.
That all leads to the question though... given those species are negatives, but you can't take them out of the water... is there anything we can do, or is this really just a factor of "hoping" the newcomers dont hold on.
And to think... All I was worried about initially was 75 degree quabbin surface water dumping in... C'mon dry weather!
Andrew,
Thank you for the info!!!
Hibernation,
You can take them out of the water at certain times of the year unless the regulations change but I don't think we will see a lot of fishers trying to fill creels with yellow perch or maybe I'm wrong. Ice fishers do!
Short answer is something has to be done before bass and perch change the Swift.
Ken
Have them institute the same policy that they have on Yellowstone Lake out here in Yellowstone Park for lake trout. If you catch one, you are required to puncture its bladder and either keep or throw it back. That policy plus strategic netting resulted in 30% decline of non-native species in the last 3 years. I think one got sweep up the swift should be enough to both get an accurate fish count and get rid of those nasty perch and lakers at the same time.
Kozman,
Good to hear from you!!!!
Not a bad idea although I think some around here would object to dispatching a fish, even a perch.
Hope Montana is treating you well.
Ken
Ken
All of this high water on the Swift has really cut down the crowds. I don't think they have all gone to the Farmington (talk about crowded) but are on the freestones which are fishing really well.
GW
just a idea they fish and game electroshocked the swift last year or the year before maybe they could do it once the water stops going over the spillway and return the fish to quabin from where they came.
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