Sampling at Colorado’s North Sterling Reservoir Indicates Good Fishing in Near Future
OutdoorHub 11.20.12
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has determined that the fish kill at North Sterling this past September was not as significant as previously believed. Samples confirm that enough fish were spared for continued angling throughout the coming year and through the fishery rebuilding process.
“It appears that we dodged a bullet” said David Piper, park manager for North Sterling State Park, “We have a good base of catchable sport fish at the reservoir and won’t need to start from scratch in 2013.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologists ran their annual fall survey at the Park on Nov. 14 and learned the September fish kill was not a complete summer kill as initially suspected.
“Black crappie, walleye, saugeye, yellow perch and wiper were found in our sampling,” said Mandi Brandt, aquatic biologist for the northeastern plains, “So there are definitely some keeper-sized fish for anglers. We will be stocking more of these warm water sport fish as fry and fingerlings and using catchable rainbow and cutthroat trout to fill the gap.”
Total fish numbers sampled were down 77% from last year, pointing to a significant loss of fish overall. However, efforts will be made to boost the prey base of gizzard shad back to prior levels, as well as the sport fish. In addition, the reservoir should receive another 5 ft of water by the end of December, which will help the fishery through the winter.
For more information on fish management in Colorado, visit:
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Fishing/Management/Pages/Management.aspx
