WY fishermen to Keep more Lake Trout from Boulder Lake
Eugene L. 12.15.22
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is encouraging ice anglers to keep any lake trout that are under 24 inches from Boulder Lake this winter. This targeted removal of these smaller lake trout will help improve the health of the lake and fishery. It gives the forage species a bit of a break by reducing predation levels on them in the lake. At the same time, it lets more lake trout grow larger into trophy-class fish. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is basing all of this off sampling done by them in May. The sample showed that there could be too many of the smaller lake trout in the lake. Smaller fish require more food to gain weight and grow versus larger fish, so with an overabundance of small lake trout everything suffers in the fishery.
So to help keep the lake healthy and in balance, the easiest and best solution is to cull these smaller trout. Just by anglers harvesting a daily limit of the smaller lake trout more resources are freed up in the lake for other species and larger lake trout. This means three big things, more trophy lake trout, a better rainbow trout fishery, and a better kokanee fishery.
Lake trout start their lives mainly feeding upon small aquatic invertebrates but as they grow and reach about 15 to 18 inches in length their diet shifts to mainly composed of other fish. These forage fish includes the rainbow trout and kokanee in Boulder Lake. With an overabundance of smaller lake trout, all those mouths are putting a lot of pressure on the rainbow trout and kokanee fisheries. These are just as valuable to the lake so fisheries management is trying to kill two birds with one stone. More rainbow trout and kokanee and larger lake trout with more trophy fish with good body condition.
Now that winter is here along with the hard water, it is a great time to target the lake trout through the ice. The smaller fish under 24 inches make a great meal; fried, broiled, baked, or smoked. Anglers can harvest up to six lake trout per day from Boulder Lake. Only one of the six fish can exceed 24 inches in length. Boulder Lake is part of Wyoming’s special winter ice fishing provision that lets anglers use up to six lines at a time when fishing through the ice.
