Tag: fishing

Payette Lake produces new state catch-and-release lake trout — again

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By now, if you follow Idaho Fish and Game’s stringer of record fish stories, you’re well aware that there’s one lake that comes to mind when you mention the words lake trout: Payette Lake. But if not, allow me to bring you up to speed. BRINGING BACK PAYETTE’S LAKE TROUTLake trout (also known as Mackinaw) were introduced into Payette Lake in 1955. These long-lived predators can survive for more than 40 years, grow beyond 40 inches in length, and exceed 50 pounds. As the stocked fish matured, the trophy fishery gained popularity. During the 1990s, it wasn’t uncommon for anglers to catch multiple lake trout over 15 pounds and occasionally fish exceeding 30 pounds in a single day.

By the early 2000s, lake trout abundance had increased dramatically, but there was a tradeoff. Overabundance of lake trout meant fewer food resources, leading to thin and undernourished lake trout that still reached decent lengths but more closely resembled eels than trophy freshwater fish. This also meant big declines in the kokanee population, the lake trout’s main diet. By 2014, fisheries managers recognized that action was needed. They began reducing the number of smaller lake trout to lessen predation on kokanee, but released trophy-sized fish. This increased kokanee survival and made more food available for the remaining trophy lake trout.

And the results paid off. Since 2018, staff have removed approximately 3,100 lake trout from Payette Lake, averaging roughly 445 fish per year. The condition of lake trout has also recovered, with Payette Lake producing five catch-and-release state records since 2016.

ACTUALLY, MAKE THAT SIX

Normally, we’re lucky to highlight one record fish per fishery per year, but again, if you’ve been following the Fish and Game newswire this summer, you might recall seeing Payette Lake in the headlines already this summer. Dylan Smith, the lucky Idaho Falls angler who caught a 43.25-inch laker back on May 2, barely had time to show off his crown to his friends. Pencils have erasers, thank goodness, because on July 8 of this year, Kim Anderson pulled out a 44-inch lake trout from none other than Payette Lake, earning himself the new state catch and release record. Anderson’s fish is now the third record in the last two years.

Source: Payette Lake produces new state catch-and-release lake trout — again | Northwest | idahostatejournal.com

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Romans 14:11

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Man catches record-breaking pumpkinseed sunfish in West Virginia

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A West Virginia man caught a record-breaking pumpkinseed sunfish, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources announced.  Robert Glover caught a record-breaking pumpkinseed sunfish, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources announced. (Photo Credit: West Virginia Division of Natural Resources) Robert Glover of Morgantown reeled in the record-setting fish in Cheat Lake in Monongalia County on Aug. 6, the agency said in a news release.

The fish was 9.76 inches long and 0.75 pounds. The catch broke the previous record set on July 14 by Sierra Adamson of Beverly, who nabbed a 9.13-inch, 0.62-pound pumpkinseed sunfish from the Tygart Valley River in Randolph County, CBS affiliate WDTV reported. Glover used a nightcrawler on a 6-pound test line, the news release said. District 1 fisheries biologist Dustin Smith certified the record.  “The pumpkinseed state record category was established in 2024 along with redbreast, redear, black crappie and redhorse,” Paul Johansen, chief of the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources’s Wildlife Resources section, said.

“Until this year, a record pumpkinseed hadn’t been caught. However, amazingly this is the third record set in the last month for this beautiful sunfish.”   Anyone 15 and older must have a West Virginia fishing license, which can be purchased online.  

Source: Man catches record-breaking pumpkinseed sunfish in West Virginia – CBS Pittsburgh

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3:1

Hunted for Following Jesus

In some communities, Muslims who leave Islam to follow Christ face rejection, threats, violence, and even death because of their faith. For Muslim-background believers, choosing to follow Jesus…

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8-year-old reels in piranha at Ridley Park Lake in Delaware County, Pennsylvania: “It was pretty crazy”

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Piranha resting on a muddy rainforest riverbank

It was a piranha out of water and way out of place. Saturday was no ordinary fishing trip for Seamus Coffey and his dad, Michael. They were at Ridley Park Lake when the young angler reeled in a catch he won’t soon forget. “I caught two catfish,” Seamus said. The 8-year-old Seamus says he normally baits his line with string and a hot dog. He was fishing Saturday at Ridley Park Lake with his dad when he felt a tug. “He thought it was a bass at first because we usually catch little catfish,” Michael Coffey said. “So he’s reeling it, reeling it, reeling it and then when I saw it, what did I say? I said, ‘Slow down, dude, you might lose it.’ This looks like something we haven’t caught before, like a big bluegill or something.” “I’m reeling it in and I’m thinking it’s a bass,” Seamus said. “He got it on the ground and I was like, ‘It’s a bluegill, I don’t know what this is,’ and he said it’s a piranha,'” Michael Coffey said.

The Coffeys have fished here for years. Young Seamus seemed to know exactly what he was looking at. “Because I watch YouTube,” he said. “Remember, I Google imaged it, and I was like, ‘Dude, it’s a red-bellied piranha,'” Michael Coffey said. “It was pretty crazy.” Officials with Pennsylvania’s Fish and Boat Commission said this was likely someone’s pet until things got out of control at home. It was also explained that the person likely believed they were doing the right thing by placing a piranha in the lake. “Some of our folks have determined that this is certainly a species of piranha,” Mike Parker with the Fish and Boat Commission said. “And that person no longer wanted their pet and then unlawfully introduced it into the waterway.” Coffey said at first he put the native South American fish back in the lake but then thought twice. “Basically have to get rid of it for the ecosystem,” Coffey said, “so we ended up getting rid of it, humanely, and put it back for the snapping turtle that hangs out over near the rocks over there.”

They estimated the piranha to be about 9 1/2 inches in length, weighing about 2 pounds with all those teeth. State officials believe this to be an isolated incident.

Source: 8-year-old reels in piranha at Ridley Park Lake in Delaware County, Pennsylvania: “It was pretty crazy” – CBS Philadelphia

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.
Romans 12:10

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Older than the dinosaurs: scientists finally unlock secret of the mayfly’s dance

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macro shot of a mayfly on a green leaf

On a spring evening along the banks of the River Thames, thousands of mayflies can be seen engaging in what may be one of the world’s oldest dances. In the fading light, the males make a steep vertical climb, flip over and float back to Earth – wings and tail outstretched in a skydiving posture so as to drop slowly through the sky. Mayflies are among the world’s oldest winged insects, emerging roughly 300m years ago – long before dinosaurs walked the Earth. Even the Mesopotamian poem the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest pieces of literature, makes reference to the short-lived mayfly.

Over the epochs, the insect’s basic design has changed very little compared with the fossils of their ancestors. “They have retained these odd characteristics and we can probably assume that they’ve been doing this [dance] for hundreds of millions of years, and yet we don’t really know why,” says Samuel Fabian, a research fellow at the University of Oxford who studies the aerial behaviours of insects. Now, Fabian and his colleagues at Imperial College London think they finally have an answer. In new research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, the scientists reconstructed the flight behaviour of the common mayfly, filming large swarms in the London borough of Richmond in 3D and analysing the insects’ flight paths.

Source: Older than the dinosaurs: scientists finally unlock secret of the mayfly’s dance | Insects | The Guardian

Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:6-8

Plague in Russia?

Russian authorities have sought to allay global worries over the death of a young woman who worked at a Siberian anti-plague laboratory. But moves to isolate her contacts and…

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The Activities I can lose myself in.

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fisherman holding a brown trout above net in river
Daily writing prompt
What activities do you lose yourself in?
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There are a few things that I lose myself in. They have been my go to things that I have done ever since I was a child. These are the thing sthat help keep me in a sound mind.

TO begin with, I have always been addicted to fishing. It does not matter what kind of fishing, from freshwater to saltwater. Bass fishing, Trout fishing, fly fishing and every other type of fishing that you could imagine. It has been one of my go to get aways.

Second, getting out in and spending time in my garage and tinkering with anything mechanical is another activity I use to clear my mind. Work on an old car, motorcycle, or snowmobile gives me extra piece of mind.

Third, spending time in the woods is meditative and mind clearing. It does not matter if I am going hunting, camping or hiking it is where I love to spend my time.

Finally, spending time time with my family completes the list of actives that I can lose myself in. Between all of these things they help me keep my sanity and always give me something to do.