Illegal fish plant — Walleye may wreak havoc in reservoir

The fish Ed Johnson pulled from the gillnets in Red Fleet Reservoir two weeks ago were not what he expected or had hoped for. They were walleye — 22 in all. Worse still, they were of different age classes, which indicated they were not a one-time find but that the walleye were established and breeding.

The prospects of that find are not good. Within a few years, what has been a popular and productive fishery could be destroyed. Walleye do not belong, nor can they coexist with the fish — mainly trout, bluegill and bass — already there.

The walleye in Red Fleet were put there illegally. That is, someone transported them to Red Fleet from another reservoir.

Worse still, walleye from Red Fleet could escape to other waters, such as nearby Steinaker, another popular family fishery.

"These are valuable waters to us," said Johnson, regional aquatics biologist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Recourses. "All (the walleye will do) is cause problems."

Six years ago, during gillnet operations, Johnson pulled two walleye from the nets. They were older fish and both were male. That same year a fisherman caught and turned in a walleye of the same senior age class, also a male.

"Then for years we didn't see anything. But, walleye do funny things. It's totally possible we simply didn't get any in our nets," he said.

"I suspect the fish we pulled out two weeks ago were from the original plant, but I can't be sure. Then again, it's possible they were put in last year or the year before and spawned."

Two of the latest finds were older fish, possibly four years old. The other 20 were young, around a quarter of a pound, possibly between 1-plus and 2 years old, "and the alarming thing is it's evident they've really taken off."

To try to minimize damage, the DWR has implemented emergency regulations that require all walleye, no matter the size, to be kept and killed. Also, there is no limit on the number of walleye that can be caught in Red Fleet.

The problem with walleye is that they are efficient predators that will eat any fish — and lots of them.

And, said Johnson, there are plenty of fish in Red Fleet to eat.