Most anglers know you're not supposed to release non-native fish into the water. Why? Because it usually ends up destroying the existing fishery. Sure enough, that's what happened Northern California's Lake Davis.
For a while now Northern Pike have been destroying the trout fishing at Lake Davis. Pike are believed to have been introduced into the water back in 1994 by anglers used to fishing for them in the Midwest and Great Lakes. But the problem is that pike are voracious predators and they've been eating the trout - thereby destroying the trout population and fishing.
This past week, California's Department of Fish and Game dumped gallons of rotenone (which is harmless to humans and other animals) into the lake to remove the pike. The goal is to restore Lake Davis to a prime trout fishery.
The whole process will take about 45 days. Lake Davis will be restocked when it's free of any of the rotenone - which is anticipated to occur before the reservoir freezes over.
The majority of the stocking will occur in Spring 2008 rainbow and brown trout.
However, the fear right now is that some pike may escape into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, thereby threatening the salmon and steelhead populations in California's river system.
For more information about Lake Davis and the current problem, click here.
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