Trout for pike and musky bait?!

Its all a matter perspective and situation. In AK, "Slimers" are highly revered and protected. Either way you gotta love them , predetor bait, sportfish, and a mainstay for good fishing in damn near all of our cooler waters. They are the most important part of our fishing economy.

lvrider said:

I'm contemplating giving up fishing in colorado. Douche bags from out state are ruining it. Cotton pickers don't understand the antero effect. Used to be badass bobo pond but every Tom dick and hick know about it from the Internet. I'd focus on work here and save up for real fishing trips. Might have to go to Costa Rica and do some hobie fishing in some warm water next trip.

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Livrider it seems you have become a true fanatic and I can relate
I found the more fanatical I got about big fish and lake trout, the farther I was willing to go to find them, and the more I disliked being around other fisherman. An extra 4 or 6 hours in the truck became no sweat. These places are kept silent and never talked about, not even to some of my close fishing buddies. You don't have to go all the way to Costa Rica for killer fishing but damn I could use a trip like that right now.
All together giving up fishing at places like Blue Mesa was not a option for me. One thing I did to make it more interesting was to advocate my local fisheries, let the CPW know what I found through my catch logs, and what my opinions are that may improve the fishery in the long run. Although I have got absolutely no where with my efforts and pretty sure I have never influenced a single decision.

swimbait said:

Yep. In Alaska they are, uh, what is the word I am looking for, uh... native?

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Ya you got your steelhead, and your stream resident rainbow which are the same species. Alaska also stocks a very large mount of rainbows raised in hatcheries just like ours.

clackaram said:

To be very clear, Alaska currently only stocks rainbows in lakes with no outlet. Further the the vast majority of the bows stocked are triploid. Alaska stocked approx 1.2 million bows in 2014, of which a clear majority of the fish were fingerlings. To put the this relatively low number of bow produced in perspective, both Blue Mesa and Green Mountain each received annual stockings of 120,000+ rainbows in recent years.

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If you look at fish stocked per capita, and the amount of road accessible fishing. 1.2 million is alot.

clackaram said:

A more accurate way to look at the subject instead of "per capita" would be to compare the number of fishing licenses sold. AK sold 412K in 2013, CO sold 674K in 2013. Between State and Federal hatcheries, Colorado receives over 5 million rainbows annually if my memory is correct. So Alaska stocks approximately 3 bows per license holder, and CO approx 7+ per license holder.

I guess a lot is relative.

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That is s very accurate way to look at it. One thing that comes to my mind in that though is how many of AK licenses were purchased by those fishing off shore and not targeting freshwater.

Mt point being is that AK holds them with high regard and makes a good effort to raise and stock them in an environment were other fishing opportunity is seemingly endless.
I personally don't view stockers as a trash fish. I am happy that we have them and appreciate any opportunity to catch them. I'm a big fan of perpetuating the sport of fishing and exposing to as many young people as possible. Stockers and powerbait type fishing
Is the foundation for all fishing in Colorado. The tourist and licence money that funds all fisheries management would nothing without stockers