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April 16, 2012
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host a public meeting Wednesday, April 25 from 7-9 p.m. to discuss past, present and future management of Gold Lake.
The meeting will take place at the Eastern Lane Oregon Department of Forestry office, located at 3150 Main Street in Springfield.
Gold Lake is a fly-angling-only lake in the upper Middle Fork Willamette River basin managed predominantly for natural production. Under current regulations unlimited brook trout harvest is allowed while retention of rainbow trout is prohibited.
ODFW fish biologists are seeking public input on various management options for Gold Lake.
“Currently, Gold Lake has a robust fish population consisting of about 80 to 90 percent brook trout and 10 to 20 percent rainbow trout,” said Jeff Ziller, district fish biologist for ODFW’s South Willamette Watershed.
The current Gold Lake Management Plan was developed in 1986. Existing management objectives include maintaining a ratio of at least 50 percent rainbow trout in July sampling efforts, and an average fork length of 10 inches or greater for all fish over 6 inches. ODFW and volunteer brook trout removal efforts at Gold Lake have been conducted for decades in an attempt to reach management objectives.
Although the length objective is often met, the objective of 50 percent or more rainbow trout has not been achieved since the 1980s, according to Ziller.
Meeting participants will be presented some management options and will be asked to brainstorm other options as well. If necessary, this meeting will be followed by future working group meetings to further refine management plans for this lake.
For more information contact ODFW at 541-726-3515. ### |
