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[mcallagan]

I've heard that there were goldfish in Dragon but this is outrageous

This was filmed Nov. 20, 2016.


I just got this YouTube Link from Guy Scharf of DFO fame.  To quote Guy:

"Amazing!
 
I wonder why they are so close to shore at this time of year?"

If you had any doubt about the goldfish infestation in Dragon Lake, doubt no more! Check this out:
 
https://youtu.be/FMTG4xLD6Ek

[wildmanyeah]

That is some of the worst ethical treatment of fish I have ever seen.

Honestly I don't care about a bunch of Koi, They should be eradicated but people throw ethics around all the time on this site, What if it were salmon smolts? 

[Tylsie]

I had heard about it in passing, but that is disturbing. I know they really don't want to but I honestly think they should kill the whole lake. Yes Quesnel tourism will suffer for a few years but it will recover. If all the lake has is goldfish it will be much worse.

[RalphH]

Rotenone kills are often unsuccessful. Dragon is such a big lake I can't see it would work. I think acouple of things. Good on these people but that is such a massive amount of work a few people can't make it work. Keeping koi and or gold fish outside should be banned. White Lake was contaminated from a pond overflow. Some of these may have resulted from deliberate releases of people who didn't want the fish anymore. The people who allowed the Koi to escape or released them are the ones with bad ethics.

[West]

Bass or Pike would go through those pretty quick

[santefe]

Just what we need is another invasive species in  BC lake.
There already too many small lakes in this province with non native species.

[mcallagan]

Could always see what a bunch of Gerrards would do to the goldfish population.

[Ambassador]

Could always see what a bunch of Gerrards would do to the goldfish population.

That would be a cool test. Wonder if they would eat them? Lots of food for them in that lake it appears that could get them nice and fat!

[Dave]

Could always see what a bunch of Gerrards would do to the goldfish population.

Ya, this is going to be brain searcher for the FWFSBC and Provincial authorities.  Good news is they have all winter to ponder the issue. I agree with RalphH, rotenone might not be the appropriate response, for multiple reasons, including the city council of the town of Quesnel. Thousands of dead fish on the shoreline of Dragon Lake would not sit pretty with homeowners.
 
I like the thoughts of introducing a predator species ... Perhaps it's time for our province to try something innovative.  Pike and bass? Not sure but I would like to see that considered.  Stuff like this will be more common as the human population increases and this could be a model for the future.

Just my .02

[Fish Assassin]

Unreal

[typhoon]

Gerrards are known to only feed on species in the right depths (like Kokanee). They don't feed on shiners in shallow water, for example so stocking Gerrards won't help this problem.

[RalphH]

Gerrards don't do well in small warm lakes. I am not sure how deep Dragon is but in Kootenay Lake Kokanee go below 40 feet and the Gerrard follow them. Small fertile lakes like Dragon are often oxygen deficient at those depths.

Pike? Dragon Lake drains into the Fraser - you want Pike in the Fraser? Pike carry parasites that once on salmon look unsightly & can reduce the commercial value of salmon. Personally I'd vote for Brown Trout. Long Lived and they keep growing - unlike rainbows. They could be sterilized. Unfortunately they have to get pretty big before they predate on fish that size.

[wildmanyeah]

Maybe an option....I have seen yearlings in the ocean hit hooks 3 times there size. Not sure how it would work tho


http://www.opb.org/news/article/biologists-discover-landlocked-chinook-salmon-in-o/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9youfh5LLDc

[Every Day]

Those gold fish have been there a few years now. Some are huge, up to 6 inches long. Thousands upon thousand of juveniles in the shallows/weeds.

They can't rotenone the lake. Too many people draw drinking water from it - among other issues like it being FFSBC's largest and most constant producer of Blackwater rainbows. As others have said - rotenone doesn't 100% work most of the time either.

Lastly, introducing a predator species, especially non-native would be bad, as this drains into the Quesnel and then Fraser. The Blackwater rainbows have really gotten on to the gold fish this past year. Many guys we talked to around the lake this spring were cleaning rainbows with full stomachs of them, and some fish were even puking them up during handling. A 2 inch long, hot orange woolly bugger or booby fly was killer in there this year. Saw/heard of more 10+ pound rainbows this year than I've seen or heard of in the last 3 years. Those Blackwater rainbows are definitely eating them, and it will only become more common as the Blackwater grow larger and key in on them more. I'd personally leave it go, and see what happens in the next couple years. From what I've seen, the majority of goldfish stay very shallow and don't compete with the rainbows for food. If anything, you're utilizing the food that was never once available in the 4 inch deep warm weedy water, and turning it into a more abundant, high energy food that the rainbows can see and key in on with ease. Only time will tell.

[wildmanyeah]

Those gold fish have been there a few years now. Some are huge, up to 6 inches long. Thousands upon thousand of juveniles in the shallows/weeds.

They can't rotenone the lake. Too many people draw drinking water from it - among other issues like it being FFSBC's largest and most constant producer of Blackwater rainbows. As others have said - rotenone doesn't 100% work most of the time either.

Lastly, introducing a predator species, especially non-native would be bad, as this drains into the Quesnel and then Fraser. The Blackwater rainbows have really gotten on to the gold fish this past year. Many guys we talked to around the lake this spring were cleaning rainbows with full stomachs of them, and some fish were even puking them up during handling. A 2 inch long, hot orange woolly bugger or booby fly was killer in there this year. Saw/heard of more 10+ pound rainbows this year than I've seen or heard of in the last 3 years. Those Blackwater rainbows are definitely eating them, and it will only become more common as the Blackwater grow larger and key in on them more. I'd personally leave it go, and see what happens in the next couple years. From what I've seen, the majority of goldfish stay very shallow and don't compete with the rainbows for food. If anything, you're utilizing the food that was never once available in the 4 inch deep warm weedy water, and turning it into a more abundant, high energy food that the rainbows can see and key in on with ease. Only time will tell.

I think you may be right, If you google trout eating koi there are so many topics of people that introduced trout into there koi ponds and the trout eating them all. Tho its hard to believe there is that big of predation from trout in that lake with the shear number of koi they were scooping out.

People on some Koi forums were calling rainbows "cold water pirarahs" lol