Just thinking…

[mcmahon2005]

Why doesn’t the WDFW put Scuds in mountain lakes?

[mossback]

My theory is that they wouldn’t have the money, even if they wanted to add scuds to lake/s. They can’t even do what they ought to be doing. – mossback

[Brian Curtis]

Scuds have specific water chemistry requirements and, as far as I know, they already appear in all lakes that are suitable. Where there are too many fish in the lake they keep the population cropped down completely so you no longer see them. There are a couple examples where over reproducing populations were eliminated or thinned and scuds very quickly started showing. In one case, back in the seventies, a series of lakes were identified as having suitable habitat so the population of spawning EBs was eliminated with rotenone. They went in the following year with scuds to plant in the lake but discovered they were already there.

[Mark Harris]

pardon my ignorance, but what is a “scud”?

[Brian Curtis]

Scuds are also known as freshwater shrimp. They are a small amphipod, normally of the genus Gammarus, that run about a centimeter in length, plus or minus. They are the number one food for growing big fish. If you can find a lake with scuds there is a good chance of multi-pound fish.

[Mark Harris]

good to know, How do you find out if they have scuds? Just watch the lake bottom? Or would I have to find it in the stomach contents of previously caught fish?

[Brian Curtis]

They can be seen near shore if you look carefully. They tend to like grassy areas, but can often be seen anywhere. They look like little shrimp swimming around. They are one of the food items that will give fish pink or red flesh. Sometimes that can be a clue they are around. A diet of copepods will also result in red flesh so that is not an absolute measure, just a possible clue.

[Mark Harris]

That’s interesting, something else I learned from this site. I caught two trout at eightmile lake and when I put them in my frying pan one was really red and the other really white.

[Author]

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