Big Spring Creek Gutted By Poachers Using Spinning Equipment in the Fly Zone

Update July 14th 2011

More poaching has occurred and some people have been spotted with nets off one of the bridges (seine) trying to get the fish out.  I have reports that some people have or may be charged for some of the poaching but some citizens who have knowledge are afraid to testify.  Of course, the PFBC has their heads in the sand on this as usual because they really don't care about the native populations of fish in the stream. I will have another update in the next newsletter.

What This Means for Big Spring Biologically!

The gene pool has been destroyed.  Most anglers don't understand this because they think that the offspring of the fish are there and of course that's the gene pool!  Not quite!  It's not that simple.  The offspring are NOT CLONES.  Just because parents are tall and smart that doesn't mean the kids will be the same! The genes get mixed up. Some of the genes survive and some don't in such a combination.  It takes a lot of luck for such "genes" to then grow into a massive trout!!!!!  What people don't seem to get is that much of the massive gene pool was taken out all at once.  These genes are transferred over time year to year by numerous trout.  It's a numbers game.  These fish must produce each year for such combinations to have a chance.  These small trout must be able to survive and further their race. This gene pool of big fish took a long time to build not one year. Genetic recombination doesn't guarantee anything only the chance that it will happen. Penns Creek once had some very large brown trout. My research shows that when waders and spinning equipment became cheap in the late 50's anglers were able to reach spots in the stream they couldn't get to by wading and fly casting.  The large "brood" stock of fish were taken out in large numbers. This was verified by the locals who watched it happen but were unable to do anything to stop it.  The anglers kept the fish. Their genes were left but in what combinations?  The stream is still productive but contains very few large fish today. The magic of fishery genetics in the wild is radically different from what occurs in a hatchery setting.

The ecosystem dynamics has been radically changed.  Some people assume that this might be better for the brook trout because the large rainbows and perhaps some browns and a few larger brooks were taken. It doesn't work that way.  The system needs the apex predators of this stream.  These large fish keep the population dynamics in check.  Without these fish more smaller rainbows will survive and thus compete with the smaller brook trout who are trying to survive. Since there are many more rainbows of similar size competing for the same food source this could actually hurt the brook trout population. There are numerous scientific studies to show how this happens in aquatic systems.

The stream, the fish populations and its future has been severely impacted by what has occurred and it may have a serious long term negative consequences for the fishery.