March 9, 2023 |
Photo – Wyoming Game and Fish Truck – Courtesy WY Game and Fish
Wyoming Game and Fish will begin restocking Saratoga Lake this summer.
Following the discovery of illegal yellow perch in Saratoga Lake, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department initiated a lake-wide fish kill-off. Game and Fish crews administered a toxin specifically targeted toward gilled animals called Rotenone. Only after every fish was dead, was WGFD satisfied no yellow perch remained.
During Tuesday night’s Saratoga town council meeting, Game and Fish Biologist Mark Cufaude said trout will be reintroduced to the lake in mid-summer.
Wyoming Game and Fish cut the lake off from its source before crews applied the toxin during low water. Councilman Jerry Fluty asked Cufaude when the lake will be refilled. The Game and Fish Biologist said the lake will catch the snowmelt until WFGD opens the inlet valve in summer. Before that time, Cufaude said his department will install a fish screen. He said the project should take less than a month once work begins in April.
Game and Fish crews categorized the type of fish they removed from the lake. A final tally showed nearly 40 suckers to every one trout or perch. Suckers are considered trash fish, not good for eating. Cufaude said to prevent the lake from filling with suckers again, Game and Fish will install heated screens.
The screens will be placed in the lake’s inlet channel. Cufaude said he will be responsible for periodically maintaining the screens. Mayor Davis asked where the screen heaters will get power. Cufaude said the power poles will be located on the south-eastern bank of the lake, between the cemetery and a private residence.
Game and Fish officials said the lake should be ready to host next year’s Ice Fish Derby after it had to be cancelled this year.
