Eloika lake dead bass

[Anglinarcher]

While I have not been out to Elokia yet this year, I know it pretty well. First, there are few trout fishermen on that lake, so I seriously doubt that any slime lover (have been known to be one at times myself) killed them. They plant only a token amount of Brown Trout in the lake so most people are fishing for perch, crappie, or Bass.

Second, growing weeds create oxygen, not eliminate oxygen. A lack of oxygen would not be the case.

Third, the winter was not nearly hard enough to have killed off Bass on Elokia this year.

Forth, Elokia never has and never will have any tournament on it. It is not that big, it is very shallow, super weedy, and lacks any marina with the capabilities to serve as a launch point for more then a dozen boats.

I suspect, lacking any real evidence, that it was either Osprey which often lose a big fish after doing mortal damage, or people catching bedding bass with bait and then the gut hooked bass die.

While I hate to see any game fish die like that, for the numbers mentioned, I don't think we have grounds to worry about it yet. If it continues, it might be a virus, or maybe a fungus, but at this time I doubt either is the cause.

[Snootch]

Hopefully you're aware that rainbow trout are even less native to our lakes than bass. Rainbow trout aren't naturally found in lakes at all and can't even reproduce in them, hence the need to stock them every year. Bass are certainly better suited for our lakes than rainbows. There's also perch, crappie, bluegill, catfish, pike, walleye, and pretty much every other species of fish you could hope to fish for in Washington, which are all technically "non-native". I say after 125+ years here, it's time to stop the "bass aren't native" argument for good.

Nik, almost everything you said there is incorrect. Rainbow not native? They most certainly are and there's plenty of naturally producing populations. Washington is even home to a unique sub-species, the Beardslee Rainbow. Also there isn't any argument that Bass aren't native. They aren't. It's a fact and not debatable. They never will be either.