[JBinUTAH]

From the Island Park News May 19, 2006

Henry’s Lake survey nets plenty of nice fish
By Bill Schiess
"I'll take a net like this any time," said Damon Keen, manager of the Henry's Lake Hatchery, as he and Dave Clark pulled in a gill net wiggling with fish. The floating net off the cliffs on Henry's Lake contained a mix of one to four-year-old trout that outnumbered the chubs two to one.
The total take in the six gill nets for the day last Saturday was 57 trout and 41 chubs.
"I am extremely pleased with the population of trout in the lake right now," said Keen. "These gill nets give us an accurate reading of the different species of trout and the number of chubs here."
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game, between ice-out and the opening day of fishing, set out six nets for eight to 10 nights to study the population of fish in the lake. The netted fish are studied for size, age, disease and food utilized.
The nets this year are averaging about 12 trout per net per night, with about 7.5 being cutthroats, 2.5 hybrids and two brook trout.
"Any time that we average more than 10 trout per night per net, we have a great population of fish in the lake," said Keen.
Last year, the chubs outnumbered the trout about two to one. This year the chubs are still outnumbering the trout with 405 chubs taken compared to 288 trout. Chubs seem to do better during drought conditions while trout do better in good water years. With the water condition the way it is this year, the trout in Henry's should continue to do well.
The six gill nets are placed in the evening when the weather conditions will allow. There are three floating and three sinking nets 150 feet long and six feet wide. The mesh of each net is designed to catch larger fish on one end with the mesh getting smaller to catch the smaller fish on the other end. The mesh does not catch many of the huge Henry's Lake hybrids because it is not long enough and those fish are also too strong for the nets to hold them.
Keen is very happy about the number of brook trout being taken in the nets. "We are seeing three very strong age classes of brookies right now," he said. "It appears that the triploid (sterile) program is working."
Nets have been placed four nights with 91, 99, 41 and 57 trout caught. This along with the results of the spawning that just concluded, promises a good year for fishermen. The spawning saw many huge hybrids come into the hatchery that are not being caught in the nets.
Henry's Lake is making a great come-back from some very tough fishing years during 2003 and 2004. Much of this comeback has happened because of the work from the personnel at the Ashton and Mackay hatcheries.
"Those folks (at Mackay and Ashton) have done an exceptional job during the tough drought years to keep the program going," said Keen. "They work 365 days a year to make sure that the folks at Henry's and other waters in the area have fish to catch."
Hatchery work is very tough and these people get little credit for producing the fish that many sportsmen enjoy.
There are many variables in the making of a good fishing season, and knowing that the fish are there in the lake is a good start. The gill netting is an important tool for the Fish and Game to know how to manage the lake. Over the past four years, the gill netting has shown an increase of fish in the lake and it looks like this year will be the best since the 2000 season.