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Priest Lake fish survey shows promising trends

by ERIC WELCH
Staff Writer | January 14, 2025 1:00 AM

PRIEST LAKE — The results of 2024 survey work at Priest Lake indicate a stable population of lake trout and an improvement in fish quality.

Rob Ryan, regional fisheries biologist for Idaho Fish and Game, shared the findings at a Jan. 10 Lakes Commission meeting, and said the changes correlated with an increase in mysid shrimp in the past two years. 

“Shrimp have rebounded. That's a great thing, if you're thinking about lake trout and lake trout fishing,” Ryan said. 

Ryan said IDFG observed a collapse in the lake’s shrimp population between 2019 and 2022. Mysid shrimp are a main food source for lake trout; Ryan said that lake trout population estimates held steady during that period, but that surveyors observed a decline in flesh quality in sampled fish. 

“They were skinny, their flesh color was pale relative to the dark orange flesh our anglers are accustomed to seeing,” he said. 

Ryan added that similar fluctuations in shrimp population have been observed in other lakes, including Lake Pend Oreille. 

“It’s not completely understood, but it happens,” he said. 

Along with finding a steady population, surveyors caught lake trout at every site they sampled around the lake, indicating the species is widely distributed.

“That's unique,” Ryan said. “We don't see that often in any survey work, where you go to every single spot and find your target species.”  

Additionally, Ryan shed light on the Jan. 1 regulation change allowing anglers to harvest a maximum of two cutthroat trout per day from Priest Lake. 

Cutthroat harvesting was prohibited in 1988 due to a suspected population decline. Ryan noted that while the species is less abundant than lake trout, survey results have shown a stable population for several years. 

“Westslope cutthroat are doing well,” he said. 

Under the new rule, anglers are only permitted to collect cutthroat 16 inches in size or greater and are prohibited from harvesting in tributaries.