Why is it tricky to manage kokanee and lake trout in the same reservoir?
Kokanee and lake trout did not evolve together and experts consider this predator-prey combination to be unstable. As a result, routine and intensive sampling of a reservoir’s food web and fish population characteristics are needed to monitor and manage these fisheries. Charlie Meyers (Denver outdoors columnist, deceased) offered the analogy of trying to maintain domestic sheep as a prey base for mountain lions – sheep can thrive on Colorado’s rangelands, but they are not well adapted to resist lion predation.
