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Fish: Goldfish

How much damage can be done? Bucket Biology?

Post By: FISHRANGLER      Posted: 5/22/2012 9:18:12 PM     Points: 1690    
I watch a guy dump a 5 galllon bucket full of gold fish today some small and some rather large.
He was with his daughter So I was careful in my approach. I knew what he was about to do just did not put it all together until he did it. All he had was the bucket.
I ask him to come talk to me because I did not want to talk to him about what just happened in front of his little girl.
He starts in on me about minding my own business and I was going to get my but kick.So he knew what he did was wrong. I Kept fallowing him to his truck after that and I told him I would just call the cops.
Got his plate and turned him in.
The cool thing is the cop goes to the lake often and was going to do whatever he can to bring him to justice. He was not happy about it. I did this over the phone so I did not want to waiste to much of his time. Im sure they have more important thing to work on. I guess the cop could also just blow the hole thing off too

So my question is this, how much damage can be done from a few gold fish? In a small lake 100 plus Acers . And what can the police do? He did not say. And I did not ask the officer.
Thought about calling OGT but thought the officer might do that himself.
How far would you be willing to go to protect your lakes and rivers?
 Reply by: JKaboom      Posted: 5/22/2012 9:59:51 PM     Points: 703
First off I had no idea there was a goldfish forum which is pretty dang funny. All kidding aside though fishrangler I think you did the right thing. I think you took a very reasonable initial approach and when the man went off on you, you did the right thing as well. Maybe adding calling OGT and reporting the officer info to the OGT would ensure the man will be brought to justice. But you said the police officer fished that water so I'm sure he will be prosecuted. Goo job what you did takes guts and you did it in a tactful way.

The penalty for bucket biology I think is $10000 and I think jailtime is possible too.

As far as the impact it is potentially huge but hard to say is hard and that is one of the reasons its illegal....

What would I do - I hope the same thing (my only concern is me keeping cool if they were jerky like the guy you encountered)

Fins up man :)
 Reply by: fishhooker      Posted: 5/22/2012 10:07:34 PM     Points: 7093
What you did was great, I would call OGT as well. Just to make sure they know what is going on. Man that sucks that he did that in front of his kid like that.
 Reply by: Catman1979      Posted: 5/23/2012 12:31:24 AM     Points: 570
Nice, I think that's how McCray in Fountain was destroyed, with carp from the Fountain Fishing Ponds. The locals said it used to have cats and bass?
 Reply by: skiman      Posted: 5/23/2012 5:47:39 AM     Points: 2830
Fish...
Way to go on the interaction with the guy. My guess is he's NOT a fisherman, and perhaps he was just trying to be a "good dad" by letting the fish go for his daughter. Unfortunately, the release of ANY fish not already present in a body of water can be detrimental on so many levels. I hope this guy is cited and he learns a valuable lesson. Good Fishing!
Ski
 Reply by: JuggaloRon      Posted: 5/23/2012 6:10:04 AM     Points: 176
Catman, is McCray also known as carp lake?
 Reply by: Browns Hunter      Posted: 5/23/2012 7:48:00 AM     Points: 2140
How much damage?
I guess we can always be optimistic and say that pike or largemouths will enjoy the meals. But, a 5-gallon bucket can hold an awful lot of fish. Besides the goldfish proliferating, there's also the parasites that domestic fish have that are now in that lake.
Example: Quemado Lake in NM. That lake used to be a fine trout lake in the NM mountains. No more. There are so many goldfish in it that trout have been crowded out. And, NM Fish & Game is planning on bringing Tiger Muskies to the lake.

FishRAngler, you did the right thing and you did it a lot better than I would have. Kudos to you. Well Done!
 Reply by: Coloradomrg      Posted: 5/23/2012 7:58:48 AM     Points: 2286
Rangler,
You did the right thing. I would have done the same. If there are kids present I attempt to educate, if that doesn't work I call it in. I do always kinda wonder what I'll do if I'm threatened though... probably won't end as well as it did in this case lol
 Reply by: ObsessedFisherman      Posted: 5/23/2012 8:00:31 AM     Points: 2883
Sounds like you handled this like you should with a cool head. Well done brother

damage would not be known for some time but surely it would be there
 Reply by: nightangler      Posted: 5/23/2012 8:12:40 AM     Points: 1656
I applaud you for your actions. The way you handled it with the kid present shows how good of a guy you are. Too bad the guy not only set a horrible example to his kid by dumping the fish to begin with but he set an even worse one with his attitude and threatening violence.

I would like to think I would handle a similar situation with the same level headeness as you but I don't know. Especially when the threats started...
 Reply by: tbblom      Posted: 5/23/2012 8:54:21 AM     Points: 140
Sounds like dude was chumming the pond with feeder fish from a store (that probably has mud snails in their tanks as most do).

He'll no doubt be back out there with another bucket, but next time he'll be using goldfish as bait. Ignorance is bliss I guess?!
 Reply by: Catman1979      Posted: 5/23/2012 9:49:29 AM     Points: 570
Ron, I have no idea, but it should be. The place has the appearance of being healthy, until fifty carp surface at the shore and look at you. Not even allowed to fish it anymore last I heard...
 Reply by: takeakidfishing      Posted: 5/23/2012 11:51:34 AM     Points: 10792
Hey Fishrangler

Stand up job on how you went about dealing with this guy in front of his kid.I most likely would have done the same thing.Not sure how level of a head I would have kept once the threats started coming lol

Bucket fish happens more than anyone thinks I'm sure.Its a pretty big problem and can destroy and lake and pond in due time.let's hope Birds of pra and other game fish eat what was dumped in there before the fish dumped has a chance to reproduce.

Erik
 Reply by: BigTroutMan410      Posted: 5/23/2012 11:55:53 AM     Points: 881
Ya you def. did the right thing good job Rangler...........
 Reply by: chris      Posted: 5/23/2012 12:10:49 PM     Points: 586
Is McCray open to the pubic to fish or is it private?
 Reply by: alanlf5280      Posted: 5/23/2012 12:16:12 PM     Points: 461
This is a very interesting question and maybe a great one for the new CPW blogger. I'd be interested to hear the response if instead of goldfish, it were a bucket load of shad.
 Reply by: Coloradomrg      Posted: 5/23/2012 12:17:35 PM     Points: 2286
Chris - if you are talking about A McCray near widefield, I'm 99% sure that it is private. Owned by the school.

Not sure why you are asking in this thread...
 Reply by: slayur      Posted: 5/29/2012 7:44:11 PM     Points: 0
yeah, it was known (and probably still is) as "carp lake". I grew up in widefield having moved there in '68. We used to go down to that place and widefield park and ride our bikes before they developed it. I don't know what size it is now as I haven't been back there since '92, but it was really a pond at that point and not a lake. I don't know when it was renamed "A McCray Reservoir" but it was a smelly little pond that we raced RC boats and such on. People used to dump trash there and a couple of kids drowned there too.
 Reply by: OCwalleye      Posted: 5/30/2012 12:15:51 AM     Points: 214
I think you did the right thing man!!!! I have a pond in my neighbor hood, that has huge orange fish ( probley 3-8 pounds), I can see them swimming near shore. I don't know if they are koi or goldfish. But I can tell you this I don't think it was the Dow or who ever stocked it. Also this pond had huge carp. As far as I can see there is no damage being done, but I could very well be wrong!!!! And I have a feeling I am, because there are not very big fish in there!
 Reply by: MathGeek      Posted: 5/30/2012 4:26:21 AM     Points: 356
Some resources:

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 Reply by: Springs Fisherman      Posted: 5/30/2012 7:30:03 AM     Points: 175
First of all I want to commend you on your efforts. The major problem with dumping goldfish is that if there are common carp in the water they tend to interbreed. This causes huge numbers of fish that are able to survive many things including disease, temperature fluctuations, and changing oxygen levels. Prospect Lake in Colorado Springs is full of them and it makes me sick to think that all those goldfish hybrids are eating everything that the local fish usually eat.You can go to the lake in the early evening hours and see all of them jumping eating all the insects that land in the water. People need to take their pets to friends, a pet store or somewhere other than the fisheries that Coloradans love so much.

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