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"W" · #81 06-29-2014, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tjethro85

Hell his name is on the weir hotline # 1-855-532-9955

We'll I don't call the Hot line so I did not know that, but I know he has a duck blind behind the weirs

ThePinkBanana · #82 06-29-2014, 01:44 PM

Chuck perrodin lives in BR, so that answers a lot...dude is running our estuary and doesn't even live here. Makes lots of sense to me.

Smalls · #83 06-29-2014, 01:47 PM

Intern this, intern that. Interns worked for me. There's one on this board that could verify that.

Now, back on point.

Someone has pointed me to the thread where W did post the name. So W, I was wrong on that subject. My bad.

Now, if you would have just said he worked for CPRA, we could have avoided a lot of this. I thought we were talking about who has the contract to actually open and close the weirs like USFWS used to do. Like the Mio commercials, "This Changes EVERYTHING."

If there is one state agency I don't like, its CPRA. Very shady bunch in my opinion. I've said it before, but their "Master Plan" is a crock if you ask me. they gave the southwest part of the state the finger with that thing.

So, now your accusations are starting to make sense. I won't say I'm completely turned, but that's definitely a starting point.

Tjethro85 · #84 06-29-2014, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "W"

We'll I don't call the Hot line so I did not know that, but I know he has a duck blind behind the weirs

Havent called it in a while but when you posted his name, it rang a bell so I called it and yep his name is on the recording with a number to contact him

Smalls · #85 06-29-2014, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon_Picou

Chuck perrodin lives in BR, so that answers a lot...dude is running our estuary and doesn't even live here. Makes lots of sense to me.

Given that he is the Public Information Coordinator, I seriously doubt he is running it. May have some pull with who is though.

Smalls · #86 06-29-2014, 02:37 PM

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...Huz8MKuurVZPnQ

Here is a good read on the management of the Cameron-Creole.

Unless things have changed, this shows that the Laffy CPRA Field Office is calling the shots, not Chuck. This makes more sense than a PR guy calling the shots.

Waltrip, you may want to look into the Magnuson-Stevens Act. May give some strength to your fisheries argument.

I make oil · #87 06-29-2014, 07:06 PM

Gottogo49 · #88 06-29-2014, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smalls

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/la/nwis/uv...95231093100100

That is a link to the realtime data for one of the CRMS stations back in the marsh. Salinity right now is about 14 ppt.

Looks like some of the ones closer to the lake are about as high, probably higher.

I couldn't get it to copy here, but put these three on the same plot, very interesting.
Mr Smalls, do you have any other monitoring sites that you could share?

USGS 08017095 North Calcasieu Lake near Hackberry, LA
USGS 08017118 Calcasieu River at Cameron, LA
USGS 295231093100100 CRMS2418-H01-RT

Smalls · #89 06-29-2014, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gottogo49

I couldn't get it to copy here, but put these three on the same plot, very interesting.
Mr Smalls, do you have any other monitoring sites that you could share?

USGS 08017095 North Calcasieu Lake near Hackberry, LA
USGS 08017118 Calcasieu River at Cameron, LA
USGS 295231093100100 CRMS2418-H01-RT

There's quite a few CRMS sites within the Cameron-Creole.

Just Google CRMS, or Coastwide Reference Monitoring System, and go to the map.

I wish the LDWF left some of their stations set up that were right outside the weirs. I can't find any data on those, probably not set up anymore. I need to dig around on DEQs website again. I think they may have some stations elsewhere in the Lake. I used to have some data from those when I was working on my thesis.

capt coonassty · #90 06-29-2014, 08:53 PM

Just to note the CRMS sites usually are not real time. Most of the data has to be manually retrieved then uploaded to the net.

http://lacoast.gov/crms_viewer2/Default.aspx

Smalls · #91 06-29-2014, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt coonassty

Just to note the CRMS sites usually are not real time. Most of the data has to be manually retrieved then uploaded to the net.

http://lacoast.gov/crms_viewer2/Default.aspx

True, but some of them are realtime. The one I posted earlier in this thread is realtime.

Gottogo49 · #92 06-29-2014, 09:33 PM

Cool, even if it's not realtime, it's interesting data.

Duck Butter · #93 06-30-2014, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathGeek

Now that it's late June, "W" and other guides have been reporting catching limits of specks just about every day, and often by 9:00 AM.

how is this possible with the weirs being closed?

dubya enlighten us bruh

MathGeek · #94 07-03-2014, 09:52 AM

It is important to realize that the weirs being opened or closed only provides a focal point for locating fish in the short term, it does not magically make fish appear in the lake. In the long term, opening the weirs provides more forage to the fish in the estuary, but it is an open question whether opening the weirs 365 days a year would increase the available food supply by 1%, 5%, 10%, 50%, or 100%.

A few points of science may help people understand why how many fish they catch may not always be closely related to the health of the estuary. Back in April and May, there were lots of complaints and concerns that the sky might be falling because trout fishing was slow and the weirs had not been opened as often as some had desired. But there being few fish in the lake is only one of several possible explanations for low catch rates. More likely explanations (in light of available data) are that the fish had shifted patterns in pursuit of available forage and that the fish were not eager to bite what anglers were throwing at them.

Most anglers develop their fishing habits for specks aimed at specks chasing shrimp, mullet, and croaker and also aimed at the propensity for larger specks to seek oyster reef habitat in the spring. However, the cool spring and destruction of oyster reefs made the specks less predictable this year. Shrimp numbers were down (cool weather and closed weirs), and manhaden numbers were up (pogey plant closing). Cooler water temperatures and higher salinities also lowered speck metabolic rates so they did not need to feed as agressively to maintain body condition.

When we sampled fish condition in late May, the specks were in great shape, with an average of 106% of a healthy body condition. The fish were eating well compared with their metabolic demands. But we weren't seeing many anglers returning to the boat ramp with limits of fish. Limits of fish became more regular after the waters warmed up in June, because the increased metabolic demands of warmer water caused the fish to feed more aggressively. Some localized fish kills on bait may also have reduced the availability of age zero menhaden.

There is a strong theoretical basis to believe that the number of days the weirs are open will have a significant impact on the condition of fish in the estuary, and in the long term, increasing exchange between the marsh and the lake are important and should have measurable effects. So far, we have four years of data. We can see the expected effects of temperature, salinity, oyster stocks, and interspecies competition in the available data, but the effects of the weirs are either too small to see or masked by confounding factors. This may be cleared up by additional years of data or access to LDWF data or by access to improved data regarding historical openings and closings of each water control structure. But for now, it is hard not to think that most angler complaints about the weirs being open or closed result from confirmation bias and the tendency of open weirs concentrating the fish in a predictable location so that they are easier to catch.

Even a saltwater barrier or rocking the ship channel to maintain lower salinities in the lake will not produce the ideal trout fishery that is hoped for. Maintaining salinities below 10-15 ppt in the lower lake for most of the year would allow the weirs to be open for 150-200 days per year, but the lower salinities would also exert a high osmoregulation cost on specks which prefer salinities in the 25-35 ppt range. The specks in that scenario would face the trade-off between a higher metabolic burden to enter the lake and take advantage of the available forage from the open weirs and to remain in the ship channel and gulf which has a much lower metabolic burden. Salinities below 10-15 ppt would favor redfish, black drum, and gafftops in the lake, because these fish are better adapted to mid range salinities and would have a lower metabolic burden in the lake. Salinity levels below 10 ppt would be great for keeping the weirs open, but at these levels, the health of the oyster reefs would also begin to be negatively impacted.

BuckingFastard · #95 07-14-2014, 09:27 AM

just read all this again. where have we gone as a group? i just listened to the recording on the hotline. it says that the gates are open for a brief time to allow migrating estuary species into the marsh. well what the heck? do they think they know the exact day these species arrive to make their trip into the marshes? no, and do they think the shrimp and fish just sit there and wait for them to conveniently open there breeding grounds to them... no! they are creatures of habit and work off instincts, not off reasoning. crazy!

BuckingFastard · #96 07-14-2014, 09:30 AM

we all know this is completely redundant to argue with the guys that benefit in any way from keeping them closed. it is not them that we need to be consulting with and wasting our breath arguing with. yea they have data.... their own data.

Smalls · #97 07-14-2014, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuckingFastard

just read all this again. where have we gone as a group? i just listened to the recording on the hotline. it says that the gates are open for a brief time to allow migrating estuary species into the marsh. well what the heck? do they think they know the exact day these species arrive to make their trip into the marshes? no, and do they think the shrimp and fish just sit there and wait for them to conveniently open there breeding grounds to them... no! they are creatures of habit and work off instincts, not off reasoning. crazy!

I am not sure what is driving the opening right now, but yeah, I'm pretty sure they have a good idea of when certain species are migrating based on given conditions. That comes from years and years of research. What is causing it now? I don't know. Its not a full or new moon. Maybe tides?