We finished up the lake trout control netting on Swan Lake on Friday night. The total lake trout take from 30 netting sessions was about 5,252 fish. Our calculated "threshold of doom", at which we would have exceeded 50% mortality based on the 2008 population estimate, was about 4,850 fish. Thus, we should have exerted a mortality rate greater than 50%, achieving a major objective of the project. Lake trout catch declined throughout the sessions, with 2,457 at the 1/3 point, 1,649 in the second 1/3, and 1,146 in the final 1/3.mortalities. A single spent female bull trout was taken on the next to last day. All others were sexually immature.

Approximately 50 sexually mature lake trout were captured, mostly males, and another 18 sonic tags were placed in males that were released. We will now resume tracking and when fish begin to gather on the spawning grounds (in roughly two weeks or so, based on 2008 information) we will initiate "spawner netting".

Many thanks to the hard working crew and volunteers who cooperated to make this a nearly flawless effort!