State of the Nation...Fishing Related

[remo_5_0]

Before I left Utah almost 3 years ago it was already getting bad, way before the pandemic. I can only imagine how some of my favorite spots are currently fairing. We went out last week and didn’t see hardly a soul... everybody must have been at work.

[Big Sky]

I'm not sure how it will play out for the rest of the lakes in Utah, but the one I live near that has become so popular is likely to die if we don't get significantly more snow soon. So maybe the overcrowding will just solve itself with nature drying up a bunch of lakes, creeks, and rivers in the state. Sure isn't looking very good right now. Basically if the snow pack doesn't get serious in the next 60 days it will be all over for our local lake and at least 3 others on the mountain above town. Anyone know how things are looking at New Castle Reservoir or Kolob Reservoir? I imagine New Castle is likely on it's last leg as well.

[gofish435]

I'm not sure how it will play out for the rest of the lakes in Utah, but the one I live near that has become so popular is likely to die if we don't get significantly more snow soon. So maybe the overcrowding will just solve itself with nature drying up a bunch of lakes, creeks, and rivers in the state. Sure isn't looking very good right now. Basically if the snow pack doesn't get serious in the next 60 days it will be all over for our local lake and at least 3 others on the mountain above town. Anyone know how things are looking at New Castle Reservoir or Kolob Reservoir? I imagine New Castle is likely on it's last leg as well.

I don't know about Newcastle but Kolob was sitting at 49% full and Minersville at 29% full on January 31st.

[castnshoot]

Big sky, I don’t know if you were back in Utah then, but a few years ago there was a big panic over your favorite back yard fishing hole because of the lack of water. The lake sat at the 2500 AF minimum pool thru the hottest part of the summer and early fall.

There was a lot of pressure on the DWR to lift all the regulations and limits like they have done in the past so all the fish don’t go to waste. The DWR held their ground and most were pretty happy how the fish came out the other end of that situation. The worst die offs were Fly Fishermen killing hundreds if not thousands of stressed fish in that cove down by the dam.

Their is some consensus that because of the strain of rainbows and the fact that chubs no longer play into the biology of the lake,, that the fish now have a much better chance of surviving a bad year than they have in the past.

So on that specific water perhaps a closing when the water level reaches the minimum pool, correlated with certain water temperature my be something that should be looked at. DWR has hit it out of the park with their recent management their, so they my be open to something like that.

As far as the pressure I personally don’t think it is going to be the ruination of the fishery, and the DWR love to see it because they see it as validation of all their hard work, and all of “our” funding.

[catchinon]

From the SITLA (Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration) website:

"Trust lands are generally open to the public for responsible recreational activities including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.

However, public access to trust lands can be withdrawn at any time to allow SITLA to meet its constitutional mandate to generate revenue to support trust land beneficiaries.

Unlike public lands, these lands are held in trust to directly support specific state institutions as designated by the U.S. Congress. As such, recreational and other public access may be restricted, routes altered or terminated, and other infrastructure removed to accommodate future development."

Emphasis mine.

[gofish435]

From the SITLA (Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration) website:

"Trust lands are generally open to the public for responsible recreational activities including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.

However, public access to trust lands can be withdrawn at any time to allow SITLA to meet its constitutional mandate to generate revenue to support trust land beneficiaries.

Unlike public lands, these lands are held in trust to directly support specific state institutions as designated by the U.S. Congress. As such, recreational and other public access may be restricted, routes altered or terminated, and other infrastructure removed to accommodate future development."

Emphasis mine.

The generally open to the public was because they received money from the DWR to allow that access.  The money was paid from the Habitat Fund which is funded by all who purchase license's.