02-04-2021, 07:20 PM
(02-04-2021, 03:57 PM)Big Sky Wrote: This has been on my mind for a while. Fishing as an activity has exploded since the Covid Quarantine first started. My fear is that many fish and game departments are not paying close enough attention to what it is doing to the resource. They seem to be in a "wait and see" state of mind rather than adjusting quickly to the amount of pressure that is being put on fisheries everywhere in the US. I have personally watched one local river near my home be completely fished out of anything other than the tiny fish stocked last fall. In the past it had some very nice mature fish in it. They are now history and won't recover anytime soon if things don't change, or adjust for how society has evolved and acted during the pandemic. Last Saturday as I was fishing on a small local lake, near a small town, far from any major cities I couldn't help but be a little depressed by the tremendous number of people on the lake. What used to be just a few people, to then 20-30 people is now several hundred people. Yet the fish stocking numbers have stayed the same, the rules have stayed the same, the unlimited access has stayed the same. It's just a matter of time before the resource will be severely damaged if not completely depleted as has happened to the local river. I'm not against anyone fishing or enjoying it. I am against mismanagement of resources and ignoring what is right in front of everyone as they venture out to fish and have to basically find a place to squeeze in between the hordes of people on nearly every decent fishery in the state. When I talk to DNR about it I get really tired of the reply of:" Well if lots of people are fishing there then we must be doing something right." That is only half true. Maybe they did do some things so well everyone wants to fish there. The other half that is not being addressed, and basically ignored, is what are they going to do to maintain the quality with the extreme pressure on those fisheries. All is not well in Zion folks and people need to wake up!
For what it's worth here are a few of my thoughts and feel free to add your own thoughts.
One, increase the number of fish stocked in the most popular bodies of water. Two, reinstate a fishing season on some fisheries that are getting relentlessly hammered 24/7/365. Three, possibly consider some resident only days, like on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There should be some benefit to living in and paying taxes in this state. If you don't think out of state pressure isn't a factor then you haven't spent 5 minutes on the lakes, rivers, and streams from Nephi to the Arizona border. I'm not saying non-residents can't fish in Utah, just give two days a week to the residents. Lastly, consider completely shutting down all fishing on some lakes in the summer when it gets too hot and the oxygen is lower. This is mainly aimed towards trout that just can't recovered and die when caught during the hottest part of the summer. This not a close everything down for a month or two suggestion, but rather let the weather and water conditions dictate whether it's reasonable or not to stress the fish by allowing fishing during those peak high risk days.
Anyway I would be interested in hearing from others what they are seeing as far as pressure goes and what your thoughts are on the current state of fishing conditions throughout the state? Please keep it civil.
I think we all feel concerned for our precious resources here in the great state of Utah. Yes, the pandemic has accelerated the pressure this year but the overall trend of increased pressure on our resources has been going on for some time due to increasing population. I too am a native Utahn and have almost 6 decades of history here. I remember "opening day" as a boy and it seemed to me that it was elbow to elbow at Strawberry. I was amazed at the number of people lining the banks and the number of boats on the lake. I also remember the general deer hunt and school was actually dismissed on Friday and Monday of opening weekend because if they held school, very significant numbers would not be there due to the hunt. Those days we had a population of less than 1 million people in the state but a much higher percentage of the population participated in hunting and fishing. Over the last 40 years many people have left the sport but at the same time our population has tripled bringing many new people to the sport. I think we reached a tipping point this past year and I too noticed the congestion even on lakes as large as Strawberry and Flaming Gorge. Even mid-week. I know that it was partly due to the pandemic with more flexible work schedules etc. but the world is different now. Many people have the luxury to fish any day of the week they choose and are not bound by the M-F schedule. I wish there were an easy answer but the trend is not good. I foresee the population continuing to grow an that trend is happening in all our western states. I'm sure we could improve some areas of management but overall I applaud our wildlife resources department for doing the best they can on a very tough issue with limited resources. They do listen us so be sure to share your thoughts with them and attend the RAC meetings etc. The fact is that the population is growing and will continue to do so but the resources are somewhat limited. Bottom line for me is I was just born 100 years too late! At least that's what my kids tell me.