More On The Fish Lake Tournament

[chucker]

For those that would like to get the Registration paper work filled out, so you can expedite the process at the Lake, print out the forms, fill them in with your information and be ready to hand them into the Tournament Registration folks on January 24th.

Also, so additional Tournament information.

See you at Fish Lake, January 24, 2015
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[fsh4fun05]

I'm assuming you meant January 24th. I think I might have to do this!
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[chucker]

Yes, I did mean January 24th. Thanks for bringing the error to my attention. Hope to see at Fish Lake fsh4fun05. [fishon]
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[doggonefishin]

Just out of curiosity, are contestants expected to take home all of the perch they harvest in the days time, that they bring in for a count and weigh-in?

I love to eat perch, but the potential number one could catch in such a contest would take forever to fillet, making the trip more work than fun.
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[fshnfwl]

What is the cost? Team and/or Individual.
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[Kent]

It is free (learned that at the ice fishing seminar put on by the UDWR).
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[PBH]

[quote doggonefishin]Just out of curiosity, are contestants expected to take home all of the perch they harvest in the days time, that they bring in for a count and weigh-in? [/quote]

From the [url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2015_pdfs/2015_fishing_low.pdf"]2015 Utah Fishing Guidebook (page 20)[/url]:


[quote "2015 Utah Fishing Guidebook"]
In 2013, the Utah Legislature passed a new law that allows anglers to dispose of carp and a
few other species—particularly species under catch-and-kill orders at certain waterbodies—
without violating the state’s wasting statute. If you visit any of the following waters and catch any of the species listed for those waters, you may dispose of them:
Fish Lake: yellow perch
[/quote]


I'm sure there will be a dumpster in the vicinity that you could legally dump the perch if you had no other use for them. Remember, the UDWR wants dead perch -- they're going to allow some waste on this scourge.



(I think we should start a "Feed the eagles" campaign. Or, maybe we should have a coyote hunt / contest 1 week after the perch contest?!)
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[chucker]

Yes, the tournament is free. Let me explain. The is a conservation project, not a fund raising or a profit oriented activity. We are asking for "your help", not asking for your money.

Fish Lake has just undergone a new Management Plan where sportsmen were surveyed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and it was determined that a large majority of Utah fisherman want to keep Fish Lake as one of a very few lakes in the State for a Lake Trout fishery. There are many lakes that provide good rainbow, cutthroat, brook trouts, etc fishing but not very many than can support Lake Trout. Fish Lake is one of the lakes that can.

Some years ago a messy bank of moss grew up along the northwestern shore line of the lake, then yellow perch got into the lake. The moss bank has done two negative things, so far as trout fishing are concerned: It has grown so thick and so close to shore that it has nearly eliminated the ability to fish at Fish Lake without a boat, very little shore fishing can be done at the lake, at this time. Secondly, the yellow perch have used the moss as protective cover and have become so prolific in the lake they have removed much of the food for small trout and it has gotten so bad it has stunted the growth of the perch themselves.

In an effort to improve the trout fishing at the Lake and specifically improve the Lake Trout fishery, the UDWR introduced tens of thousand of "milt weevil" they believe will eat and reduce the amount of invasive moss. During the summer of 2014 the UDWR catch some 37,000 perch and hauled them to Yuba, to provide a bait fish for the pike and walleye there.

In November, the UDWR contacted the Richfield Chapter of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, and asked us if we would host a perch tournament at Fish Lake, with two equally important objectives in mind:

1. To provide a fun ice fishing activity for kids, families, first time ice fishermen, as well as experienced sportsmen, that enjoy getting together for competitive fishing activities.

2. The UDWR is going to introduce a large number of Kokanee into Fish Lake this year, as a bait fish for the Lake Trout, and they want fishermen to remove as many perch from the lake as they can, so there will be more food left in the lake to support he Kokanee, that in turn will support the Lake Trout. They also want to get the message out to as many sportsmen as possible that they need to "remove" as many perch from the lake as they can, when ever they can, summer and winter. (A lot of fishermen catch perch at the lake and because they don't eat them, release them back into the lake. The UDWR would like to get the message out that they don't want fishermen to put those perch back in the lake, ever. Further, they would hope that through their education efforts, experienced sportsmen, throughout the year, will make an effort to spend more time at Fish Lake, specifically targeting perch and removing them from the lake, as an on going conservation effort, for the over all health of the perch as well as the lake trout and other species of fish in the lake.

Since November, SFW and the UDWR fisheries staff from Cedar City have worked together, attempting to design a tournament that will meet both objectives, ie: the conservation aspect and the fun family fishing experience. Hence, events for kids, Moms and Dads (that can come up, with their youngsters, maybe win a prize, and be able to go home before they're cold and uncomfortable) and events for experienced fishermen, that we hope will stay all day and pound the perch.

We don't know if we've hit the target (our objectives, that is) as well as we'd liked to, but it's our first try at this sort of thing and we had to start somewhere. We'll learn from this year and try to make it better in futures years, as we learn what works and what doesn't.

Local businesses (Richfield primarily, some from Cedar and St George) have been willing to sell us the prizes for their cost, as a way to support the event. We really appreciate all these businesses and for what they do for sportsmen. We're a small town with lots of demand for donations from these folks, for our outdoor promoting events, and it really is a sacrifice for them to pony up every few weeks for some kind of donation, in our behalf.

Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (SFW) from the State organization, sent us a check for $2,500 to purchase the .22 rifles, and the other contest prizes, we really appreciate SFW's support for all of these conservation efforts. I believe these funds come form the Western Hunting Expo fund raising effort, so if you're interested in helping SFW keep these kinds of conservation/fishing/hunting projects funded, you might want to attend the Expo in February in Salt Lake City.

UDWR has some management funds they can use to promote fishing and conservation as well, they purchase the power ice auger, the ice tent and the many other "spontaneous contests" we will be conducting throughout the day, to make it fun for everybody, as well as the funds to buy the lunch.

Some have asked about the ice conditions. Ice is certainly a concern, this year has been an odd year, so far. As of Sunday, there was ice on the lake, 4" to 6" on the north the south ends, people are ice fishing, however, the center of the lake is still open water, which means, "great caution" well need to be used and staying away from the edges of the open water will be absolutely necessary.

We will postpone the tournament if the UDWR determines the ice is unsafe, they have been monitoring and will continue to monitor the ice conditions and let us know if there is a need to postpone.

I will post any cancelation information on this web site, as soon as I receive it, should cancelation be necessary.

There is lodging at Fish Lake during the winter, mostly larger cabin units. You can inquire as to price and availabilities at 435-638-1000, leave a message, they will call you back. Also, there is some lodging in Loa, Utah and a lot of motels in Richfield, which is a 40 minute drive from Fish Lake.

I'm happy to provide addition information.
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[doggonefishin]

[quote PBH][quote doggonefishin]Just out of curiosity, are contestants expected to take home all of the perch they harvest in the days time, that they bring in for a count and weigh-in? [/quote]

From the [url "http://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2015_pdfs/2015_fishing_low.pdf"]2015 Utah Fishing Guidebook (page 20)[/url]:


[quote "2015 Utah Fishing Guidebook"]
In 2013, the Utah Legislature passed a new law that allows anglers to dispose of carp and a
few other species—particularly species under catch-and-kill orders at certain waterbodies—
without violating the state’s wasting statute. If you visit any of the following waters and catch any of the species listed for those waters, you may dispose of them:
Fish Lake: yellow perch
[/quote]


I'm sure there will be a dumpster in the vicinity that you could legally dump the perch if you had no other use for them. Remember, the UDWR wants dead perch -- they're going to allow some waste on this scourge.



(I think we should start a "Feed the eagles" campaign. Or, maybe we should have a coyote hunt / contest 1 week after the perch contest?!)[/quote]


I didn't know that Fish Lake was included in that regulation, since the perch are not mandatory catch and kill there. Its ironic. Up here in the 801, there are a lot of long faces among ice anglers because many of the good perch lakes like Pineview aren't producing a lot of fish or aren't frozen. Yet, we have FL, where perch may end up in the dumpster. Maybe, the slow perch action up north will help the turnout for the FL event.


Coyote contest??? Hmmmm, what is the bounty on a yote right now? That could pay for another trip to FL.
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[gmanhunter]

I'm sure there will be a dumpster in the vicinity that you could legally dump the perch if you had no other use for them. Remember, the UDWR wants dead perch -- they're going to allow some waste on this scourge.
(I think we should start a "Feed the eagles" campaign. Or, maybe we should have a coyote hunt / contest 1 week after the perch contest?!)[/quote]



I'm with you on feeding the eagles and hawks. I watched the eagles pick up after the scraps that everyone left behind last weekend. My choice if its lawful, would be to return the little ones back out on top of the ice for the birds of prey to eat.
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[flyanddrive]

Better start buying your bait now since you are going to need a metric crap ton of it fishing for those perch all day.
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[ChalkCreekUT]

Thankfully you can use perch meat on Fishlake so you should have plenty of bait. Plus them perch are little cannibals!
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[chucker]

Regarding bait, the amount you'll need and the kind of bait for the Fish Lake perch. Of course everyone has their favorite bait, and they should us what they found works the best for them. Personally, I recommend a very small hook, a small piece of perch meat, 1/4 x 1/4 inches size, with the hook through the perchs' skin, to keep it on the hook, and a salmon egg on the hook beneath the perch meat. Come put the line 6 inches above the hook and clamp on a split shot, the size of your pinky finger-nail.

The small hook because the perch are small, with small mouths.

The perch meat with skin on to hold ridged to the hook, so if they take the salmon egg off without getting hooked, there is still bait on the hook so they take another run at it.

The salmon egg because it's red and they are attracted to it and you can replace it quick and cheap. A couple of bottles of salmon eggs are pretty reasonable, the perch meat is free. Cut it off the first perch caught.

The large split shot is to take the bait to the bottom rapidly, where the perch congregate. Once you start fishing, the perch crowd around your bait and getting a perch to the surface and your rig back down quickly is going to allow you to catch more fish and catch them faster. Waiting for a "light weight jig" to flutter to the bottom takes time and in a "race for fish" getting to the bottom quick is important. Keeping the split shot a foot off the bottom will put your bait/hook six inches from the bottom, where these perch prefer to feed.
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[SBennett]

If you want a bunch of people to show up and help just remove the licensing requirement for that day on that body of water.
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[chucker]

Yup, that would probably help too, not SFW's call however. Free fishing days are provided by the UDWR and I guess they pick and chose which days they prefer. We'll try to have enough fun that the cost of a fishing license will justify the expense.

In my opinion, a couple pounds of fillet perch meat is worth the cost of the license. Perch is a great eating fish, much better than trout, IMO. Time permitting, I'll try to cook some up, at the tournament, so participants that haven't tried them can have a taste.
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[bone8]

Just curious will we be required to check in are fish or will there be runners available just don't want to waste fishing time to go check in fish if I don't have to and do all 5 team members need to be there when checking in the fish
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[chucker]

Fisherman will need to check in their own fish.

Teams will be 4 members, not five.

Regarding turning in the team's perch, at the end of the tournament: all four team members we be require to turn in their fish, as a team. Once a team turn in their perch, at 3:00 p.m., for the weigh in, no additional perch may be added.

The tournament rules will be written and provided at the tournament registration location on January 24th.

We're hopeful that folks will remember that this is a "free" tournament. The prizes donated by Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife are to support the conservation project and educational efforts by the UDWR at Fish Lake and the business donors have donated prizes to allow sportsmen to teach their families how to fish and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. We hope everyone will come, have a fun day, maybe win a prize, and help reduce the number of perch in Fish Lake. Granted, we have set up the tournament as a competition, to motivate perch fishing and removable, so we need rules to give everyone an equal opportunity. We aren't able nor are we interested in a major policing effort for the tournament, we will be relying on people to keep the rules provided without a great deal of scrutiny on the part of the tournament's hosts.
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[flyfitch]

I am curious how they can prevent a four-man team from giving all of their first 75 fish to one member without anybody knowing. I'm not the cheating type, but I fear there's going to be a lot of cheating when they hear a .22 could be the prize.
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[chucker]

It is possible someone may attempt to circumvent the rules in order to win any contest, regardless of the value, from a $3 bait box to a .22 rifle. On face value, we are primarily going to rely on human integrity. As I mentioned, we are not able nor are we interested in providing a police force, to control peoples behavior.

Please remember, this is a UDWR/Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife conservation/educational project. Hosted by SFW at the request of the UDWR. There will a number of Division of Wildlife Resources Officers helping us conduct the contest throughout the registration process, the fishing hours, and the final weigh in activities.

It's a free activity. Therefore, if we observer people behaving inappropriately we will simply disqualify them from the tournament and the prizes, if the behavior continues. They can fish as much as they like but we'll simply prevent them from participating in the prizes activities.

Regarding "how they can prevent a four-man team from giving all of their first 75 fish to one member without anybody knowing"? If we see them doing that sort of thing, we'll disqualify them. I don't believe it would make sense for them to give up 75 fish for one prize, that might put the possibility of winning a team prize (four prizes) in jeopardy.

The perch used to win any prize may not be counted or weighted a second time in an effort to win a second contest/prize. To prevent this from happening, we will bag and hold (in the name of the owner) perch submitted during the day, for individual contests. That is, if a team member brings 75 fish in for an individual prize, the perch will be held and will not be given back to the team member, to be used again in the team total weight, at the end of the day. Bagged and hold perch will be returned to the owner when the weigh in and the final prizes have been awarded.

I hope that make sense.
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[dtayboyz]

I like a small Swedish pimple, single hook and a piece if perch meat 1/4 x 1 inch with skin on. Wish I were closer.
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