Little Dell: Waste or worth the money?

[Teroy]

I almost stopped there on the way home from Mirror! But 5 bucks for a catch and release only lake??? Am I the only one that thinks that a little ludacris? I'm sure my curiousity will get me tomorrow and I will take a trip up there anyway. LOL
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[aquaman]

if you can catch one of those big cutts its probley worth it i never have i've only caught 3 fish in five trips biggest a nice 16" brooke
chris
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[hedgesd]

I've never fished this C/R lake but I spend most of my time on this type of lake. If I want to keep something for dinner I'll head someplace else. With the way fishing is growing most lakes will either be C/R or little planters.
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[polokid]

My feeling on Little Dell and if it is worth it is how would you fish it??? From shore it has, at least to me shown as a waste of time, now from a floatation device(floattube, pontoon, kayak, ect) I dont know personally, but I have watched people from float tubes get into the fish!!! But they have had fish finders too!!! I dont think that there is a large quantity of fish in that water, but the quality is definitely there!!!

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[hedgesd]

The thing about most C/R lakes is that they eat only natural food so start looking for a possible food source. Once you found something they will possible eat present that fly or lure in the area the fish are holding or feeding. A fish finder only finds fish that are suspended and helps find some fish but not all. I personally only fish some lakes during certain times of the year. It's mainly because I can catch bigger and better fish and know the habits of those fish from spending long hours working different area's and baits.

It sounds like the fish are holding deeper so try jigs and spoons. Fly fishing on some type 4 or 5 and work it slow. Change your technique, lure or presentations until you find a few hungry fish and from their change only moderately. After a few okay trips you should be able to pattern the fish or atleast start catching more.

Good luck and let us know how you do.
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[FlyFishingMoose]

[crazy] I don't like the sounds of a C/R lake. I like to eat what I catch! And when I fish I like to make it worth my time and money spent to catch my limit of all fish avaliable. Then make it a family outing when we cook them up

I suppose its designed for those who just like to C/R but at $5 a fish for those more agressive ones that inhale your lure....throw a $5 lure and some fish takes the whole thing I'm not just going to cut the line and let it live with it...Maybe I'm off base, but I'm willing to listen
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[hedgesd]

The concept of C/R lakes is for a couple of reasons. The main two are for chub control so the DWR doesn't have to kill the lake every 5-10 years. The second is high fishing pressure like the green river. The third is a brood stock pond that the state lets people fish for those nice pics but makes it so you have fish that can be stocked other places.

I'm sure some places like the green and provo have something to do with special interest groups but aren't all lakes and rivers. Some are managed for kids only, some for stocking and eating like most of the lakes in utah, a small number are for trophy size or were high fishing pressure would reduce a valuable fishery. Most artificial lakes don't need to be stocked and have great spawns that keep the fish number up. I personally like the slot limit lakes. They produce bigger fish and have consistantly better fishing all around.

I like eating fish once in a while but when I really want to get out and enjoy catching bigger fish consistantly I go to a C/R lake or artificial lure lake. If you didn't enjoy catching fish you probable wouldn't fish, Right.
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[Mr_Loopy]

I think that it is impossible to explain one's own reasons for fishing. I don't expect people to understand why I almost strictly practice catch and release. I've tried to explain to people why I do it. I have failed to have very many people that don't practice catch and release understand my views on the subject.

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and he was explaining to me that he will not fish unless he keeps what he catches. He likes to cook up every catch. If he doesn't want to eat it, then he takes it to his mom's house. I just don't understand his NEED to take everything he catches home. I will never understand. He is entitled to catch his limit. He doesn't break any laws. So be it. Once again, I don't get it...

To each his own I guess.
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[aquaman]

i strictly pratice C/R also my reason is probley different then most i worked so. cal sport boats for 7 years cleaning fish is how i made my money i've cleaned soooo many fish i just dont want to clean any more and i have yet to find a fresh water fish that taste as good as one from the ocean

chris
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[Kent]

I practice both. If I take someone fishing who wants to keep fish, I have no problem with them keeping up to their limit. I sometimes keep fish because I have several fellow employees who really love to eat fish. On many other trips I release all fish that I catch. The only folks that really bother me are those who could care less what the regulations are and keep everything they catch, even after reaching their limit, or could care less about slot rules. I also am not impressed with the able-bodied-adults who feel obligated to catch and take home every possible fish that they can out of the Urban Fisheries. I rarely if ever fish them, and I do feel that the children, handicapped and elderly should get priority at catching those fish. When I grew up, Spring Lake was about three miles from my house, and it was really nice to have a lake where only us kids could fish. I wish that they would make some of the Urban Fisheries available only for the kids. Just my $.02.
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[FlyFishingMoose]

Reason shines through as usual both of you have reasonable responses. I have no problems with the C/R issue just didn't see why, thanks to the two of you for setting me straight.
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[Junksiege]

I do most my fishing in the high unitas at lakes and streams only available via hiking. Up there one can take a bonus of 4 brook trout. I will occassionally find a lake where the brookies are stunting. Their heads will be much too large in proportion to their bodies. A lake can have too many fish and not enough food for the fish to grow large and then you have a situation where catching a big fish is impossible. When I stumble into a lake like this I will always take what I am going to be able to eat in the next day or two, up to my limit of course. But I try to not keep fish from lakes that are sparsely populated . It takes fish to make fish!

Also, I never see anything wrong with keeping a fish that was hooked so badly that he will certainly die after being released.

Just my thoughts.
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[icefool]

I think that that is a little steap for catch and release.I love to fish but I hate eating fish and I hate the smell of them cooking even more. But 5 dollars to fish it and not be able to take any home to enjoy is a bit much.
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[Kayote]

I love the way these threads twist off topic. From the Dell question to a philosophical discussion of C&R. I can't remember the last fish I killed and I catch many. I release partly because of the same reasons as Aquaman. I like to eat ocean species mostly; fresh tuna, halibut, salmon, yellowtail, white seabass etc.. I will kill the waldos from time to time because they are tasty. I'm not an elitist with C&R. I'm usually so tired after a long trip that Burger King or the like is the easy way out. I do however support every anglers right to keep a legal limit if that is his wish. I've seen anglers hassle people in places like Strawberry and the Green for legally harvesting fish. This is wrong. If people don't want to see fish killed on there favorite water, they should go to a RAC meeting (like Hedgsed said before) and convince the DWR to make it catch and release. I also believe that if a water has the potential to produce trophy fish, it should be managed for trophies. We have too many put and take waters as it is. There are waters that are overstocked just so people can take a limit of bows. Just my $.02

Good Ranting, Kayote
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[Matador]

I also like the Uintas and one of the reasons is because I can take home fish without feeling guilty. For me whether to keep fish or not all depends on the place and situation. For example, in the Uintas most lakes do not hava a natural spawn. Like Junksiege, I usually hike into a lake well off the highway. The fish are in those remote lakes because the DWR put them there by airplane. The life span of a fish in the Uintas and the tough conditions limit the size that the fish will attain. In other words, you are rarely going to find trophy fish and if you don't take them home they will just die of old age. The DWR plants every few years anyway so taking fish from there makes sense. Also, it is so much cheaper for the DWR to raise fingerlings than to raise catchables. So the financial cost of feeping fish from the Uintas is very small.

I will also keep the catchables that are planted in what I call put-and-take lakes. The fish are stocked specifically for taking home. Examples of these kinds of lakes would include the road-side lakes in the Uintas like Teapot, Lilly, Lost, Trial, Mirror, etc. From my experience the planters don't over-winter well and end up dying so there is not much advantage in releasing them. But I often don't keep fish from there either. Catching them is far more fun than cleaning them!

But then there are the places like the Prove River, Logan River, or the Green. I would feel guilty keeping fish from there unless encouraged to do so by the DWR. Keeping lots of fish from those kinds of waters would detroy them.

To me Strawberry falls somewhere in between a put-and-take lake and a C/R lake. I think it is okay to take the rainbows. That is why they are put in there. But I completely avoid keeping any cutts, even though it is allowed.

My opinion is that we need to preserve the resource for our own future enjoyment. I like to eat fish but I am willing to let some go if it improves that fishery. So I am selective in what I keep and where. I hope others are as well. That's my humble opinion.

m
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[Matador]

Teroy,

To get a back to the topic. I have been fishing in the near vicinity of SLC for 35 years, including the stream that feeds Little Dell. I remember one trip when we stopped on the way back from a morning of poor fishing at East Canyon. I fished the Little Dell stream and was surprised to catch 10 or so small brookies, the biggiest being about 10 inches. But just a year or two before they built the dam I was to see what little I could catch from there. I only caught one tiny 3 1/2 inch cutt. I had a few other bites but honestly, those fish were too small to get the hook in their mouth, and I use fairly small hooks in streams. I don't think any of the fish I ever caught from there were stocked.

My understanding is that they have not stocked Little Dell and probably never will. I could be wrong about that but I have watched for that kind of news and I have not seen it. So I think that the fish that are in there are fish that found their way in from the stream, which by the way, nearly dries up every fall. So I don't think the number of fish is very high right now and the people that I've talked to say the fishing is very slow. But the fish tend to have pretty good size when you get one.

However, give the lake a few more years and it may be a different story. I believe it has a pretty good potential to have good natural reproduction because the fish that are in there came from stock that have been reproducing naturally for many years.

Hope this helps.

m
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[Kayote]

I've been to many RAC meetings and find them to be very valuable. I am very outspoken, albeit often wrong LMAO. Volunteering for projects is another way to get involved and get first hand info.

Good Fishing, Kayote
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[hedgesd]

Some of my favorite places to fish are were I've done projects. The best part is watching how a river or lakes improves and to know that I personally had something to do with it is a wonderful full filling experience.
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