Utah lake tributaries

[zburninator]

I am new to fishing Utah lake and was wondering if anyone could tell me when the tributaries open back up to fishing? Also why do they close them in the first place?
Thanks
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[fish_fear_me2]

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Provo River
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[font "Myriad Pro Cond,Myriad Pro Cond"][size 2][font "Myriad Pro Cond,Myriad Pro Cond"][size 2], Summit, Utah and Wasatch counties [/size][/font][/size][/font]
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(a) From Center Street Bridge (entrance to Utah Lake State Park) upstream to I-15 (Utah County):
[ol][li]CLOSED to taking of nongame fish by methods other than angling. [/li][li]CLOSED March 1 through 6 a.m. on the first Saturday of May. [/li][/ol]
This is for the provo river but its the same for others. They close it to protect spawing fish, walleye most notably.
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[a_bow_nut]

They open back up on the first Saturday in May the 4th.

I awlays thought that it was to protect the walleye while they run but I have never heard why officialy.
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[fish_fear_me2]

Back before the closures there were a bunch of people that would snag the walleyes using huge trebble hooks with lead wire wrapped around them for casting weight. Many big females were taken out of the river during the spawn. They couyld be seen with their backs exposed in shallow water, thus the closure.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF][cool]A few years ago I attended a DWR meeting in Springville and go to chat with some of the COs who were around in the olden days. Seems like there was a war going on between the walleye rapists and DWR. CO's would try to sneak into some of the worst areas of snagging offenses in plain clothes...with rods and all. But they would always be "made" and those with large strings of snagged walleyes would be gone and others fishing legally. And when the CO got back to their vehicle it was often heavily vandalized.

The only solution seemed to be closing the tributaries during the spawn. And the primary reason was not just to protect the spawning walleyes. Plenty of walleyes spawn in other places around the lake and there has never been a shortage of those fish. The main reason for shutting down the tributaries was to REDUCE the amount of illegal harvest...especially at night. Even lowly DWR folks need to get some sleep sometimes.
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[zburninator]

Thanks for all the info guys!
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