Officials Want Public Input on Bear Lake Plan August 7th, 2006 @ 1:54pm
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- State officials are asking for the public's input on a plan for Bear Lake.
Officials with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands are now beginning development of a comprehensive management plan for Bear Lake -- and they want the public's opinion.
Officials say the goal of the plan is to provide direction for the management of Bear Lake. They say the goal is also to establish procedures for implementation, monitoring and amendment.
The division says the want the public to share their concerns and ideas. Two public meetings have been scheduled.
[ul] Public Meetings:
August 15th
5:30 - 7:00 pm
Department of Natural Resources Building
1594 West North Temple, SLC
August 19th
10:00 - 11:30 am
Garden City Main Office Building
145 West Logan, Garden City[/ul]
[signature]
All I know is they want to keep it a laker fishery they should make it catch and release on all lakers during the spawn. They don't need to shut it down just make people release them during that time period. That would all but eliminate the snagging crowd and still give others a chance to fish for sport during that time frame. I would love to see the snaggers go away without a total shut down.
[signature]
In Bear Lake I do not think they really care much what happens to the Lake Trout. They no longer stock them in Bear Lake, because they are trying to protect the native Bear Lake cutthroat.
[signature]
Just a thought, The Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands is the agency charged with managing the land surrounding Bear Lake, that is the strip of land between the high water mark and where the water actually is. This area has become a big concern with the low water because of the different things people have been doing there. Some are concerned about ATVs and cars down there etc. If I am not mistaken these meetings will be about how to manage that land i.e. should they allow ATVs and other vehicles to drive down there? Camping? etc. The DWR still manages the fishery part of the lake.
[signature]
Cat Man,
I need to correct you on the laker fishery. Lake trout are currently being stocked into Bear Lake on an annual basis. The fish are triploid so they are sterile. The reason being is that Idaho Fish and Game has had some bad experiences with lake trout on several water (taking over native fisheries). With that said I will tell you that lake trout have been stocked into Bear Lake since 1911. Since that time we have found negligible natural recruitment. Do they spawn? You betcha, but there are so many egg predators in the same rocky areas during the spawn that the eggs are "vaccumed" up before they can sink to the bottom! Whitefish are staging in the rocky areas during the spawn and feeding heavily. Not to mention Utah suckers, cutthroat trout (yes, they too eat lake trout eggs), dace, carp, perch, etc. Anyway, I think we have been lucky that lake trout have not been able to recruit naturally or there would likely be no cutthroat fishery. With that said, stocking triploid lake trout is a win-win situation for the anglers. The anglers can still enjoy a lake trout fishery as well as cutthroat trout fishery, yet we as fishery managers hopefully do not have to worry about lake trout natually recuiting into the fishery so we can control their numbers solely by stocking.
As far as the snagging goes during the spawn. It used to be a bigger problem than it is today. The shore fisherman do a great job of "police-ing" themselves and the conservations officiers and park rangers have done a great job of keeping an eye on things too. Unless there was a huge problem with snagging the fishery will remain open to all types of legal fishing/harvest. The fall spawn, when lake trout come in along cisco beach, the marina, north jetty, etc. is about the only time bank anglers can catch the lake trout. This is a good opportunity for those who don't own boats. I am responsible for creating a fishery that can be enjoyed by all anglers, not just those with boats. With that being said I am sure there will be anglers who insist the only way to catch spawning lake trout is to snag them. This is NOT true. My friends, other anglers, and myself have caught a lot of lake trout during the spawn fishing from shore with fly rods as well as spinning rods. Let me tell you they do bite. Do some unethical anglers snag? Yes, but it is far and few between and as I said the self-policing as well as enforcement has done an excellent job now for the last 6-7 years.
[signature]
Hey BLFG, thanks for clearing that up for me! I had heard otherwise, that Utah had stopped stocking Lakers and that they finally got Idaho to stop doing it a year or so ago, but I guess I was wrong.
Thanks for the accurate info.
Kevin
[signature]
An excellent post by Bear Lake Fish Guy. I think you guys are doing an excellent job with this lake.
As far as the snagging goes; sure it happens as does other types of poaching. I know people do it and I hope they get caught. As far as "not being able to catch them", that couldn't be further from the truth. It is one of my favorite times of year to fish Bear Lake.
However, it can take many casts before you catch one.
[signature]