I was talking to a friend of mine about Bass Turd's (bass turd??) specie list. Well my friend wondered if any one has caught a gold fish out of utah lake. He swears that big, big gold fish exist in the lake, do to so many folks have released their pets into it. I told him he was full of something similar to a bass turd. He stands by his story. I refuse to be suckered in[
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[black][size 3]I believe that your friend is right. At one time, there were many of the gold fish in Utah lake, but they have been eaten by a unusual variant of catfish that inhabits the lake. [/size][/black]
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[size 3]If the population of this catfish grows to large number, wading could be dangerous.[/size]
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[size 3]Picture attached, ha,ha[/size]
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I must say that is no laughing matter! I would hate to run into one of those while kicking around in the ole tube.[shocked]
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I can't open the attachment, what type of file is it?
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[black][size 3]I reloaded it as a small jpeg file, [/size][/black]
[size 3]try again.[/size]
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I have seen goldfish in a local pond that were huge as well as the weber river in riverdale. I had one on fishing the river but it came off. Do you think thay would give us state record status for a goldfish??[
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Now as much as this may sound like 'urban legend', it is true. My grandpa had a farm just South of Utah Lake near Payson (can't remember what that area is called anymore). He had a landlocked private pond on his property, but it was quite large, probably about an acre. Anyway, he had put quite a few goldfish into the pond and they grew quite large. I don't know exactly how large because things look quite different when you are a 10 year old kid.
Anyway, I remember going to his place many times as a kid, seeing the huge goldfish, and catching a toad or two around the pond.
Many of you have been around here long enough to remember the floods in '83...back when state street in Salt Lake was literally a river, and all the ditches around the roads near Utah Lake looked like canals. Those floods swallowed up much of my grandpa's land, including his pond. His pond literally became part of Utah lake for that year at least.
I don't know if the goldfish were breeding, or if they survived very long, but I would guess they did make it into Utah Lake during those floods. I kind of doubt if they would have survived very long, but who knows. At least I do know these weren't intentionally (and illegally) planted into public waterways. They were in a private pond and only got out due to the huge flood that year.
So, after all that, I would say there probably have been quite a few goldfish in Utah lake from time to time. How big can they get? I have no idea, but I'm guessing they would be about like catching an orange carp.
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I can see it now, that's pretty funny.
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I do not no about utah lake but I have caught a goldfish at Hyrum lake and if you walked over the spill way bellow the dam I remember seeing several goldfish in the river there.
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Wow! If these "catfish" proliferate, the carp problem in Utah Lake will disappear in no time. Why didn't someone think of this before?
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Several years back someone released goldfish into Willow Pond in Murray. I don't know if they reproduced but the fish would key in on orange lures for awhile. I went there after I heard this and tied on an orange rooster tail and caught several fish while everyone around me didn't seem to be catching anything.
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There was a school of about 50 3 to 5#ers in Hyrun before they killed the lake. When they went by the water looked like it glowed orange. All from people throwing in thier pets and trying to use them for bait.
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WAY BACK IN THE DAY. SOME GUYS FISHED WITH THEM LIVE FOR WALLEYES AT NIGHT. THER ARE ALSO PACU,S PIRRANAS TEXAS CICLIDS AND A FEW OTHER SWIMMING IN THAT POND.
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Don't know bout the lake but the jordan now has wild reproducing populations. Also it's possible to take one in for a record.
Last week after Bassrods fishing demonstration at Willow Pond I fished for a little while and actually saw a goldfish in the pond. Probably about 10 inches or so. Similar to the goldfish and koi that swim around in the gardens at Thanksgiving Point.
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