Fishing Forum

Some rumors I'm hearing is that DWR will be lifting the slot limit this summer and will be poisoning the reservoir at a later date, anyone else heard any info on that?
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I highly doubt that they would do that too scofield. Unless they don't want those cubs in there as well if they got millions of dollars too kill a huge population and restore it some how.
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They're saying that they haven't decided yet. There is a study going on right now that runs through the rest of this year. They're trying to determine if the Cutthroat and Tiger Trout can keep the Utah Chub numbers controlled. They can't. The big questions are going to be whether they can get the rotenone. And can they get the approval to put it in the reservoir again.
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Do walleye eat chubs?[cool]
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Hello all,

Fishermn is right. The DWR has not decided on a course of action for Scofield yet. We are awaiting the results of the Utah State study which is due in the next couple of months before making a decision.

Two outcomes from the study are possible:

Option 1. There is no way that the tiger trout and Bear Lake cutthroat trout will control the chubs. If that is the case, then we will need to find the money for a treatment. This is expected to cost between $750,000 and $1,000,000. We have started the planning and acquiring the necessary clearances in case this happens, but of course we hope this is not the case.

Option 2. The second possible outcome is that the study will show that the tiger trout and Bear Lake cutthroat can control the chubs. It is possible that this will require some changes to the current stocking to add even more of these predators, but we are preparing to make that happen if necessary.

The bottom line is that for the next few months we simply do not have an answer. There is no planned change on the regulation in 2013. Under the best of circumstances we will not even consider doing a treatment until the fall of 2014. We will liberalize the limit prior to a treatment if we decide to go that way.

We recognize that Scofield continues to be a popular fishery and we are committed to doing what is necessary.

I hope this clears up any questions.

Paul Birdsey
Coldwater Sportfish Coordinator
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
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Yeah, they do. And some bucket biologist already tried them in Scofield once. That is one way to GUARANTEE that the UDWR will poison Scofield. That's the reason they poisoned it the last time. Walleyes did such a great job on the chubs at Starvation that they essentially ate themselves out of house and home.
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Thanks for the info ColdWater - much appreciated....
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When the walleye eat all the chubs we can put perch in there for them to eat.

I'm just kidding - this is my last post on this thread - not trying to stir the pot but man it's just so easy.
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And then the perch will get their usual intestinal parasite and they'll crash and we'll never see them in numbers to worry about. Kinda like Deer Creek.
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Hey thanks for the info on Scofield ColdWaterCord, it's good to see you guys are working on the issue. As a longtime Scofield fisherman and as a parent of young ones, it's been discouragement to go up there to fish in the last couple of years. Hope things will work out for all of us to enjoy the reservoir in the future.
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Thanks for the info, out of curiosity, if the dwr does poison a lake how long does it usually take before they can begin stocking it with fish again, also what are the effects (if any) on the environment from the chemicals? Thanks
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Depends on how much water, the temperature, the depth, etc. My guess is that they'd poison in the fall. Put potassium permanganate in the river below to detoxify the rotenone. Plant fish the next spring, and if they had enough time to plan and raise some catchable trout to plant in the spring, they could open it to fishing by late fall. As to the lasting effect, or side effects? Minimal. Rotenone is organic and biodegradable.
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There are no long term effects , if there were scofeild would be in trouble. I grew up in carbon county and I have seen it poisoned 3 times in the past 45 years.It used to get overrun with carp as well as chubs., they seem to have solved the carp problem.(altough it made for some great bow fishing when I was in high school in the 70's) My oppinion is they should poison it (Scofeilds best fishing years always fallow each poisoning) But reintroduce the cuts and tigers right away , like they did at strawberry, Then they would stand a chance against the chubs. The preditors were put in late in the game last time. I would also put in a limited number of tiger muskie to attack the chubs in the shallows (Like they have at joes valley) As chub populations grow.If they don't poison it , TM might be an additional combat tool?
just my two cents worth
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I really, really hope the outcome does not lead to a poisoning.

There may be an unsustainable imbalance right now, but the current state of Scofield has led to my father and I catching some of the largest trout of our lives over the last 12 months.

All but the monster 30" Tiger (pictured left) that didn't survive the fight in are still swimming around up there -- hopefully getting bigger chomping on chubs.

Scofield is great just the way it is IMHO... I never have been skunked up there (even though the average trout can be fairly small) but the trophy potential makes it unique.
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I too would really hate to see it poisoned again, How .
I went to scofield 4 times in 2012. I caught really close to these averages each trip.
80% Cutts, 10 % Rainbows, 10% Chubs.
What your thinking is correct, Ive still never caught a Tiger Trout in Scofield. (They must not like my bait
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I'm with MD on this one. He got that pig tiger trout out of Scofield, and in the few trips that myself and a buddy made this past fall, we saw several tigers in the 5 to 10 pound class. There's some big ones in there that are eating the chubs. A slot size protecting the bigger fish would help to keep them there.

Another alternative might be to introduce tiger muskies like they did at Joes Valley. A DNR guy that we talked to at JV back in July told us that the muskies were "doing a number" on the chubs. Plus it would be another place to have a shot at a nice musky. Scofield has lots of weedbeds, very similar to JV, and they would be prime musky habitat. And if the muskies start wiping out the trout, quit planting them, and they'll be gone in about 10 years.

Just a thought..... Fred K.
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Fish in the right areas with the right stuff and you won't catch chubs. That doesn't mean that they aren't there.

There's already a slot limit there. The problem is that the predators can't change the fact that there are too many chubs eating all of the zooplankton, making it very inefficient to plant fish in there. Yeah, you'll get a few big tigers, but poor return on the money spent on planting fish. When fishing is poor, people don't buy licenses. When people don't buy licenses, the UDWR doesn't have their funding. Whether everyone likes it or not they're gonna do what they've gotta do.
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I disagree with the notion that the general fishing at Scofield is poor.

I averaged more fish on trips to Scofield (from shore) than any other lake this year.

It is true that compared to other popular lakes in the general area (Strawberry, Deer Creek, etc) the size of the trout is smaller.

And the fishing certainly is not as fast as it is at, say, Fish Lake.

But it is also not just the Tigers that are trophy quality up there.

We caught three Cutthrout in the 24" class up there, the largest just over 25".

And a Brown was caught in late Fall rivaling the size of my Tiger.

The reason I like Scofield the way it is -- is precisely because it is a UNIQUE experience.

Honestly, I think I live in Freshwater fishing heaven in Northern Utah County.

Within an hour and change of pulling the boat I can get completely different fishing experiences with Deer Creek, Strawberry, Yuba, Utah Lake, and Scofield.

I personally am not interested in Scofield being a Strawberry-lite. I like having the option of a lake with real trophy potential in the mix.

But that's just me.
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I doubt they put it up for a vote.
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I'm sure they won't.

I prefaced my thoughts on this thread with an expressed "hope" in the outcome of the study.


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