What changes would you make to your favorite body of water?

[one8sevenn]

I was thinking while I was out at Willard last 'If I could change the conservation of some of my favorite lakes to fish, how would I do it.'


First thing I would change is litterers caught would lose fishing privileges for ten years. (I want the lake shores to be clean)


Bear River Below Cutler (Catfish fishery) - All Carp must not be released and must be killed on the spot. All catfish longer than 22 inches must be released. Chumming is allowed.


Causey Reservoir (Kokanee Fishery) - Kokanee must be at least 12 inches to be kept. Non Rainbow trout must be at least 15 inches


Cutler Marsh (Mixed Fishery)- All Carp must not be released and must be killed on the spot. All Bullheads caught must be killed (I believe their growth is stunted, so killing a bunch of the population would benefit in the future.) Chum may be used when fishing for catfish.


Fish Lake (Trout Fishery)- All perch over 7 inches (Too big for Splake to eat) must not be released and killed. A slot limit on Splake (Perch eaters) between 15 - 22 inches. (These restrictions along with the current lake trout restrictions will make Fish Lake and elite fishery.)


Mill Meadow (Trout Fishery)- All Perch must be killed (I am sick of catching skinny brown trout) Tiger Musky limit 1 over 40 inches. Slot limit on Brown/Cutthroat/Tiger/Splake Trout 15-22 inches.


Ogden River (Brown Trout Fishery) - Trout Limit 2 artificial flies and lures only Closed to the possession of Brown Trout


Pineview Reservoir (Crappie and Musky Fishery)- No Limit on Perch (fisherman are encouraged to harvest perch, too make the crappie fishing better) Crappie Limit 15 - All crappie smaller than 7 inches must be released. Closed to the possession of Bass.


Panguitch Lake (Premium Trout Fishery) - 4 Trout Limit. Closed to the possession of Cutthroat trout. 1 Tiger trout under 15 or over 22 inches.


Sand Hollow (Bass Fishery) - 2 Bass under 10 inches


South Fork of Ogden River (Trout Fishery) - Trout limit 2 Artificial Flies and Lures only. Closed to the possession of Cutthroat Trout


Weber River (Trout Fishery) - Morgan county to Rockport reservoir 2 trout limit Closed to the possession of Cutthroat Trout. Artificial flies and lures only.


Willard Bay (Mixed Fishery) - Wiper Limit 2, Walleye limit 4 one over 20 inches, Catfish 8 with 2 over 16 inches, Crappie 10 minimum length 7 inches, No limit on other species. Carp must not be released. Gizzard Shad over 7 inches must not be released. Chum may be used when fishing for catfish.


Utah Lake (Mixed Fishery) - All Bullheads, Carp, White Bass must be killed. 8 Catfish only one over 20 inches. Walleye 4 with one over 20 inches. Closed to the possession of Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass.
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[flygoddess]

My favorite body of water isn't in Utah, but the changes I would do in a heart beat would be to go back to closing it the end October, and quit planting it with so many fish. Henry's Lake. Oh and It would open the end of June instead of Memorial weekend.

Finally, it would be artificial flies and lures. No trebles and barbless hooks[cool]
But I think all waters should be this...more challenging...LOL
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[one8sevenn]

I fished Henry's for the first time last year. I regret the fact that I used 4 lb test. I had a big one that got off.
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[flygoddess]

4lb is gutsy, but I admire that. I use 6lb. P-Line.

Impressive well thought out list by the way.
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[one8sevenn]

Yeah, Lesson learned.
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[flygoddess]

Something I would try on a nice ful flex rod though. There is another young man that use to frequent this site that did catch a 28" on a four weight.
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[FattyGreens]

No real favorite lake but if I were to change things anywhere I would get rid of all the carp and phragmites in the state then go from there.
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[FishHunterSmoot]

I would take the carp outa pineview and make it so no speed boats could be there. a fishing only lake.

haha that'll be the day.
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[lavaman]

Mantua: The fish are stunted for the most part, so I would regulate the usage of that pond. Might piss some people off, but if you want the fishing to improve... I would even be open to throwing in 20 or 30 Tiger Muskies. They don't breed, so it would be a temp fix for those stunted gills and perch. Also, limit the use of the power crowd. That pond is too small and shallow.

Cutler: Mandatory kill all carp and mudcats caught on site. Throw back all Channels 20"+ And have the DNR stock it with bass and walleye.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Mind you these are opinions and not based on the biology of the places mentioned. I think the DWR does a great job on the regs as there is a lot of research put into them. But if I had my way........

Back to the days of trout limit of 8.

No aggragate limit on trout, salmon, grayling.

Mountain Dell- Allow a limited amount of fisherman to fish it. C&R and AF&L rules though.

Mountain Dell Creek and Parleys Creek - Stop the date closure regs.

Little Dell - Limit 1 cutthroat trout under 20 inches.

Lake Mary - Limit of 1 lake Trout instead of 4.

Lake Brimhall - Allow anglers to fish it instead of just Girl Scouts.

Willard Bay - Wiper limit 6. Black Crappie limit 5 though.

Utah Lake - Increase the Black Bullhead Catfish limit to 50.
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[catmaster23]

If they put muskies in mantua you could kiss the great bass fishing goodbye. If I could change anything it would be that the twins could only fish lakes and streams holding tiney trout that no one cares about, oh wait that already happens, nevermind I wouldn't change a thing.
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[walleyebob]

I can see this thread going off the deep end and getting locked. Have at it folks. Should get interesting.
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[EvilTyeDyeTwin]

I would request that.......

1. All black bullhead catfish and Carp be killed and not released in Utah Lake

2. That a certain amount of fisherman be able to fish Mountain Dell Reservoir (a permit type process) Catch and Release/ Artifcial Flies and Lures only.

3. They lower the limit of Black Crappie in Willard Bay to only 5.

4. Increase the Rainbow Trout limit at Strawberry to 8.
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[wagdog]

I'm no biologist. Don't claim to be. My wishes for fishes are based on "man, I would like to catch that" instead of any sort of scientific knowledge:

Utah Lake - introduce flathead catfish. Sure the gills, sunnies, crappie will take a dive but the carp and white bass would take a hit too.

Any community pond - introduce green sunfish/bluegill hybrids. they do not reproduce well and the second and third generation offspring typically become food for largemouth and channel catfish. However, the first "batch" will be healthy and can get some great size to them because of the larger mouth donated from the green sunfish genes.

State of Utah - more DWR agents to help deter poaching.

Total wishes, every one of them. #1 won't happen because of the june sucker. #2 happens naturally in most lakes where green sunfish and bluegill co-exist but they are not stocked. They just show up from natural reproduction. #3 costs a LOT and the poor DWR is underfunded as it is.

Oh well. [] (won't even mention red-ear sunfish (aka shellcrackers) to help eat mussels)
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[doggonefishin]

This could be interesting. So I suppose I'll toss my inflation adjusted 2 cents in before it does get locked.

1. Remove all special number and size restrictions on brown trout in the entire state. In selected streams maybe offer a 2 or 4 fish bonus.

Reason: In virtually ALL streams where brown trout have special, restrictive regs, (The lower Provo, middle Provo, and Green, among others) they have become wildly overpopulated and tend to stunt. The DWR has begged anglers to keep browns in these streams, yet they persist in maintaining harvest restrictions at the same time. This is asinine. If you want these fish harvested, have the regs to let it happen.

2. Conversely, I would lower the cutthroat limit to 2 fish statewide. Studies have shown cutts to be easier to catch than browns and thus more prone to harvest. Some protection will allow tenuous populations to grow in some of our streams and lakes.

3. Statewide smallmouth bass. Increase the limit to 10 fish, to allow and encourage the harvest of the abundant small fish most smallie fisheries tend to get, but allow the harvest of only 1 bass (smb or lmb) over 13 inches.

4. Jordanelle, Sand Hollow, Quail creek, Utah Lake. Bass limit 6 fish (10 smallies) but all bass between 13-18 inches must be immediately released. This will help better protect the trophy fishery at these places, while still encouraging harvest of the small ones to prevent overpopulation.

5. Introduce tiger muskie to Fish Lake.

Reason: This is one way to really control the perch. Yes, splake eat a few, but they haven't controlled numbers too well, have they. I recommend putting in TM and leaving trout regs the same as now.


There's a few from off the top of my head. Happy discussing.
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[Jmaze]

I don't know about everyone else, but as a whole I have nothing but good things about virtually every Utah water. The garbage is a problem, but that has more to do enforcement then anything else. Virtually every fishery has stunning fishing. like anywhere else a storm can blow through or a fishery can be mis managed. But by and large we have it all.

Maybe less fisherman would be a better thing...[]
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[setthehook]

i would ban all non fishing watercrafts
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[weinerz4chopz]

[quote doggonefishin]

5. Introduce tiger muskie to Fish Lake




There is already Tiger Muskie in Fish Lake.
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[doggonefishin]

Yes, there are a few that migrated from Johnson, but actually plant and manage the fishery with TM.
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[sinergy]

I think whats forgotten is bucket biologists adding species of fish that screw with the Eco systems. Add in poachers who use illegal baitfish and you end up with mucked up fisheries.

+1 on making Mantua a fish only lake
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