Winder reservoir disappointment

[Bassmaster89]

This week I went to Preston for some late summer fishing thinking I would hit Winder, one of my favorite places. It is almost no longer there at all. If the small amount of water doesn't kill everything, the forty or so Pelicans ambushing everything in the shallow water will do it. Very gut wrenching day.

[AlexB]

Yes it's pretty . Winder has been pretty good to me the last couple of years.

I wonder why they are taking so much water. Condie is still in pretty good shape in comparison.

We need lots of rain in northern utah/southern idaho.
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[gstott]

[quote AlexB]
I wonder why they are taking so much water. Condie is still in pretty good shape in comparison.
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Because they're a holes. This is the same thing they did to Condie a few years back. The other reservoirs were in decent shape but instead of spreading it out they killed off one of them. It's times like this that I really wish I had been able to move out of this god forsaken desert when I had a chance. Guess I'll be fishing for trout and smallmouth more this fall. That was the best largemouth lake we had in the area. Pretty ridiculous when that place was completely full this spring and they drained it.
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[Pharticus]

Damn. That's horrific. Pickins just keep getting slimmer and slimmer up there...
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[duksnfish]

My thoughts are that due to all of the issues with Quagga mussels, zebra mussels, etc etc and the feeling of the canal companies in Franklin County in particular hating the fishing and recreation associated with the reservoirs, they are going to do everything they can to get rid of the fish and stop all recreation. I think it's going to be Katie bar the door the next few years if we have anything left at all.
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[dtayboyz]

You hit the nail on the head. They own the water and the infrastructure, they could careless about fish or boating. Get did of fish and get rid of that groups complains. It really sucks, but that's life in the west.
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[gstott]

Well hopefully karma comes along and those damned pelicans bring them some mussels [mad] Guess I'll go back to fly fishing streams and making music if they kill off all the bass.
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[gstott]

Consolidated seems a little more reasonable so hopefully they don't follow suit. Twin Lakes has proven themselves time and time again to be spoiled brats and I hope they get what's coming to them [mad]
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[gstott]

So I talked to IF&G, and they said they think that Winder will retain enough water to keep the fish alive. I was skeptical but I decided to have a look for myself. It looks like the water has dropped a little bit more, but it does seem to have slowed a bit. I only noticed one dead fish as opposed to hundreds at Condie when it was drawn down. I decided to fish from shore for a little bit to see if anyone was home. I did catch some, so I'm cautiously optimistic that if they don't keep drawing it down that enough fish may survive to maintain the fishery.
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[AlexB]

Post bump.


This makes it two years in a row. Drove by yesterday and the water is way down again. I didn't fished it that much this year, it just wasn't as good for as other years.

Surprising how low it is compared to all the other reservoirs. I guess all the water comes from canal water so it doesn't mater how much water came of the mountains.
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[gstott]

Well that's a bummer to hear. Every other place is way high compared to recent years. I fished it a few times this spring and it was decent, but not what it used to be. Not sure why they can't spread things out between all of their reservoirs instead of destroying one.
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[amik]

Did a drive by this afternoon just for something to do. Plenty of water but it’s way early. Plan on giving it a try in the next couple of weeks.
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