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It has been my observation that fishing has deteriorated since we have gone to year round fishing. Limits used to be around 10 trout (I could be wrong on this #, but I know it was atleast 8) and there were more people on the lakes. Now rivers are open to fishing during the fall when the browns spawn and during the spring when rainbows do their thing. Our limits are 0-4 fish, I wonder if going year round was the best thing for the fishery. I agree that some lakes should be open to icefishing, but do you think we are better off now that the state as a whole is open year round?
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I don't think year round fishing has hurt anything. I'm sure you can remember when there was an opening day. Otter Creek used to be a zoo on opening day. The pressure for that opening weekend was absolutely overwhelming. That was 20 years ago. There are far more anglers now than there were in that short 20 years. Year round fishing is not causing any problems with fish. Even with spawning. Remeber that those eggs are in the gravel for a number of months...If you really wanted to protect those spawning fish, you would have to have an opening day of somewhere near july, then close things down in september to protect the browns....2 months of fishing just isn't going to cut it for any of us. There are many lakes that do need protection certain times of the year, and they are already closed during those times (Boulder Mtn lakes in the winter, spring time closures on streams with spawning trout, year round closure on Twin Creeks, etc.). The state, as a whole, does not need this special protection. Some places are already in trouble, due to overpopulation (Provo River), just imagine if the Provo were protected during the winter, or during spawning seasons...that would just make a bad situation worse.
Personally, I think that fishing right now is as good in this state as it has ever been, even with the drought we have been experiencing. Sure, there are places that are suffering (Minersville for example) but there are also places that are thriving. Things do change, and sometimes we need to change also. Many times this means we have to abandon our favorite water for a time, and discover a new place. Eventually, conditions will change again, and you will have to, once again, discover the next place. The cycle will always continue, and we need to adapt to changing conditions.
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We do have closed season on the tributaries connected to Utah lake to protect walleye spawns, and then we have the closed season up in the strawberry valley for those slimerockets. We also put closed seaSson to possession of perch on Yuba, and Deer Creek as well. Read the proclamation, you will see it.
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Hello frogfish
I have only been here 12 years and just pick back up for two years so I do not know how it was before the year round fishing was permitted. But I can see your point about some seasonal fishing to let some fishes do there spawning. But what I would wonder about is that would the smaller tackle shops (Hooked, Fish Tech...) would be able to stay in business.
If they would not be able to stay afloat we as fishing people would loose a great asset to in the form of information, service, helpful hints, and trust that we receive form the smaller shops. Oh by the way I an not an owner or employee of the two shops I have mention, just a costumer of them.
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I THINK THAT 'S A GOOD QUESTION FROGFISH.. IN MY OPINION I THINK THAT THE INTREST IN FISHING HAS INCREASED OVERALL BOTH IN THE SUMMER AND IN THE WINTER.. I'VE NOTICED ALOT MORE PEOPLE AROUND THE LAKES AND STEAMS EACH YEAR. UTAH'S POPULATION KEEPS GROWING ALSO AND PEOPLE LIKE TO GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY WHAT UTAH HAS TO OFFER.. I HAD A GREAT YEAR OF FISHING LAST YEAR AND HOPE THAT MY LUCK CONTINUES BUT I DO WORRY A BIT ABOUT THE INCREASING PEOPLE AND THE TIME SPENT ON THE WATERS..
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I complete disagree with the notion of a closed fishing season. It makes no sense, what are we going to during the closed season for recreation? Get bored and take depression pills? Fish populations are better protected by slot limits. After the spawn or whenever the closed season ends, most of the fish protected during the closed season are harvested anyway, so a closed season is of negligible conservation value. Fishing has not deteriorated but is getting better all the time, in my personal experience.
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You seem to be equating quality of our fisheries by the number of fish allowed in the bag. I know a surprizing number of people who fish strictly to eat them, once they have their limit they go home and then complain that their trip was cut short because of small limits. It gets worse when I tell them I caught 20 or 30 from the same water in one day and they say that was more than my limit. The clincher is that virtually every one of my fish went back into the fishery. My opinion is that most of our fisheries are in as good a shape as ever even with the year-round season and the limits are just smaller to allow more folks the opportunity to eat some. Most, I say again, most families in Utah don't require more than one or two limits of any species to have a great meal. When you run out of fish go fishin again or when you have your limit, catch and release. Its hard to complain about more fishin time. If only I could catch and release hunting....
Anyway you can't compare quantity to quality in this case. There's just too much pressure and too few dollars to supply that much put-and-take fishing these days.
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This is an interesting subject.
Issues?
1) closed seasons dont mean all fishing, everywhere, in every lake in the state is closed at the same time. They could close certain lakes and rivers at certain times to protect spawning fish, "reds", or to reduce harvest during the peak seasons. Would diverting fishermen to different lakes and protecting spawns increase fishing success and make our fisheries better?
You decide.
2) Closed seasons also mean lost revenues. Marinas and state parks rely on money from fishermen year round to manage thier facilities. This doesnt directly effect your fishing, but it could affect your parking, launching, and raise prices during open fishing seasons.
Good thing? Bad thing?
3) There is a ton of things that can be impacted like reduced harvest equals more pressure on bait fish. Some lakes need less bait fish like strawberry, somer need more, like flaming gorge. Regulating harvest and closing seasons are tools. Tools that can be used to improve fishing. To say that closed seasons are totally bad, or year round fishing is totally bad, is limited in vision, and doesnt take into account the need for specific managment on differing lakes.
But thats just my take.
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IN MY VEIW ITS NOT YR ROUND FISHERMEN THAT HAVE DEPLEETED OUR RESOURCE ITS OVER HARVEST LIKE TAKEING LIMMITS INSTED OF TAKING JUST WHAT THEY WILL EAT IN ONE MEAL. OVERHARVEST IS TO BLAME IN MY VEIW. CROSSINEYE
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[cool][blue][size 1]Hey FF, I have to chip in a couple of observations, if I may. I was a Utah resident and fisherman before, during and after the change in seasons. In fact, I was a part of the group that worked for and against the DWR to open Deer Creek Reservoir to year round fishing...about the first trout water to allow ice fishing. Of course, the first couple of years we still had to release the spotted darlings and could only keep the perch, walleye and bass.[/size][/blue]
[#0000ff][size 1]At that time, there was already year round access to the so-called "warm water" fisheries...Utah Lake, Willard, Pineview and Yuba being the most notable. Although there were still only a few folks who fished for the nontrout species.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]That brings up another point. The thrust of your argument seems to be toward improving the trout fishing, rather than fishing as a whole. I respectfully suggest that "catch and keep" trouters are gradually dwindling into the minority, while multispecies anglers are increasing yearly. You and other contributors to this thread keep using the generic term FISH, but the slant is on trout.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Like many Utah anglers, I love all fishies. Like other things in life, some are better than others. It is a matter of opinion which ones you like best. But all species need our respect and our help to maintain a decent population. Only the trout are stocked to appease the limit-minded. Most of the other species manage to maintain populations that allow for at least a limited harvest, without depleting them.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]There will always be those among us who develop their own theories about fisheries management. Sometimes they are good ideas. Usually they amount to measures that have already been tried and found to be ineffective under the local conditions. Sometimes they are downright preposterous.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]As several of us have proposed, give the DWR some credit. They work hard to give all species a fair shake and to maximize the returns on our license dollars. They do not have a crystal ball or magic computer program that will identify or make all the problems go away.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]I have fished most of the USA, and I have witnessed most trout habitat states eliminating the seasons altogether. The few months respite for the fish is quickly undone and overdone by the opening day onslought. Measured pressure and sustained harvest over the entire season proves more beneficial to the trout than opening day "Armageddons" each year.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]I have long been partial to the admonition "Don't just complain...COMMUNICATE." If someone has a gripe, take it to the place where it needs to be heard. Then present it in a meeting scheduled for the purpose of discussing future potential changes. There are several meetings a year in which the public is invited to attend and contribute to DWR planning. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]We have only ourselves to blame if we just sit back and gripe about something, and do not take an active part in making something happen. That's how we got the ice fishing approved on a trial basis for Deer Creek.[/size][/#0000ff]
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I don't think year around fishing has negatively affected our fishing. Our fishing has changed in this state since we went to year around fishing. We now have wipers in Williard, and tiger muskie in pineveiw and elsewhere. We also have a trophy smallmouth fishery at Jordenelle. The DWR also is managing other fisheries as warmwater now that used to be TROUT waters. And I have to say these waters were not ever good trout waters. They were just put and take waters. Whirling disease has caused the closure of several TROUT hatchery's. Also the drought has affected the hatcheries. Last year I took my nephew on a tour at the newly rebuilt and hopefully whirlingf disease proof Kamas hatchery and they only had half the raceways with fish in them due to lack of water. So this has led to a few less TROUT being planted around the state. With fewer trout the DWR has concentrated most of the planting on the better Trout waters ie Strawberry, Scofield, Flaming Gorge etc. I used to avoid the whole opening weekend due the crowds. I think we have beter and more diversified fishing oppurtunities now.
John
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I to remember 8 fish limits and waiting around for the opener but there were less people fishing then too, I think that year round fishing has greatly inproved public approval of fishing and has taken the presure off of opening day. as far as limits unless you are feeding a huge party four fish is plenty for one person.
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GEP here is a section from the proclamation on Utah Lake and Tributaries
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Flyfishingmoose,
That is exactly what I am talking about. Thank you for bringing that article of the proclamation under the magnifying class.
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Our population is Growing and growing our lakes and rivers can not handle the hookem and cookem attitude of years past. A fishing season is old school and makes no sense in todays world. remember Jordanelle opening ,one week it was wiped out. Times that by all our lakes and river our season would be 1 week long. Catch & Release,Selective Harvest,Slot limits and Mother Natures will all play a part in keeping our catch rates up so that we can continue to have fun on the water.
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Sounds like the DWR made the right decision when it went to year-round. Everyone who replied seems to prefer the newer managment methods. Thank you all for your thoughts.
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