A Collapse

[Gone Forever]

What is your assessment of Flaming Gorge fishery?

That's easy Roger; it sucks this year!  Checking out social media and websites like BFT, we are seeing the same reports over and over again.  Fishing is SLOW.  Slower this year than last year, and last year was slower than 2021.  There is an overabundance of theories on what the causes are including the Feds are mismanaging the reservoir, the Wyoming & Utah aquatic managers are mismanaging the reservoir, there are too many anglers using the resource, and there is too much C&R of kokanee when it is a known fact that C&R on kokanee will result in a 30 to 40 percent kill rate of the released fish, to name a few.  I'm in the camp of too many anglers and WAY to much C&R of kokanee to brag about your angling prowess in catching 50 or more kokanee in a day.

And another contributing factor are the anglers that violate possession limits.  We have either done this ourselves or know several anglers who do this.  The Utah folks that actually live in Manila or close enough to the Gorge to sleep in their home of residence every night can catch a limit every day and legally keep them in their home freezer.  If we are in the vast majority of anglers that are motelling it or staying in an RV near the Gorge, then we/they can only legally possess a two day limit of kokanee.  If you are staying in Wyoming, your possession is only a one day limit of kokanee.

Flaming Gorge Dam was completed in 1962 as part of the Colorado River Storage Project, a Bureau of Reclamation project to regulate the flow and provide water for the arid Southwest as well as power generation.  It didn't encompass recreation until 1968.  Recreation (fishing) was not, is not, and won't ever be the primary purpose of the venue.

Hey, you asked for my assessment.  Well, that's my assessment and I'm sticking to it.     

Other than the to many anglers I think you have hit on the problems.  There are not "to many" anglers on the lake.  The thing is 70 miles long and 3 hours from a major city with not much in between.  There are to many anglers on Rockport, East Canyon, Deer Creek, they get to many anglers.
I agree that freezer filling by locals is not right. They need to go back to "prepared for consumption".  Meaning if you don't eat your fish frozen, they are not "prepared for consumption".
I agree Burbot are having an impact.  They said they would and they are.  Forage for other species is down, not just Kokanee. Recruitment is down due to the predation by burbot. The drought may have had an effect.