A question for the fishologists on here

[Joe_Dizzy]

To add a different perspective, but maybe confirm some of the last comments... Idaho had planted smallies in Onieda reservoir, not sure how long ago, but they have found their way down stream in the Bear River to where there is an interesting population in Cutler Reservoir... So they will travel in rivers in Utah, but it may be the larger more consistent waters that remain somewhat steady year round.  I don't know if they have found their way into the lower Bear the other side of Cutler dam, but they are in the upstream side of things... Interesting, I have heard the lower Bear has shad in it, suspect that they came from Willard Bay, but so far we haven't seen any that made their way over the dam at Cutler... i guess this is why I received so much attention when I suggested that we needed to plant white bass in Cutler.... Seems like they go everywhere once they are planted, so I see why the division has to be so careful and consider what the effects are when they try a new species in an area... With the smallie effect you may be lucky you aren't getting what you asked for, I hear the smallie will run most everything else out, or at least put a hurt on them...  (Hasn't effected the carp in Cutler though...) Later Jeff

There's a good population of smallies in the lower Bear. I used to catch them consistently around Tremonton in the summer. I never caught anything big, but sometimes I would target them just to see how many I could catch. They liked the steep edges of the river. Small cranks cast a foot or two away from the edge of the bank were seldom ignored. I even caught one down in the lower reaches going out to the refuge one day.

And I am going climb out on a very thick limb here and guess that on average, the lower Bear River runs warmer than the Weber (or other "trout" rivers).

Per CowboyPirate's last reply - can Smallmouth Bass survive, and feed. in cold water? Absolutely. Can they thrive in cold water year-round? Absolutely not. All fish species have a preferred temperature range and do best in waters with extended periods where those temperatures are available. And no surprise - the things they feed on often have the same preferences.