Why can't you use live minnows in UT?

[RyanCreek]

Utah historically had lots of things go wrong with fish management, and that's why the DWR nowadays in this state is a little strict. The reason they have that no live bait law is because of the fear of transplanting non native fish and whacking out the ecosystem. That's what happened at Strawberry that triggered their massive poisoning project in 1990 I think it was. Now the same thing has happened at Scofield and other places but they're using Tiger Trout to offset the Chubs, since their feeding habits and growth rates are superior to Rainbows for controlling the Chubs. The worst thing anyone ever did was plant Carp by the way. Anyway, what fishermen would do is come with a bucket of live minnows and when they were done fishing they would dump the bucket of fish in the water, similar to what I often do with worms after I'm done fishing and know I won't be using them again soon. Along that train of thought they just decided to ban live minnows as bait. Other states have done the same thing. I agree that it is a little strict. I know I would do the responsible thing if I was using them, but there are always idiots who screw things up for the rest of us. I do think you should be able to use live fish as bait if they come from the same body of water.
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