06-14-2012, 05:22 AM
Just a couple humble observations. Growing up in southeast utah I watched the premier warm water fishery in the state(lake powell) go through several changes. When I fished there in the 70's about 90% of the catch was nice lmb. However the lake was still filling then and always produced good habitat for large mouth. Then stripers and small mouth were introduced . Stripers were predicted not to do well, then in the early 80's they took off. Back then striper fishing was unbelievable. 10 to 15lb stripers were an average limit, and 20lb + fish were common. In fact we through back fish that are considered nice now. (limit was 10 fish) Then came the cycles when the same length fish 1 year would be 8lbs and 4lbs the next. As the lake reached it's high level and underwater vegitation died off lmb became scarce. with the recent drought years and refill as vegitation regrew, so the lmb has comeback.
Then there was north huntington res. in the early 70's an attempt was made to manage it for bass. Tires were tied together and droped in the lake for youg fish protection and bass were stocked for a few years with limited success.
My point being attempts have been made even with limited rescources to manage bass. History as I have saw it in my lifetime ( and I am in no way a fish biology expert) has shown that bass are much tougher to manage and far less predictable than trout. I don't fault the dwr for their efforts, But with their limited money and facilities they do what they can. I don't believe it's wise to just stick fish in a certain water because it's wet or because an individual wants them there. I believe the fish biologists are the best at making those dicisions.
And for bassrods, Those same dwr biologists have managed lake powell for warm water fish for 50 years, And I don't recall any bad fishing years there, I notice from your posts you seem to enjoy it down there.And while it's harder to make trips there now , the dwr does'nt regulate the ecomony or gas prices. So lets see what we can do to help the dwr, not belittle them for doing a good job with the little they have to work with.
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Then there was north huntington res. in the early 70's an attempt was made to manage it for bass. Tires were tied together and droped in the lake for youg fish protection and bass were stocked for a few years with limited success.
My point being attempts have been made even with limited rescources to manage bass. History as I have saw it in my lifetime ( and I am in no way a fish biology expert) has shown that bass are much tougher to manage and far less predictable than trout. I don't fault the dwr for their efforts, But with their limited money and facilities they do what they can. I don't believe it's wise to just stick fish in a certain water because it's wet or because an individual wants them there. I believe the fish biologists are the best at making those dicisions.
And for bassrods, Those same dwr biologists have managed lake powell for warm water fish for 50 years, And I don't recall any bad fishing years there, I notice from your posts you seem to enjoy it down there.And while it's harder to make trips there now , the dwr does'nt regulate the ecomony or gas prices. So lets see what we can do to help the dwr, not belittle them for doing a good job with the little they have to work with.
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