2023 Fish Stocking Plans

[SkunkedAgain]

Does anyone know if the division puts out plans on where they intend to stock fish during this next year?  Is there any place you can add your suggestions for them to consider?  Just curious, now the water levels are going to return, I hope they bump up their numbers for stocking early in the year so they have a chance to grow big by fall...  Later J

[Kent]

Does anyone know if the division puts out plans on where they intend to stock fish during this next year?  Is there any place you can add your suggestions for them to consider?  Just curious, now the water levels are going to return, I hope they bump up their numbers for stocking early in the year so they have a chance to grow big by fall...  Later J

Jeff, your suggestion that "they bump up their numbers for stocking early in the year ..." . isn't something that they can just do.  They operate on a set schedule that is likely impossible to alter on the fly.  They also have limited capacity.

[gofish435]

I believe all the regions aquatic guys put in their requests for fish a year ahead and it's pretty much up to the hatchery folks as to when those fish become available to stock.  
There are always some things that may alter their plans such as no water, hatchery problems, access, etc., but it is all about long term planning. 

[hookngrinin]

Past stocking records are a good indicator of this year's planned stocking. I would give the region fisheries biologist or Aquatics Program Manager a call with your suggestions for future stocking.

[SkunkedAgain]

From what you're telling me here they work like government always behind and never on the cutting edge of things waiting for budgets to catch up... I understand it takes time to meet what nature offers as seed stock, but I'd hope they have an ability to do some conditional adjustments... For instance when they are collecting eggs from the walleye spawn I'd hope they see more water and increase their numbers over the last few years... same goes for other species as well.. I mean they are doing a job sort of like farming and you have to be able to plan on the fly when conditions change, if you don't you miss some great opportunities for exceptional results... But I do understand fish only spawn at certain times of the year, and you can't cheat nature... But I hope where they can start to make up for lost populations due to drought, they will do what they can to help the recovery... After all they should have some funds left over from not stocking the last two years... Later J
PS.. I have a government job, so I know budgets don't roll over.... use it or lose it..

[wiperhunter2]

Jeff, I think you are right, at least on some of what you said, like they should be able to collect more eggs from Walleye at Willard, just by increasing the time they have their nets out but with the kokanee last year at Strawberry, I'm not sure if they even got the minimum required to fill all their needs because of a poor spawn.

[dubob]

Jeff, give Chris Penne a call and talk to him.  He is the Northern Region fish guy and would be happy to talk with you about your questions/concerns.  I had a very nice talk with him on the phone last week.

[SkunkedAgain]

Jeff, give Chris Penne a call and talk to him.  He is the Northern Region fish guy and would be happy to talk with you about your questions/concerns.  I had a very nice talk with him on the phone last week.

Hey Bob would you mind PM'ing me his contact info?  Thanks I'd like to talk with him a bit... Thanks Jeff

---

Jeff, I think you are right, at least on some of what you said, like they should be able to collect more eggs from Walleye at Willard, just by increasing the time they have their nets out but with the kokanee last year at Strawberry, I'm not sure if they even got the minimum required to fill all their needs because of a poor spawn.

Curt,
I know what you're saying if nature isn't providing there isn't much they can do... Where do they get their rainbows from?  I know they are fading from the general interest in the state, but I'd still really love to see a good bow pond in reasonable driving distance... (Hint hint Hyrum makes a great bow pond) Man I love to troll into a nice bow in May or the fall.... It's so much fun to have one of them on the line... I guess the wiper are better, but I know they won't plant those in too many different lakes... Maybe Hyrum would work for wiper... if they don't want to put good numbers of bows in there...  Later Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

Jeff, give Chris Penne a call and talk to him.  He is the Northern Region fish guy and would be happy to talk with you about your questions/concerns.  I had a very nice talk with him on the phone last week.

Hey Bob would you mind PM'ing me his contact info?  Thanks I'd like to talk with him a bit... Thanks Jeff

---

Jeff, I think you are right, at least on some of what you said, like they should be able to collect more eggs from Walleye at Willard, just by increasing the time they have their nets out but with the kokanee last year at Strawberry, I'm not sure if they even got the minimum required to fill all their needs because of a poor spawn.

Curt,
I know what you're saying if nature isn't providing there isn't much they can do... Where do they get their rainbows from?  I know they are fading from the general interest in the state, but I'd still really love to see a good bow pond in reasonable driving distance... (Hint hint Hyrum makes a great bow pond) Man I love to troll into a nice bow in May or the fall.... It's so much fun to have one of them on the line... I guess the wiper are better, but I know they won't plant those in too many different lakes... Maybe Hyrum would work for wiper... if they don't want to put good numbers of bows in there...  Later Jeff

I think all bows are raised from brood stock, likely the same on all trout species..

[SkunkedAgain]

Do they get them shipped in from other states then I guess... So I could see that probably gets more difficult to schedule increases if you have to work with other groups to get your fish... Dang it... J

[wiperhunter2]

Do they get them shipped in from other states then I guess... So I could see that probably gets more difficult to schedule increases if you have to work with other groups to get your fish... Dang it... J

No, I believe the state grows them but I think they only get a certain amount of funds to grow them, in a limited amount of space.

[doitall5000]

Jeff, give Chris Penne a call and talk to him.  He is the Northern Region fish guy and would be happy to talk with you about your questions/concerns.  I had a very nice talk with him on the phone last week.

Hey Bob would you mind PM'ing me his contact info?  Thanks I'd like to talk with him a bit... Thanks Jeff

---

Jeff, I think you are right, at least on some of what you said, like they should be able to collect more eggs from Walleye at Willard, just by increasing the time they have their nets out but with the kokanee last year at Strawberry, I'm not sure if they even got the minimum required to fill all their needs because of a poor spawn.

Curt,
I know what you're saying if nature isn't providing there isn't much they can do... Where do they get their rainbows from?  I know they are fading from the general interest in the state, but I'd still really love to see a good bow pond in reasonable driving distance... (Hint hint Hyrum makes a great bow pond) Man I love to troll into a nice bow in May or the fall.... It's so much fun to have one of them on the line... I guess the wiper are better, but I know they won't plant those in too many different lakes... Maybe Hyrum would work for wiper... if they don't want to put good numbers of bows in there...  Later Jeff

I think all bows are raised from brood stock, likely the same on all trout species..

I think if you want nice bows there are some great locations.  Big fat Bows would be starvation,  good numbers I like deer creek, and Flaming Gorge. Others are Hyrum, jordanelle, Rockport, Hyrum.
I'd hate to see wipers in hyrum. go to east canyon for them.
My opinion.

[SkunkedAgain]

I called Chris Penne today and talked to him about some of my questions I've had over the last year or so and he took some time and told me about the divisions plans.  I forgot to ask if it was okay to pass this on, but I assume it should be okay.. Some things I know he mentioned would be best to not mention, so I won't say anything there, but let me pass on a little bit about Hyrum...

First off I must have had my numbers off on reading the stocking report, because they had planted similar numbers of fish in Hyrum as Wellsville pond, not twice as many like I had mentioned... They planted about 9000 in each, but the fish going into Hyrum were larger fish 12" and this is according to their plan of planting larger fish that have a better survival rate than the smaller one... I assume birds don't get as many...  Anyway he mentioned that they have seen some good success at Rockport and I forget the other reservoir but what they are trying to do is run the perch and rainbows so they get good size fish of both species and over the past 3-5 years they say this program has been working  well with increasing the size of both the perch and bows.  So he said we're two years into the Hyrum management plan, so he told me to hold on and wait the results should start to show up before too long...

I know the numbers fishing Hyrum really fell off this year, due to no fish, so hopefully those 12" last fall trout made it through the ice season and will start to show up as better bows this spring or next fall... I know there aren't very many of them, but hopefully they will get some good size eventually...  I know the perch population has crashed the last two years so we'll have to give them two or three years to come back as well... Anyway sounds like a reset time period for Hyrum so expect tough fishing for a while, but hopefully it will start to do like Rockport and turn into a great location a couple years down the road...  Chris also mentioned like many of you that they have limited resources and lots of demands this year with water returning to most of the state and they don't have the capability or capacity to raise anymore fish than what their facilities will handle. Anyway a thought we kind of discussed was don't expect an instant return to prime fishing conditions, it takes time to let the populations build back up after the low water we have had for several years... Plus now we have fewer fish scattered over a lot more acres of water, so keep that in mind...

We talked Cutler a bit, but he mentioned it really isn't on their active management plans since the popularity isn't as great as other locations but he did take my suggestion to look at lowering the panfish limits...  He wasn't as in favor of allowing more rods for the ice fishing season and when he explained his reasoning for that, I tended to agree with him... He said with the new technology that allow you see to the side, (livescope, 360 and etc) that his thought was two rods should be plenty...  Since I had tried the 360 this winter, I had to agree with him, because my reason for wanting more rods was to try and locate the fish better.  Well that and being able to bait for different species.  But the 360 really did fix the fish location part of that equation... So i was okay with not needing extra fishing poles through the ice...

Anyway I enjoyed visiting with Chris and it's nice to hear what some of the thoughts are for fish management... Later Jeff

[RockyRaab2]

I fish Hyrum for only one species: bass. I'd be happy with some perch as well, but I consider trout to be a trash species. That goes for Echo, Deer Creek, Starvie, East Canyon, and anywhere else I decide to fish. Any species but trout.

[SkunkedAgain]

Rocky that's the opinion that the division is adjusting their stocking plans to support.. I still love to catch trout a lot more than dinky perch, not that I eat them, but I enjoy catching them, they actually fight and are a lot more fun... Anyway the division is trying to balance you and I out and do a plan that meets both of our wants, so that's why the trout numbers are dwindling... as they try to accommodate both of our wants... Problem is there are only a few lakes that grow trout well, so those areas need to be preserved for trout so leave a spot for my trout and don't push for more warm water fish everywhere... This kind of diversity is a good thing... Later J

[RockyRaab2]

The pendulum has swung, I believe. For decades, trout was king in Utah, and they planted them everywhere. There weren't many lakes where warmwater fish could do well - mostly low-altitude and southern lakes. So that may have been a natural course of fishology.

That's changing. Either because of climate change (how I hate to type that) or just changing population of anglers, more lakes now support species other than trout. Some - like Hyrum - still support both. Others like Pineview have become non-trout waters. Still more, like Echo, are in transition and harbor cool water species like smallmouth.

I grew up where no trout could ever live. I read story after story about the magnificent rainbows and browns. I dreamed about fly fishing and what was portrayed as the quintessence of angling. And then I moved to Utah. Caught my first one in the boat of Doug Miller at East Canyon. Fished avidly for them for years. And gradually discovered that trout weren't all that. Especially planted rainbows. Dumb, weak, and not good table fare.

At the same time, the fish I grew up with fought hard, tasted great, and still delighted me with every strike. Nostalgia on a string.

[dubob]

Nostalgia on a string.

As it should be, Rocky; as it should be!  

[Jmorfish]

I fish Hyrum for only one species: bass. I'd be happy with some perch as well, but I consider trout to be a trash species. That goes for Echo, Deer Creek, Starvie, East Canyon, and anywhere else I decide to fish. Any species but trout.

I FISH HYRUM for only one species: perch..I'd be happy with some rainbows as well, but consider bass to be a trash species..That goes for Echo, Deer Creek, Starvie, East Canyon, and anywhere else I decide to fish..any species but bass...BUT DON'T WORRY..I'll certainly discard any bass I accidentally catch...Like you, I fished trout almost exclusively for well over 20 years, and enjoyed it...I grilled, fried, smoked trout,and they were ok by me...still are, once in awhile, but there are others I do prefer for the table...Like many others, I still very much enjoy catching any variety of trout, and I have lots of people out there who are grateful when I bring them cleaned and filleted trout..
Kind of silly to put down what others may be wanting to fish for, but I guess we all have the right to our opinion, right?

[gofish435]

I might as well jump in on the discussion.  

I think the DWR in the past several years have been very proactive in stocking various species in new locations.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but they have been more willing to try and give the anglers what they want.

As far as preferring one species over another, I don't care what I get on the end of my line, if it's something I like, it goes home, if not it goes back, what's the big deal?

[wiperhunter2]

I might as well jump in on the discussion.  

I think the DWR in the past several years have been very proactive in stocking various species in new locations.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but they have been more willing to try and give the anglers what they want.

As far as preferring one species over another, I don't care what I get on the end of my line, if it's something I like, it goes home, if not it goes back, what's the big deal?

Good point!