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PBH,
I'm still LOL. Since you seem to think that everything in the State is being managed so greatly and the DWR is so perfect in everything they do then I need to ask you some questions. How many fish have you personally caught or seen come out of Kolob Reservoir that have been over 22 inches? Before the dam repair at Minersville how many fish over 22 inches did you catch? Let's hear it. Green fish in Baker? Those Brown Trout should have a hey day eating them up. Boulder mountain doesn't even compare to what it used to be when I was a youth. Give me a break! How about Johnson Reservoir? Now there is a dandy fishery! You seem to be in really tight with the Fish and Game and your entitled to your own opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I'd just like to see the day actually happen when I am able to actually catch a so called "trophy fish" out of one of these so called "trophy fisheries!" It seems to me that there is always an excuse. Same old scenario. We are going to make this a trophy fishery and if the sportsman will sacrafice now for a few years you will really benefit!! Sorry something happened and now we have to do it all over again!!! Sound familiar? It seems to me there will always be an excuse for the Fish and Game not holding up to their end of the bargain. When it comes right down to it, are they not the managers? They need to stop blaming things on no sportsman support and just do what they are paid to do. If cutting the limits and tags is the answer to bringing the quality back then just do it and not care about the whining sportsman that can't have all their tags and licenses! Party hunting and fishing is over face the facts.
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Fishbladder,
As I said before, I fish Minersville roughly 40 times a year. I take a train to Milford, and drive over to the reservoir whenever I get enough time off down there to make it worth my time to go. I have caught hundreds of fish over the 20 inch lenght requirement that has been in place. I've caught several dozen over 22 inches. And I have caught about one or two each year that are in the 24 or 25 inch class. I don't have a boat down there, and I fish from the shore. IFyou could get everybody who fishes Minersville ( or any other water ) to obey the rules there would be thousands of 24 inch fish in Minersville. Sadly though there are still people ( I'm being very nice here ) who fish Minersville that take several fish each and every trip, and don't care what the regulations say.
I don't know what you define as a trophy fish, but there isn't a better fishery in the state than Minersville. It cannot support the number of fisherman hours that Strawberry does, but it's only a fraction of the size of Strawberry.
The only four problems at Minersville, are compliance with the regulations, cormorants, chubs, and lack of water. Maybe if you could put in a good word with God, we could at least get some water to fill it back up.
Fishrmn
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Fishbladder, dont you think you could be a little less critical and a little more supportive of the dwr. Catching a trophy fish isn't what this sport is about. Our sport is great because of it's intangible quality's so go and have a good time with family and friends I love to catch fish big ones the most. So volunteer to help the dwr keep our sport alive and growing instead of worrying about how big the fish get. My two cents
HeGotAway
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Fishrmn and HeGotAway,
I can be a little more supportive and I agree with you that enforcement is a big issue. It is impossible for the fish and game to check every single fisherman. We as sportsmen need to help in the process and report any violations no matter how minor we think they might be. If you have seen violations get their license plate number and report them. We need to also teach our kids repect and what being ethical means. In my opinion, most people that violate the game and fish laws have been taught by their parents and on and on. The old days are gone. What I mean by that is, in the old days they went out fishing and hunting and bag limits didn't mean much to most of them. There was plenty of fish and game around. Those days are over, but there are those that are still out there doing the same thing their grandpa did. It's time to stop and for all of us to take a good long look in the mirror. Am I doing everything I can to be an ethical sportsman? Do I just take and take and never give back? Report every single violation. The laws, bag limits, size restrictions are there for a reason. Don't only take a kid fishing but teach them respect for nature. If every sportsman was ethical in every way we wouldn't be having the problems we are having with our fisheries and game. Just some thoughts
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Fishbladder
thats the kind of attitude every fisherman should have
keep up the good work i agree 100% thanks for respecting my opinion and giving such a great reply
HeGotAway
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I have caught my fair share of 20"+ fish from
Minersville in the past. Many people have. I had plenty of days where all fish caught were over 20". Sorry you didn't. I have caught 20" fish from Kolob. Not too many, but some. I have also seen 25" cutthroat come out of Kolob...
Baker should have some huge Browns in it. The problem is keeping the green sunfish off your line long enough to catch something else! You make it sound like this imntroduction was a good one!
Johnson Res is a mess. You can't keep rough fish out of there. The Muskie just leave the lake for greener (or clearer) pastures. Water is once again a problem here. Last summer while fishing for musky, my brother caught a 21" bow from johnson. Yes, it is a problem...do you have any suggestions for it?
Say what you like about the Boulder. I have been fishing it for a long time. It is just as good now (if not better) than it has ever been. The only thing that has changed is access, and use.
You keep crying for styricter regulations, and then complain about places like Kolob and Minersville, which both have special regs. Which is it that you want?
by the way, here are some 20"ers from this winter -- all So. Utah
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PBH, what!! No walleyes or fat bass in your hands? Lets see what southern Utah got besides trout... (Never mind the powell walleyes, that dont count. You need more than one or two walleye fishery for you folks, then I would come down for sure.
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PBH,
Now you've done it! You've got me really LOL!! What kind of tape measure are you using? Are you thinking centimeters are inches? Maybe one fish out of your pictures might be 20+ inches. Hopefully your not keeping any of those on size restriction waters. I think the law reads over 22inches not 20. Give me a break with your quote, "I had plenty of days where all fish caught were over 20." Do you really expect me to believe that kind of nonsense? I fished Minersville alot in the early and late 80's, and I'll tell you it was better off then than it is now. At least the fish that were caught were fat and healthy. Not long and skinny due to over population. I've caught hundreds of fish out of both Minersville and Kolob over the last several years. What are you using on Baker that you're catching sunfish, Worms? How long have you been fishing Boulder again? You look pretty young in those pictures. I've been fishing it for about 25+ years. Used to catch some nice 2 and 3 pound brookies but not anymore. By the way, I'm not crying as you say for stricter regulations. I'm just saying the current regulations on Kolob and Minersville do not have to stay the same every year. That, in my opinion, is not proper management! Since you asked, I want regulations that change yearly based on the current situations. Catch and release, size restrictions, turn everyone loose are not always the answer ever single year. Regulations need to change yearly based on moisture, harvest, samples, etc. etc. Things need to actually be managed and then laws need to be enforced by not only the DWR, but sportmen reporting violations as stated in a previous post. Lawbreakers need to be reported!
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bladder -- Bigbowandbrown pic -- both fish easily 20", Brett brown pic 24", PBH Splake 17-18", pbhtiger 20", pbhcut 18".
Sorry, I got carried away when posting pics...
I am pretty young, but maybe not as young as the pictures show, so thanks for the compliment. I too have been fishing the Boulder for 25 years. Here is a link to a pic of me 25 years ago at McGath: [url "http://www.fs.fed.us/dxnf/fishing/album/album02.jpg"]http://www.fs.fed.us/dxnf/fishing/album/album02.jpg[/url] You still can catch 2-3 pound Brook trout, or some 20" brook trout. You might not be able to catch them in the same lake you did 15 years ago (like Beaver Dam for example) but they are on the mountain. Lakes change, and fishing is a game. You need to stay ahead of the game. Big Boulder Mtn. Brook trout: [url "http://www.utahonthefly.com/images/photoalbum5/pages/wyoming2bigbrook_jpg.htm"]http://www.utahonthefly.com/images/photoalbum5/pages/wyoming2bigbrook_jpg.htm[/url]
[url "http://www.utahonthefly.com/images/photoalbum5/pages/brettshugebrooktrout_jpg.htm"]http://www.utahonthefly.com/images/photoalbum5/pages/brettshugebrooktrout_jpg.htm[/url]
Poor quality pics, but big fish still the same.
Minersville had some nice fish in the 80's, but nothing like it had in the 90's, and of course the fishing was better in the 80's, 90's, 70's, heck every year than it is now. The lake lost ALL the fish this last summer, and was just re-stocked this last fall, so you are correct, Minersville is at the bottom right now, but will return, if we get water in the res....but with the Beaver River at only 82% of normal (it takes about 120% to fill) we aren't going to get that for at least another year.
If you don't already know, the DWR does not make regulation changes. It isn't up to them to make changes every year. The RAC and Wildlife Board do that. If you want to make a regulation change suggestion, then do it through the RAC. I agree, with the situation that Minersville is in right now, maybe the regulations should be lifted all together, but only as a temorary change. I couldn't disagree more on Kolob. The regs need to stay. Again, you are correct that sportsmen need to step up an help out with people not obeying the current regulations.
By the way -- I don't fish Baker. Why would I waste my time catching Green sunfish?
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Pardon me for jumping in between the two of you but Fishbladder keeps missing two obvious points. The first one is that it's just a fact of life that the fishing isn't as good as it used to be just about anywhere you go with a few exceptions. The second is that there would be a huge outcry if there were special regs on every water in the state that changed every year. For good or bad there would be many times more mad people if the DWR did things like you want. That's why they standardized the slot to 22 inches because it's too hard for some people to read the proc and remember the different restrictions on every body of water. It's also almost impossible to do enough research to find out exactly what the best regs would be for every water every year.
I'm not taking sides. Just adding my 2 cents.
FM
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PBH,
Ok, enough is enough. I have my opinion and you have yours. I have attended several RAC meetings since they began and in my opinion they are pointless. I have never witnessed any public comments from individuals make it to the wildlife board. In my opinion, you have to start with wildlife organizations first to get your point across. Prime example, Sportsman for Wildlife. It's all about numbers and money. One individual saying something doesn't mean diddle. The big wigs have already made decisions before those meetings ever take place. They were suppose to be for public input but they are far from that. The public individual can stand up and make a good point everyone starts clapping and cheering but there is never any changes. I know because I've been one of those individuals who have stood up and received the cheers. Just my observation. By the way, Baker Reservoir used to be the best sleeper fishery in the state for big browns. I've personally fished it quite often over the years and have landed a 9 pounder on a fly rod. It's always been for a fisherman with alot of patience because it's not lightning fast. I have made several fishless or biteless trips to that lake over the years. Good fishing to you and stay passionate about our wildlife.
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I hate to bring this back to the top but I just got back on line and was reading through it and have one for PBH.
I am not really good with the exact dates but I believe it was 2 years ago Piute Res. was an incredible Smallmouth fishery. This was the spring of the year they poisoned it. When you can go out and in a morning catch a dozen big smallmouths between 2 an 5 lbs and be the only one on the lake only then to have the lake poisoned later that fall. I am not oblivious to the fact that there were millions of rough fish there but those millions of rough fish fed some big Smallmouth bass. A friend of mine has one that is nearly 6 lbs mounted on his wall. I believe they ruined a reservior that had tons of potential for a trophy smallmouth bass fishery to return Piute to a trout fishery. Yes in the past I loved to catch those big bows out of there but I enjoyed even more catching big smallmouths, and I could go to Otter Creek to catch big bows or any one of the other lakes in the area.
I am also aware of what has happened since and the draining of the reservoir that would have in course eliminated the smallmouth in there but the DWR did it first. A rumor I heard was that the DWR wanted to poison it that fall so the water association allowed the water users more water so that when they poisoned it, it would require less poison or none at all.
Not trying to stir things up just curious to see your take on this one. It is good to see such involved sportsmen.
Mjigs
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Sound like if were going to play mother nature lets have a battle royal in all res in Utah. Introduce all species known to man and let the fittest survive. And if that dont work I'll fish in Idaho and Wyoming. lol
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