Kolob Reservoir bait fishing report

[PBH]

I'll never understand why some people have to push the system, and find any way they can to get around the laws.....bastards.


Kolob Reservoir is accessible now. The south road was driveable last week. The ice came off on early in the week, and the DWR was able to get in and set some nets later that week. The fish looked really good. So did the water level. In fact, there is too much water coming into the lake. There is so much snow melting, that there are many small "creeks" dumping into the lake all over. Rainbows are trying to run up these creeks and spawn. Here's where the problem lies. The proclamation shows:

KOLOB RESERVOIR (Washington County)
• ARTIFICIAL FLIES AND LURES ONLY
• Only 1 trout over 22 inches.
• All trout 22 inches or smaller must be immediately released

And:

KOLOB CREEK (Washington County)(Upstream from Kolob Reservoir)
• CLOSED January 1 through 6 a.m. on the second Saturday of July (July 9).

The problem is that there is nothing concerning these other "creeks". As of Thursday and Friday of last week fishermen were fishing these tribs with bait, and keeping limits under the statewide general rules. All of this was being done legally, because there is no mention of these tribs in the special regs section of the proclamation. What a shame. The DWR was working on getting some emergency closures on these tribs, but as of Friday (Friday before a 3-day Holiday weekend...) no one was around in SL to get this finished. Hopefully, within the next day or two this will be taken care of.

I certainly hope that those fishing these tribs last week was no one from this site...
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[Fishhound]

Hey PBH,

I'm a little by your post. Are you irratated at the DWR for not being on the ball ? Or are you mad that the people in question were following the DWR's recommendations that had been previously published ?

From your post, I can't really tell. You say they were doing it legally, but you sound like you're upset about it. Did you have a chance to speak with those folks ?

And just so you don't call me a bastard in the future, where would a person have found that "privey" info that you seem to have, and how could the DWR expect someone to follow it before it is published to the general public ? I would certainly not want to neglect any of the regulations that I am really responsible for, because I have not been able to perfect my DWR mind reading skills yet.

Is there a news letter sent out to all fishing license holders that we are all responsible for ? Does it state somewhere that I need to check with the DWR everytime I go fishing so I am current up to the minute ?

So, if you could fill in some of the missing info, I'll get ticked off with you - cause I'm one of the fools that tries to play the game according to the established rules that were set-up before the game began and don't really like those that need to get around or bypass them. But, I also would not want to be unrealistic in my expectations in regards to my interpretation of what might be appropriate and what someone else has interpreted when there does not seem to be any details specifically addressing the issue.

Anyway, fill us in on the nasty tid-bits - inquiring minds wnat to know.
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[WestFork]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Come on fishhound, what’s so confusing…asking that people have an ounce of morals and a bit of common sense? The regulations are set up down there to protect mature spawning rainbows. What’s going on down there is contradictory to that, and You, I and everyone else knows it. [/font][/size]
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[carpkiller]

I'm with Fishhound. If i can legally go fish for some nice fish i will. What is immoral about that. Are the guys that are catching bass or any other fish that are spawning immoral. Some of the best fishing happens when fish are spawning. I know the kolob issue has been discussed before and we all have our feelings about how the fishery should be managed but there is nothing wrong as i see it to catching fish legally. As for common sense, it seems to me somebody used some common sense to realize they could catch some fish from a body of water they probly grew up fishing and actually be able to eat them too.
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[PBH]

Fishhound -- Kolob reservoir is an artificial only reservoir with a closure on Kolob Creek to fishing from January thru July.

Here is why I am upset. Why were people taking bait with them when they went to the Reservoir? It is illegal to use bait at the reservoir. Those people went up there with the intention of using bait, regardless of the restrictions.
These tribs are not covered by the current proclamation, because these tribs have never been there in the past. They are just snow melt running into the reservoir, and the trout are trying to run up these snowmelt areas to spawn.

Like westfork pointed out, where are the moralls? Morally, anyone up there could see that this was not right.

Legally, no one has to follow the information I have given. Morally, everyone should. But, I'm sure that very soon there will be some emergency regualtions made to close all "trib".

Your DWR mind reading skills will not need to be polished. Signs will be put in place notifying anglers of the closures to these areas (if it happens). But, again, WHY WOULD ANGLERS TAKE BAIT TO A RESERVOIR CLOSED TO BAIT ANGLING???
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[Fishhound]

Sorry there Westfork,

But I am not very good at knowing what everyone else should know - I barely understand what I know.

I also think it kind of a moral travesty to impose my ethics on another person merely because I think something should or should not be. I have been incorrect far too many times in my life to attempt to assume that I have a postition such that I can judge someone else's actions based upon what I would like.

I am not disagreeing with the intent to protect the fish or spawn. I only bring it to the attention of the original poster that the people mentioned may have no idea of the importance of the situation and/or the DWR's potential desire to do something without it being published and/or made available to everyone.

BTW - do you personally happen to know if those people mentioned were aware of any of the original posters concerns or were intentionally doing something wrong ? Perhaps you can tell me, since you've implied that you and everyone else knows it, where that information would be found, and if the people in question knew of it's existance ? I say this because you seem to think that everyone has the advanced understanding of fish and fishing that you seem to think you have. That may not be the case - just so you know. I think it would behove all of us to not assume that others know or have experienced the same things as we may have or that they should be responsible for morals that we may have developed and that they may know nothing about.

P.S. Perhaps you should have read the original post and my response a little more carefully - It is spelled out pretty clearly by the original poster that the regulations are NOT in place. and that the people were completely legal in their actions - I.E. no contradiction ! That is why I was by the post. I do not disagree at all with the idea of protecting the fish in a very vulnerable time period.
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[PBH]

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1. I only bring it to the attention of the original poster that the people mentioned may have no idea of the importance of the situation and/or the DWR's potential desire to do something without it being published and/or made available to everyone.

BTW - do you personally happen to know if those people mentioned were aware of any of the original posters concerns or were intentionally doing something wrong ?


2. [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]It is spelled out pretty clearly by the original poster that the regulations are NOT in place. and that the people were completely legal in their actions - I.E. no contradiction ! That is why I was by the post. I do not disagree [/size][/black][/font][/reply]
1. YES!!! These people knew exactly what they were doing. They knew beforehand that Kolob is an artificial only water. Kolob has had problems from the beginning of the special regs with people intentionally breaking the law up there. Now, they are trying to work around the regulations.


2. Not true. Those people should not have taken bait to Kolob Reservoir in the first place.

Question for you. Do you check the proclamation before you fish a water? These people were not ignorant of the law. They knew exactly what they were doing. Just like in my original post: Why do people have to push the laws, and find loop-holes? Bastards.
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[WestFork]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Hound, using your words and like PBH said they intentionally took bait up there with them, with the intention of fishing illegally. Low and behold a regulation loop hole allows them to intentionally fish legally 5 feet from where it would otherwise be illegal. Don’t even use the naïve argument. Again, They know it’s wrong, so do you, I and everyone else. I cant see where your, or anybody else’s, support comes from, when this is clearly and issue that should not be condoned.[/size][/font]
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[Fishhound]

Sorry PBH,

I was not trying to give you any grief over it, I was attempting to give you the business about how you expalined the issue. It was presented to me as somewhat unclear as to what you meant. I appologize it I came across as abrasive or offensive.

Your following post cleared up a little info that made it possible for me to understand your postion a little better - You reminded me of something I had forgotten - Kolob is entirely artificial only - that usually includes some of the tributaries. However, you also seem to be saying now that you may have spoken with those people and have determined that they did indeed understand the intent of the DWR to post special regulations. That was not really included within your original post.

And yes, I do read the proclamation prior to fishing any body of water so as to be up to date and to refresh my memory about any specific regulations for that water. However, I find it somewhat uncomfortable to judge someone else by what I might do, know how to do, or might be able to know, because not everyone looks at the world as I do - probably a good thing there because I have been incorrect in my assumptions before.
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[hedgesd]

I was up there over the weekend and the signs were up. They had the emergency closer sign on every stream and I didn't see anybody walking up those or fishing them.

Also their was a CO checking people and watched him give a couple tickets.

So how many tickets did they give over the weekend?
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[PBH]

that's good to hear. I'm glad they have the closure in place.
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