White Bass in Provo River

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A fisherman there caught a white bass near the inlet of Deer Creek Reservoir in Wasatch County.

DWR Fisheries Coordinator Roger Wilson said, "Right now, we're OK. The next few years, we're fine. But down the road, we're going to see some problems with rainbows."

Biologists say in Utah, white bass are only supposed to be in Utah Lake.

White bass can take over an entire area, leaving no food sources for other fish species -- meaning the rainbow trout in the area could be in trouble.
"We are absolutely certain these fish did not come up on their own," said Walt Donaldson, DWR Fisheries Chief. "These fish were deliberately moved by someone."

And that, he said, is illegal -- which is why the DWR is offering a $7,000 reward for information.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=10860401
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[TS30]

I don't understand how individuals can be so selfish as to do something like this.

I can just picture two genius fishermen sitting out on Utah Lake one day, "Hey Billy-Bob, these white bass sure are fun. I bet they'd do AWESOME in Deer Creek!." "You're probably right Peety, let's put a few in a bucket and take them up there...just to see what happens. What the heck does the DWR know anyway?"

It's one thing to be an irresponsible steward of our resources. It's quite another to be a selfish prick like the person/people who did this. Sorry, this just fires me up to think about the amount of stupidity it would take to think you should transport fish to another fishery illegally.
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[pookiebar]

It was probably a couple of dumb teenagers who didn't really think about it. I might know a couple of such dumb kids from years ago who thought blue gill would be cool to have in their neighbors pond. Turns out they were right, for a couple of years, then the neighbor blew the pond out with dianamite to get rid of them again!!

Either way it was very irresponsible and could become a problem.
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[gstott]

Teenagers are pretty foolish. I remember when I was one, I thought it would be fun to put some green sunfish in my mom's gold fish pond. She started wondering where all the baby goldfish were disappearing to [sly]. They were easy enough to get rid of though. Even then I knew better than to put them in an actual fishery though. Stupid people.
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[tkidder]

I don't know, seems like a lot of effort for a teenager. I tend to believe in the 'selfish prick' threory. Either way, it really screwed up a nice place to fish (in the future). I'm just crossing my fingers hoping it doesn't completely undo what years of hard work and sportsman's dollars have done for the middle provo.
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[TS30]

I don't think it will do anything to the MP. Deer Creek on the other hand could really take a hit going forward.
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[Therapist]

Don't usually hang out here, but check every now and then. This has been a big topic on the General Forum. As to the Middle Provo, what White Bass will do is decimate the whole river. They are native to the rivers and streams of mid America. They were blocked by diversion dams along the lower river, but you could find them as far up the river as the KOA above Geneva Rd. They will thrive in the river, eat everything that the browns and bows eat. If they have established themselves in Deer Creek, they will eventually go down stream and populate the river. The will also move up the river from Deer Creek and mess up the section above Deer Creek to Jordanelle. Who ever did this has [url "mailto:F@#%&D"]F@#%&D[/url] every sportsman in the state. I hope someone will turn the T%^D in so that they can pay the tab for the damge that they have done. ( no excuse for the strong language, this can be a major disaster)