Utah fishing reports, news and fishing techniques updated weekly.

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Utah Fishing Guide Revised 08-27-08 Utah Fishing News and Announcements: Scofield, Millsite to Host Fishing Tournaments Park Manager Dan Richards reports that Scofield State Park will host a fishing tournament on May 12th. Early registration will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, May 2nd. There will be 49 slots available and the cost will be $15 per entry. For more information on the tournament, call: (435) 687-2491. Millsite State Park will host a fishing tournament on May 19th. Interested persons should call the park at (435) 687-2491 for details. New Update to Utah Fish Finder (Mar 30) With so many reports on our pages, it has been difficult in the past to see when individual lakes have been updated. We are now using cookies to see the date of your last visit so we can mark any fishing reports that have been updated since your last visit. You will see whenever those updates have been made. Let us know what you think. And let us know if you have any problems. Utah Lake Walleye Run Has Begun (Mar 21) Open water and the walleye run has begun! Be patient because the bite is very light. Try twist tail grubs or minnows for best luck. Lake level is high. Tributaries to Utah Lake are closed from March 1st to May 1st. Walleye limit was changed this year to 10 but only one can be over 24 inches. 32½ Pound Striper Caught (Feb 14) A 32½ pound striper was caught at Lake Powell by Sherm Mcdonnell. The giant fish was caught in Knowles Canyon using a chartreuse plastic bass grub on a lead head jig. Padre Bay, Rock Creek and the San Juan were where the last three large stripers have been caught. This catch shows there are trophy-sized fish in the northern part of the lake as well. New Website Features (Jan 11) The Utah Fish Finder has started making improvements in our format that have been planned for this new year. First, you will find that the 2007 fishing regulations can be accessed from the fishing report pages. Just click on the link below the report for each lake or river and the regulations will appear on the page. This method keeps the report pages from becoming so large they are unwieldy. If you find any errors or omissions in the fishing regulations, please let us know. We are in the process of adding other features that will appear in the near future. Keep an eye out for them. Limits Doubled on Scofield (Jan 11) The DWR has doubled the trout limit on Scofield to eight fish. This reservoir is one of the most productive in the state yet anglers are ignoring it. Perhaps it was because the lake was poisoned a few years ago to clean out the chubs. The lake made a great comeback but the anglers didn't. The new limit should encourage more fishing. All Waters Open to Two Fishing Poles (Jan 11) It was something of a controversial move for the DWR to open all lakes to the use of a second fishing pole. But this year anglers can fish with two poles simultaneously using a second pole permit. The cost is $15 for 365 days from the date of purchase. You must remain in visual contact with the second pole and not more than 100 feet from it. You do not get to keep any more fish. The limits remain the same. Fish advisory issued for carp in Utah Lake A fish consumption advisory has been issued for carp found in Utah Lake after state officials found elevated levels of PCBs in the fish. The PCBs were found in samples taken from the lake as part of an effort by the Utah Department of Natural Resources and the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program to restore the native June Sucker. Fish consumption advisory signs will be posted at access points to Utah Lake stating that: Adults should limit their consumption of carp taken from Utah Lake to no more than one 8-ounce servings per month; Women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children should not eat carp from Utah Lake. Eating more than these amounts over a long period of time could result in an intake of PCBs that exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency health recommendations. Any health risks associated with eating carp from Utah Lake are based on long-term consumption and are not tied to eating fish occasionally. There are no health risks associated with PCBs for other uses of the lake, such as swimming, boating, and waterskiing. Fish were collected from Utah Lake as part of the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program's effort to reduce and control the carp population, and determine whether they are fit for human consumption, for use as animal feed, or are safe for other uses. Of all the potential chemical contaminants analyzed, including mercury, only total PCBs were found to be elevated. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are mixtures of up to 209 individual chlorinated compounds. PCBs are oily liquids or solids consisting of man-made chemicals that are not naturally found in the environment. PCBs can be attached to sediments, with no effect to water quality. Because PCBs accumulate in fat, exposure to PCBs from fish can be significantly reduced by removing the skin and fat from fish filets. Information about how to prepare fish is available at: www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/30cwafish.pdf — (PDF format). Information about the advisory and the health effects of PCBs is available at: health.utah.gov/enviroepi. Because elevated levels of PCBs were found in carp, other fish species will be collected and analyzed this summer. Fish advisories will be issued or updated, as needed, based on additional information. An environmental investigation will be initiated as an effort to track down and clean up the source of PCBs, if possible. Strawberry Project Leader Becomes New Sports Fishing Coordinator Roger Wilson, DWR project leader for Strawberry Reservoir for the past 15 years replaces Tom Pettengill as the sports fishing coordinator. Although Wilson has no experience with warm-water fisheries, his goal is to interact with all anglers regardless of their interest. Issues Wilson is facing is to continue recruiting new anglers and encourage the return of those who have left the sport in recent years. Other concerns include waters like Panguitch Lake that are being over-run by chubs. The lake will be poisoned this spring if they receive approval from the federal government. His experience in the management and recovery of Strawberry which was treated in 1991 will be invaluable. See article at Salt Lake Tribune for details. Chubs Illegally Introduced into Scofield In the early 1990's, chubs over-ran Scofield Reservoir and ruined the fishing. The lake was poisoned and the Utah DWR was able to start over. Now chubs have been re-introduced into the reservoir by anglers fishing with live bait (which is illegal). This spring, chubs showed up in the DWR gill net surveys and the DWR knew they had a big problem. This is catastrophic news for anglers. Chubs could over-run the lake like they have at Joe's Valley and devastate the fishing. Poisoning is probably no longer an option. It would take $1 million to poison the lake again. However, environmental issues would take years to settle before that could be done so fishing would be ruined for many years to come. The DWR believes they have an answer to the chub situation. They have planted 80,000 fingerling tiger trout (approximately 3 inches in length) in Scofield. These fish are created by fertilizing brook trout eggs with brown trout milt. Because the resulting fish are sterile, they put all their energy into growth rather than reproduction. Tiger trout can grow as much as 12 inches in a year, twice the growth rate of rainbow trout. By next fall, the tiger trout planted in September should be 9 or 10 inches in length. Rainbow trout do not compete well with chubs. As trout grow large enough to eat chubs, they move to deeper, cooler water. Chubs prefer shallow water so they avoid their main predator. They are also extremely prolific and make it difficult for small rainbows to compete for food. It doesn't take long before it is difficult to catch anything but chubs. Tiger trout, on the other hand, are very aggressive fish eaters and are willing to hunt for food in shallower water. The DWR is hoping the tiger trout will keep the chubs in check. And because the tiger trout are sterile, they can also regulate their numbers. Consumption Advisory for Gunlock Bass Utah State agencies are advising the public of elevated mercury in largemouth bass from Gunlock Reservoir in Washington County and brown trout from Mill Creek in Grand County near Moab. The advisory recommends that adults limit their consumption of largemouth bass taken from Gunlock Reservoir to no more than two 8-ounce servings per month and three 8-ounce servings of brown trout from Mill Creek per month. Women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children should not eat more than one 4-ounce serving per month of fish from either location. Aerial Bombardment Plants Fish in Uintah Mountain Lakes What once took the Utah DWR months to do using horses and milk cans is now done in a week or two. Aerial drops of fish into the high Uintah lakes routinely takes place every year to provide fishing opportunities for Utah anglers. For pictures and video, see Salt Lake Tribune. Feds Want to Remove Carp from Utah Lake It would seem that federal biologists are trying to do the impossible. They want to remove carp from Utah Lake. The June sucker is the world's most endangered fish and native only to Utah Lake. Removing carp would help ensure their preservation. Last year, more that 7.5 million carp were netted and removed from the lake. Netting will occur again this year with the hope of determining the effectiveness this process will have on carp numbers. Other proposals include diking and draining parts of the lake and poisoning the fish. Maybe their efforts will also improve fishing there. See Salt Lake Tribune. Gill-netting Lands Monster Brown Ray Schelble was assisting with the Utah DWR gill net survey last week and helped land a monster brown trout from Jordanelle. The 33-inch long fish weighed 21 pounds and had a girth of 23 inches. It was returned to the lake if you are inclined to go fishing there. Also found were a number of browns ranging up to 10 pounds and a trophy smallmouth. Salt Lake Tribune. If your club or organization would like to place an announcement here about Utah fishing, please email us at News at UtahFishFinder.com. News Archives