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Show 400,000 Anglers Gear for Opening With the opening of the general fishing season just two and one half weeks away (May 31), fishermen and biologists alike are gearing up for the annual event. If opening day turnout is like the past several years, some 400,000 anglers will make their way to Utah's streams and reservoirs, participating par-ticipating in the State's most popular outdoor recreation. A preseason fishing forecast, provided by Uah Division of Wildlife Resources Information Uificer, tnris Chaffin, follows : As has been the case in recent years, waters in southwestern Utah will be high, with streams running fast and turbid. Reservoirs will, for the most part, be full. The high water situations will make stream fishing difficult in many locations for the openig: weekend and will preclude stocking in some areas until runoff conditions subside. Anglers wishing to fish reservoirs - will find good fishing to be the general rule, with boat fishing most likely producing better results than shore fishing, due to high water levels. Some of Southern Utah's most popular fishing spots should produce good fishing this year, according to fisheries biologists. Upper Enterprise Reservoir opened May first and has produced good fishing since. Lower Enterprise En-terprise is expected to yield the same kind of fishing with fish averaging one-half pound each. Newcastle Reservoir should be the same with fish up to one and one-half pounds showing up. Baker Reservoir, in Washington County, will offer good to excellent fishing with rainbow trout averaging three-quarters of a pound and some brown trout up to two or three pounds. Bigger reservoirs will also yield good fishing. Otter Creek Reservoir should be good to excellent with fish weighing in at one and one-half one-half pounds for the average. High water will produce better fishing from boats but shore fishermen might try fishing three to six feet below the surface rather than on the bottom, as many fish feed in this range. Panguitch Lake will offer good angling opportunity again this year. Trout should average about a pound apiece. A crowd is expected with camping facilities filling up quickly. Fish Lake is another good opportunity for fishermen, aprticularly during the early season, Access is almost alwaysavailable by opening day and fishing has im-' proved significantly over the last several years. .Boat fishing is very good and the pressure is typically light, with campgrounds being only one-half full. Shore fishermen experience better fishing opportunity at Fish Lake early in the year. As always, a feW large , lake trout 'will be taken on openig.. weekend. Access to some of the higher elevation lakes could be a problem due to high moisture conditions. Although roads to most areas are open by the first of June, roadsides can be soft. People heading into the higher mountain areas should take precautions before .: pulling off established roads to fish or park. Preseason fishing forecasts for southwestern Utah are based on data collected by Division personnel per-sonnel under the direction of Regional Fisheries Biologist, John Leppink. In general, the fisheries managers are predicting a "good" opening weekend. More complete details of the fishing forecast will be available the week prior to opening day at the Cedar City Wildlife Resources Office, 622 North Main, .telephone 586-2455. |