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Show ' . ;'-r T; 7 -,'r;-vr- RAY HARVEY, Vernal, right, flips his bait into J the water in Steinaker Reservoir. Many shore fishermen gained limits Saturday during the first day of the general fishing season. - - .s.- ; --.f 5- : " !- ' ' -i ' - -v. ' i ' "- J rv.''"1 ' " it ' -I : ' 1 i : 1 a;.. H H . C . ... 'AA' r - . V " x ' i: .1 . v . ' ; i t i "V I i 0. . . ' -( SALT LAKE CITY'S Glen Peterson, holds 15 fish that were hooked hook-ed at Steinaker Reservoir. Glen nabbed eight fish and his wife, Luella, hooked seven. General fishing opener is one of the best By John C. Dickerson Div. of Wildlife Resources The 1980 fishing opener is history, and in general it could be classed as one of the best in recent years. The most pleasant surprise in our area had to be Steinaker Reservoir. Although pressure was down from the previous year, there were a large number of limits or near limits taken. The fish generally fell into two size groups those running around nine inches which would be the fish planted last fall as five-inchers, and the 14-16 inch fish weighing around a pound and a half, which would be the five-inchers planted in the fall of 1978. The trollers caught the majority of the smaller fish and the bait fishermen, although catching fewer fish on the average, took the larger ones. Surprisingly, we checked only two bass I say surprisingly because there are good numbers of bass in the lake, but very few people go out and fish for them purposely. Other waters in our area that produced good fishing were Bullock Reservoir, the Green River below the dam, Moon Lake, Sandwash; Uintah River and Sheefp Creek.' ;-'; Many people have been asking about Pelican Lake and its fishing. Without a doubt, this is the number one bluegill fishery in Utah. The fish this year are larger on the average than any year I can remember, and anytime you catch bluegill that size you are into good fishing. By far the most successful method of fishing is using worms. Right now the weeds are not bad and some fish are being taken trolling a small spinner, spin-ner, but that method of fishing will be impossible soon because the vegetation gets so thick as soon as the water warms up. The wind invariably comes up every day, and quite often very suddenly, and this shuts the fishing down. We get all kinds and sizes of boats on this water and a word of caution is appropriate if you are using a small boat or rubber raft with a very small motor as many people do, you had better fish fairly close to shore or else you should be constantly aware of the wind. In addition, kids twelve years old and younger must wear a life jacket at all time and it must be Coast Guard approved and the correct size for the child. Another appropriate word concerns fish limits. The daily limit and the possession limit are one and the same. For instance, the Pelican Lake bluegill limit is 20 even if you stay for three days you may not have more than 20. In addition, resident kids under 12 years of age to not need a license, but are limited to one half the adult limit-resident limit-resident kids under six do not need a license either, but their fish must be included in the limit of a licensed angler who must accompany them (this latter regulation does not apply at Flaming Gorge). If you are not familiar, with our fishing regulations, we encourage en-courage you to drop by our Vernal Office or contact one of our officers we'd much rather do this than explain them to you as. a -citation is being issued. ;..,.; 'v;.. ! .- v. ' ? t f , ; j. r i $ - , X . ' " ... . .:'-.;;' .. ft-- .. v .-a ' l. ; , ' : i ' ' " j V X . - . ' ' ' M ; i VERNAL'S Curtis Crenshaw nabbed seven fish at Steinaker Reservoir and a few minutes later he hooked his eighth and final fish. |