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Show WILDLIFE gN UTAH STATE OIVISION OF I VS'J'l'' W1LDOF6 RESOURCES R3 A FISHING STORY Fishing used to be a simple operation. All you needed was a free afternoon, a few worms, a cane pole and a shady tree to lean on while "resting your eyes." It's not the same today. But In spite of all the preparation prep-aration each fisherman goes through to get ready and finally fi-nally bring home a few fish, it is nothing compared to what the fish has been through to grow large enough to be caught. The majority of fish caught by anglers in Utah's streams and reservoirs during the opening weekend are the results re-sults of the Division of Wildlife Wild-life Resources' efforts in planting both catchable and fingerllng fish. Catchables will have spent from 12-14 months in a hatchery before they are placed in the water of a fishing fish-ing hole. Basically, the catchable fish program is designed de-signed to provide an "immediate "im-mediate fishery" in waters which often will not allow . for the longer, full life cycle or cannot naturally support sufficient fish for the modern mod-ern Utah population. That is to say that most of the fish will be taken home by happy hap-py anglers in a relatively short period of time after their release. The fish who escape the fisherman's efforts ef-forts will continue to grow, if water conditions are adequate ade-quate and food supplies are sufficient. Many of the fish taken last weekend are products of fin -gerlings planted last year just prior to or during the 1975 general fishing season. The average growth for that single year in the water is 9-12 inches your tasty, pan-size trout. Some of the larger fish harvested each year are carry-over fish from both catchable and fin-gerling fin-gerling plants of years past. The next time you and your family enjoy a good day at the local fishing hole, you might take the opportunity to acquaint them with the time and effort it took to get the fish ready for your hook. The purpose, of course, is to provide Utah fishermen with a quality fishing experience. exper-ience. So if you had a good day fishing, then it's mission accomplished. WIIDLIFE MEETINGS . The annual public meetings meet-ings held each summer by the Utah Board of Big Game Control and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources have been scheduled for towns throughout the state during the latter part of June. Following study efforts by personnel from the Division of Wildlife Resources, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, recommendations are made for the following year's hunting hunt-ing seasons. The recommendations recom-mendations are made forthe following year's hunting seasons. The recommendations recommenda-tions are published and then presented to the residents of Utah's five wildlife management districts in the public meetings. After hearing the joint recommendations, citizens have the opportunity to comment on the conditions of local habitat and wildlife populations and express their opinions regarding the recommended hunting seasons. sea-sons. This year's meetings will be held according to the following schedule: Ogden, June 18; Cedar City, June 21; Richfield, June 22; Price, June 23; Vernal, June 24; Salt Lake City, June 25. All meetings will be held at 8:00 p.m. The meeting places in each town will be decided at a later date. WILDLIFE BOARD TO MEET The Utah Wildlife Board will hold its next public meeting on June 9, 1976. During the meeting, the Board will consider the closure clo-sure of Reminton Arms property to the discharge of rifles, proclamations on the seasons for hunting mourning mourn-ing doves and band -tailed pigeons, and the new falconry falcon-ry regulations. Interested persons are welcome to attend. Individuals Indivi-duals wishing to present material ma-terial to the Board should request time in advance by calling Mr. Alton Frazier, Division of Wildlife Resources, Resourc-es, Salt Lake City, Utah (801) 533-9333. . WILD TROUT PROGRAM Trout continue to enjoy the overwhelming majority vote as the most popular game fish in Utah. Because of its widespread popularity, it attracts many kinds of fishermen, one of which is commonly called a "purist." This trout fisherman has a different set of value judgements judge-ments than the average "two-or "two-or - three - times - a - year" fisherman. He is an ardent enthusiast, who spends years mastering techniques of fishing, fish-ing, reading a stream and tying ty-ing his own flies. He is one who sees the added beauty in a wild fish. In 1971 the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources began a wild trout management pro gram in response to the increasing in-creasing demand for this type of "quality" in Utah's trout streams. A wild trout stream, as currently defined by the Division, Di-vision, is not stocked with hatchery raised trout and thus the fish present exhibit more of the characteristics of a naturally produced and reared trout. They are more wary and harder to catch. Utah currently manages approximately 3,000 miles of streams. Within those miles, eight different streams (or portions of streams) are managed as wild trout waters. wa-ters. These programs are being conducted in the Blacksmith Black-smith Fork and Duchesne Rivers, Mammoth Creek, Seven -Mile Creek, Upper and Lower Provo River, Uinta Uin-ta Creek and the Whiterocks River. Local offices of the Division can provide accurate accur-ate boundry descriptions of these areas. The wild fish program provides pro-vides the "purist" fisherman fisher-man with a distinct challange and many excellent fishing opportunities. It also enables the Division of Wildlife Resources Re-sources to reassign catchable catch-able size trout, that would have been planted in "wild" streams, to waters that receive re-ceive greater fishing pressure pres-sure by the general public. This yields a better success ratio in many popular fishing fish-ing spots. The Division of Wildlife Resources hopes the wild trout program helps to satisfy sat-isfy both the "quantity" and the "quality" enthusiasts. |