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Show Wednesday. March 21. 2007 C3 Its the Ultimate Lure Vernal Express By Ron Stewart Guest Contributor Last Saturday, after working in the yard, I wandered into the house, grabbed a cold soda and sunk down into the comfort of my sofa. After a few minutes of just enjoying the feeling of back support, I picked up the remote and started channel surfinJ. To be honest, I didn't expect much on TV and wasn't paying much attention when I heard the phrase "It's the Ultimate Lure." That caught my attention! I'd rather be fishing than working work-ing in the yard and having an "Ultimate Lure" would mean I'd have something to show for my efforts. The ultimate lure turned out to be a plastic fish-like fish-like body that could be hooked onto a variety of jig heads and other hooks. The angler demonstrating the lure did catch a wide selection selec-tion of fish, everything from largemouth bass to rainbow trout and northern pike in both salt water and freshwater and under a variety of weather conditions. However, after seeing see-ing the demonstration in this infomercial posing as a fishing show, it was fairly obvious that the angler's skills and knowledge knowl-edge of the fish he was after, had a lot more to do with his success than the choice of lure. He almost certainly could have caught just as many fish on something else. It was, however a nice way to spend my break and as I went back outside, I was thinking think-ing fishing. It reminded me of numerous instances where someone bought a lure just because they liked the color or funky shape, then ended up catching the biggest fish of the day. I can only surmise that the fish was laughing so hard it got too close or else some fish gang was double-daring their buddy to bite it. It also reminded me of a WMtsrocrcs improvements being By Kevin Ashby Express Publisher The Whiterocks fish hatchery hatch-ery remodeling that will double the pounds of fish produced to be planted, in Utah's streams and lakes will conclude hopefully hope-fully in May, but no longer than June, stated newly appointed hatchery manager Dana Dewey. "I'm really excited to be here. I have always wanted to live here in the Basin," said Dewey about his new job at the Whiterocks Whiter-ocks hatchery. Dewey started out at the Ka-mas Ka-mas hatchery, working there for 26 years. He was instrumental in the same plant renovation there that is happening at Whiterocks. Whit-erocks. He then transferred to Fountain Green where hie also directed the hatchery remodeling remodel-ing project that was recently completed. The Whiterocks hatchery was constructed on ground north and west of Whiterocks, Utah, in 1922 where the Provo Dick Springs collectively produce pro-duce 7 to 12 cubic feet of water wa-ter per second depending on the time of year, that feeds the hatchery. Last week the flow was at 7 CFS or 448 gallons of water per second. The Whiterocks hatchery r I ft. i 7 A A U.UA-'XIXltU. Ashley 1 Prudential Ashley Valley Realty great experience. My younger brother and I decided to take advantage of a school holiday holi-day and headed down to the Boulder Mountains to a small lake we had discovered a year earlier. On that trip the lake was still mostly covered with ice but we had some great fishing fish-ing working the 20 to 30 feet of open water along the shore. This year we were two weeks later and the ice must have been off for about a month. As we pulled into the clearing clear-ing leading to the trail head we passed two other vehicles. We parked to give the other groups of campers some privacy and decided to gear up! grab sandwiches sand-wiches and hike the mile to the lake to fish. A quick glance at the lake showed an elderly couple fishing one side and a bunch of older teenagers more interested in messing around than fishing on the other. We chose the quieter side and said hello to the couple as we walked by. We soon discovered why the teenagers had given up fishing, fish-ing, the fish weren't hitting the way they had the year before when they would take any lure we threw at them. My brother and I tried several different styles and colors before I found the right combination, a small, fluorescent orange spoon. My brother saw me landing fish and came over to see what I was using. He couldn't match the size but did have the color. The only fish he caught however how-ever was with my pole as I cleaned the two fish I kept for dinner. I had two more lures in the truck and gave him one for the next day. The next morning, the couple cou-ple was up early and beat us to the lake. The teenagers had left the night before so the lake was nice and peaceful. To give the other couple room, we went the opposite direction. A few hours later, I had almost completed a circuit of the lake and passed the elderly couple fishing. improvements are part of a statewide plan to increase fish production by the state Division Divi-sion of Wildlife Resources to over one million pounds of fish annually. Already new hatcheries hatch-eries have been completed in Kamas and Fountain Green. The Whiterocks project will be concluded this spring and work just started on the new facility at Midway. Major changes at Whiterocks hatchery will include egg production pro-duction and incubation, more starter tanks, a way to supersaturate super-saturate the water with oxygen and a new baffle cleaning and maintenance system that allows al-lows the outside tanks to clean themselves without having to removing the fish first. Already fish production is well underway at the 'hatchery 'hatch-ery in the new 7500 square foot hatchery and office facility. The Whiterocks plant raises Brown, rainbow, brook and cutthroat species from eggs to catchable sizes. Fish eggs are incubated and the fish are raised to a point where they are called sac-fry. Currently they have over 1.9 million eggs being incubated in Whiterocks. The sac-fry are then taken to the new tank area of the facility and introduced into larger tanks where they Rock Solid In Real Estate! Valley Realty 365 West 50 North-Suite W8 Vernal (435)789-7265 To solve Sudoku, enter digits, so that every row, column and three-by-three sector contain one of each digit 1-9. An independently Owned and Opt rated Member of The Prudential After introductions, I showed them what I was using and as luck would have it, caught a fish during my casting demonstration. demon-stration. When I asked if they would like it, they said yes. I also gave them a second fish, which I had kept because it was injured. To my surprise, they packed up and immediately left the lake. My brother and I fished a while longer and then went for a hike to see if there were any other waters nearby. When we returned in late afternoon, the couple was again fishing the lake. As we passed them prior to fishing ourselves, we asked how they had done. They had fished for several hours without with-out success. Since my brother and I had tried a variety of lures of different differ-ent makes, sizes and colors and the small, fluorescent orange spoon was the only one we had caught fish with, I offered them my spare. He tied it on his line and tried a few casts. Unfortunately, his pole and reel were an inexpensive combination com-bination that held a very heavy line, which wouldn't cast the lightweight lure very far. Seeing his frustration, I offered him my pole and then had to insist he use it. It took him several sev-eral tries to adapt to a different differ-ent type of reel but he learned quickly and was soon making some nice casts. It also wasn't long before he caught a fish. Again to my surprise, he handed hand-ed the pole back, they packed up their gear and rushed back to camp. My brother and I fished for a couple more hours before heading head-ing back to the trailhead for a fish dinner. It wasn't long after we had finished dinner that the couple came by and asked it we'd like to share tea or hot chocolate at their camp. We accepted but only if they would tell me why they rushed back to camp as soon as they caught a fish. The answer to my question fishJi'a rl (1 will grow to about three inches. There are 42 tanks in the new facility compared to only 15 in the old building. ? About 20,000 sac fry are introduced intro-duced into these tanks to continue con-tinue the fish growing process. Dewey explained that oxygen in the water is what controls the growth of the fish while in the indoor as well as the outdoor tanks. The hatchery will use a new oxygen delivery system that allows the managers to control the oxygen saturation of the water allowing the fish to grow faster. Liquid oxygen is delivered and stored at the plant at 120 degrees below zero. The liquid oxygen passes heat exchanger located at the tanks that allows the liquid oxygen to change into a gas that is then introduced into the water. Dewey explained that it costs them about $9 a day for the oxygen needs of the plant. Oxygen levels in water are naturally controlled by elevation eleva-tion and splashing. The ocean at sea level has oxygen levels at 15 parts per million. High mountain moun-tain lakes in Utah are down to 5 parts per million. The hatchery, at 6200 feet elevation was able to maintain oxygen levels between 5 and 7 parts per million by using us-ing splash plates in the past. 1 I I I 23 J 4 ?L A AL 4 ALAAL. AJ 31 l 1 3 1 I I Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. was easily explained, they wanted to eat fresh fish. But, that evening, sitting around their fire, I learned just how lucky I was. The couple was born in China. Just after they were married, he came to the U.S. and worked long hours for a several years to raise money to buy her way across. They had now been in the U.S. for about 40 years and 30 years ago had started their own restaurant in the Salt Lake City area. One of the first things the couple bought when they finally final-ly were together in the U.S. was a fishing license, which they continued to buy every year. For the first few years, they didn't even own a pole but they still bought the license. Eventually, they bought a pole and reel and would close the restaurant so they could spend a few days a year fishing. Even so, they didn't find much oppor-. tunity to get out and fish until their sons were old enough to handle the restaurant by themselves. them-selves. Then I got my greatest surprise. sur-prise. The fish he had caught with my pole, was the first fish he had ever caught. Being absolutely floored, I asked why they would continue contin-ue to purchase a license if they hadn't caught anything for 40 years. His answer was simple: because he could! In China he was not allowed to fish and would have been punished if caught trying. Here, he only needed to purchase a fishing license and he could fish anytime any-time he wanted. To him and his wife, purchasing a fishing license was an ultimate expression expres-sion of freedom. What's the Ultimate Lure? To me it will always be a small, fluorescent orange spoon given to an elderly Chinese couple at a small lake in the Boulder Mountains of Utah. Ron Stewart Vernal tcnecy mad By using the new oxygen procedures at the plant, DWR officials can saturate the water with any level of oxygen they desire to maintain maximum fish growth. Currently, they try to keep the levels between six and eight parts per million. Once the fish reach about three inches, they are then caught, weighed and then transported trans-ported by truck to the outside ponds which are also new with this remodeling project. Dewey explained that one of the reasons rea-sons the fish are removed from the indoor tanks to the outdoor facilities is that they are starting start-ing to jump out of the tanks and they need more room to grow. The outdoor tanks will be equipped with a new baffle system sys-tem that will reduce the time needed for cleaning and maintenance main-tenance to about two hours a week rather than two to three days a week it took in the past. Also, crews will not have to remove re-move the fish from the tanks as they had to do in the past for cleaning. This process slowed the fish from growing as quick- Winters at Bed Canyon Lodge are quiet enough to hear yourself think. Not that you are required to think. Get away to a winter wonderland at Flaming -Gorge Country's premier resort. Our restaurant is open every weekend for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Luxury log cabins available upon requeBt. How far do Utah's ducks migrate? When wildlife biologists study wildlife they often need to identify individual animals. By being able to identify an individual animal, the biologist biolo-gist can track its movements, which can then lead to a better understanding of which food sources it frequents, where it goes to escape the weather or predators, migration patterns, determining life cycles, aging, and a host of other information informa-tion depending on the intensity of the study and technologies used. 1 Bird banding, which usually involves catching and placing a uniquely coded strip of metal or plastic around a bird's leg, has a long history in wildlife management. It's a frequently used tool because it is simple, relatively inexpensive even when applied to large numbers of animals and provides spot information whenever the bird or the band can be relocated. For example, an American coot banded in Utah this summer was harvested in Iowa this fall. Green-winged teal are mostly most-ly migrants with numbers reaching almost 35,000 birds on the State Waterfowl areas in early March in 2006. The species spe-cies counts and banding data indicate Utah, especially the marshes around the Great Salt Lake, provide essential rest and refueling areas during spring and fall migrations. Most of the birds winter in California and4Arjzpna, bnUiome, wintef in 'Texas and Louisiana while -others travel south almost to ly as possible. In the outdoor tanks, the fish will still be segregated to size and specie. Fish here will be matured from three inches to over 10 inches that will be released re-leased around the state. Three inch fish can be delivered deliv-ered with airplanes. Fish five to eight inches long will be delivered de-livered to reservoirs and lakes where needed. These lakes usually usu-ally have feed and space that will actually allow the fish to grow faster than at the hatchery. Officials Of-ficials will also raise catchable fish for special projects around the state where larger catchable fish are needed. Dewey explained that the outdoor pond walls have to be within a quarter inch tolerance for the baffle system to work correctly. Rasmussen Concrete and Construction started on the new ponds in August of last year starting first on the floors and then moving to the walls this past December. v The ponds are 450 feet long with six different walls. Over 900 yards of concrete was used Sho oiviliMd way to njaj tho groat outdoors. Highway 44 Flaming Gorge Country Oil - - iff . .V . T. ' S1. ; j,'. Mazatlan, Mexico. The summer-range summer-range is also quite extensive; with returns from the north- western coast to north of Nome, Alaska, east through the north-j ern Rocky Mountain states and Canadian provinces to central' Canada and a few states east o the Mississippi River. Utah's marshes, especially: those around the Great Salt Lake, provide extensive breed ing areas for the Cinnamon: teal. The banding data indi cates Utah hunters are quitQ likely to be the ones to har-; vest Cinnamon teal raised and banded here. It also indicates the Cinnamons can range faf and wide when they migrate to warmer wintering areas" Their main wintering grounds include Central and southern; California and along the coast of Mexico between , Guaymas; and Los Mochis. Some bands: have also been recovered' along the Rio Grande in Texas; and south into the eastern; Chihuahua region of Mexico Surprisingly, some bands have; been reported as far south as-Nicaragua as-Nicaragua and Panama in-Central in-Central America and Columbia"; and .Venezuela in South; America. i Mallards are definitely at North American bird. The dati shows numerous returns from the coasts of California to some: areas just short of the eastern, US coastline, from northern Mexico to central Canada. One indjigtrjous. bird, even jnad tt into the Yukon Rrverregion of Alaska. on the project. "These are not just concrete walls that are good enough for houses," said Dewey. "These are the straightest walls I have ever, seen and they need to be for this system to work." Work on the walls is just, about complete and the backfill and asphalt will be laid as soon as the weather permits. An open house will be scheduled this year when the. facility is complete. ) Walt Donaldson, Aquatics chief for Utah's DWR has set a goal for the hatcheries in Utah! to produce one million pounds of fish. Last year they were, able to produce 955,000 pounds to keep up with the publics demand de-mand for fishing. . The Whiterocks facility is expected to increase their production pro-duction from 60,000 to 130,000 pounds this year. This will in: elude increasing the catchable sizes raised at Whiterocks from 67,000 to 235,000 fish annually. ! |