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Show Wednesday, July 9, 2008 C9 Northeastern Utah fishing report updates July 3 Vernal Express Wildlife officials warn that whirling disease has been found in the Northeastern Regional area. Anglers are advised to clean, dry and sterilize waders, live wells and other fishing gear before venturing to another water. Biologists now believe the disposal of fish parts, especially the head and skeleton, is one of the primary reasons whirling disease has spread to new waters. To avoid moving whirling disease and other undesired organisms, the preferred method is to clean fish at home and send the parts to a landfill. If that isn't possible, please clean the fish and bury the parts 100 yards or more away from the water's edge. Big Sand Wash Reservoir Anglers report good fishing for rainbows. The cool spring has extended the season for trout being in the upper waters. While the water remains relatively cool, try fishing top water flies and lures. Use either a bubble or floating baits to clear the submerged vegetation and boulders. As the water warms, go deeper. BullockCottonwood Reservoirs Anglers report fair to good fishing for rainbows and fair for other fish at Bullock. Few tiger musky being taken, remember the special regulation on tiger musky is one fish 40 inches or over, anything under 40 must be released. Small boats can be launched from undeveloped sites near the dams. Reservoirs are located approximately five miles north of the town of Gusher. Brough Reservoir Fishing has remained slow and steady for nice-sized fish. Slow catch rates are expected on a "trophy" style fishery because to get large fish, management has to restrict the population numbers. To get to Brough, take State Route 88 (Ouray Road) south from U.S. Highway 40. Turn west at the second dirt road past the high power lines, Usui r3.cl.io op cr2.to rs - -ready annual 'Field Day' ' . '' : . . ..- - - t ' . V ' " :T ,-'.'' . ' : '-'.' :. .v.",'..,- : . t! ; ei r : - A.J I " - - J v -.' " " I r- tfL' '..'". F ' , y . ' Ham radio enthusiasts converged on Bills Park north of Lapoint on field day exercises. Pictured are Reed Swasey KB7TCV and Erik By Corey Dcttz Guest writer Amateur Radio - or "ham radio" - operators throughout the United States put their emergency communication and technical expertise to the test during a Field Day on June 26 and 27. The annual exercise is one facet of activities Amateur Radio operators undergo to ensure they will be ready to volunteer their assistance with communications during disasters and emergencies. emergen-cies. Field Day is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national association for Amateur Radio. Field Day was designed to test it should be signed. Follow this road approximately two miles following the signs. Road can be quite rutted. BrownieSpirit Lake The road is open to Browne and to Spirit, just be aware there are still a few snow drifts and muddy areas. Recent reports from Brownie are of slow fishing in some less than desirable weather. Officials warn that whirling disease has been found in this area. Please make sure to clean, dry and sterilize waders, live wells and other fishing gear before venturing to another water. Do not move fish or fish parts from one area to another. CalderCrouse Reservoirs Recent surveys indicate a healthy population of fish survived the winter in Calder. Crouse was a complete kill but it has been restocked with catchables. The winterkill only helped the Calder fishery change to trophy management as under the previous management scenario; the water was stocked with considerably more fish to provide faster fishing for smaller fish. Fishing at Calder has been spotty this spring. Calder has special regulations, which include flies and lures only, no baits; all fish under 22 inches must be released immediately; bag limit is one fish over 22 inches. Currant Creek Reservoir Recent reports from anglers are of fair fishing, mostly because of the weather. The last report indicated the only road open to the lake is the southern access along Currant Creek. The report was there is still ice and snow still on the upper ridges. East Park Oaks Park The roads are open to East Park and Oaks Park. No reports from anglers but it should be fair to good fishing. operators' abilities to set up and operate portable stations under emergency conditions such as the loss of electricity. Not only is this event a serious seri-ous test of skill, for many clubs and groups it's a social occasion too. During the weekend, participants par-ticipants try to contact as many other participating Field Day stations as possible. Approximately 35,000 Amateur Ama-teur Radio operators participated in last year's Field Day. The first Field Day was in 1933. During emergencies and disasters such as tornados, earthquakes and fires, ham radio operators regularly volunteer to support governmental and Flaming Gorge Lake trout fishing: Anglers and biologist report good to excellent fishing for 16 to 24 inch lake trout. Areas to try in the canyon are points next to deep water in Sheep Creek, Red Canyon, Skull Creek and Jarvies. Use tube jigs in white, chartreuse, glow or brown tipped with a small chunk of sucker or chub meat. Airplane jigs and jigging spoons also work. Try no-stretch line to feel strikes and set the hook better and a graph helps to see suspended fish. If trolling, use downriggers to get lures like needlefish, other spoons and rapalas down near the bottom. Try and keep the lure within 10 feet of the bottom unless you are seeing suspended fish on the graph. If you are seeing suspended fish, put the lure at that depth. Fishing is usually best early in the morning or later in the afternoon. Unlike their larger relatives, the smaller lake trout are excellent table fair with orange flesh and taste as good or better than a rainbow when cooked up on the grill. There's an overabundance of lake trout under 28 inches in the Gorge so do your part to help the fishery and keep a limit of eight fish. Larger lake trout fishing has been fair to good at traditional structure spots from Big Bend south to Sheep Creek and Jarvies bays and the area near the dam. Use larger tube jigs and jigging spoons. If trolling, try using large plugs, spoons, or flatfish on a downrigger. Long lining plugs in shallow water is also a good technique until surface temps get too warm as big lake trout will seek food near the surface when water temps are cool. Remember, only one fish over 28 incehs may be kept. Big lake trout eat big food so lures and jigs can be big also. Kokanee fishing: Kokanee fishing has been good. The Pipeline, Sheep Creek, and J arvies Canyon are places to start your search. Try fishing early or late in the day in waters from 20 to 60 feet with downriggers, long . 5 V- . v K I ?l 'iM V . f ; .4 A. I k .-t-'- June 28 and 29 for their annual Larson AD70V. non-governmental organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, with communications assistance and other help. But the need for their services doesn't stop there. InSeptember2003,ARRLwas awarded a second year of federal funding for emergency communications commu-nications training, emphasizing support for ham radio's role in homeland defense and its vital contributions to localities. Today there are nearly 700,000 Amateur Radio operators in the United States and more than 2.5 million worldwide. lining or using planer boards. Most fish are currently being caught in 30 to 40 feet. Troll small spoons like needlefish, triple teasers, or other erratic moving lures and spoons and attach enough lead weights to get the lure down to the right depth range. Try to troll at speeds from 2 to 2.5 mph. Kokanee have been shallow and are now beginning to move deeper as warm temps warm. With surface temps over 60 degrees, the fish will be in more in the 40-foot range of water so look for them on your graph. Rainbow fishing: There are numerous reports of good to excellent fishing on most areas of the reservoir for rainbows. Shore anglers are still doing well as are those in boats fishing near the shore. Recent cicada hatches have brought the rainbows in the waters right along the shoreline. This spring, almost 450,000 rainbows were stocked into the reservoir at various locations. These fish are about eight inches and can easily be caught by trolling spoons, pop gear and spinners in shallow water. Anglerscanusemarshmallows and worms, flies such as wooly buggers, minnow imitation plugs, spinners and jigs to catch fish from shore. If fishing from a boat looking for larger fish, try fishing in 30- to 40-foot water with downriggers. Burbot (ling) fishing: No new reports of anglers targeting burbot. If you want to go after these fish, try the following techniques. If fishing from a boat, go out at night in water from 20 to 70 feet using glow jigs. Areas like Firehole, Lost Dog, Sage Creek, Confluence, Buckboard, Holmes Crossing, Anvil Draw, Skunk Cliffs and Marsh Creek are good places to try. Try fishing with jigs late in the afternoon, early morning or at night on points coming into reservoir. Use glow tube or curly tail jigs 2 to 3 inches in size about 18 to 14 ounces in weight. Jigging spoons and jigging rapalas also work well. Tipping with sucker or crayfish meat will help catch fish. Last winter anglers discovered the use of smelly jelly or similar scents in crayfish seem to help. Duringthe day, burbot will move deeper, 70 to 100 or more feet so jigging in deeper water may produce some fish. If fishing in Utah, try rocky poi nts on Antelope Flat, Lin wood Bay or Sheep Creek. Netting in the Wyoming end of the reservoir has shown a large increase in the number of burbot present. Larger fish are 30 inches and up to 4-5 pounds. These fish must be harvested if caught in Utah to help control their population as they were illegally introduced to the upper Green River drainage and could have a major impact on other fish species. There is no limit on burbot but you cannot waste the burbot in the Wyoming end of the reservoir and they can be released there. However, please don't release any of these fish as they have been eating large amounts of crayfish and are also consuming kokanee Call today for more advertising information 435-789-3511 Ask for Jacque or Byran The Vernal Express will publish a special Uintah County Fair section that will be your official source for entry information and schedule of events. The section will include photos, stories and information and will be used to announce the fair to the general public coming out days prior to the event on July 30th. Don't miss out on advertising in one of the mostr exciting special sections of the year. 1 salmon (eggs, fry and small fish) and other critical food sources for other fish species. They could have an extreme impact on the reservoir fishery and should be removed by fishermen. Burbot are an excellent eating fish with white, flakey flesh similar to a perch. They can be breaded and fried or boiled and dipped in melted butter. Smallmouth Bass Fishing: Fishing is hot as the smallmouth have moved into shallower waters. Fish shallow in rocky areas where crayfish will be. Use twist tail grubs on lead head jigs or small plastic worms, sinkos, twitch and crankbaits, even spoons are working well in about 5 to 20 feet of water off rocky shorelines and points." Crayfish imitation colors will work the best. Drop shot techniques work well, especially in the deeper waters. Green River (Upper) The flows on the river have returned to normal with' fluctuating flows with base flows at night being around 800 cubic feet per second and flows increasing during the day to around 1400 cubic feet per second. Visit the Bureau of Reclamation website http:www. usbr.govucwatercrspcsfgd. html for the latest information on flows. Fishing on the river has been good with anglers reporting good fishing in most sections of the river. Please remember the slot limit size range has changed from 13 to 20 inches to 15 to 22 inches to make regulations more consistent statewide. Baetis and midge hatches have been frequent. Cicada hatches, grasshoppers and other top water fishing has been good using imitations. Also, match other hatches including baetis, midges and flying ants; be aware of what's emerging and adjust accordingly. Nymphing is still a good technique and streamers are also working, try size 2-4 buggers such as Goldilox and patterns in olive, pink and white. Visit www. fishgreenriver.com for good flies to have for your trip. Spin fishermen should try small rapalas (floating, countdown and husky jerk); small spinners; black, brown or olive marabou jigs; and small jigs. Please check to see that your tube jigs do not contain fish attracting scents as they are illegal to use ' in the river. New Zealand mudsnail densities have dramatically increased in several localized areas near Little Hole, and have been documented in most areas of the river. Please thoroughly clean mud and vegetation from waders, boats and fishing gear; and if possible, completely dry equipment before leaving the area. A hot water bath (120 degrees Fahrenheit) will kill mudsnails, and spraying equipment with 409 or a similar soap solution before drying will increase effectiveness. Green River (Lower) The water level has been high but it is now going down. No j A reports from anglers. Matt Warner Reservoir Anglers report fishing has been spotty. Recent netting indicates the fish are healthy and made it through the winter in good shape. Moon Lake No new reports on fishing success. Old report was of good fishing. Moon Lake contains a variety of trout and kokanee and fishing for all of these species should be fair to good. Pelican Lake The cold weather delay in fishing is no w officially over with good to excellent fishing being reported for bass and bluegill. Red Fleet Reservoir The reservoir is open and anglers are reporting good fishing for trout, bass and bluegill. High water has flooded the vegetation which is a good place to start fishing for bass and bluegill. Rainbows are also near the structure but try fishing on the outside edge and in deeper waters. Starvation Reservoir Anglers were reporting mostly slow fishing prior to the last big round of storms. During the storms and later the reports changed to good fishing for walleye and bass. We've only heard of a few scattered reports of larger browns being taken and yellow perch, which was lagging has picked up considerably as well. Steinaker Reservoir Anglers report good fishing for rainbows and a few browns also being taken. The bass and bluegill fishing has been hot in and around the submerged vegetation and rocky structures. Uinta Mountain lakes and streams We are back to a more normal weather pattern for the Uintas; there is still ice and snow on, in or around higher elevation waters. Some access points and trails are still limited by snow and ice. Access generally opens up in . early July and fishing success is usually good. For current information, please call the appropriate U.S. Forest Service office as they generally manage the roads and trailheads. Fishing on mountain lakes and streams can be spotty so if one isn't producing try moving to another. With more than 400 managed fisheries on the South Slope alone, it's easy to find a new place to fish. Always go prepared for serious weather, as the Uinta Mountains are well known for frequent unexpected storms and high winds. Note: The Uinta Mountains have a four trout limit with a bonus of four more brook trout - see proclamation for details. aBMlJiLf IUOU Call 789-351 1 hm If ST Publication Date: July 30th, 2008 Ad Deadline: July 18th, 2008 |