OCR Text |
Show I Fishing Opens May 3 1 This year's fishing opener open-er looks again to be a time to visit lakes and reservoirs reser-voirs in Utah. A number of rivers and smaller streams throughout the state will be high, swift and muddy; and, therefore, many will not be stocked. Fishermen with children especially should avoid these high, roily waters. Additionally, many lakes in the higher altitudes will not be stocked due to inaccessibility, in-accessibility, including waters wat-ers in the LaSal, Boulder, Thousand Lake, Uinta and Manti mountains. Even Strawberry Reservoir's Reser-voir's status is dubbed "uncertain" "un-certain" in Division of Wildlife Wild-life Resources' Central Regional Re-gional reports. So, unless a sudden wave of unusually warm temperatures hits Utah's higher country, some waters traditionally visited on the opener will be less spring-like than normal. Nevertheless, close to 1 350,000 anglers are expect- 1 ed to visit the waters in the 1 state after a pattern of drawn out winter-like weather. And 1 reports from the Division's regional offices indicate many waters are stocked and waiting for May 31. Anglers who plan to visit East Canyon and Porcupine reservoirs on the opener should check with local highway high-way authorities on the status i of roads to those waters. A , mud slide has closed the road r" to East Canyon from Salt Lake City, and highway officials of-ficials say it may not open this summer. The reservoir can be reached by traveling southwest ort Highway 65 through Henefer or south on Highway 66 through Morgan. The bridge on the road to Porcupine R e s e r v o i r has i washed out, and local auth orities are determining when it will be repaired. For a complete rundown on the outlook for this year's opener, here is this year's fishing forecast: DEER CREEK RESEK-voir RESEK-voir Fishermen should find good fishing from the shore and from boats on this voir should provide good catches of both brown and rainbow. Although high, the water will be clear and fish-able. fish-able. Something new this year on the lower Provo is that the dam downstream to Vivian Park will be classified classif-ied as a 'wild trout stream" where only naturally reproduced repro-duced fish from the stream will be caught. No longer will this stretch of the river receive re-ceive planted fish. This section sec-tion of stream will yield some nice catches, but fishing fish-ing probably won't be as fast as in the areas on down the canyon where planted rainbow rain-bow will be caught. Access along the entire lower Provo River is excellent with good camping areas available. SILVER LAKE-This beautiful, high mountain lake in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Brighton is questionable question-able for the opening. It will not be stocked. Snow banks will still be present with lots of running water around the lake. Ice may still be on the lake, too. BEAVER CREEK-This stream in Summit County may be heavily stocked with catchable rainbow prior to the opening if high waters recede, and the creel might include a healthybrown trout. Anglers should be aware that the lower section runs through private land, and future access depends upon good judgment and conduct con-duct while on and off the stream. STRAWBERRY RESERVOIR- The opening day status of this popular water is uncertain at the present time. Strawberry Valley has snow and thicker-than-nor-mal ice cover on the lake has pushed spring back further fur-ther than normal. The lake will probably be open, but snow drifts will still dot the area. The large crowd will find camping areas limited around the shoreline because of high water, and most areas will still be wet. Fishing should again be good to excellent, ex-cellent, with rainbow and cutthroat trout finding the creel most often. Remember that a six-fish limit is in challenge, but for those with the right skills, the reward is a stringer of fish. Access to most of the creek is through private property, and anglers are advised to contact landowners for permission per-mission prior to the opening. EAST CANYON RESERVOIR RESER-VOIR Anglers can expect an excellent opening at this reservoir. Preseason studies stud-ies by Division personnel indicate in-dicate that lots of 11 to 12-inch rainbow and cutthroat trout will be available for boat and shore fishermen. In addition lunker rainbows from 4 to 7 pounds can be expected in the creel. Boat fishermen also have the possibility of catching catch-ing 11 to 12-inch kokanee salmon sal-mon in addition to the other trout species. Modern camping camp-ing and picnicking areas are available at East Canyon i State Park on the north end ; of the reservoir. Boating j facilities at the north end I are under construction and i boaters should contact the State Parks and Recreation Division as to its status. The road from Salt Lake City will not be plowed open this year and will not be accessible if the snow does not melt from the roadway. road-way. ECHO RES ERVOIR Fishing on this body of water wat-er on the opening and for the remainder of the season is expected to be only fair. However, the persistent angler ang-ler who wants to fill his creel on the opening should fish near the inlet alongthe river bridge for rainbow ranging in size from 14 to 18 inches. This reservoir is also known to yield lunker (up to 5 pounds) brown trout through out the season. PROVO RIVER-This river riv-er is expected to be high and roily for the opening. For the angler who is looking look-ing for lunker brown, the stretch of this river between be-tween Hailstone Junction and Woodland is a good bet throughout the season. The upper section of the Provo along the Mirror Lake Highway High-way will not tje stocked with rainbow. The I road may not be opened until mid-June When access is possible, all of these lakes will be stocked stock-ed with brook and rainbow trout. These lakes provide good mid-summer and late summer fishing. Bridger Lake and Hoop Lake may be open to angling this year depending de-pending on how fast the roads clear. Highway 150 will not be open past the Duchesne Tunnel. WEBER RIVER- The Summit County section of the river is expected to be high . and silty for the opening and will probably not be stocked. Fishing will improve with receding water. Access on i some sections is by per-j per-j mission only. Very few camping areas are available. The section of the river between be-tween Echo and Wanship reservoirs res-ervoirs will be stocked for the opening. DUCHESNE RIVER-This river is designated as a wild fish stream; therefore, no catchables are stocked in this river. Wild fish include brown trout, cutthroat trout and whitefish. Because the stream-bred fish are naturally natur-ally a little wilder, expect to work for your catch. MOON LAKE -It is a possibility pos-sibility that this lake will remain inaccessible right up to the last minute before the opening; therefore, there may be no fish stocked for the opener. For last minute conditions on this lake, contact con-tact the Wildlife Resources office in Vernal. There should be a good population of holdover rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout. Moon Lake is located in some of the high country of the Uinta Mountains. NORTH FORK DUCHESNE DUCHES-NE RIVER- This stream may not be stocked for the opener. The water is expected expect-ed to be high for the opening, open-ing, but it is usually clear and fishing is expected to be good if stocking is permitted. There are some excellent camping areas alongthe river, riv-er, so get there early and select your spot. trout up to 16 inches will dominate the creel; but brown and lake trout, large-mouth large-mouth bass and yellowperch will also be taken. Several large brown trout in the "trophy class" are taken each year. The water in the reservoir should be just ' right for the opener. Walls- burg and Rainbow bays will 1 be the best shore fishing 1 areas. Shoreline access is ' good and limited, undevelop- ' ed camping areas are avail- 1 able. ' PROVO RIVER- The 1 Provo River above Deer ' Creek Reservoir in Wasatch County is very high and tur-' tur-' bid. Much debris is floating in this swollen stretch of the ! river; and since water con ditions will probably get worse before getting better, it might be best to pass this section up on the opening. On the other hand, the river below Deer Creek Reser- enect on mis water, anu au tributaries to the reservoir reser-voir are closed until July 1. CHALK CREEK-This stream will have poor fishing fish-ing for the opening, mainly because of high water conditions. con-ditions. As the summer progresses, fishing should pick up for cutthoats and planted rainbows. All of the area is under private ownership, owner-ship, and permission must be obtained prior to fishing. The main complaint landowners have is that most anglers in the past left the stream banks strewn with trash. EAST CANYON CREEK-This CREEK-This water is expected to remain re-main at flood stage condition condi-tion for the opening. When runoff waters recede, and for the remainder of the season this stream will offer a great challenge to the angler ang-ler who likes to outsmart large natives and brown trout. Heavy stream bank cover makes fishing a real aepending on now last tne snow on the rc ad melts away. ROCKPORT RESERVOIR-Opening RESERVOIR-Opening pressure will be heavy with success good on this popular water. Anglers . can expect to creel 11 to 13-inch 13-inch rainbow trout. After the opening, the angler is pretty hard pressed to find an undisturbed area to fish because this is a very popular pop-ular recreation reservoir. UINTA LAKES All lakes above 8,500 feet elevation are still frozen and inaccessible. inacces-sible. Good fishing for the horseman and backpacker will be available in most lakes by late June or early July. Lakes in the Weber River drainage should produce pro-duce some of the best fishing fish-ing because of the light pressure pres-sure they have received in previous years. All of the i lakes along the Mirror Lake Highway will not be accessible acces-sible until mid-to-late June. |