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SALT LAKE CITY — Sometimes there are just too many fish in the sea — or lake, reservoir or river — and Utah wildlife officials are calling anglers to fix it.
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources officials asking anglers to target specific fish species in four bodies of water across northeast Utah largely because there are so many fish it's difficult for the species to thrive or for other species to compete. This impacts the food supply in the body of water.
Trina Hedrick, the division's sportfish coordinator, said this problem used to be addressed through fishing, but how people fish has changed.
"More anglers prefer to participate in catch-and-release fishing, which leaves more fish in the system and increases competition for limited resources," she said. "Each lake or reservoir has a maximum number of fish it can sustain. When the waterbody exceeds that, you'll eventually see an overabundance of skinny, smaller fish."
This has led to different issues in at least four bodies of water. For example, the agency wants anglers to keep all lake trout under 25 inches at Flaming Gorge to thin out the competition and allow larger lake trout to consume kokanee salmon and rainbow trout in the reservoir before the balance of the three species falls apart, Hedrick said.
Brown trout are the problem in Blacksmith Fork River in Cache County. In this case, the average trout is about 11 inches but their sizes are expected to become stunted as the population exceeds food sources in the water. The division implemented a four-fish "bonus limit" to attract more brown trout fishing in the reservoir, but that hasn't solved the problem.
Similar issues also exist when it comes to walleye in Starvation Reservoir in Duchesne County and bluegill in Pelican Lake. The latter was traditionally a popular fishing spot for bluegill and largemouth bass before an explosion of carp led to issues with the lake.
State wildlife officials say fall tends to bring out more anglers, who enjoy the cooler temperatures. They hope anglers will tackle these population problems when people do go out to fish.
