"This change would make the ice-fishing rules at the Gorge the same between Wyoming and Utah, and it would give anglers a chance to take more burbot out of the reservoir," said Roger Wilson, cold water sport fisheries coordinator for the DWR.

Wilson said the ice-fishing season is the best time of the year to catch burbot.

"Burbot were illegally introduced to the drainage above the reservoir. We're concerned about the effect they'll have on the fishery," he said. "They're not an attractive fish, but burbot are a great fish to eat. This proposal would allow anglers to catch more burbot to take home and eat, and it would help the fishery at the same time."

There's no limit on the number of burbot anglers can catch. Each burbot an angler catches must be kept and killed.

PANGUITCH LAKE: Consider changing regulations so anglers can keep more rainbow trout.

The current regulations at the lake allow anglers to keep up to four trout. However, to keep plenty of Utah chub-eating cutthroat and tiger trout in the lake, they must release all trout that are 15 to 22 inches long. Unfortunately, most of the trout that anglers are catching at the lake are between 15 and 22 inches long.

"A few years ago, Utah chubs were taking the reservoir over, so in 2006 we treated the reservoir and removed all of the fish," Wilson said.

"Panguitch Lake is a very productive and popular reservoir. We wanted to get fishing going as quickly as possible after the treatment, so we restocked it with thousands of catchable trout in May and June of 2006," he said. "We were hoping the fish that weren't taken by anglers immediately would grow quickly and pass the 22-inch length so anglers would have some fish to keep in the future.

"We also stocked 4- to 5-inch trout in the spring and fall of 2007. We were hoping most of these fish would remain under the 15-inch minimum through the first part of that summer. In addition to the larger trout planted the year before, these smaller trout would also provide anglers with a fish to catch and keep."

Unfortunately, Wilson said the growth of the larger rainbows appears to be stalling at about 20 inches in length. And anglers aren't catching many of the fingerlings that were planted in spring 2007.

The DWR is considering several options to provide more rainbow trout for anglers to catch. One idea is to allow anglers to keep rainbow trout of any size, even if they're between 15 and 22 inches long.

Another idea is to adjust the 15- to 22-inch slot length so fewer fish fall within the length anglers are not allowed to keep.

Biologists will continue to monitor the lake's trout populations and the size of the fish anglers are catching. The information they gather will help them know whether changes are needed in 2009.