Utah fishing limits doubling

Early Monday, fishing limits at Newton Reservoir in Cache Country were doubled.

Instead of one tiger muskie, fishermen can keep two, instead of six largemouth bass they can keep 12, and instead of eight channel catfish, they can keep 16. And, if they chance into a school of trout, which is unlikely since Newton has been managed as a warm-water fishery for years, the new limit is eight.

This is the third Utah body of water to be awarded special regulations because of low water levels. Yuba in central Utah and Calder Reservoir in the northeastern part of the state have also had their limits doubled.

The water level in Newton is only 6 to 8 percent of full, and it is expected to go lower.

Officials are also watching closely a number of other reservoirs where water levels are reaching very low levels.

The problem, pointed out Tom Pettengill, sports fishing coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, focuses on water temperatures.

Lower water levels result in higher water temperatures, and the oxygen level lowers as water temperatures rise. Fish can easily become stressed and die.

"The conditions we face now are not as bad yet as they were last year," Pettengill said. "I think we had special regulations on 20 waters last year, mostly in the Southeastern and Southern regions.

"If it is as warm in August as it was in July, we could face special regulations on more waters."

Double limits on Yuba mean fishermen can catch and keep 12 walleye, 12 northern pike, 16 catfish, eight trout and up to 20 yellow perch, with no size limits on any species.

On Calder, the limit has been doubled from four to eight trout.

"We put these regulations into place when it's necessary to benefit the resource. It's funny, though, some people won't believe us. Last year we were accused by some people in the Northern part of the state of doubling the limits on the Southern waters simply to get more tourists going into the Southern part of the state."

The stress of warm water effects even the most hardy of fish. Carp, which can survive under the harshest of conditions, are struggling at Utah Lake.

Monday, teams converged on the Provo River near where it enters Utah Lake to remove between 60,000 and 80,000 carp, which had become trapped.

The carp went looking for better water and found it, said Kristine Wilson, aquatic biologist in the Central Region of the DWR.