DWR biologists aren't proposing any major bass fishing changes for 2008, but they'd like to start a discussion with the public about smallmouth and largemouth bass regulations.

"Right now there are six or seven different bass regulations across the state," said Roger Wilson, cold-water fisheries coordinator. "We'd like to reduce the number of regulations. That would make it easier for anglers to know what they are."

Wilson stressed that the DWR is not proposing any statewide bass regulation changes for 2008. "We just want to get a discussion going so we can learn more about how people feel about the bass regulations," he says.

Among the changes being considered are:

• Allowing anglers to keep yellow perch at Yuba Reservoir. The DWR is proposing a daily bag and possession limit of 10 perch. Between Jan. 1 and April 30, anglers would be required to keep all the perch they caught, up to their 10-perch limit. They would also be allowed to use dead yellow perch for bait at Yuba.

• Lowering the trout limit at Woodruff Reservoir to two trout, and allowing anglers to use artificial flies and lures only. "This change would create a trophy fishing water in northern Utah and would also protect the cutthroat trout in the reservoir," Wilson said. "We don't stock cutthroats in the reservoir, and we want to make sure we keep plenty of cutthroats in the reservoir for anglers to catch."

• Increasing the bass limit at Sand Hollow Reservoir in southwestern Utah to six bass. Only one of those bass could be over 12 inches. "The bass in the reservoir are doing really well. In fact, there are so many bass in the reservoir that they're starting to compete with each other for food," Wilson says. "We've noticed that the bass aren't growing as fast as they used to. This change would allow anglers to take more of the smaller bass home. That would help the fishery by removing some of the smaller bass. The new limit would also protect the larger bass."