Spawn Creek fencing and restoration project
Cache Anglers Position on Selective Harvest of the Upper Blacksmith Fork River
The upper Blacksmith Fork River near Hardware Ranch has been pinpointed by the DWR as approaching its carrying capacity for brown trout. The DWR would like to decrease the population in order to increase the overall health of the fishery. The Blacksmith Fork has been designated as a Blue Ribbon Fishery and keeping it in top health is of the uppermost importance to the DWR, their biologists, and the Cache Anglers. The Cache Anglers, Northern Utah Chapter of Trout Unlimited, motioned and voted to support the position of selective harvest by fishermen as a tool to keep the Blacksmith Fork in a balanced state. We are asking our members and other fishermen to follow the DWR regulations and use selective harvest on the Blacksmith Fork River by keeping some of the smaller brown trout they catch. Fish on the Blacksmith Fork River are in reasonable condition right now. Continued increase in numbers of fish with no harvest can lead to exceeding the carrying capacity. When this happens in the face of drought induced loss of habitat it will be even worse. This will result in deterioration of the health and condition of the fish and render them more vulnerable to all manner of environmental episodes. One of the more noticeable changes in fish quality would be loss of fat storage and muscle mass which results in what the fishery people term “snaky” fish.
Catch and release has become a standard with a lot of fishermen; fly-fishermen in particular over the last several decades have adopted it, and for some of us it has become almost a religion. Sometimes catch and release benefits a fishery and in a few instances it hurts the fishery. When the overall health of a fishery comes into question, it is imperative that we adjust our thinking to compensate for the needed changes to keep the population levels within the standards set by state biologists and fish health experts. Catch and release is a management tool that we thought would always lead to the greatest output from a fishery, but it is clear that some selective harvest is necessary to keep some brown trout populations in check.
The Middle Provo and the Ogden River below Pineview Dam are experiencing the same type of population problems. As a result, the regulations on the Middle Provo were changed this year allowing the use of bait as a way of speeding up the reduction of brown trout in that section.
Cache Anglers want fishermen to be aware of the situation we could face on the Blacksmith Fork River and let you know that each of you must make the personal decision to keep fish or not, but that selective harvest of the smaller brown trout can benefit this Blue Ribbon Fishery.
This page last updated on 04/16/2004