Jeff Brooks
01-09-2002, 06:17 PM
Strawberry Anglers Association meeting
January 8, 2002
Last night I attended my first Strawberry Anglers Association (SAA) meeting and I found the meeting to be informative on several levels, particularly from the vantage point of how deeply involved the SAA is in terms of state legislation that affects fishing at a much broader level that I would have guessed. I figured that the SAA was only concerned about the Berry, however the SAA is far less provincial than that (although the Berry is of course its primary concern) and I was also interested to learn that recently many special interest fishing groups such as SAA, many of the other trout organizations and the BASS groups have all formed a fishing consortium to fight for the rights of anglers of all kinds state wide.
The recently retired (he retired just last week) director of the DWR, John Kimball, spoke to us for about 45 minutes and then he took some questions, but the most important point he made was the absolutely clear need for "Citizen Participation" if we want to protect, preserve, and improve our aquatic habitat and angling resources. I learned among many other things that for example, after the Berry was treated in 1990 that the DWR was only planning on stocking the Cutthroat trout, and due to the efforts of the SAA (10,000 signed petitions) we were able to get the rainbows put back into the Berry.
I've also had a bit of a skewed viewpoint of the DWR as the "enemy" of sorts, yet after seeing first hand the cordial and friendly exchanges between the president of the SAA and the former director of the DWR, and to listen to how the two of them worked so closely together for so many years for the welfare of that great fishery, I now have a different viewpoint about the DWR (BTW, John is a member of SAA).
I asked several questions, but the two that will probably be of most interest here are regarding law enforcement with regards to poaching, and the other was regarding any special upcoming regulations to improve fishing at the Berry.
Enforcement:
Following a somewhat lengthy discussion about the problems of poaching at Strawberry, the former director of the DWR said that we should call 911 and ask for the county Sheriff's to report poaching at the Berry. He said that the 800 number for poaching takes too many steps to reach the enforcement officers, and then we should be prepared to offer to testify or swear out a complaint against the offenders, and then be sure to call back in a day or two and ask for a follow-up on the incident.
He further suggested that SAA get with the wildlife board (Dick Diamond) and ask for a feedback-loop process to be developed to address my concerns about not being able to get any follow-up information about poachers I've reported over the past few years. Ed Kent known Mr. Diamond and he will follow up with this…
Special Regulations:
The idea has been tossed around about making the Indian Creek - Renegade Bay end of the reservoir an artificial lure and fly only zone, and in order to test the viability of such a proposal, this season, a region of Panguich (sp?) lake will be set aside as a special artificial lure and fly only zone. The hope is that by reducing the predation (dare I use such a strong term?) of bait fisherman that the trout can have a chance to grow larger since most fly fisherman practice catch and release, and probably more importantly, the mortality rate of the released fish is much lower when the fish are caught with artificial lures and flies. One possible hitch is the fact that the fish migrate around the lake…
Following the testing at Panguich lake, if warranted by the results, the SAA could make recommendations to do something similar to what I've outlined at the Berry.
At the next meeting in February, the creel survey and other scientific statistical data from this year will be released to the public, and we'll be favored with a power point presentation from the biologist that conducted the surveys. This information will help the SAA to develop recommendations for the management of Strawberry in future years. For example, Jim Carter the president of SAA told me following the meeting that the creel survey information would help SAA make an informed and an intelligent decision with regards to making limit recommendations for Strawberry. I asked him why, when the entire state limit was reduced by half, that Strawberry was left at 4 fish? And he said they simply did not have the data to go before the DWR with such a recommendation.
I was pleased to see that the SAA doesn't just shoot from the hip when it comes to policy recommendations, rather they are trying to go about this in a rational and scientific manner. That was good news…
In the past I've been contented to sit on the sidelines and I've always assumed that others would do what was necessary to protect fishing in Utah. I was wrong.
I know that here at "Utah On The Fly" there are many fly fishermen who enjoy the Stillwater angling at the Berry and elsewhere. YOU need to get involved and help preserve and protect these great resources. Last night someone mentioned that with the population expected to double in the next 20 years, that if we do not work hard now to protect these resources, then they will be lost to our children and grandchildren.
Membership is $10.00 and the newsletter alone is worth getting at that price. Mike and Jason have posted the SAA web site link in the "Resources" link on the main page. Check it out and get involved and support the preservation of Strawberry.
Jeff
January 8, 2002
Last night I attended my first Strawberry Anglers Association (SAA) meeting and I found the meeting to be informative on several levels, particularly from the vantage point of how deeply involved the SAA is in terms of state legislation that affects fishing at a much broader level that I would have guessed. I figured that the SAA was only concerned about the Berry, however the SAA is far less provincial than that (although the Berry is of course its primary concern) and I was also interested to learn that recently many special interest fishing groups such as SAA, many of the other trout organizations and the BASS groups have all formed a fishing consortium to fight for the rights of anglers of all kinds state wide.
The recently retired (he retired just last week) director of the DWR, John Kimball, spoke to us for about 45 minutes and then he took some questions, but the most important point he made was the absolutely clear need for "Citizen Participation" if we want to protect, preserve, and improve our aquatic habitat and angling resources. I learned among many other things that for example, after the Berry was treated in 1990 that the DWR was only planning on stocking the Cutthroat trout, and due to the efforts of the SAA (10,000 signed petitions) we were able to get the rainbows put back into the Berry.
I've also had a bit of a skewed viewpoint of the DWR as the "enemy" of sorts, yet after seeing first hand the cordial and friendly exchanges between the president of the SAA and the former director of the DWR, and to listen to how the two of them worked so closely together for so many years for the welfare of that great fishery, I now have a different viewpoint about the DWR (BTW, John is a member of SAA).
I asked several questions, but the two that will probably be of most interest here are regarding law enforcement with regards to poaching, and the other was regarding any special upcoming regulations to improve fishing at the Berry.
Enforcement:
Following a somewhat lengthy discussion about the problems of poaching at Strawberry, the former director of the DWR said that we should call 911 and ask for the county Sheriff's to report poaching at the Berry. He said that the 800 number for poaching takes too many steps to reach the enforcement officers, and then we should be prepared to offer to testify or swear out a complaint against the offenders, and then be sure to call back in a day or two and ask for a follow-up on the incident.
He further suggested that SAA get with the wildlife board (Dick Diamond) and ask for a feedback-loop process to be developed to address my concerns about not being able to get any follow-up information about poachers I've reported over the past few years. Ed Kent known Mr. Diamond and he will follow up with this…
Special Regulations:
The idea has been tossed around about making the Indian Creek - Renegade Bay end of the reservoir an artificial lure and fly only zone, and in order to test the viability of such a proposal, this season, a region of Panguich (sp?) lake will be set aside as a special artificial lure and fly only zone. The hope is that by reducing the predation (dare I use such a strong term?) of bait fisherman that the trout can have a chance to grow larger since most fly fisherman practice catch and release, and probably more importantly, the mortality rate of the released fish is much lower when the fish are caught with artificial lures and flies. One possible hitch is the fact that the fish migrate around the lake…
Following the testing at Panguich lake, if warranted by the results, the SAA could make recommendations to do something similar to what I've outlined at the Berry.
At the next meeting in February, the creel survey and other scientific statistical data from this year will be released to the public, and we'll be favored with a power point presentation from the biologist that conducted the surveys. This information will help the SAA to develop recommendations for the management of Strawberry in future years. For example, Jim Carter the president of SAA told me following the meeting that the creel survey information would help SAA make an informed and an intelligent decision with regards to making limit recommendations for Strawberry. I asked him why, when the entire state limit was reduced by half, that Strawberry was left at 4 fish? And he said they simply did not have the data to go before the DWR with such a recommendation.
I was pleased to see that the SAA doesn't just shoot from the hip when it comes to policy recommendations, rather they are trying to go about this in a rational and scientific manner. That was good news…
In the past I've been contented to sit on the sidelines and I've always assumed that others would do what was necessary to protect fishing in Utah. I was wrong.
I know that here at "Utah On The Fly" there are many fly fishermen who enjoy the Stillwater angling at the Berry and elsewhere. YOU need to get involved and help preserve and protect these great resources. Last night someone mentioned that with the population expected to double in the next 20 years, that if we do not work hard now to protect these resources, then they will be lost to our children and grandchildren.
Membership is $10.00 and the newsletter alone is worth getting at that price. Mike and Jason have posted the SAA web site link in the "Resources" link on the main page. Check it out and get involved and support the preservation of Strawberry.
Jeff