WYO Angler Newsletter

[Juke]

Below is the link to the Green River Basin Angler Newsletter put out by the SWyo F&G. There is a newsletter put out for all the administrative regions of Wyoming. This is an example of one of the finest examples of state/public interaction I have seen. It preps the public for reg changes and why they are needed. Utah could take a note from this strategy.

http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/Fish/Newsletters/GreenRiver/Green%20River%20Basin%20Newsletter%202004.pdf

Some items I found interesting were:
1. The level of declining fish numbers over the last 4 years on the Green below Fontenelle
2. The potential for the kokanee population to crash in FG this year.
3. Burbot in the Green drainage
4. 25" splake

[PowerBaitHeppy]

"But make no mistake, the Green River is worth fishing. Throwing streamers, nymphs, rapalas, spoons, or spinners can turn up some memorable trout and if nothing else the Green is a treat to fish if you like relative solitude and the chance for a large trout."

I couldn't have said it better. I love fishing through Seedskadee. Our trip a couple weeks ago was some of the best fishing I've had on the Green below Fontanelle ever!

[Wyoming2utah]

This sounds very familiar: "In order to bring kokanee and lake trout populations back into balance, anglers need to harvest lake trout. Lake trout regulations were liberalized in 2004, allowing each angler to keep up to 6 fish (only 1 lake trout may exceed 28 inches). Ice anglers took advantage of the new regulation and did their part in helping to manage lake trout by keeping limits of these smaller fish. In fact, Flaming Gorge ice anglers experienced some of the best laker fising in many years. Now it is up to the boat anglers to do their part..."

Is this some kind of conspiracy against catch and release? :))

Also, I brought up the burbot thing about two years ago on this site...it is going to be interesting to see what kind of effect they will have on the reservoir.

[Wyoming2utah]

"This is an example of one of the finest examples of state/public interaction I have seen. It preps the public for reg changes and why they are needed. Utah could take a note from this strategy."

Why? Explain...

[chris]

Why Utah could learn from it or why it is one of the finest examples?

[Stoney Clarke]

"But, after talking with the biologist in Green River who is over this section of river, I do know that the sizes of fish are way up. In fact, he told us that there were more big fish in this section of the Green than he had ever seen. So, to me, not only did 2003 fish very well, but it was probably the best year that I have seen (I started fishing this section in l998)."

W2U Quote

I realize the quality of fishing is relative to each person. But in one thread you imply through the statement of a biologist in WY that the fishing on the Green in WY is the best since 1998, yet we have report from Wyoming saying it was the worst in 4 years. I am assuming the biologist had some input into this report. Were you just Bull Shitting us when you made the statement above? This backs up my assesment of this section. You seem to waffle alot on issues and skew the data toward what ever side of the arguement you decide to take. And PBJ if the Green in WY is fishing so well why send your friends to the Utah Green?

SC

[PowerBaitHeppy]

slow down stoney -- the report showed numbers, and sizes of fish, it didn't mention how well it fished, except for the part I already quoted. Like I already mentioned, our trip was definately the best fishing I have ever had on the Green below Fontanelle. Between 4 of us, we caught three fish over 21". That's pretty good by my standards. Look at W2U's quote again. It reiterates what the report shows. Fewer fish/mile, and bigger fish. Makes perfect sense.

But hey, leave the solitude, and big fish to us, and continue to fish with the masses!

I had no part in my buddies decision to make a trip to the Green below the Gorge. He was invited by a friend (who i don't know) to go fish it. I am not going to try to talk him out of it, because I do think that it will be a very good trip for him, everyone needs to experience the Green below the Gorge at least once. Then, it's on to Greener pastures. I have already invited him to go on a trip with us somewhere else, and get him interested in fishing big rivers.

[Wyoming2utah]

"But in one thread you imply through the statement of a biologist in WY that the fishing on the Green in WY is the best since 1998, yet we have report from Wyoming saying it was the worst in 4 years."

Stoney, one more time just for you ....fewer fish=bigger fish=better fishing (from my standpoint). Although the fish numbers are way down (which both PBH and I realize) the average sizes of these fish are up. According to the newsletter "the brown trout population has declined by about 40% since 1999. Good numbers of large brown trout between 15 and 22 inches are still present in the river, but few small brown trout were captured compared to previous years, indicating that spwaning in 2001 and 2002 was not very successful." So, although you might not catch as many fish, the ones you do catch are large. Best and worst are totally relative...if you want to go catch lots of small fish, by all means, go do it. But, when I imply that the fishing is the best it has been in 4 years it is because the fish are bigger than what I have seen! Now, if we start losing the 15-22 inchers, fishing will be bad.

Chris, both.

[Fred]

"Our trip a couple weeks ago was some of the best fishing I've had on the Green below Fontanelle ever"

"Between 4 of us, we caught three fish over 21".

I don't know. That's the best ever and you average less than one big fish a person?

Man, I don't have to drive that far to have better odds of hooking into a hog.

But, I have also had better days than that on that section of the Green. With several big fish by myself.

Maybe the sizes aren't up, but the fish numbers are down?

[PowerBaitHeppy]

Fred -- of the fish over 21", one was 24", and the other was 23". Most of the rest of the fish we caught were in the neighborhood of 17-20" . It was a good day of fishing, and it was the best day fishing I've had below Fontanelle.

As for averaging less than one big fish per person....if everyon caught fish that big, then they wouldn't be considered big, but average.

one big fish is good enough to consider a trip good. 3 of them make a trip really good!

So, what are we trying to debate here anyway?

[Wyoming2utah]

Compared to the Green below the Gorge 3 fish over 21" is really good. I have never seen nor had anyone in my group ever catch a fish over 21" on the A section. In the 5 years that I have fished this section of the river, I have not seen as many big fish as what I have seen the past year. The biologist that we spoke to (Wengert) claimed that he had never seen as many big fish in this section of the river...from the information in the newsletter, from my own experience, and the comments from a biologist in the area, it sounds like the fish lost are in the smaller sizes (under 15"). If you have had better days than us on this section of the river, great...maybe you know a lot more about what you are doing than we do...maybe you have more experience fishing this section of the river than us. I don't know. Also, I can catch plenty of hogs over 21" right here in my own area...but, if I am going to float the Green, it is not going to be below the Gorge.

[Fred]

Hot Spotters!!!!

[Juke]

Wyo- This newsletter is a proactive management tool. It primes the anglers for possible reg changes and the nice thing is they do with data. But even better they do it well in advance. Imagine if the DWR put out a publications such as this on the Provo in the first quarter of 2003. There would not have been the brouhaha that ended up erupting. This is the first year I have seen the DWR be very proactive in their angler education with that fishing publication that they stuck in tackle shops and gas stations around the state. Still weak however.

Further, you just might lose the 15-22 inch sized fish due to the lack of recruitment. A 66% drop in fish numbers is alarming to me. Better hope for the drought to loosen its grip.

Also you are crazy not to think that 20"+ fish are not in the A section, in same numbers as on the Green below Fontenelle. They are definately there!

[PowerBaitHeppy]

Better hope for the drought to loosen its grip.



I pray for that every day -- but not because of the Green! I am worried a little more about what is going to happen in our own state...I am worried about what my lawn will look like, and how my golf game is going to be affected when I have to start playing on dirt...oh, my poor, poor clubs..Oh, and I am also worried about how the fish in Minersville are ever going to make it through the summer swimming in the dirt...stupid dry dirt...

Also, I know that at one time, there were lots of fish in the A section of the Green over 20". I still believe that there are some big fish in that section, but I don't think that there are as many as lots of people think. How about over 24"? When was the last time someone saw a 23"+ fish come out of the A section of the Green (I'm not trying to argue with anyone here, I would just like to know how many people have actually caught some this big from this section...)

Hot Spotters!

-- so what else is new?

[Wyoming2utah]

So, who gets the newsletter? I am a Wyoming license holder and the first I had seen it was today. What do they (Wyoming) do with them? What Utah fishing publication are you speaking of? Don't get me wrong...I think the newsletter is a good thing.

"Also you are crazy not to think that 20"+ fish are not in the A section, in same numbers as on the Green below Fontenelle. They are definately there!"

I don't doubt that they are there. In fact, the first time I ever floated this section I saw a dead brown that was well over 30 inches (we measured it, but I don't remember exactly how long it was). I am saying that I have never caught one in this section over 20 inches, yet almost every trip to the Green below Fontenelle I can catch one.

As far as losing the 15-22 inch sized fish because of the drought...well, that is the scary thing. I don't believe fishing on this section has gone down hill at all yet (in fact, I think it is actually better because the average size fish has been bigger), but because the 2001 and 2002 age classes are not showing up as much as they should, it looks like the fishing will go down hill. However, because much of the trout population of the river is due to stocking, the Wyoming Game and Fish could increase their stocking rates (probably won't happen, but an option).

[chris]

Was the last time I fished the green and I caught a 26 inch cutt and the year before a 27 inch cutt. Know there there somewhere just haven't been back due to the gortex hatch.

[Fred]

I caught a 23 inch brown out of the A section of the Green not too long ago. I'll see if I can dig up the pic. It's laying beside my net, which is also 23 inches long. that's how i knew. Caught several big browns this spring, but didn't put a tape to them.

Didn't you guys see that hog that Curtis Fry's boy caught or the huge fish Steelies caught two years ago. Those were pushing 30, if I remember right.

[Crosby]

http://gf.state.wy.us/fish/fishing/Newsletters/index.asp

the Wy DWR has a pretty good web site.

[Norm]

Put the keyboard down and step back slowly. Geez, what you trying to do, pick a fight with the cheerleader squad? Everyone else, PBH and W2U are right, there are no fish bigger than 14" in the green stay home and fish other waters, expecially the weekend I head up. I want all the small edible fish to my self.

War spirit squad.

Norm

[Stoney Clarke]

PBJ,

My 12 year old daughter landed (I got the take and set the hook) a estimated 25 inch Brown on the "A" section 2 summers ago. I say estimated because the width of my boat net is 22 inches across and we still had the tail and part of the back hanging out when laid flat. My 10 year old daughter caught and landed a 21 inch Brown in the same hole last year. Maybe they can give you a few pointers. Maybe it's just you who can't get into the big ones on that river. A year does not go by that I don't land a half dozen over 20 inches.

[PowerBaitHeppy]

I'll be the first to admit -- I never am the one to catch the big fish....it's always someone eles...dang little girls out fishing me...

good to see that there are still some biggies in there...I still feel like you have a better chance of catching a 180lb tweed than a 23" fish from the A section...

Man -- if this was the other site, we'd all get banned for all the personal attacks...I wonder what it would take on this site...

[Fred]

I don't see why you would totally avoid a river just because it gets crowded. I like to fish lots of different waters. If there are people around, great. If not, that's great too.

The Green River below Flaming Gorge is a great river and a lot of fun, if you ask me. Cary and I go out in mid-January and fish it when NOBODY else is around. This year, we saw two drift boats on the A section all day on a very pleasant Sunny Sunday morning. One other guy walking the banks, and that was it.

In March, sure there were people, but lots of river to fish. I had a blast.

Sorry you couldnt make WY2. You said you might come, but I didn't see you there!

[PowerBaitHeppy]

Fred -- we still fish the Green below the Gorge on occasion. It is a beautiful river, and is fun to fish. I guess we (my bothers, yes -- bothers, and my dad) like to experience new places. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I get bored fishing the same river over and over. Add in the crowds, and the Green below the Gorge just doesn't appeal to me that much any more. Yes, I will still make a trip up there occasionally. In fact, I keep bugging the old man to take me and my wife up there. She has never floated it, and I think she would really enjoy it. But, if she isn't going, I would rather go fish somewhere else, that might not appeal too much to the non-fisherman. Somewhere like the upper Green, or the South Fork. There are many rivers in the west that I have not yet fished, and that I would like to fish a couple more times....I've done the Green below the Gorge. It just doesn't hold the same appeal to me now, as it did 10 years ago...

[Juke]

The DWR put out a glossy color mag similar in content and length to their Wildlife Review magazine. But this one was only dedicated to fishing. Picked it up at Jay's Sinclair in Grantsville.

I have seen the newsletters at the sporting goods store(next to the liquor store...mmmm, Fat Tire) at the Jubilee in Evanston. This was only the Green River version. The others I have read on their website.

Thanks for the link Crosby.

[flymatic]

"Fish Need Water"....what a great headline for an article..that is the most profound statement I've seen in awhile. Is this true?..Did anybody else know this?...or am I the last to know???

-flymatic

[Wyoming2utah]

Flymatic, funny that you bring that up...but, my father (who works as the southern region's aquatics manager for the DWR) has had to fight this fight repeatedly during the drought. He is constantly hearing people complain about how bad the fishing has been at places like Minersville and Piute that have been drained down to nothing and still he can't get people to understand that these types of places lose all the fish when the lake loses its water. I have even seen this same topic brought up on BFT and people love to argue that the DWR screwed up Minersville and Piute with poor management...I am not sure how you manage a fishery that has no water. Anyways, I bet the biologists in Wyoming are fighting some of these same fights...

Fred, I wanted to go to the Green with the crew, but my obligations with the baseball team got in the way. The only time I really like to fish the A section is during the winter or early spring when the crowds are down. It can be fun casting dries to slurping fish. I wouldn't ever argue that it is not a good river...but, it is nowhere near my first choice for a float trip.