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Anyone looking for chub meat for bait?

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Catherder 
The last three years have been really good fishing up there with only an occasional chub but this year so far has been very disappointing. I'm not sure what has changed.
A quick look at the stocking report might explain.

2019: ~34,000 wipers stocked
2020: ~19,000 wipers stocked
2021: ~5500 wipers stocked
2022: ~19,000 wipers stocked (4"+) & another 40,000 1" wipers stocked



So, in 2021 they only stocked 5500 wipers. Then in 2022 they stock 19,000 4 - 9" wipers + another 40,000 1" wipers. That tells me that the gill net survey in 2022 showed a significant increase in chub population, which prompted a "oh crap, we blew it by not getting more wipers in 2020" reaction.

I don't know. Just looking at those numbers tells me that the DWR is watching that chub population and trying to stay on top of it -- but what happened in 2021? And does that explain everything? Are the wipers surviving at Scofield? Are we losing them -- elevation too high? Interesting.


It makes me worry about Panguitch Lake, to be honest...
 
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In all of the lakes that wipers have been introduced, it typically took numerous years before they really started showing up. So, reports from anglers "not catching any" is not a surprise. It may not be a concern either.

However, angler reports, like Tom's, of catching lots of chubs (even large chubs) is concerning. In lakes like Jordanelle, when only "large" chubs were around, it wasn't a bad thing. But in a lake like Scofield, which has wipers and tiger musky, it is a concern. Those fish should be eating the large chubs too!

Unfortunately, we are in a "wait and see" situation. Because the lake was not treated to eliminate chubs prior to restocking, then we have no choice but to wait another 5 (10, 20?) years to see if the management plan is going to work.

The good news? It has been shown that stocking wipers on top of an existing chub population, in an effort to control that chub population, works. Hopefully anglers catching chubs won't last very long, and in another year (or two, or three) chub numbers will decrease.


(FWIW -- If Tom can catch chubs on his fly rod, then the DWR will certainly catch them in their nets. The numbers are going to be higher than the DWR wants them to be....)
 
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