Utah Lake: To hell and back

Utah Lake: To hell and back


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UTAH COUNTY — Utah Lake has been through hell. Believe it or not, the lake was once a renowned trout fishery with clear waters. Honestly. But raw sewage has a tendency to taint clear water and years of unrestricted commercial fishing didn’t do the native cutthroat population any favors.

With the abused lake’s biomass plummeting in the late 1800s, the powers that be decided there needed to be something in it. Enter the carp. While it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, the vacuum-mouthed detritus feeders only hastened the lake’s demise by eating vegetation and churning up sediment on the bottom.

Utah Lake is a shallow lake prone to strong winds, so an unstable bottom is a big deal. (No one in their right mind wants an unstable bottom.) The lake’s plant life served as crucial anchors in the sediment of the already volatile lake and as the carp plowed through it, the water got dirtier and less sunlight reached the remaining vegetation.

Aerial views of Utah Lake in Utah County. 
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
Aerial views of Utah Lake in Utah County. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

In addition to hurting water quality, less vegetation also meant less cover for young fish from the lake’s other species. The native June sucker, or the “good carp,” as most non-biologists know it, has suffered mightily. On the federal endangered species list since the late ‘80s, it is estimated that there are now less than a thousand living in the lake, which is the only place on earth they call home.

Accustomed to dirty water and the word that their name is an anagram for, carp now dominate and have become a poster child for many of the lake’s problems.

Despite this carpocalypse, I’ve had some amazing fishing days at Utah Lake. One summer afternoon, I caught a 21-pound channel catfish off the jetty at the Provo marina. It put up an incredibly intense fight and was one of the most thrilling fish I’ve ever landed.

Just last weekend, my wife and I returned to the marina with friends to see if we could hook into another monster whiskerfish. While we didn’t have a single strike, we thoroughly enjoyed our time on the water. My wife, a Washington native raised near the pristine shores of Lake Sammamish, even called Utah Lake “beautiful.”

I have to agree with her — Utah Lake can be heavenly. It’s been exciting to watch the lake rebound over the years. There hasn’t been sewage dumped into it since the 1960s — “Sewage- free since ’63!” — and aggressive efforts to improve the water quality have yielded impressive results.

I have my doubts about “Operation Carp Grinder,” which is attempting to remove the lake’s estimated 40 million pounds of carp by netting the fish and grinding them into compost. While I love the idea of carp pulp as much as the next guy, the plan seems unlikely to have a substantial effect given the stranglehold the carp have on the lake.

Fisherman adjust netting after catching Carp 
and White Bass at Goshen Bay in Utah Lake 
Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. The contract is to 
remove carp from Utah Lake with over 7 million 
pounds of the fish already caught and removed. 
(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)
Fisherman adjust netting after catching Carp and White Bass at Goshen Bay in Utah Lake Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. The contract is to remove carp from Utah Lake with over 7 million pounds of the fish already caught and removed. (Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)

I’ve seen aquatic search-and-destroy missions like this before, and their results are usually dubious. Lake trout were foolishly introduced into Yellowstone Lake back in the 1980s, and the voracious intruders have overrun the native cutthroat trout population. Concerned park officials have now issued a death sentence for the lake trout.

My dad and I saw their policy in effect while fishing on Yellowstone Lake a few summers ago. We watched as government-contracted fishermen hauled in nets laden with lakers and then dumped the fish into a mulching machine. It was a bizarre sight, to say the least. I don’t necessarily feel sorry for the invading species, but my anger is more directed at the irresponsible people who stocked the lake trout than the fish themselves.

Only time will tell if Yellowstone Lake can rebound from the lake trout invasion. Cutthroats are an important food source for bears, eagles and many other animals, while deep-dwelling lake trout are not. It’s a battle with serious ramifications, as indicated by the innovative plots park officials have concocted to eliminate the invasive species.

One thing is for sure — invasive species eradication will be an expensive, uphill battle for both Yellowstone Lake and Utah Lake.

As if Utah Lake’s ecological problems weren’t complex enough, there are still those who want to vivisect it with a 7-mile causeway. Conceived as a way to cut commute times for residents from the lake’s western shore, it makes about as much sense as installing a moving sidewalk for commuters from Santaquin to Provo. At a time when the lake is making precarious steps forward, why on earth would we want to drive cars down the middle of it?

So what is your take on Utah Lake? Is it heaven or hell?

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UtahSports
Grant Olsen

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