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THE GREAT OUTDOORS — Starting Jan. 1, anglers will now be able to use corn as fishing bait on all Utah waters, after it and several other proposed changes were approved by the Utah Wildlife Board Thursday.
Corn as bait
Until 2016, Utah was the only state in the West where corn could not be used as fishing bait, according to a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources news release. In 2016, Wildlife officials sent out a poll to anglers to see if they’d like to use corn as bait; and of the 3,210 anglers who answered the question, 70 percent favored changing the regulation and allowing corn to be used as bait, officials said.
Since January 2017, anglers have been able to use corn at eight waters throughout Utah and, due to the positive feedback, wildlife biologists recommended expanding that to all of Utah’s waters. Wildlife conservation officers said they have “kept a close eye on the amount of litter those fishing with corn have left behind” and that they haven’t seen an impact, wildlife officials said.
Flaming Gorge trout limit
The wildlife board also approved a change to increase the daily lake trout limit at Flaming Gorge to 12, only one of which can be over 28 inches long. Previously, anglers were allowed to keep only eight lake trout caught at Flaming Gorge.
Two-day possession limit at Flaming Gorge and Strawberry reservoirs
Another approved change now allows a two-day possession limit at Flaming Gorge and Strawberry reservoirs. This allows anglers to keep more fish and spend more than one-day fishing before going home, wildlife officials said. Previously, anglers could not have more than one daily limit in their possession while fishing at either body of water.
Reduced catfish limit at Cutler Reservoir
The last approved change reduced the daily limit from eight catfish to four catfish at the Cutler Reservoir and its tributaries. Biologists said the decreased daily limit will allow catfish to grow bigger and help make Cutler Reservoir become “the place in Utah to catch big channel catfish.”
What do you think of the changes? Let us know in the comments.
Editor's note: The content of this article was taken from a press release sent out by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. This is not information gathered by KSL.com reporters.
