Utah
Most of Utah is in drought. How will that impact fishing this summer?
Utah’s reservoir system remains about 86% full, but some reservoirs aren’t nearly as full as they were this time a year ago.
Upper and Lower Enterprise reservoirs near Enterprise, Washington County, for example, are already down to 30% and 36%, respectively, according to state data. The Upper Enterprise Reservoir level is approximately 40 percentage points below its level last June.
State wildlife officials also increased the daily fishing limit at Crouse Reservoir in Uintah County last month when its levels dropped to 20% of capacity, meaning that the reservoir could run dry. With drought in place and a poor spring runoff, other ponds, lakes and small reservoirs across the state could experience similar problems this year, which could reduce fishing opportunities or even access at certain ramps.
It could also have an impact on fish, which is why Utah Division of Wildlife Resources officials are reminding anglers about the impacts of drought in fishing as water conditions inch closer to what the state experienced between 2020 and 2022.
Lower water levels cause bodies of water to warm up faster, which reduces the amount of oxygen in the water, says Trina Hedrick, the division’s sportfish coordinator. That can create all sorts of problems for the fish in the water.
“The combination of high temperatures and low oxygen can stress many coldwater fish species — like trout — which causes poor growth and disease,” she said in a statement. “Fish can also die when temperatures are too warm or the oxygen levels get too low.”
It’s why division allowed anglers to catch more fish at Crouse Reservoir, but the agency expects that bodies of water across southern Utah are most likely to have these types of impacts this year.
As for catching and releasing species, division experts recommend that anglers fish closer to dawn or dusk, when the temperatures are cooler. They also recommend that people release the fish in a deeper part of the pond, lake or reservoir they were caught in because the water is often cooler there, and they’re more likely to survive.
“Basically, try not to fish near little coves that have shallow, stagnant warm water,” Hedrick said.
The division urges anglers to take other steps to decrease stress. These include:
- Use single hooks on lures and bend down their barbs for easy release.
- Limit as much time fighting a fish while reeling it in, as well as time handling the fish. Use rubber or coated nylon nets to protect a fish’s slime layer and fins.
- Use forceps or needle-nosed pliers to remove a hook quickly. Don’t pull on the line if the fish is deeply hooked. Instead, cut the line as close to the hook as possible.
- Allow the fish to recover in the net before releasing it.
- Gently move a finish back and forth if it doesn’t stay upright when you release it. Consider harvesting it if it doesn’t, but only if it’s within the legal daily limit for that species.
SALT LAKE CITY — A California man in Utah, as part of his duties with the National Guard, is accused of trying to solicit sex from a young teenager.
Joshua Ruben Rodriguez, 29, of Fresno, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with attempted rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and enticement of a minor, a second-degree felony.
The investigation began when an agent with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation posed as a 13-year-old girl on a “popular social media site … in an attempt to locate and apprehend adults attempting to have sexual contact with children,” according to charging documents.
On April 16, Rodriguez sent the agent a message — believing he was talking to a teen girl — that stated, “I’ll be direct with you, I would like to get to know you and (have sex with) your mind into a daze to where you feel like a woman,” according to charging documents.
When the “girl” asked if he had a problem with her age, Rodriguez replied, “I don’t have a problem with your age,” the charges state.
The agent told Rodriguez to meet at an apartment complex in Salt Lake County where the girl lived, claiming her mother would be gone. When Rodriguez arrived, he was taken into custody, the charges state.
“(Rodriguez) does not have ties to Utah. He is a resident of Fresno, California. (He) was in town as part of his military service with the California National Guard,” prosecutors stated in charging documents while requesting he be held without bail pending trial.
ST. GEORGE, Utah (KUTV) — One person was hospitalized at the St. George Regional Hospital after a car rolled and caught fire just south of the Utah-Arizona border.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department in Arizona said its crews responded to the crash near the Black Rock Road exit – roughly two miles south of the state border – on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, crews put out the car fire and found the driver had left the scene. A single occupant, who was able to get out of the car on their own, was transported to the hospital by a Beaver Dam ambulance.
MORE | Crashes
Their condition has not been publicly released.
Details on what led to the crash and the condition of the driver were not immediately available.
The Beaver Dam and Littlefield Fire Department said law enforcement investigated the scene.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz missed out on the NBA Playoffs, but still scored a big win thanks to a coin flip.
In Monday’s tiebreaker coin flip to determine who had the fourth-worst record in the league last season, the Jazz came out winners over the Sacramento Kings, who had the same 22-60 record.
Had the Jazz lost the coin flip, they would have been fifth in NBA Draft Lottery odds. Only the worst four teams are guaranteed to remain within the top eight of the lottery.
If Utah had fallen to fifth, there would have been the chance they could have dropped out of the top 8 teams in the lottery, and owed the draft pick to Oklahoma City, which was top-8 protected in a previous trade.
The Jazz now have an 11.5 percent chance to win the first overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, which is scheduled for Sunday, May 10.
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