2/16/2006

Trout limit raised at Panguitch Lake as treatment to remove Utah Chub nears

PANGUITCH — Effective immediately, the daily trout bag and possession limit at Panguitch Lake and it tributaries has been raised to eight trout of any species or size.

This change will remain in effect until further notice, the Division of Wildlife Resources has announced.

Panguitch Lake and its tributaries will be treated with rotenone to eliminate Utah chubs about two weeks after the ice cover melts from the lake. All of the fish in the lake, including trout, will be removed during the treatment. The limits are being temporarily liberalized to allow anglers to harvest trout that would otherwise be lost because of the treatment.

The lake will be restocked with fish as soon as possible after the treatment. After the lake is restocked, the regulations listed in the 2006 Utah Fishing Proclamation for Panguitch Lake go into effect again.

Utah chubs affect fishery

Located southwest of Panguitch in the Dixie National Forest, Panguitch Lake is one of Utah's most popular fishing waters. Every year, thousands of anglers flock to its shores to try their luck at catching a limit of trout from its chilly, high mountain depths. Nearly 70 percent of the anglers that fish Panguitch Lake are from out of state, mostly from Nevada. Several "fishing lodge" type businesses at the lake depend on nonresident anglers for their livelihood.

Utah chubs were introduced illegally to the lake prior to the 1950s. These nuisance fish were probably used as bait, but some were released into the lake when they were no longer needed.

Utah chubs are native to the Great Basin area, but not to Panguitch Lake. They're very competitive fish, and when they become abundant in lakes, they displace the trout. Today the trout population in Panguitch Lake has declined to the point that less than 5 percent of the total fish in the lake are trout.

This is not the first time that this has happened. "We've treated the lake three times in the past to remove chubs, most recently in 1991," said Mike Ottenbacher, acting Southern Region aquatic manager for the DWR.

The lake was treated in the past with rotenone, which is a natural plant product that completely biodegrades in the environment. Rotenone has been approved for aquatic use by the Environmental Protection Agency. At the concentrations used to kill fish, rotenone is not toxic to humans, other mammals or birds.

After the 1991 treatment, the lake was restocked, and it became a great fishery again. "Panguitch has always been a very productive lake," Ottenbacher said. "Fish planted at seven or eight inches can grow to be nearly twice that size in a single growing season."

Committee formed to address problem

To address the current problem with chubs, the Panguitch Lake Advisory Committee was formed and was given the charge write a management plan for the lake. The committee is comprised of business owners from around the lake and Garfield County, local anglers, a Dixie National Forest fisheries biologist, a member of the Southern Regional Wildlife Advisory Council, public officials and a Utah Wildlife Board member.

The committee faced several challenges, including how to get rid of the chubs, how to keep Utah chubs and other problem fish out of the lake in the future, and how to do all of this without causing undue financial hardship on the businesses that thrive on fishing at Panguitch Lake.

The committee met several times in 2005 and came up with a plan that will provide a sustainable, quality fishery at Panguitch Lake. It includes a rotenone treatment to get rid of the chubs, the continued stocking of rainbow trout to maintain a family-type fishery, the use of predator trout (Bear Lake Bonneville cutthroat trout and tiger trout) to keep chub numbers low if they return, and regulations designed to maintain good fishing.

"This is a big challenge for us," said Doug Messerly, Southern Region supervisor for the DWR. "There are so many considerations that have to be taken into account in the management of this lake.

"First of all, because of the size of the lake, it will be costly," he said. "Nearly $250,000 has been budgeted for the purchase and application of the rotenone. It's expensive, and as you might imagine, requires special handling.

"Secondly, once the fish are gone, so is the fishing. The businesses around the lake are dependant on good fishing through the summer months. Without fish, they have a very difficult time financially. We feel like our plan addresses most of the concerns and, if all goes well, everyone will come out of this reaping the benefits of an excellent and sustainable fishery for some time to come."

Treatment should happen in mid-April

The plan calls for the rotenone treatment to take place about two weeks after the ice is off the lake. That traditionally happens in mid-April. The rotenone will take about three weeks to detoxify, after which the lake will be restocked with catchable size (8- to 10-inch) rainbow trout. A few brood-stock trout of larger size may also be stocked to make a few trophy-sized trout available immediately to anglers.

"We have to treat all the springs and tributaries to the lake as well, to assure that we get all of the chubs out," Messerly said. "Normally, we would close the lake to fishing for a time, plant small fish and allow them to grow for the next season.

"In this case, we're hoping to get a complete kill with the treatment and are going to plant catchable-size trout soon afterwards to get fishing back quickly," he said. "If all goes well, and the weather cooperates, it may be possible to have Panguitch Lake up and running before Memorial Day in May of this year."

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