10-31-2005, 03:00 AM
The Tribune has the story on the rock piles weeks ago. Here it is.
Tight Lines
Brett Prettyman
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Rock piles in Bear Lake: A biologist's labor of love
All state biologists have an effect on wildlife and those who pursue it. Bryce Nielson's contributions to Utah fisheries began 35 years ago today. It is all too appropriate that Nielson is spending that anniversary working on a habitat project at his beloved Bear Lake that will benefit fish and anglers for decades to come.
"This is something I have been dealing with in my mind for a couple of years. I just could never figure out how we could do it. There was a series of unconnected connections that we were finally able to put together," Nielson said Tuesday.
That something involves hauling tons of rock by dump truck from the east side of the lake to the west side near the Bear Lake marina. The truck will be hauled by a barge to a GPS coordinate and then will dump the rock into the water.
The goal is to provide new structure in a lake bottom that is virtually void of any. The one place rock is found in the lake -- the aptly named Rock Pile -- pulls in fish and anglers by the hundreds.
Fish native to Bear Lake -- Bonneville cisco, whitefish and sculpin -- use the Rock Pile to spawn, which draws sport fish such as the Bear Lake cutthroat trout and lake trout to the area looking for eggs to eat. Where there are sport fish, there are anglers seeking them.
"Bear Lake is near and dear to my heart and this is something I really feel will be a significant addition to the fishery," Nielson said. "I like to do things that will outlast me."
The new structure will actually be four piles measuring about 30 feet by 30 feet and at least a foot deep. The piles will be about 200 yards apart. Of course, all of this depends on the inaccurate science of dumping rock in 30 feet of water.
Nielson attempted to get the project funded through state habitat dollars, but it was rejected. Money finally came from the state's Blue Ribbon Fisheries program.
So what was once going to be known as a "fish spawning reef" will instead be called a "fish and fisherman concentrator."
Nielson said the new rock piles are also important because they are close to the marina.
"We have a great state park facility close at hand with all kinds of facilities and it is a lot closer for anglers to access. We did have a case of an angler fishing by himself returning from the Rock Pile and his boat getting swamped. They never found his body. This is a much safer place to be in the winter," Nielson said.
Nielson said he doesn't care what the piles end up being named and would prefer they don't bear his name, but he is fond of the idea of naming them after each of the native species in the lake: cutthroat, cisco, whitefish and sculpin.
Bear Lake anglers should consider the wishes of the man who made it all happen.
brettp@sltrib.com
[signature]
Tight Lines
Brett Prettyman
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Rock piles in Bear Lake: A biologist's labor of love
All state biologists have an effect on wildlife and those who pursue it. Bryce Nielson's contributions to Utah fisheries began 35 years ago today. It is all too appropriate that Nielson is spending that anniversary working on a habitat project at his beloved Bear Lake that will benefit fish and anglers for decades to come.
"This is something I have been dealing with in my mind for a couple of years. I just could never figure out how we could do it. There was a series of unconnected connections that we were finally able to put together," Nielson said Tuesday.
That something involves hauling tons of rock by dump truck from the east side of the lake to the west side near the Bear Lake marina. The truck will be hauled by a barge to a GPS coordinate and then will dump the rock into the water.
The goal is to provide new structure in a lake bottom that is virtually void of any. The one place rock is found in the lake -- the aptly named Rock Pile -- pulls in fish and anglers by the hundreds.
Fish native to Bear Lake -- Bonneville cisco, whitefish and sculpin -- use the Rock Pile to spawn, which draws sport fish such as the Bear Lake cutthroat trout and lake trout to the area looking for eggs to eat. Where there are sport fish, there are anglers seeking them.
"Bear Lake is near and dear to my heart and this is something I really feel will be a significant addition to the fishery," Nielson said. "I like to do things that will outlast me."
The new structure will actually be four piles measuring about 30 feet by 30 feet and at least a foot deep. The piles will be about 200 yards apart. Of course, all of this depends on the inaccurate science of dumping rock in 30 feet of water.
Nielson attempted to get the project funded through state habitat dollars, but it was rejected. Money finally came from the state's Blue Ribbon Fisheries program.
So what was once going to be known as a "fish spawning reef" will instead be called a "fish and fisherman concentrator."
Nielson said the new rock piles are also important because they are close to the marina.
"We have a great state park facility close at hand with all kinds of facilities and it is a lot closer for anglers to access. We did have a case of an angler fishing by himself returning from the Rock Pile and his boat getting swamped. They never found his body. This is a much safer place to be in the winter," Nielson said.
Nielson said he doesn't care what the piles end up being named and would prefer they don't bear his name, but he is fond of the idea of naming them after each of the native species in the lake: cutthroat, cisco, whitefish and sculpin.
Bear Lake anglers should consider the wishes of the man who made it all happen.
brettp@sltrib.com
[signature]