Hey Leaky ol’ buddy…and everybody else. Sorry if I sound a bit cynical. I have just been taking too many doses of “reality laxative” and it is starting to work.
Most folks on this board know about my “valiant attempt” to get regulations changed on Yuba last year. The biologists in the area recommended it. Anglers recommended it. I did a whole lot of on the water research and talking with biologists and launched my campaign at the RAC. At every step of the way, I was assured I had a good shot at it. “All you need to do is get the vote and it is a shoo-in at the Board Meeting.”
At the September RAC meeting we got the vote…7-2. Again, I was told to follow up at the Board meeting in October…by DWR people. Just before the meeting, I had others lined up to show up with me to plead the case. Once again I was assured that the 7-2 vote by RAC would carry the board. NOT.
I told those I had lined up that they were not needed. I was the only one there besides DWR and RAC people. But, Ed Kent, chairman of the Central RAC committee was on vacation and was not there. His stand in had not even been at the meeting. Most of the morning was taken up with hunting issues and a few basic fishing regs. Just before time to break for lunch, one of the board members asked Roger Wilson “what about the proposal to open Yuba to perch fishing?” Roger Wilson just said “Our recommendation is to STAY THE COURSE”…and that was that. There was no opening for discussion and the board broke for lunch. I did not go back.
Since then the perch population has exploded, and there is now a very good chance that there will be a water problem and a stunting problem before we ever get to fish it. A 10 fish limit was what I recommended last year, as a conciliatory middle of the road approach to appease those who did not want it opened at all. Right now it could sustain unlimited harvest without hurting the lake. There has never been a perch lake in history that has been fished out. The problems are always biology…water and predator problems…with some disease and dieoffs thrown in.
Sour grapes. Since then, virtually every DWR rep I have talked to has admitted that the lake should have been opened. BUT…and there is always the BUT…it would have violated the newly installed policy of running things through the system for two years first. That was in response to a quick change in the regs on Provo River that upset the troutaholics but never did really have any affect on the fishing.
**I decided to get involved and learn the process better, to affect change from within. I joined the Utah Angers Coalition and was appointed Secretary. I have been very involved with several angling groups and the inner workings of DWR. During that time I have witnessed the posturing and the politics within DWR…and what it does positively and negatively for the anglers. **
**In a nutshell, DWR always has money woes. They can never get enough money from state legislature to do what needs to be done. Not all of the license money goes back to fishing, just in case you didn’t know. That puts a burden on those at the top to find ways to increase overall revenue, just to get a small piece of it. There is a constant turnover in DWR personnel, because Utah DWR employees are about the lowest paid in the nation. They get trained here and then go where they can make a living. **
All of the projects are usually driven by one or more individuals with a personal interest…political or whatever. Most of them take lots of money and many are focused on the elite angler…fly flingers or troutaholics who want to save far off exotic waters that most of us will never fish. When it gets down to managing the fisheries that the bulk of today’s angling public uses…or the species (non-trout) that many of us prefer…there is no effort and no money. They let the fisheries (perch, bass, walleye) sustain themselves, but then they put ridiculous management regulations in place that are ludicrous by comparison to what mainstream angling American is used to.
Granted, Utah is unique and many of our fisheries are great and the result of far thinking and hardworking DWR programs. But, it is frustrating to see some of the waters and the species programs that keep getting ignored or kicked around, just because someone is afraid of making a bad decision that will cost them a promotion. They would rather make no decisions than one that could come back on them later. Someone in DWR lobbies heavily for a higher position, with campaign promises of how much they are going to do for positive change. Then, when they get the position, they put on the brakes and build walls around themselves to protect their little empires. No different than corporate America, but this system affects us fishermen…and not in a good way.
Crash. Just fell off my soapbox.
[unsure] Would you like to expand on what you mean politically? Who are they listening to? Is my vote and opinion wasted? shold I bother even to turn in my opinion? I had always thought these guys and the biologists had our best interests in managing the fishery for all of us. [unimpressed] So much for being niave.