Salt Lake City — The daily limit for all trout species at Oowah Lake was increased, and the daily limit for all fish at Bullock Reservoir was removed, allowing anglers to catch and keep many more fish during maintenance work at both reservoirs.
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Director Mike Fowlks issued the emergency change to the 2020 Utah Fishing Guidebook to give anglers the opportunity to catch more fish before both waterbodies are drained for infrastructure work this fall.
The daily limit at Oowah Lake in San Juan County will be increased from four trout to 16 trout from Aug. 13 to Dec. 31. Maintenance work on the dam will require the lake to be drained to low levels, which will likely result in the loss of the stocked trout. The lake offers rainbow and brook trout, and is fairly popular among locals.
The daily limit at Bullock Reservoir in Uintah County is being removed for all fish species from Aug. 13 to Nov. 1. The outlet gate on the reservoir needs to be serviced, and in order to reach the gate, the reservoir must be drained.
"We stock wipers, tiger muskie and brown trout into Bullock Reservoir, but you can also catch green sunfish that come in from the Uinta River," DWR Regional Aquatics Manager Trina Hedrick said. "Removing the daily limit will allow anglers to harvest more fish so they don't go to waste. Many of them will likely die when the reservoir is drained, so we want anglers to be able to enjoy these fish before that happens."
These fish limit changes come only three days after the daily fish limit was removed at Nine Mile Reservoir, which is also being drained for repairs.
All the other rules in the Utah Fishing Guidebook regarding Utah waterbodies have not changed and remain in effect.