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[size 2][font "Comic Sans MS"] I watched Outdoors With Doug Miller last night and quite enjoyed his informative show on the rock project at Bear Lake.
The four new rock piles are named after the four species of fish endemic to Bear Lake. In alphabetical order from south to north, the four rock piles are Cisco, Cutthroat, Sculpin and Whitefish.
Our own BLFG and his "tug boat" operation got some good air time too.
Here is a link to the arcticle:
[url "http://kutv.com/outdoors/local_story_301180342.html"]http://kutv.com/outdoors/local_story_301180342.html[/url]
Here is a link to the GPS coordinates for each of the rock piles:
[url "http://kutv.com/outdoors/local_story_301181813.html"]http://kutv.com/outdoors/local_story_301181813.html[/url]
These new rock piles sound to be pretty good for fishing. They are already starting to draw fish to them. And, for fishermen in small boats like mine, they are relatively close to the marina for quick escape from big waves. I kind of suspect that the drawback will be that these piles could become extremely popular and at times even be a combat fishing zone for boaters. I suspect that I, for one, will contribute to that. But then again, on the other hand, they may be spread out far enough that tight quarters won't be a problem. It will be exciting to fish and explore these new rock structures.
Thanks to all who had a part in making it happen. I think it is fantastic.[/font][/size]
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Oh! I forgot all about watching that. I think the rock piles will be a good thing. The only problems i forsee is in the summer with the skiiers wanting to buzz by you like they do everywhere else. thanks for the links.
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I agree with you about the water skiiers possibly being a problem. I am excited about the new structure and I think it will greatly help all species of fish in Bear Lake. The one thing that I worry about is the amount of big Lakers that might be taken from this new hot-spot. People just don't realize how old those fish are. I hope that all of us will fish responsibly. Jake
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Hey Coot,
You are right, that was a really good peice on the BL rock piles. Thanks for posting the GPS coords.
I suspect the rock piles will be a lot like the island at Willard, everyone trolling back and forth dodging each other.
By the way, have you fished the Bay lately? When does the fall walleye bite start?
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[size 2][font "Comic Sans MS"] Whit210,
I haven't been out on Willard Bay for quite some time now. I don't really follow the walleye activity too much other than a little bit in the spring/summer.[/font][/size]
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I think I will give the bay a try this week. I will post and let you know the report.
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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
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[size 2][font "Comic Sans MS"]Thanks Redlinght88 ... that's a good read.
Another thing I learnt in the Doug Miller piece was that the "Rock Pile" out by Guss's Point wasn't even discovered until 1974. I would have thought that it would have been know many years before that. I wonder if 1974 was about when sonar depth finders and fish finders started to become available to the public. Does anyone know? [/font][/size]
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You are correct Ralph. Although there were sonars before 1974, that is when we got the first recording sonar. Specifically a Lowrance X-15 paper graph. We still have that machine, it still works like a top and what's nice about the paper graphs is that you have a "hard copy" record that you can take home an ponder after your trip is over. These last few years I have seen a resurgence of the paper graph sonars in use on Bear Lake.
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Two weekends ago we were up there and marked the piles. I felt there was no need to mark all four because they are in a straight row, so I just marked the first and forth. Scott told us about Doug's up coming show but I thought his GPS cord might not be the same as mine because some GPS's measure cord in different units. It sure will be interesting to see if the fish use the new rock piles this year.
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OK guys I got onto Dougs web site and printed the coordinates for the new piles but he has them in degree minute seconds. How do you convert that over so that you can enter the coordinates into a Garmin unit? Do you have to change your format on the unit, and if so will that mess up your other readings?????
In other words I need those points in laymen terms.
See ya there on the 19th!!!
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I still use my old pioneer that has the degree input, but check out the link below it may help. Also, Doug did say that the GPS readings can be +/- 19 feet. That can vary due to the DEFCON of the military.
[url "http://life.csu.edu.au/geo/dms.html"]http://life.csu.edu.au/geo/dms.html[/url]
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I've added the new rock piles to [url "http://home.comcast.net/~thumbrock/images/bltopo.jpg"]my Bear Lake map[/url]. I hope they attract fish like they're suppose to.
[center] ![[Image: gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=12831;]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=12831;) [/center] [left] [/left]
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Thanks Whit that was just what I was looking for.
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Think we could use some projects like this in some other lakes. Utah, Willard, Yuba. Well yuba got some trees but I'm talking rocks. Something more permanent. I wonder if the DWR would allow a group of us to take on a small project at one of these waters. What do you all think.
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Are there current laws on the books that does not allow the dumping of natural structure material such as Christmas Trees, Rocks, Wood Pallets etc.
My parents live on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas and every single dock and point within that lake has man placed structure for the sheer purpose of enhancing the fishing on the lake. And I am willing to say in all cases the structure was placed by private citizens.
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I was wondering about that myself. I was thinking we could haul some christmas trees and buckets of medium sized rocks to some gps locations and make some small structure points on these lakes. If we made it a BFT gathering I'm sure we could make quite the structure.
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Hold it a minute guys. What you are talking about doing is illegal. The UDWR applied for and received permits from the Army Corps of Engineers for the rockpile project. In addition the permit had stipulations to ensure anything we added would not be a navigation hazard, would not degrade over time, yada, yada, yada. Placing trees or anything else for that matter in UTAH waters without proper permits is illegal and punishment is harsh. I don't know the laws of other states so I can't knowledgeably address that topic.
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BLFG
Thats what I was wondering. Just a thought of how we could help out. I would of contacted the DWR and found out the scope if no one on here knew. Thanks for letting us know.
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Thanks for the info. That was my question. Are there laws prohibiting what we are talking about? Obviosly, from your response there are. Please don't get me wrong, at no time did I consider illegally placing anything in the water. I was just asking the question.
Although, I am amazed at the amount of regulation Utah puts on the individual citizen when in other states, allowing the citizen to participate in the management process (other than limits and license fee's) seems to help the fishing experience.
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