Big tiger muskie's in Pineview

Six fish removed from the list

Have you ever wondered what you’d do if you caught a fish that was a
new Utah state record? How would you get it certified?

In the past, the procedure to get a record fish certified was a little
vague. But not anymore. To help anglers, biologists with the Division
of Wildlife Resources have spelled out the requirements on new record
fish application forms. The forms became available on Jan. 1.

You can see the forms and learn the requirements at
www.wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/record-fish.html.

“In addition to explaining the rules better, we also dropped six fish
from the list,” says Drew Cushing, warm water sport fisheries
coordinator for the DWR.

Three nongame fish -- Utah chub, Utah sucker and white sucker -- are
among the six fish that have been dropped from the list. Two hybrid
trout species that the DWR hasn’t produced in its hatcheries for years
-- brownbow and brake -- have also been dropped. And albino rainbow
trout, which now fall under the general rainbow trout category, have
also been dropped from the list.

“Most states don’t keep records for nongame fish,” Cushing says.
“We decided to drop nongame fish from Utah’s list too.”

Endangered June suckers were another reason to drop suckers from the
list.

“Many anglers have a difficult time telling the different sucker
species apart,” Cushing says. “Removing suckers from the list
should reduce the chance that an angler catches an endangered June
sucker and then keep the fish, not realizing he or she has a fish
that’s listed on the federal Endangered Species list.”

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources
office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

Marc Anderson of Pleasant Grove shows the huge tiger muskie he caught at Pineview Reservoir in 2006. Anderson’s fish was a state record for about five weeks. Then an even bigger tiger muskie was caught at Pineview!