# Will Utah Lake Ever make a Come Back?



## FishMogul (Sep 8, 2007)

I was driving by Utah Lake early this morning, and wondered if it could ever return to its original condition. If you were to go to lowes for a paint match of utah lake I think its called 
"biohazard green"
I have read and heard that the biggest culprit for polluting utah Lake is Geneva Steel. Now that Geneva is all but gone. Will Utah Lake ever return to a pristine fishery in Utah? if so how long will that take? It also wouldnt hurt to kill off the Carp population also. I havent tossed a line in that lake in several years but I have hope that it can make a strong come back.

Any comments?


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## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

I have never fished Utah Lake. Don't know if I will in my life time. Based on what they showed on the news last night...attempting to harvest 1 million Carp to provide food for 3rd world countries. During the news report and an interview with an individual they're going to stop sending the Carp to these countries because of the PCB content...So based on stories I've heard and what I saw on the news last night, IMHO it will take a very long time for Utah Lake to actually recover from all the yuck that was dumped in it.


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## stupiddog (Jan 15, 2008)

Utah Lake Lowly carp at center of scam probe
Feds say export scheme for Eastern Europe has cost investors $2 million
By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 04/26/2008 12:58:16 AM MDT

It looked like a Minnesota man had a lofty solution to Utah Lake's carp problem: Harvest the fish, which are destroying the lake's ecology, and send them to carp-loving people in Iraq, Bosnia and the Baltics for food.
But now Michael Anthony Powell's proposal has...

[blockquote6h4ffdh][exclamation6h4ffdh][/exclamation6h4ffdh]_Sorry, but forum rules prohibit the cutting and pasting of copyrighted material from other sites, so I've deleted the remainder of this Salt Lake Tribune story. Posting short excerpts is fine and posting links to stories is certainly okay.

Here's a link to the story: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9059105?IADID

Petersen_[/blockquote6h4ffdh]


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## metal_fish (Mar 19, 2008)

Most Canned tuna and other fish products have more PCBs in them then the carp in utah lake.
The "advisory" is just there for legal purposes. 
P.S. Utah lake is becoming a decent warm water fishery you should give it a try 8)


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

*NEWS FLASH* -------

*Utah Lake won't ever be a trout fishery again*. Its a shallow warm water desert pond... even without the carp. Best thing to do... deal. Learn to catch white bass, largemouth, catfish, and walleye and you all of a sudden have a huge prolific and highly enjoyable fishery dedicated to warmwater species. Oh... something else. This is not Homer Simpsons town with three eyed fish caused by dumping of nuclear reactor waste in the water... the fish are edible, you'd have to eat thousands in your lifetime (and some folks may not ever even catch that many) to have some devastating adverse effect on your health, and best of all, the fish in the lake are **** tasty... yet another reason to quit wishing for what possibly was in the past and start taking advantage of the possibilities of the here and now.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Riverrat77 said:


> *NEWS FLASH* -------
> Oh... something else. This is not Homer Simpsons town with three eyed fish caused by dumping of nuclear reactor waste in the water...


Your right about that Riverrat77...the fish have gone from three eye's to only one eye now.. _(O)_ .....so I guess it's getting better. Remember Ratt, I grew up around the Jordan River that comes out of Utah Lake. I have seen _everything_ dead, that could be dead, in that river. ( cows, pigs, horses, deer, sheep, elk, goats, chickens, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, and fish. ) I have seen some weird arse 'oil' slicks come out of that lake. Anti-freeze, diesel fuel, cleaning chemicals, cutting oil, gasoline, toxic crap that would send dead white fish down the river several times in the summers. Crap that would itch our legs for days. 
That lake will *NEVER* be as pristine as it was in the mid 1800's. Not in '_your_' lifetime nor your great, great, great, great, great grand childrens lifetime.

Not trying to trash you here Riley, but Utah Lake has got some very bad history and I would not eat *anything* out of that lake.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

.45 said:


> Riverrat77 said:
> 
> 
> > *NEWS FLASH* -------
> > Oh... something else. This is not Homer Simpsons town with three eyed fish caused by dumping of nuclear reactor waste in the water...


 I have seen _everything_ dead, that could be dead, in that river. ( cows, pigs, horses, deer, sheep, elk, goats, chickens, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, and fish. )

And dead people. :shock:


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## metal_fish (Mar 19, 2008)

It's not that bad! If you fillet off the good meat and cook it thoroughly it is just fine. :wink:


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

No need for big responses. The carp problem will NEVER be solved. Because of that, it will always remain what it is. In my mind it's one of the best fisheries in the state.


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## JAT83 (Sep 9, 2007)

I'll pass on eating anything out of Utah Lake. _/O


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

.45 said:


> I have seen _everything_ dead, that could be dead, in that river. ( cows, pigs, horses, deer, sheep, elk, goats, chickens, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, and fish. ) I have seen some weird arse 'oil' slicks come out of that lake. Anti-freeze, diesel fuel, cleaning chemicals, cutting oil, gasoline, toxic crap that would send dead white fish down the river several times in the summers. Crap that would itch our legs for days.
> That lake will *NEVER* be as pristine as it was in the mid 1800's. Not in '_your_' lifetime nor your great, great, great, great, great grand childrens lifetime.
> 
> Not trying to trash you here Riley, but Utah Lake has got some very bad history and I would not eat *anything* out of that lake.


I've eaten ducks off the GSL and eaten lots of fish out of Utah Lake.... I don't feel as though I'm any worse the wear for any of it. All that stuff is going down the river.... doesn't mean it came from Utah Lake. That water gets runoff from all over the place and runs down the Jordan... its not like its a big stagnant pond that isn't getting any outflow or anything. If it was just a big stagnant cesspool, then yeah, it might be a cautionary tale. I think its bad rep is way overplayed these days and its actually causing a lot of folks to pass up some really great fishing. It might hold the occasional brown from the Provo or even a rainbow for a little while here and there, but its a warmwater fishery that I love to frequent and I think if folks would give it half a chance, they'd really enjoy taking advantage of it. For what its worth... I've been in and out of that lake hunting and fishing for going on eleven years now and I've had no skin issues, oil slick swimming parties or anything like that, that would have caused me to avoid the lake for fear of anything swimming or floating in the water.


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## ScottH (Apr 30, 2008)

Why don't they just kill the whole lake? then maybe we can fish on it a lot sooner instead of wasting there time trying to catch the carp. I would pay $15 more on a fishing lincses if I knew they are going to kill the lake a restock it.


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## JAT83 (Sep 9, 2007)

ScottH said:


> Why don't they just kill the whole lake? then maybe we can fish on it a lot sooner instead of wasting there time trying to catch the carp. I would pay $15 more on a fishing lincses if I knew they are going to kill the lake a restock it.


They probably would consider it if it weren't for the June Sucker and the cost of rotenone...Poisoning Strawberry was costly enough...I can't imagine the cost of poisoning Utah Lake...and all the dead fish floating everywhere.


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

That and I'm pretty sure somebody along the way mentioned with all the tributaries and spots for the fish to go, it would be nearly impossible to kill all the carp/other fish in the water. Its a pretty vast area of water to get with rotenone in one treatment too so that throws a huge wrinkle in any "kill off the fish" plan.


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## Nibble Nuts (Sep 12, 2007)

If you plan on having children named Cletus, or Fixed Blade, I would suggest eating fish from Utah Lake to your hearts content.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Ratt77 is correct....if he's been fishing and hunting there for 11 years without any third eye growing, the lake must be getting cleaner !! :shock: 

Honestly I haven't been around the place for 20 years, but before that and the steelmill was in business, there were a lot of weird things floating around that lake. Seems like we always came across a bunch of dead ducks or fish...I'm glad to hear maybe this is no longer the case..

Now, if we could just figure out a way go get rid of the heavy silts and deposits at the bottom of the lake, it may someday turn into a 'real' freshwater lake again. I glad 'some' people utilize and appreciate the place, it really can have a lot to offer..


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## cat_man (Sep 19, 2007)

They actually did water quality testing at Utah Lake I believe it was last year, and it turns out its water quality is comparable to many of the higher elevation coldwater lakes in the area. The water is a lot cleaner than it used to be.

Raw sewage used to be dumped in it besides Geneva water. That stopped 20 or 30 years ago, however. Now, all sewage is treated and the water released from sewage treatment plants is no longer polluting the lake.

What is still polluting it is phosphate fertilizer from adjacent farm fields. That causes algae blooms which cause some fish kills in the fall because when all that algae starts to die, it decays and robs the water of oxygen.

The sediments in the lake have elevated levels of PCBs, which in animal tests have been linked to cancer, but I believe the jury is still out about whether any human cases have been tied to it.

Utah Lake is also more salty than most freshwater lakes, which makes sense considering it's not too far upstream from GSL, which is way saltier than the ocean.

That being said, it is a fantastic fishery, and provides some awesome bass, catfish, white bass, and walleye fishing, plus some good panfish as well. Even in pioneer times it was a lowland, warmer lake, not a crystal clear high mountain trout lake (although native cutts did thrive in its waters at that time, it was still a semimurky lake).


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