# Anyone seen this?



## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

Has anyone seen this:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=2971275&cat=233&lpid=

I am assuming it's a fish farm (no license required), so why is it catch and release only? For $150.00 you should be able to keep one don't you agree? Wouldn't $150.00 cover the cost of replacing the fish?

Just some questions, I would understand if the guy is taking you out on a boat or a secret stream and going after wild fish!


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Sounds like someone who wants to make some easy money off their property. They want C&R to reassure the water is a money maker. The money is only for access, probably not a guide or any fishing gear provided. Sad to say, I think you'll see more of this to follow, but you can't really blame the land owner for wanting to make some quick easy cash. It just goes to show you how generous some land owners are that let you fish the water for free. I think that's why it's important to pick up your trash so the waters stay open. All the controversy over closing water privelages on Deer Creek makes me sick.


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## Poo Pie (Nov 23, 2007)

I saw that today too. Correct me if I am wrong but can't you wade a river that runs through private ground as long as you stay in the water? If not I may have trespassed and not even known it


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Yeah i believe that is the rule, or that's what i've always been told. In some states you can walk along the high water mark which would be nice, but Utah doesn't have that rule.


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Ya I saw that today, I was interested till I saw the price that is outrageous, albeit nice fish. Ill just stick to the public waters and hope I get a big guy there!


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## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

americanforkdude said:


> Sounds like someone who wants to make some easy money off their property. They want C&R to reassure the water is a money maker. The money is only for access, probably not a guide or any fishing gear provided. Sad to say, I think you'll see more of this to follow, but you can't really blame the land owner for wanting to make some quick easy cash. It just goes to show you how generous some land owners are that let you fish the water for free. I think that's why it's important to pick up your trash so the waters stay open. All the controversy over closing water privelages on Deer Creek makes me sick.


I am under the impression that all wild game in Utah belongs to the state, so does he has the right to decide? Now if he owns them, more power to him. If he wants to call it a trespass fee I am ok with that, but it sounds like a fish farm. Why spend all that money and not keep one.


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## Swaner (Sep 10, 2007)

Poo Pie said:


> I saw that today too. Correct me if I am wrong but can't you wade a river that runs through private ground as long as you stay in the water? If not I may have trespassed and not even known it


I've heard a couple of different things but what I've heard the most is that you can float it, but you can't even touch the bottom of the river. The bottom of the river is property of the land owner. That is a law that definately needs to be changed.


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Grousehunter, i'm not sure of the situation, but I would imagine if it was a fish farm you could keep one. But I highly doubt it is a fish farm. And he don't own the wildlife or the game that is on the land, he only owns the land. But to get to that game, is by his permission only. I don't like it any better then you do. By far one of my biggest pet peeves is seeing Private Property signs.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Yeah, as much as the private property issue has been hashed out on the various forums, the consensus tends to lean toward the riverbed being the property of the landowner, thereby constituting a trespass.

I think that law stinks and should be changed, but I can't see major land owners (people with money - influence) changing their position on "It's mine and you can't have any" anytime soon.

I just find it disgusting when I see a good plot of land with running water left unattended and unfished. That's a **** sin in my world! People with beaver dams all over their property and couldn't even care because they're just waiting for the price to be right to sell.

It's pretty sad that good fishable waters that The People own can't be touched wherever it flows.

This "Trophy Brown" guy (minus the actual trophy) rubs me wrong as well, but he probably found himself on a good stretch of unmolested stream that he fenced in and allowed the local fish to grow. He probably watched them feed the fish at Cabelas and started throwing cheap o pet store fish in to keep them big and mean looking. :lol: 

He saw money in a great fishery and is trying to capitalize. Good business, bad human. :x 

What a jerk. Too much money too. I wouldn't pay guide fees anyway, let alone pay them without a guide.


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## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

I'm just asking questions, it's his property and that’s fine I have no problem with it. What struck me as odd is the obsession with catch and release. If it is a farm and they are captive fish he will have to contend with disease if he keeps them all. If they are wild and he is trapping them in his "private" steam I have a problem with that (he isn't even talking about instruction, just fishing). I was just wondering out loud about why anyone would spend that much money and leave without the option of taking one home. There are great places in Utah to catch large browns and all you have to do is out fish the other guy on the river, plus you save $150.00.


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## ScottyP (Sep 12, 2007)

If the fish that guy is stretching out to the camera in the pic is representative of what kind of 'trophy' fish are in that place, they are catering to complete fools with that add. 150.00 for a few hours to catch typical browns? Hell, you could put that 150.00 in the gas tank and be on great public land in any direction fishing with no timer running. I'm not a pay to play type of guy anyway, but if I did it would be for true hawgs.


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## Pavlik (Sep 11, 2007)

I know a few trout farms in Northern Utah that you can go to and fly fish for 15-30" trout catch-and-release for $10-$15 per hour. There is one in North Ogden, and there is one in Smithfield. I have gone to both and played around with a fly rod for an hour or so in each one of them. Come to think of it, for $150 you can fish there all day long, catching fish after fish. So, whatever fishery this guy is running does not seem like that great of a deal. For that much money, I would rather drive to the Weber River or even to Flaming Gorge to get some large fish without the timer running


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Utah's law is not like MT law the landowner owns the riverbed. If you can navigate the water you can float the river as long as you do not contact the bottom. Since this guy is on KSL you have to be a little caucious of his add. If you can really catch 18-30" browns I would pay the fee I don't keep fish for myself anyway so that would not be an issue for me. This might be one to turn into fish and game to see how he is legally doing this, and if it is legit....


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Dropping $150 to fish private waters isn't out of whack. You'll pay that much to fish waters like the famed spring creeks near Livingston, Montana. I've fished private water in northern Utah where the guest fee is $75. That's about the price of a day of skiing or round of golf at a quality course. So in the overall scheme of things, you are paying for a quality fishing experience, if this in deed is that kind of quality. I'm not made of money by any means and I won't spend that kind of money to fish. But comparing it to other recreation opportunities out there - it seems about right. 

And that said, that is less than the gas money for a trip to the Green where you can share the river shoulder-to-shoulder. Depending on where this is, that $150 is looking less and less :roll:


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## jahan (Sep 7, 2007)

My question is how can he say no fishing license required? Don't you have to have a license to fish any body of water in Utah? Just curious. 

I fished some private ponds in Paradise in Cache Valley one time and the fish were much more impressive than that. I don't know the price because the company I worked for payed for it for a summer company party.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

If it is private water, and privately grown/purchased fish, you don't need a license. Kind of like shooting game farm pheasants or high fenced deer/elk/bison/pigs.


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## Guns and Flies (Nov 7, 2007)

I know there are a lot of people out there that believe in the "if I'm in the water I"m not trespassing". I have never heard of anyone actually getting charged while in the water, thus wonder what would happen if a case actually got processed?? 

I know the DWR has a program that is trying to get access to more and more access to private property for fishing, which I think is a great idea :!:


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

Deseret Land & Livestock does the same thing for that amount of money or more. And it also is C & R. They don't have any shortage of customers. I have a friend that is a civil servant working stiff that does two or three trips a year up there. He thinks it's worth every penny.

To each his own. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the ad on the KSL site. Nobody is being forced to fish there. And if you take a realistic look at the cost of fish taken ANYWHERE, you'd be buying your fish at the supermarket if you really only want a fish to eat.


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## Pavlik (Sep 11, 2007)

I emailed the guy. He replied and told me that it is a series of private ponds fed by a stream in Northern Utah. Average fish size is 14-18 inches, but the biggest was 25 inches. So, sounds to me like you guys can invest the $ into the gas and go fish the Green below the Gorge, or the Gorge itself. Oh well, kudos to him if he can make some cash with it.


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## duckaddict (Dec 31, 2007)

grousehunter said:


> I was just wondering out loud about why anyone would spend that much money and leave without the option of taking one home. There are great places in Utah to catch large browns and all you have to do is out fish the other guy on the river, plus you save $150.00.


The biggest fish that I have landed was on a privately owned pond with naturally fed fish that I paid $100 to fish for the day and everything was catch and release. No, I can't afford to do that every time I go fishing, but in my honest opinion a privately owned place may offer better opportunities for bigger fish whether it be because of less pressure, better habitat, good conservation or whatever the reason. I completely agree that Utah offers great places to fish and I fish them 99% of the time, just every now and then (probably due to my inability to land a good size fish) I consider going to a private places. My $.02.


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## girlsfishtoo (Feb 5, 2008)

This guy could be legal if he has all of the right permits. There are a lot of people who have what is called Fee Fishing Ponds, they do have the right to charge people to fish on their property as well as the right to choose if they want C & R or not. $100.00 to $150.00 is a little bit steep considering there are many other fee fishing ponds that do not charge nearly that amount. As far as the no license required, that is true. I would really like to know if this guy has all of the right permits.


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