Caymen Rasmussen shows one of the many bait pouches he has aboard his kayak for a bass tournament.
SALT LAKE CITY – Division of Wildlife Resource biologists are proposing changes to the fishing contest rule in an effort to streamline contest options and to remove the discrepancies between fishing for warm-water and cold-water species.
“These proposed changes will both simplify the rule and remove contest restrictions that lack biological rationale and are unnecessarily restrictive,” DWR Sportfish Coordinator Randy Oplinger said. “The proposed changes also remove differences between contests for warm-water and cold-water species that exist under the current rule.”
Currently, any fishing contest or tournament requires a Certificate of Registration (COR) from DWR. The proposed change would only require a COR for tournaments or contests that include one of the following:
- 85 or more participants
- Awarding $2,000 or more in prizes
- Include a live weigh-in
- A tagged fish contest
A COR would no longer be required for catch-and-release tournaments, many of which are “online” or “paper” tournaments, where anglers are only required to take a picture or measure a fish. Separate DWR rules prohibit the release of cold-water fish after they are possessed by an angler. This means that high-grading — a practice that involves keeping a fish alive in a pool or live-well until a bigger fish is caught so the smaller one can be released — will still not be allowed in cold-water fishing tournaments because the fish typically don’t survive after being held. This also means that cold-water fish cannot be released alive after they are weighed or measured as part of a tournament.
Fishing tournament organizers who need to obtain CORs will be able to apply for them online, beginning in 2021.
DWR proposes rule amendment to waive combination/hunting license fees for deployed military.
In order to show gratitude and appreciation to Utah residents who are serving in the military, DWR is proposing to waive the combination and hunting license fees for active military members who missed the opportunity to acquire a bonus or preference point while deployed. The proposal would also allow Utah military members to purchase a preference or bonus point if they missed the application period while deployed.
To qualify for the exemptions, military members must:
- Be a resident of Utah
- Be deployed for 90 days or longer outside of the continental U.S. on federal orders from military command
- Not have previously received a bonus or preference point for the species and hunt type in the same year
- Otherwise be eligible to receive a bonus or preference point
- Pay a $10 application fee per point received
- Submit an application for the exemption to DWR no later than Dec. 31 of the qualifying year of being deployed
DWR wants feed back from sportsmen.
The public meetings for these proposals will be held online. You can view the biologists’ presentations and share your feedback about them on the DWR website. The presentations can also be viewed on the DWR YouTube Channel, but comments can only be submitted through the forms on the DWR website.
The public comment period for each of the Regional Advisory Council meetings opened on Aug. 24. Public comments for the northern region and central region RAC meetings will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30.
The public comment period for the Utah Wildlife Board meeting opened on Aug. 24 and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27. The public comments previously submitted will be shared with the RAC and wildlife board members.
While members of the public can watch a livestream of each of the RAC meetings and the Utah Wildlife Board meeting, public comments will not be accepted during these electronic meetings.
The electronic meetings for Northern Utah RAC will be held Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. Public comments must be submitted by Aug. 30 at 11:59 p.m. The Utah Wildlife Board meeting will be held Oct. 1 at 9 a.m. Public comments must be submitted by Sept. 27 at 11:59 p.m.
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