This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Red Fleet Reservoir north of Vernal is a scenic red-rock water that has struggled as a fishery in recent years, often because of illegal transplants of fish.
The Division of Wildlife Resources has been on a quest to change that. Biologists killed all of the fish in the reservoir with the chemical rotenone last October and have been restocking it with what biologists feel will be a good mix of fish.
The fishery will consist of a mix of cutthroat and rainbow trout, wipers (a cross between a white and striped bass), sterile walleye, yellow perch, mountain whitefish and crappie.
Between now and July 1, all yellow perch and crappie caught at the reservoir must be released immediately. Biologists want the fish to spawn successfully so they will establish themselves.
"These fish are the breeding stock, the future of the Red Fleet fishery," said the DWR's Ron Stewart about protecting the perch and crappie. "Since they are few in number, only 1,050 yellow perch and only a few hundred crappie, we need every fish to stay in the reservoir to ensure the spawning effort is successful."
Eight-inch cutthroat and 10-inch rainbows were planted first. Wipers should be planted soon. An estimated 750,000 sterile walleye were placed in the reservoir in the reservoir soon. So will mountain whitefish and fathead minnows.
"More cutthroat and rainbow trout, along with wipers that are 10 inches long, should be stocked soon," said Stewart. "Putting 8- and 10-inch fish in the reservoir should provide anglers with some good fishing opportunities for smaller fish this summer."