Does Blue Ribbon Fishery status on the lower Provo mean a 30-fish day, all about 12 inches long, or fewer trout in the 17- to 19-inch range with an occasional fish over 20 inches?

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) officials have compiled results of the 2004 angler survey conducted on the lower Provo River from Deer Creek Reservoir to just below Bridal Veil Falls (about 6 1/2 miles). The majority of the river is currently under an artificial-only regulation with a limit of two fish under 15 inches. A small portion of general regulation water below the falls was included in the survey.

Richard Hepworth, a Blue Ribbon fisheries biologists in the DWR's central region, shared some of the results with The Tribune earlier this week. Hepworth will provide a more thorough analysis tonight at the Stonefly Society's monthly meeting. It starts at 7 at the Salt Lake County Fish & Game Association meeting house at 1177 W. Bullion (5700 South) in Murray.

Interesting numbers from the 2004 creel survey:

* Surveyors interviewed 4,762 people (approximately 91 each week), with anglers spending 180,875 hours on the river in 2004.

* On average, the lower Provo supported more than 7,500 anglers per mile of river in 2004. In 1969-71, the last time a major survey was done on the lower stretch, the number was about 4,000 per mile.

* Anglers caught 182,600 fish, about one per hour, in 2004, but only kept 2,500.

* About 17 percent of anglers were nonresidents and about 10 percent were being guided.

* About 74 percent of the trout caught were browns, 22 percent rainbows and 3 percent cutthroats.

* Ninety-two percent of the anglers were fly-fishing, 7 percent used lures and 1 percent used bait (on the bait legal stretch).

In addition to being the state's most heavily used stream fishery, the Provo could be the most crowded river in the West, Hepworth said.

"It has the highest anglers-per-river-mile of anywhere I've heard of. Many people think a lot of popular rivers have as high a use as the lower Provo, but those rivers probably do not even come close," Hepworth said.

While the survey numbers are interesting, it is the numbers provided by DWR sampling that caught my attention.

During a 2003 sample, biologists found about 4,000 fish per mile in the area near the railroad trestle.

"Less than 2 percent of those fish, only about 60 fish, were greater than 15 inches," Hepworth said. "Only eight fish were greater than 18 inches and there are no fish greater than 20."

Hepworth then shared information from a creel survey conducted in the 1970s, noting that "fish growth was adequate, with 3-year-old fish averaging 18 inches and an occasional trophy 15- to 25-pound trout taken."

Three-year-old fish (mainly browns) on the lower Provo today average around 12 inches. Biologists back in the 1970s also reported "a fair population of trout in the 3- to 4-pound class" discovered during electroshocking.

If anglers want to land larger fish on the lower Provo, they need to thin out the population.

As part of the 2004 creel survey, DWR biologists asked participants if they were aware that the state was encouraging anglers to keep fish. Many said they were, but only 1.4 percent of the fish caught on the lower Provo in 2004 were kept.

Many anglers worry the DWR will change regulations on the lower Provo to allow bait fishing like the agency did last year on the middle Provo. Hepworth said he has no proposal prepared and that it is up to anglers to decide what they want fishing to be like on the lower Provo.

"I know it scares people to harvest fish, but we are a long way from wiping the population out," he said. "Reducing the number of fish in the river will allow the remaining fish to grow faster."

Hepworth didn't share his ideas for possible regulation changes on the river, but acknowledged that changing the current limit of two fish under 15 inches to a statewide limit of four fish, while keeping the artificial-only regulation, might be wise.

"Changing the lower Provo to allow bait fishing may not solve the problem," he said. "What it boils down to is that we have to get fishermen to keep something and reduce the number of fish."

Walleye seminars

Rocky Mountain Anglers and the DWR are jointly offering the 14th annual Utah Walleye seminars. The free seminars include instruction from some of the state's best walleye anglers and cover topics ranging from technique to hot new lures.

Each participant will get a free booklet about Utah walleye fishing that includes a map. The first seminar is Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. at the Department of Natural Resources building, 1594 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City.

The second seminar is April 13 at Utah Lake State Park, 4400 W. Center St., Provo, from 7-9 p.m. Visit http://www.rockymountainanglers.com for more information.

Smallmouth clinic

Roy Hawk, a professional bass angler and Fish Tech Outfitters employee, will talk about smallmouth bass fishing in Utah on Saturday at the store, 6153 Highland Drive. The clinic begins at 10:30 a.m.

brettp@sltrib.com