Despite Utah's 365-day fishing license, which has now been available for a year, I decided to stick with my routine. Turns out that may have been a wise decision.
There are benefits of the new format, which allows an angler to purchase the license any time of the year and have it valid for 365 days, rather than limiting it to a calendar year. But it has led to some confusion.
Byron Gunderson at Fish Tech Outfitters says he has begun asking people as they enter the store when their license expires.
"People seem to have forgotten when their license ends with this new format," Gunderson said. "This seems like a good time to remind them that they do have expiration dates, even if they aren't for a while yet."
So take out your license and check it before a conservation officer discovers you are fishing illegally.
The arrival of the new year is also a good time to remind anglers about changes to fishing regulations, which still run on a calendar-year format.
Utah anglers now can fish with two poles - or rods, for you purists - at any water in the state, as long as they have a second-pole permit ($15).
There has been confusion that the second-pole permit allows an angler to keep two daily limits, but that is not the case. Anglers who keep two limits because they have a second-pole permit will be cited.
If anglers want to feed the family in 2007, they should fish at Scofield Reservoir. An eight-trout limit is now in place at Scofield, which biologists feel has experienced a decline in pressure due to the good fishing for big trout at Strawberry Reservoir.
Gunderson hopes the limit increase at Scofield will attract anglers back from Strawberry and reduce intense pressure there.
There is another increased limit for walleye anglers. Division of Wildlife Resources officials set the 2007 walleye at 10, with the exception of Willard Bay, where the limit remains six. The catch with the new 10-walleye limit is only one can be longer than 24 inches.
Anglers at Calder and Brough reservoirs in northeastern Utah face new regulations. Fishing is now limited to artificial flies and lures, and a one-trout-over-22-inches limit.
Other size-restriction changes in that corner of the state include a tweaking of the regulations on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. The change was made in an effort to set a statewide standard for length restrictions.
The new slot allows anglers to keep two fish under 15 inches and one over 22 inches. All fish from 15 to 22 inches must be released.
The statewide size-restriction slot has also found a new home at Panguitch Lake, where the limit will be four trout with the 15-to-22-inch protected slot. At Panguitch, however, anglers are still allowed to fish with bait.
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* BRETT PRETTYMAN can be contacted at brettp@sltrib.com or at 801-257-8902. Send comments about this column to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
