Local anglers listen up! The Utah Wildlife Board is now classifying roundtail chub as a sportfish and have established fishing regulations for the species. Some approved changes will now allow roundtail chub to be caught in the Colorado River from the Colorado state line downriver to the confluence of the Dirty Devil River. The daily fish limit will be two roundtail chub. All roundtail chub must be immediately released. The other spot is from the Sand Wash boat launch downriver to the confluence of the Colorado River. “We initially started presenting this idea to the public last year, and there was a lot of support for it,” shares DWR Sportfish Coordinator Randy Oplinger. “These are a fun species to fish for because they take a wide variety of flies, lures and baits. Roundtail chub are found in the Colorado and Green Rivers and their tributaries. Those rivers don’t receive a lot of fishing pressure, so classifying roundtail chub as a sportfish species provides some new fishing opportunities on some waters that are not heavily visited. While roundtail chub are considered a species of greatest conservation need, they are a conservation success story and their populations in Utah are doing well enough now to withstand some fishing pressure.”
