DWR Press Release
Free seminar on Nov. 30
Salt Lake City — If you’ve never fished on the ice before—or you have, but you want to catch more trout or panfish at waters across Utah—you won’t want to miss a free ice fishing seminar on Nov. 30.
The free seminar will happen in the auditorium at the Department of Natural Resources, 1594 W. in Salt Lake City. It runs from 7 – 9 p.m.
If you’d like to attend, please register at https://bit.ly/icefishing2017.
If you can’t attend the seminar in-person, you can watch it live at https://youtu.be/sEYAbzmx7NE. The day after the seminar, a recording of the presentation, as well as other fishing seminars that have been held through the years, will be available at www.youtube.com/user/UDWR.
There’s an advantage to attending the event in-person, though: in addition to asking the presenters questions, you might win a free guided ice fishing trip for two.
Randy Oplinger, sport fisheries coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says with a little training, beginning anglers can get on the ice and find success. “Ice fishing is a lot of fun,” he says. “It’s a great activity to do with your family in the winter.”
What you’ll learn
Utah’s Blue Ribbon Fisheries Advisory Council and the DWR are offering the free seminar. Oplinger says attending or watching the seminar is the perfect way to gear up for this winter’s ice fishing season. He says organizers have designed the event so both beginning and experienced anglers benefit.
“If you’re new to ice fishing,” he says, “you’ll receive a great introduction to the sport. You’ll learn where to fish, how to be safe on the ice, the gear you need to fish through the ice, how to locate fish and how to catch them, once you’ve found them.
“You’ll also learn the best bait and tactics to use to catch trout and panfish in Utah,” he says. “Even experienced anglers should learn a thing or two.”
And, if you’re interested in catching more fish at Strawberry Reservoir, Alan Ward, the DWR’s fisheries biologist at the reservoir, will share tricks and tips.
Oplinger says the presenters—all of whom are avid ice anglers—will show and explain the various types of equipment needed to fish through the ice. The following are the topics and the presenters:
Introduction to ice fishing
Ian Munson and Bryan Losse, Priority One Fishing and Cabela’s
Ice fishing for panfish: Bait and tactics
Kent Sorenson and Clint Brunson, DWR biologists
Ice fishing on Strawberry Reservoir
Alan Ward, fisheries biologist at Strawberry Reservoir
If you have questions about the seminar, please call the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at 801-538-4700.