Antero Reservoir Re-opens to Fishing: Slaughter Ensues…

Ed Dentry of the Rocky Mountain News describes the wholesale slaughter of trout occurring at Colorado’s Antero Reservoir.

In the four weeks since it opened, the crowds have loved - and some have cheated - Antero to death, or at least to the point where wildlife commissioners felt obliged to pass emergency regulations Monday, halving legal limits.

A gasoline tanker didn’t roll over in the popular South Park reservoir, but it might as well have.

Poor fish handling techniques and a desire by some to “cull” their catch (put a fish on a stringer, then release it when a bigger fish is caught — even if it’s already dead) are blamed, though high water temperatures might also have something to do with all the dead trout seen floating offshore.

Antero was closed to fishing for five years, and reopened to a great deal of hoopla and fishing pressure — which hasn’t subsided:

Sperandeo said overwhelming attendance created most of the problems when Antero opened July 17 after being closed for five years.

“We’re getting pounded,” he said. “We expected it to subside after the opening weekend, but it hasn’t.”

He laments that Antero has been overrun with trucks, trailers and RVs, is overflowing with trash despite Denver Water’s best efforts and smells of dead fish.

Gross, naked fish greed is always lovely stuff. Think I’m heading for the backcountry this weekend. See you somewhere, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, antero reservoir, ed dentry[/tags]