2017 Brian Head fire still could harm fish at Panguitch Lake

In late July 2017, as firefighters were bringing the Brian Head fire to an end, fisheries biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources were monitoring the impact on the area’s popular fisheries.

Among those was Panguitch Lake, a 1,250-acre impoundment east of Cedar City in Utah’s Color Country. Long a favorite destination for Southern Nevada anglers seeking an adventurous escape from summer temperatures, Panguitch is known for giving up large trout.

At the time, Richard Hepworth, Southern Region aquatics manager for the DWR, expressed concern about the fire’s potential impact on Panguitch Lake and its popular fishery. His biggest concern was the ash left in the fire’s wake and the possibility that summer rains could send it downstream into the lake.

In significant amounts, ash makes it difficult for fish to process oxygen and can even clog their gills.

A year later, however, fishing has been good enough that most anglers might believe the Panguitch Lake fishery escaped unscathed.

“Panguitch Lake is in great shape right now. Fishing has been fantastic,” Hepworth said.

But he still has concerns. One is the high summer temperatures.

“If we have too many days of hot weather, the fish get pinched between low oxygen water off the bottom and warm water near the top,” he said.

But Hepworth’s biggest concern remains the ash load left in the drainages above the lake. Even if the ash isn’t washed into the lake in enough volume to choke the fish, the extra nutrients it carries could react with that already in the lake to create algae blooms. Blue-green blooms can be toxic to fish.

Hepworth said it’s not a matter of if something will happen but when. In the meantime, he said anglers should enjoy fishing at the lake.

According to the most recent fishing report, “Fishing has been fair to good from boats, and slower from shore because trout have moved out to deeper water. Most anglers are fishing with bait from boats.”

Though Panguitch Lake has been spared thus far, the fire didn’t spare many of the nearby streams.

“We lost a lot of fish in the streams and almost complete fish kills in the three main tributaries feeding Panguitch,” Hepworth said. “It will take about three years to fully re-establish those fisheries and before fish can survive in those streams.”

The challenge is overcoming the flooding that occurs after a fire has burned off the vegetation that helps slow the runoff from a rainstorm.

“We have put some extra fish into the streams. If they survive for a year, we know things are good,” Hepworth said.

Red Creek, also known as Paragonah reservoir, experienced a 90 percent loss of its fish population during a storm event. While a normal flood doesn’t hurt fisheries when the habitat is in good condition, it is flooding on top of a fire event that can cause problems for fisheries. The ash binds with sediment and reduces available oxygen in the water.

Yankee Meadows, once a remote and relatively unknown reservoir, came through the fire relatively unscathed.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions are his own. Find him on Facebook at @dougwritesoutdoors. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.