Pelican Lake is now closed to the public as a scheduled rotenone treatment is underway. Located about 25 miles southeast of Roosevelt, Pelican Lake has been known as the place to go to catch big bluegill in Utah as well as largemouth bass. An influx of common carp in 2008 and 2009, however, has changed the quality and the bluegill fishery has sharply declined. “In 2016,” shares DWR regional aquatics manager Trina Hedrick, “agency representatives and anglers that make up the Pelican Lake Management Team made the decision to remove common carp from the lake. The only way to completely eradicate carp is through the use of rotenone.” Rotenone is a natural substance that comes from the roots of a tropical plant. It is poisonous to fish but it does not pose a risk to people, pets, or wildlife. Once applied throughout the lake, it has an immediate effect and within a few hours the clean up effort begins. By the end of October, the rotenone will have completely dissipated and restocking can begin once water starts running into the lake from a nearby canal. Biologists already have a population of fish ready to stock into the lake. “It will take a few years for the fish in the lake to grow to a catchable size,” explains Hedrick, “[but] the wait will be worth it in the end.”
