Blue Ribbon fishery
A Blue Ribbon fishery is a designation made in the United States by government and other authorities to identify recreational fisheries of extremely high quality. Official Blue Ribbon status is generally based on a set of established criteria which typically addresses the following elements:
- Water quality and quantity: A body of water, warm or cold, flowing or flat, will be considered for Blue Ribbon status if it has sufficient water quality and quantity to sustain a viable fishery.
- Water accessibility: The water must be accessible to the public.
- Natural reproduction capacity: The body of water should possess a natural capacity to produce and maintain a sustainable recreational fishery. There must be management strategies that will consistently produce fish of significant size and/or numbers to provide a quality angling experience.
- Angling pressure: The water must be able to withstand angling pressure.
- Specific species: Selection may be based on a specific species.
Criteria as used by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.[1] Specific criteria may vary by state.
Many quality recreational fisheries are informally referred to as Blue Ribbon by government agencies, tourist, media, environmental, sportsman organizations and writers, but are not officially designated as such by established criteria.
States with official Blue Ribbon fishery designations
Books
- Sunderland, Bill (1991). California: Blue Ribbon Trout Streams. Portland, OR: Frank Amato. ISBN 1878175009.
- Dentry, Ed (1994). Blue ribbon rivers of the Rockies: Rocky Mountain News fishing guide to the West's best streams. Denver: Denver Publishing Company. ISBN 0914807137.
- Williams, Tony (1999). Blue Ribbon Bow a Fly Fishing history of the Bow River, Canada's Greatest Trout Stream. Red Deer, Alberta: Johnson Gorman Publishers. ISBN 0921835515.
- Shewey, John (1999). Washington Blue-Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881344.
- Hanley, Ken; Shewey, John (1999). Mexico Blue Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide: Largemouth Bass to Big Game. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881549.
- Murray, Harry (2000). Virginia Blue-Ribbon Streams-A Fly Fishing Guide. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publishers. ISBN 157188159X.
- Cook, Steve (2001). Rocky Mountain Fly Fishing: Blue Ribbon Rivers of the American West. Salt Lake City: Utah Outdoors. ISBN 0967173868.
- Thomas, Greg (2001). Wyoming-Blue Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881646.
- Halla, R. Chris (2002). Wisconsin Blue-Ribbon Trout Streams. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881611.
- Linsenman, Bob (2002). Michigan Blue-Ribbon Trout Streams. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881603.
- Beck, Barry; Beck, Cathy (2002). Pennsylvania Blue-Ribbon Fly-Fishing Guide. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881581.
- Hicks, Danny (2002). Ozark Blue-Ribbon Trout Streams. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1571881638.
- Rutter, Ian (2003). Tennessee Trout Waters: Blue-Ribbon Fly-Fishing Guide. Portland, OR: Frank Amato. ISBN 1571882944.
- Williams, Mark D. (2007). So Many Fish, So Little Time: 1001 of the World's Greatest Backcountry Honeyholes, Trout Rivers, Blue Ribbon Waters, Bass Lakes, and Saltwater Hot Spots. Scarborough, Ontario: Harper Collins Publishers Canada Limited. ISBN 0060882395.
Notes