Utah Valley’s Daily Herald this week ran a profile on the Loy family, who have been fishing Utah Lake commercially for six generations, passing down the family business from one to the next.
We’ve spoken with Bill Loy Jr. on a number of occasions, including How Utah Lake could have clear water by 2017. But The Herald piece, written by Jim McAuley, focuses more on the fisherman than the lake they fish.
Here’s an excerpt:
“They fish seven days a week, weather permitting. Summer typically brings smaller returns in the shallow warm waters; winter brings more fortuitous returns as the fish congregate to deeper waters.
“It’s stressful, you know,” Loy said. “It’s stressful just making sure you’re making enough money to pay your payroll. … It’s a lot of guesswork. It’s a lot of traveling around looking for fish.”
Cody Loy hasn’t yet decided whether to follow in his father’s fishing footsteps for the long haul. His 10-year-old son is interested in his father and grandfather’s fishing, but Cody Loy would rather that he not experience the struggles of a fisherman to make ends meet.
“I’d really like to see him go to school. There’s easier ways to make money,” he said.
Photo credit: Daily Herald