Utah Fishing & Outdoors Report

Wildfires have restricted public access to some recreational areas in Utah, but the flames seem to be abating right now. The Neola fire temporally closed access to a large section on the South Slope of the Uintas, but most of the area has reopened. At this writing, the closed area is mostly between Uintah Canyon and Mosby Mountain Road.

The Milford fire is pumping smoke through much of central Utah and over the Wasatch Front and backcountry areas around Beaver and Milford are closed to the public. The Jungle fire along Skyline Drive west of Ferron is now 100% contained and so closures in that area should be ending soon.

The Kaibab Forest on the Arizona Strip south of St George has been closed because fire danger is so high. Some developed recreational areas remain open but basically "all activities will be prohibited on the Kaibab National Forest, including camping, hiking, biking and motorized vehicle use." See the Forest news release for details.

This website has the latest wildfire information.

The Middle Provo and many other Utah streams offer good fly fishing. Steve Schmidt gives this summary: "If you are headed to the Middle be armed with a good assortment of flies. There is a lot going on. Caddis and Mayfly, PMD's and Drake, spinners in the morning. In the afternoon look for good PMD & Drakes hatches. With the Drake hatch coming to its end, look for PMD to be more widespread throughout the river. Spinners again towards the evening and the a blizzard of Caddis right at dark." Read his complete report.

On the Green River, terrestrial are working well, along with an assortment of summer patterns. Dennis Breer reports: "Late evening Caddis hatches have been huge over the past week. Lower A Section and Upper B have been the strongest areas. In the past, late evening caddis hatches have been hard to fish if you didn’t know they were present in time to react. Often by the time the noisy rises caught your attention, the action could be over. But the current activity has been so large that you can’t miss it. Caddis pupa and soft hackles in the early hatch stages have been effective too. Skittering caddis works along with the standard drifting of imitations."

Lake Powell continues to offer very good fishing for striped bass and smallmouth. Wayne Gustaveson reports: “Air temperatures have been in the 100's and catch of stripers is also in triple digits if the holding spot for the resting school is discovered.”

Interesting posts by anglers
Manning Meadow cutthroats – beautiful photos show them spawning. The spillway and tributaries open to fishing on Saturday (July 14). Closed until then to protect the spawning fish.
Marsh Lake in the Uintas is good for rainbows
Fish Lake in the Uintas has fast action for grayling. Round Lake was ok but not as fast.
Moosehorn Lake in the Uintas has hot fishing
Strawberry yielded a 5+ pound kokanee (includes nice photo)
Strawberry is fast for rainbow when trolling for kokanee
Scofield Reservoir is good trolling and bait fishing, but slow from shore
Jordanelle Reservoir is still good for bass
Jordanelle and Pelican Lake are good for bass. Says Pelican make be heading for trouble because carp are taking over.
Electric Lake cutts are big and fat, but action was only fair. Good at Scofield; slow at Cleveland and Joes Valley.
South Fork Ogden River is good for browns fishing nymphs
Mantua Reservoir is good for perch, bluegill and bass. Also info on good action at Pineview & Hyrum.
Flaming Gorge – big beautiful lake trout caught while trolling for kokanee. (Nice photo)
Starvation Reservoir has big perch and nice bass, but the water level is dropping fast
Recapture Reservoir has large bass and some small pike.
World record rainbow caught in Canada. Amazing photos.

DWR Hotspots Report
DWR says these waters offer hot fishing
- Long Park Reservoir (Uintas)
– for trout- Pineview Reservoir for crappie, bass and perch
- Weber River for trout and whitefish
- Nine Mile Reservoir for trout
- Sand Hollow Reservoir for bass and bluegill
- Lake Powell for bass, stripers, walleye, crappie and catfish

New Articles
DWR
I just saw a bear. Should I report it?
Chance to buy a second elk permit starts July 26

KUTV
Fishing For Walleye At Yuba Lake
State Parks: Yuba State Park
Jamming In Fillmore With ATVs

Deseret News
A-lure-ing: What are they biting today?
American Fork Creek cleanup is joint effort
Ray Grass: Lake Powell anglers trust words of Wayne
Wildlife agencies give go-ahead for land disposal plan in Sanpete
Warm-water fishing grows in popularity in Utah
Anglers are shaping up with fitness program
Girl's death at Powell linked to CO poisoning

Salt Lake Tribune
Hike of the week: Circle All Peak - Big Cottonwood Canyon
Learn about birds, mines and ancient inhabitants at Timpanogos Cave
Public comment sought on dinosaur quarry
Outdoor Notebook: Hit Bryce Canyon in full stride and more
Where is it?
The Outsider: Hawks up close; Albion shuttle service
Hook shot
Best Outdoor Towns
Tight lines: To reduce rage on the river, try casting out lines of courtesy
Outdoor bookshelf
Bird sighting
Recreation roundup