Utah Fishing Reports

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Rec Property

Soldier Summit Cabin:
- 12.86 acre lot
- 3,054 Square Feet
- 2 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms
- Family Room & Den
- Hardwood Floors
- Huge Kitchen and Large Dining Room
- 1160 sq ft basement framed for family room, 2 bdrms, 1 bath

What's New

Winter Sunshine
I hiked the lower reaches of Zion Park last weekend and had a great time. It was fun to get out of the snow and cold. When I left my home in Springville the temperature was a balmy 4 degrees F, and expected to climb up to a high of 24 degrees for the day. We hiked Coalpits Wash, where the air temperature was 45 F and the sunshine felt warm.

The photo above is from that trip. See more trip photos.

This weekend St George will hit about 50 F. Great for hiking and golf and other outdoor activities. Can't wait to get back down there.

I Resolve...
To go fishing at least once a week (on average). I don't get out quite that often during winter so I have to go more often during the warm weather.

To fish some of the world's best waters - the Yellowstone area, Alaska, British Columbia and others. I won't get to them all this year but I'll make a good effort. I go to Lake Powell several times a summer. Yellowstone is just as close but I don't make get up there very often. Time to change my ways.

I want to fish for halibut. I've never been deep-sea fishing and so that might be my major trip for the year. Where's the best halibut fishing? If any of you have recommendations about locations or guides I'd like to hear them. In fact, I've set up a discussion forum for that purpose. If we share info we can all have better trips. If we cooperate we might be able to get group rates and save money. Join the discussion.

Grand Canyon Trout
My next serious trip will probably be for trout in the top of the Grand Canyon, on the Colorado River below Lees Ferry. I want to explore the short canyon hikes that end at the river, and fish for trout there.

I'll probably go down in mid-January, over the Martin Luther King holiday, to scout the area. I'll day hike a couple canyons and, hopefully, catch a few fish. Days are short right now and so I won't have much fishing time.

If things look good I'll go back in mid-February, over Presidents Day weekend. I should have a good plan by that time and so I'll focus on serious fishing.

See my forum post on this trip. Please let me know if you have any info on fishing at area, or if you are interested in joining me.

Ice fishing is good in most waters around Utah. DWR has updated its fishing reports and has good information on many of our better waters. They have a new website and should be able to provide more timely info that they have in the past. Check out their reports.

See our extensive library of ice fishing articles for tips about waters and techniques.

Fish Lake is now frozen and has good fishing for perch, rainbows and splake, with a few lake trout thrown in. See our Fish Lake articles.

Flaming Gorge has solid ice down to the Sage Creek area on the Wyoming side. Fishing is good for rainbows and small lake trout. Lots of burbot are being caught by anglers who target them.

Bear Lake cisco will start to spawn about mid-January. Some ice is forming around the edges but the lake may or may not have an ice cap at that time. Cutthroat fishing is uisually good just before the cisco spawn. Air temperatures there are very cold. We have good articles on winter fishing at Bear Lake.

Best Bets
If you want fast ice fishing, try Pineview, East Canyon, Rockport, Scofield, Fish Lake, Mill Meadow or similar waters.

If you want big fish, try Bear Lake, Flaming Gorge, Strawberry or Fish Lake.

Avalanche Danger
All this snow has created high avalanche danger on backcountry slopes in northern Utah and in the La Sal Mountains east of Moab. Details.

Super Fisherman Challenge
I've decided to postpone this until spring because I haven't had time to develop the idea. I was going to have a winter event and then a spring event. I'll focus on spring and get the details worked out.