Utah Fishing Reports

Fishbytes is a weekly outdoors report provided by redrockadventure.com. It is posted on our website and sent as an email newsletter (subscribe or unsubscribe). Please forward it to others you think may be interested. View archived past reports.

Thursday, July 23

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What's New

Best Bets - Lakes/Reservoirs
- Uinta Mountain Lakes (and streams)
- Skyline Drive lakes
- Boulder Mountain lakes
- Flaming Gorge for trout, kokanee and bass
- East Canyon for bass, perch and rainbows
- Jordanelle for trout and bass
- Strawberry for trout and kokanee
- Utah Lake for catfish
- Red Fleet for trout bluegill and bass
- Steinaker for trout, bluegill and bass
- Scofield for trout
- Fish Lake for trout and perch
- Otter Creek for trout
- Piute for trout
- Sand Hollow for bass
- Lake Powell for stripers, bass, catfish and bluegill

Tushar Mountain Goat Watch - See as many as 100 mountain goats by participating in a free DWR wildlife viewing event on Aug. 8, in the mountains east of Beaver.

Railroader's Festival, August 8, from 9 am to 5 pm, at Golden Spike National Historic Site, Promontory Summit, 32 miles west of Brigham City via highway 13 and 83. This will be the site's 33rd Annual Railroader's Festival. See our events calendar

- Good Fishing, Dave Webb

Fly fishing continues to be good on our larger streams, and also on many smalls streams. A wide variety of bugs are out; you may find Drakes, Cicadas, Crickets, small Golden Stoneflies, PMDs, Caddisflies and others. Talk to the guys in the fly shops to find the best patterns for the stream where you want to fish.

Kokanee salmon fishing improves at this time of year because the fish start to congregate near the mouths of spawning streams. Kokanee action will be good during the next several weeks in Flaming Gorge. Kokanee are harder to find in Strawberry but some will be caught there, and in a few other reservoirs.

Catfish love hot weather. Channel cat fishing is very good at Utah Lake, Willard Bay, Lake Powell and many waters around the state. Action will stay good into fall.

Lake Powell striped bass boils are providing excellent fishing on the upper lake. Surface action has slowed on the lower lake but will probably pick up again soon. And catfish are easy to catch right now. In his weekly fishing report, Wayne Gustaveson says: "Catfish are biting like crazy along the sandy shoreline areas. They are at a peak in activity right now. There is not an easier way to teach kids how to fish than to toss some bait or table scraps out on the sand behind the boat at camp."

Hot weather is forcing trout to seek cool spots in reservoirs. If you fish the same way you did during the spring, you probably won't catch many fish. But trout still have to eat and are still catchable, if you get baits or lures down to them.

Trout fishing in reservoirs can be good if you use techniques to get baits or lures down deep. You can do well still fishing baits in deep water and trolling using downriggers or leaded line. Trolling pop gear and a worm can be very effective. One of the easiest ways to catch fish is to use half a nightcrawler on a jig hook. Use your sonar to identify a likely spot and then hold your boat over that spot, as nearly as you can. Cast the weighted crawler as far as you can and then let it arch downward until it comes to rest under the boat. Monitor the line and be prepared for a strike at any time.

Inlets are often productive at this time of year. Streams bring cooler water into reservoirs and that attracts fish. Springs under reservoirs can also be productive. Early morning and late evening are the most productive times.