Utah Fishing Reports

♣ Read our fishing articles
♣ Listen to FishBytes on KSL Outdoors
♣ Take a SkyCall satellite phone on your next adventure
♣ Follow me on Twitter

Gaylen Webb provided the photo above - a nice brown from the East Fork of the Sevier River in Black Canyon. Gaylen said: "I hooked into a monster brown in the canyon below where the two streams join, and lost my favorite spinner when he broke my line. I am still in mourning over that fish. Most of the browns caught were in the 12-inch range. We released them all. The water is really low in both the big and little streams and access is difficult because of the brush."

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

KSL Outdoors
I'll be a guest in-studio to talk fishing on KSL Outdoors Saturday morning, 6-8 am. If you can't sleep, tune in. FM 102.7 and AM 1160.

Fish Wiki
I'm developing a fishing wiki to create a "shared knowledge base" with comprehensive information about Strawberry, Flaming Gorge and other waters. Because it is a wiki, anyone can edit or add information. We are custom-programming the site to give it specific features, so it will take a few weeks to get everything going.

If people pitch in and contribute information, the site will become very useful.

In many areas there is a trend toward fewer people hunting and fishing. If that trend continues it could be devastating because license fees provide a big part of the revenue used to manage wildlife. We need to work to reverse that trend. One key way to do that is to provide good information to help people have success early on.

We also need to provide good information to educate people about ethics and safety.

Strawberry and Flaming Gorge are two of our most important fisheries but I have not been able to find detailed info about them on the Internet. My site has good articles about both, but there is need for much more good info. Hence the wiki project.

Key features available now include:

- Interactive maps for Strawberry and Flaming Gorge. Readers can easily post info to pinpoint key points on these waters, and provide comments.

- Current fishing condition reports for Strawberry and Flaming Gorge. These reports can be edited easily. When people have knowledge about changing conditions, I hope they will post that info here.

- Encyclopedia-like info about Strawberry and Flaming Gorge. I have good basic info for both waters. But my info isn't perfect. I invite others to edit and expand the info to make it as accurate and comprehensive as possible.

Features coming soon include:

- Capacity to add new articles.
- Capacity to post photos and fishing reports.
- Capacity to create groups to easily share info and meet others with similar interests.

This has already proven to be a fun project. I'll post updates here as it develops.

Events

Fall RV Super Show, Sept 17-20, South Towne Exposition Center. (801) 566-3802

Strawberry Wildlife Festival, Sept 18-19, US Forest Service visitor center at Strawberry Reservoir. Strawberry is not only one of the most famous fisheries in the West, it is also home to over 50 birds of prey, foxes, coyotes, song birds, moose, elk and many other types of wildlife. Visitors will be able to see thousands of bright red kokanee salmon migrating up Strawberry River right outside the Forest Service Visitor Center. There will be fishing seminars, displays, booths, music, food and fun.

Annual Navajo Fair, Sep 17-20, Bluff. The 20th Annual Navajo Fair will be held at the Fairgrounds in Bluff, Utah. Traditional dancing, drumming and fun will be there. 505-406-2991.

See our complete events calendar

- Good Fishing, Dave Webb

Lake trout fishing is picking up, with fish becoming more active and aggressive. Flaming Gorge, Bear Lake and Fish Lake are producing nice fish. Most are being caught trolling minnow-imitating lures. Use a fish finder to find the depth of active fish.

Fly fishing remains good on our streams with terrestrials, caddis and PMDs still producing most of the action. Recent heavy rains interfered with fishing on some waters, but they should now have dropped back to seasonal flows. There may be more storms in isolated areas, so be prepared, but there are no serious storms in the forecast right now.

Green River picked up mud from heavy flows down Red Creek, but it should be clear by now. Very good fishing is expected to continue on the Green through the fall.

The Uintas and other high mountain areas are still very attractive, even though storms may be more frequent up there. Fishing is good to very good in many Uinta and Boulder mountain lakes. Be prepared for anything (including snow).

Shore fishing is now picking up at our trout reservoirs, and it will get better during the next few weeks. Cooler water allows fish to come in shallow, where they can be reached from shore. Flies, lures and baits all work well when cast from shore.

Strawberry, Scofield and other major trout waters normally offer very good fishing during the fall. Fishing is generally good now and should get better as the weather cools.

Lake Powell striper fishing has slowed a little, mostly because of stormy weather. There are still some stripers boiling but most fish are caught working jigs or spoons at mid-depths. Smallmouth and bluegill fishing continues to be very good. Will the boils return? Nobody knows. Either way, fishing will be good to great through late October. Watch www.wayneswords.com for the latest information.

Best Lakes/Reservoirs
- Uinta Mountains for trout
- Boulder Mountain for trout
- Bear Lake for lake trout, cutthroat
- Flaming Gorge for rainbows, kokanee, lake trout, smallmouth
- Fish Lake for trout, splake, lake trout, perch
- Rockport for trout, bass, perch
- Strawberry for trout
- Utah Lake for catfish
- Starvation for walleye and perch
- Sand Hollow for bass, bluegill
- Lake Powell for stripers, bass, bluegill, catfish