Fishing report for southeastern Utah

By Sun Advocate

Fishing success continues to improve just about everywhere. As temperatures cool, fish eat voraciously in preparation for winter. They also move out of deeper waters and may be found close to the shoreline, especially in the early morning.
•Benches Reservoir – Biologist Justin Hart reports that spinners, Rapalas, Jake’s and tube jigs have been very effective for 12-inch rainbow trout.
•Blue Mountains – It is recommend that anglers use spinners and flies in the mornings and evenings and bait during the day for trout at Foy, Monticello, Lloyds, and Blanding 3. Pike fishermen have been trolling with crankbaits at Recapture Reservoir.
•Duck Fork Reservoir – Duck Fork has been replanted with Colorado River cutthroat trout and fingerling tiger trout. Duck Fork regulations will protect the Colorado River cutthroat population for future egg collection and fish transplant operations.
The DWR hopes that this measure will help keep the Colorado River cutthroat from being listed as threatened or endangered. If that were to happen, traditional fishing in southeastern Utah could be dramatically impacted. Tiger trout will provide for sport fishing at this water, beginning late next year.
•Electric Lake – Hart reports good fishing with silver Panther Martin spinners near the inlet on the upper end, where water is being pumped into the reservoir.
Cutthroat trout are generally around 12 inches. The limit at Electric Lake is four trout which may be taken on any type of bait, lure or fly. In the tributaries, the limit is two trout, which must be caught with artificial flies or lures.
•Ferron Reservoir – Fishing has been good with artificial flies and bait. Anglers may take a bonus limit of four brook trout in addition to the normal trout limit at this reservoir.
•Gigliotti Pond – The Gigliotti Pond was stocked with 2,000 rainbow trout. Some of them approach one-half lb. in size. Fishing has been very good.
•Gooseberry Reservoir – Try PowerBait, or a night crawler-marshmallow combination.
•Huntington Creek – Special regulations on Huntington Creek are as follows.
On the right fork (from Flood and Engineer’s Canyon upstream to Electric Lake) only artificial flies may be used and the trout limit is two.
On the left fork, only artificial flies and lures may be used, and the harvest of brown trout is encouraged.
•Huntington North Reservoir – Additional trout will be stocked this month. The bass limit is two; all largemouth bass over 12 inches must be immediately released.
•Huntington Reservoir – (near the top of Huntington Canyon) ) Float tubers using wooly buggers have had good luck. Hart recommends that the bugger be stripped in deep water for best results. Tiger trout have been going around 12 inches. Bait fishermen using salmon eggs and worms off the bottom have been doing well and catching slightly larger (over 12 inches) tiger trout.
•Joes Valley Reservoir – The boat ramp is now out of the water. Only hand-launched water craft can be used. In 2003, the trout limit is two. No more than one trout may be over 22 inches. All trout 15-22 inches must be immediately released.
•Lasal Mountains – Conservation Officer Vance Mumford says trout are not rising to flies on the surface, due to cooling temperatures and dwindling insect hatches. He suggests sinking bait or wet flies to the bottom.
•Miller Flat Reservoir – Slow but steady fishing has been reported. Worms are recommended.
•Petes Holes – Good fishing has been reported for anglers using artificial flies or bait.
•Price River/Lower Fish Creek – From approximately 1 mile below the Scofield Reservoir dam downstream to the confluence with the White River only artificial flies and lures may be used.
•Scofield Reservoir – Boat anglers north of the island have been catching 12-14 inch rainbow trout with Power Nuggets or a worm and PowerBait combination, fished near the bottom.
On the southeast side, bank anglers have been using gold Zeke’s, PowerBait, or worms and marshmallows for trout up to 14 inches.