Fishing report for southeastern Utah

By Sun Advocate

•Abajo Mountains – Fishing continues to be good at Monticello and Foy reservoirs with flies, spinners and bait.
•Benches Reservoir – Fishing has been fair to good from shore with chartreuse or rainbow PowerBait.
Try casting a full bubble with a four foot leader, using a nightcrawler/salmon egg combination. The combo can also be suspended from a bobber. Fly fishermen have been catching fish by wading out and casting sinking line with brown leech patterns.
•Boulgar Reservoir – Fishing has been good from shore with chartreuse PowerBait or with a straight nightcrawler behind a full bubble.
Another successful method involves using a full bubble with a four-foot leader and brown leech pattern. Reel fairly fast and steady. Fly fishermen in tubes and pontoon boats have done well with olive leech patterns, slowly trolled on sinking line.
•Cleveland Reservoir – Fishing has been slow, but some nice-sized 16-inch rainbow trout have been creeled. Try yellow sparkle or corn-flavored PowerBait. Fishing has been best on the west shoreline. Trolling has been good with monofilament line and Kastmasters or Panther Martins.
•Duck Fork Reservoir – Tiger trout are growing faster than expected and promise a good sport fishery in the near future. Aquatics Biologist Justin Hart reminds anglers that the reservoir is closed to the possession of cutthroat trout. Only tiger trout may be harvested. Only artificial flies or lures may be used.
•Electric Lake – Fishing has been fair. Some nice-sized trout are being caught with a nightcrawler/salmon egg combination or rainbow PowerBait. Fish off points for best results. Fly fishing has been fair from pontoons and tubes, trolling olive or black leech patterns.
•Fairview Lakes – The water level is dropping. Shoreline fishing has been good with rainbow PowerBait. Fishing from tubes, pontoons or motorless craft has been good beyond the boat ramp and in the west pond.
Spincasters have had luck with gold Jake’s. Fly fishermen have done well by slow-trolling chartreuse wooly buggers or black leeches.
•Ferron Reservoir – Fishing continues to be good for rainbow, cutthroat and brook trout. A variety of flies, lures and baits have been used successfully. The trout limit is four, but anglers may take a bonus limit of four brookies.
•Gooseberry Reservoir – Fishing has been fair with orange sparkle PowerBait or Zeke’s orange garlic cheese. The best fishing has been along the west shore near the main campground. Fly fishing from tubes and pontoons has been fair on the north end near the dam. Use sinking line, and slow-troll brown leech patterns.
•Huntington Creek – Surface action has been good for fly fishermen. The best patterns have been the elk hair caddis and royal wulff. Fishing below the forks has been good with nightcrawlers, drifted into the deeper pools or along riffle tail-ends.
•Huntington Reservoir – Fishing success has been improving for tiger trout. Try to cast out as far as possible with a full bubble and straight nightcrawler. Move up and down the shoreline until you find fish.
The best fishing occurs early or late in the day. The best technique involves trolling with 2.5 colors of leaded line, using pop gear and a nightcrawler. Fly fishermen have had fair success from tubes and pontoons with sinking line, and slow-trolling dark leeches or wooly buggers. The reservoir is closed to the possession of cutthroat trout and trout with cutthroat markings.
•Joes Valley Reservoir – No report on fishing success. The trout limit is two; only one over 22 inches; all trout from 15-22 inches must be immediately released.
•Lake Powell – The Lake Powell fishing report home page is: http://www.wayneswords.com. DWR Biologist and Project Leader, Wayne Gustaveson, updates fishing conditions at this website weekly. He provides detailed information on locations, tackle, and techniques for each species in the lake.
•Lasal Mountains – The fishing pressure has been light at Medicine Lake, where anglers have reported good success with worms and salmon eggs. Fishing at Warner Lake continues to be slow. Kens’ Lake continues to be slow. Oowah has provided good fishing with PowerBait, worms, Mepps or spoons.
Fish average eight to 12 inches with an occasional fish weighing up to two pounds. Morning or evening is the best time to fish. Dark Canyon has been slow to fair, where anglers have been using salmon eggs.
•Miller Flat Reservoir – Some nice 14-inch rainbow trout continue to be taken with red salmon eggs or chartreuse PowerBait. Fly fishermen should try slow-stripping black leech patterns.
•Potter’s Ponds – Fishing has been good from shore with rainbow PowerBait. Fly fishermen have been using renegade and mosquito patterns.
•Scofield Reservoir – The lake level is very low. The southwest and north ends are not fishable. The best shore fishing has been on the east side, south of the dam cove. The best baits have been rainbow or orange PowerBait or nightcrawlers in combination with a chartreuse marshmallow. Trolling has been fair to good north of the island with two colors of leaded line and pop gear with a nightcrawler. Using this technique,
Todd Munford caught a nine lb. 12 oz. 25-inch rainbow trout this past week! Fly fishermen should try dark leech patterns, slow-trolled off the bottom. All anglers continue to struggle with moss and other aquatic vegetation as the reservoir draws down. Boats cannot be launched from the Madsen Bay unit. The Mountain View unit remains open.