If the weather cooperates, Memorial Day weekend should be a fantastic time to fish in Utah. Paul Birdsey says fishing in the state has never been better than it is right now. And late May is the perfect time to get out and enjoy it.
Birdsey is the cold water sport fisheries coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. The diversity of fish you can catch in the state is one of the reasons he’s optimistic. “No matter which type of fish you like to catch,” he says, “if that species lives in Utah, you’ll find good fishing for it at multiple waters. And the water temperature in late May, coupled with spawning activities that happen at the same time, make Memorial Day weekend a great time to fish.”
While great fishing is available at multiple waters, Birdsey picked the following as the best waters to fish in Utah during the Memorial Day this year. And, take note: by following Birdsey’s tips and advice, you can enjoy good fishing at many of these waters after the holiday weekend is over:
Starvation Reservoir
Birdsey says Starvation might be the premier fishing water in Utah right now. Anglers are catching rainbow trout up to 18 to 20 inches long. Quality walleye, yellow perch and smallmouth bass are also plentiful.
For rainbow trout, PowerBait, along with a variety of other baits and lures, are good items to try. For walleye, try trolling or drifting a bottom bouncer.
Yellow perch are also doing well in the reservoir, and there are lots of them to catch. To catch perch, focus your efforts near points that jut into the water. Small jigs, suspended under a bobber or retrieved through the water, are a great way to catch them.
To find smallmouth bass in the reservoir, look for rocky flats. Once you’ve found a flat, fish over it with jigs.
Huntington North Reservoir
This small reservoir produces big fish. Largemouth bass and wipers up to 5 pounds, and rainbow trout up to 2½ pounds, are available to catch. To catch largemouth bass and wipers, it’s important to fish early, before the sun hits the water. Also, fish along the dike at the reservoir. This area tends to produce the best fishing this time of the year.
Largemouth bass might still be spawning and could be difficult to catch. Wipers, however, should be hungry and aggressive. Lures that imitate crayfish or bluegill are excellent lures to try.
If you’re pursuing rainbow trout, and you want to catch them from shore, it’s important to fish early in the morning or later in the afternoon. As the day warms up, rainbows in the reservoir head to deeper water and are usually accessible only to anglers in boats.
Joes Valley Reservoir
Tiger muskie, some approaching 50 inches in length, are among the fish waiting for you at Joes Valley. By the time the holiday weekend arrives, chubs will be spawning in the shallows. And that will bring tiger muskie, tiger trout, cutthroat trout and splake close to shore to eat.
For tiger muskie, a ½-ounce spinnerbait—white, or white and yellow in color—is a lure Birdsey has found lots of success with.
Splake (a hybrid cross between a lake trout and a brook trout) grow big in the reservoir. Birdsey says one of the best areas to catch them is near the pavilion on the reservoir’s west side. The east side of the reservoir, just north and south of the boat ramp, is also a great spot to try.
Splake feed heavily on chubs, so chub meat is the perfect bait to catch them with. You can buy dead chubs at sporting goods stores, or you can catch and kill them at the reservoir. To catch a chub, thread a piece of nightcrawler on a small hook and suspend it under a bobber. Once you’ve caught a chub, kill it and then place some of its meat on a larger hook. Place a sinker about 18 inches above the hook, and then cast the rig out, and fish it on the bottom of the reservoir.
For cutthroat and tiger trout, try fishing around rocky points with a ¼-ounce Kastmaster spoon. A silver Kastmaster, with a green stripe on it, is the lure that Birdsey has found the most success with.