Late April fishing report for Southeastern Utah

By Sun Advocate

•Abajo Mountains. Shoreline fishing at Monticello and Foy reservoirs has been fair to good with PowerBait and salmon eggs. Fishing success at the three Blanding reservoirs has also been fair to good with PowerBait and spinners. Fishing for rainbow trout at Recapture Reservoir has been good from boats with lures, and fair from shore with marshmallows or PowerBait. Recapture Reservoir may be totally drained this year to meet irrigation needs, so anglers are encouraged to harvest the fish they catch. Blanding number four will not be stocked this year. Blanding number three has been stocked and will be restocked about every two weeks.
•Huntington Creek. No report. Harvest of brown trout on the left fork is encouraged, where the limit is four fish. On the left fork, fish must be taken with artificial flies or lures. On the right fork, from Flood and Engineer’s Canyon upstream to Electric Lake dam, only two trout may be taken and artificial flies must be used. No bait or lures are allowed in this section.
•Huntington Game Farm Pond. Fishing has been very slow, in spite of recent stocking. A number of stocked trout died from an unknown cause. The bluegill limit is 10. The bass limit is four, but only one bass larger than 15 inches. Limits are the same for all licensed anglers and unlicensed anglers under 14 years of age.
•Huntington North Reservoir (near the city of Huntington). Fly fishing from a float tube has been good for rainbow and brown trout with a gold-ribbed dark leech pattern. Conservation officer Kip Draper reports that bait and lure fishing has been spotty. He recommends a Jake’s Spin-a-Lure for trout. Jigs have been working well for largemouth bass, where the limit is two. All bass over 12 inches must be immediately released.
•Huntington Reservoir (near the top of Huntington Canyon). No report. Release of tiger trout is encouraged so that fish can grow larger. Any brown trout caught should be harvested. The reservoir is closed to the possession of cutthroat trout and trout with cutthroat markings.
•Joes Valley Reservoir. Conservation officer Kip Draper reports that fishing has been the best during the first few hours of the morning. Draper describes fishing as fair to good. Fly fishermen seem to have had luck in the northeast corner of the lake, using a white Zonker on Type two sinking line. Anglers are encouraged to release all larger splake for control of the abundant Utah chub population. The splake limit is two fish. All splake between 15-20 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. In 2002, an unlimited number of striped bass may be kept. The smallmouth bass limit is 20, and the largemouth bass limit is five.
•Lasal Mountains. No report on mountain lakes. Early morning or late evening fishing at Kens Lake has been fair to good with traditional baits. Fly fishermen using dark leech patterns from a float tube have done well.
•Lower Fish Creek. Access to the middle portion of the stream on DWR property will soon be open. Only artificial flies or lures can be used below the railroad bridge, which is about one mile below the dam. Anglers are encouraged to fish at least one and a half miles below the dam anyway, due to dewatering, which occurred this past week.
•Scofield Reservoir. The reservoir is ice-free. Aquatics manager Louis Berg reports that fishing has slowed considerably. However, many of the fish being caught are in the two to three pound range. Conservation officer Stacey Taggart wishes to remind anglers that all tributaries are closed to fishing.