Spring thaws create open fishing for southeastern Utah

By Sun Advocate

•Cleveland Reservoir – The Cleveland-Huntington Irrigation Company continues to release water from Cleveland Reservoir, creating dangerously unstable ice conditions.
The DWR strongly advises all recreationalists to stay off this reservoir until the spring thaw.
•Huntington State Park – Dan Richards, Park Manager, reports that the reservoir is fishable with open water around the perimeter and brown trout moving into shore.
Aquatics Biologist Justin Hart recommends Kastmasters, curly-tail jigs or flies and a bubble.
•Joes Valley Reservoir – Water is being drawn from the reservoir, making ice conditions dangerous.
Anglers are urged to stay off this reservoir until the spring thaw.
•Lasal Mountains – Sergeant Edward Meyers reports that all mountain lakes are still snowed in.
•Millsite Reservoir – The reservoir is opening up on the upper end. Hart recommends lures, flies, worms or PowerBait.
•San Juan County – Kens Lake was stocked this week with its spring allotment of catchable-size rainbow trout.
Meyers reports that fishermen in small boats, trolling with lures, are having good success. Shore fishing has been fair to good with traditional baits.
Rainbow trout are nine to 13 inches. A few brown trout are being caught as well.
Conservation Officer Randall Scheetz said that Recapture Reservoir is about half thawed. Blanding 3 Reservoir is thawed around the edges. Anglers should stay off the remaining ice.
Blanding 4 Reservoir is completely open and will soon be stocked with 1,500 catchable rainbow trout, according to Hart.
Scheetz asserts that Lloyds Lake remains frozen and that Foy and Monticello reservoirs are still snowed in.
•Scofield Reservoir – Last week, Conservation Officer Stacey Jones reported that Scofield had 25 or more inches of ice with a top layer of slush and snow. Fishing has ranged between fair and good.
Most anglers have had better success in the early morning. Todd Munford of Big Pine Sports in Fairview suggested fishing in 12-15 feet of water about 150-200 yards off the east shoreline, using egg sacs with an eighth oz. split shot.