Fishing report for southeastern Utah

By Sun Advocate

Please remember to purchase a 2003 fishing license before conducting any fishing trips after the new year.
•Abajo and Blue Mountains. Conservation officer Randall Scheetz reports that there is no safe ice in San Juan County.
•Cleveland Reservoir. The reservoir is frozen but has been ignored by ice anglers.
•Electric Lake. The lake is partially frozen.
•Huntington Creek. The creek is frozen, except where the current is strong. The first mile below Electric Lake dam remains open.
From Flood and Engineer’s Canyon upstream to the dam, only artificial flies may be used. The limit is two fish.
•Huntington North Reservoir. The reservoir is mostly frozen, but should be considered unsafe for ice fishing.
•Huntington Reservoir (near the top of Huntington Canyon). The reservoir is frozen with more than 16 inches of ice. Most ice fishing activity occurs near the dam.
One angler reported good fishing with a chartreuse glitter jig tipped with a piece of nightcrawler. He said he fished near the bottom and kept his jig moving.
•Joes Valley Reservoir. Ice is forming on the east side, preventing shoreline angling. Since reopening, the reservoir has seen very little fishing pressure.
Louis Berg, aquatics manager, encourages anglers to fish with lures rather than bait.
“Fishing with lures will improve the survival of released fish,” explained Berg. “Research has shown that about 50 percent of fish caught and released with bait subsequently die, whereas less than five percent of fish caught on lures die.”
Good lure choices at Joes Valley Reservoir include silver-colored spoons and brown, green or white plastic grubs. The limit is two trout. No more than one trout may be over 22 inches. All trout 15 to 22 inches must be immediately released.
•Millsite Reservoir. The reservoir is mostly open. Fly-fishing near the dam from a float tube has been successful recently. Try using a number 10 green scud or dark (dark green, black, maroon) leech pattern.
•Price River. The river is low and clogged with ice and snow.
•Scofield Reservoir. The reservoir still has open water in the middle and on the north end. Most ice anglers are fishing the south end of the lake near the east side where the ice is six to 10 inches thick.
Conservation officer Stacey Taggart suggests using tiny, shiny lead head jigs. Tip the hook with a piece of meal worm. Small white jigs and small silver jigs have been working well.
Many of the trout are eight to 10 inches, although a fair number range from 18 to 22 inches.
Fishing success has been good, especially in the early morning.
Anglers will find one to two feet of snow blanketing the ice.