Because of road closures, access problems and low water levels, a number of lakes in southeastern Utah were not stocked with fish for the Memorial Day weekend. These include such popular waters such as Miller Flat Reservoir, Blue Lake (on the Manti), Soup Bowl, Petes Hole, Marys Lake and Ferron Reservoir. Some waters may not be stocked at all due to low water levels.
•Abajo Mountains. Foy Reservoir has been stocked with about 1,500 rainbow trout. Monticello Reservoir received 1600 fish this past week. DWR conservation officer Randall Scheetz reports that fishing at Blanding number four has been fair with bait. Fishing with bait is good at Blanding number three, where another stocking took place before the Memorial Day weekend. Fishing has been fair for rainbow trout with PowerBait at Recapture Reservoir. Success for Northern pike has been picking up. Try spoons or rapalas from a boat or large spinners and tube jigs from shore.
•Benches Pond. Stocking occured before the Memorial Day weekend.
•Blue Lake (above Joes Valley). Walk-in access only. The lake has not been stocked this year.
•Boulger Pond. Stocking will occur this week.
•Cleveland Reservoir. This reservoir was stocked with its total annual allotment of 4,000 trout. Fishing should be good for at least a month. Anglers are encouraged to harvest the fish before the reservoir drains, which is expected by mid-August.
•Electric Lake. The water level is very low. Boats must be hand-carried to the water, which is 0.6 miles from the concrete boat ramp. Remember that tributaries are closed until July 13. A tributary is any moving water, which empties into a reservoir, even if that water is running within the lakebed.
•Ferron Reservoir. The reservoir has not yet been stocked.
•Gigliotti Pond. This new pond in Helper will be opened to fishing on May 25. The pond will be stocked with 1,500 rainbow trout.
•Gooseberry Reservoir. The reservoir will be stocked this week.
•Grassy Lake. The lake will not be stocked before the big weekend.
•Huntington Creek. The water is running clear. 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. Most of the planted trout have been caught, although bass and bluegill may still be caught. The trout limit is four. 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). Fishing has been generally slow 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). Over-winter survival of tiger trout has been good. Good tiger trout fishing has been reported with worms. 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. Only boats, which can be carried to the water, may be launched this year. The boat ramp is already out of the water. 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.
•Lasal Mountains. Dark Canyon and Hidden lake have been stocked with nearly 2,000 rainbow trout. PowerBait and worms are recommended. Ken’s Lake has been planted with its entire annual allotment of 7,000 trout. Anglers are encouraged to harvest these fish before the lake draws down. Oowah, Warner, and Medicine, lakes were to be stocked before the Memorial weekend.
•Lower Fish Creek. Lower Fish Creek flows are moderately high and murky. The road to the DWR property is open and dry.
•Mary’s Lake. Stocking was done after the Memorial Day weekend.
•Millers Flat Reservoir. U.S. Forest Service gates on the north and south ends of the Millers Flat road should be open by the weekend. However, the reservoir will not have been stocked. In fact, stocking may not occur this year, because the reservoir will likely be drained.
•Millsite Reservoir. Fishing continues to be fair to good with a large variety of baits and lures.
•Pete’s Hole. It is unsure as to when stocking will occur.
•Potter’s Ponds. Stocking was scheduled to occur before the Memorial Day weekend.
•Price River. The river is running moderately high and is murky, because of water releases from Scofield Reservoir.
•Scofield Reservoir. “A recent gill-netting survey showed that high numbers of fish are present, and the fish are in excellent condition,” explained Louis Berg, DWR southeastern region aquatics manager. “Therefore, fishing should be good overall this year. An insect hatch underway is temporarily making fishing tough for many anglers. A worm/marshmallow combination fished at a depth of about 15 feet appears to be producing best results.” Conservation officer Stacey Taggart reminds fishermen that fishing is not allowed in the tributaries until July 13 to protect spawning fish. Any moving water, which empties into the body of the reservoir, is considered a tributary, even if that channel of water lies within the reservoir’s basin. Berg reminds anglers that much of the land around the reservoir is private.
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