 |
|
INDEX | NORTHERN | CENTRAL | NORTHEASTERN | SOUTHEASTERN | SOUTHERN | LAKE POWELL
Northeastern Region report
Information compiled by Ron Stewart
Northeastern Region Conservation Outreach Manager
Warnings: Several lakes in northeastern Utah may contain quagga and/or zebra mussels. Learn more about these destructive mussels and how to decontaminate your boat.
Whirling disease was found in the northeastern region of the state. Please make sure you clean, dry and sterilize waders, livewells and other fishing gear before venturing to another water.
Cleaning fish: Biologists now believe the disposal of fish parts, especially the head and skeleton, is one of the primary reasons whirling disease has spread to new waters. To avoid moving whirling disease and other undesired organisms, you should clean fish at home and send the parts to a landfill. If that isn't possible, please clean the fish and bury the parts at least 100 yards away from the water's edge. Do not move fish or fish parts from one water to another.
| Waterbody | Report |
|---|---|
| Big Sandwash Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
There are no new reports on fishing conditions at the reservoir. The lake looks frozen but ice condition unknown. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. The reservoir is accessible from the boat ramp and from a new public access point on the northeast corner. |
| Brough Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
There are no new reports on fishing conditions. The lake looks frozen but ice conditions unknown. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. The reservoir has special catch-and-release regulations. You must use flies and lures only—bait is not allowed. See the Utah Fishing Guidebook for details. |
| Browne Lake 2012-02-03 Good |
Anglers report fair to good fishing at the lake. The Ashley National Forest closed the roads at the lower gates and the region received snow during the last few storms. Access is now by skis and snowmobiles. |
| Bullock Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
The reservoir appears frozen, but the ice conditions are unknown. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. |
| Calder Reservoir 2012-02-03 Good |
Fishing has been good considering the no-bait regulation, which has made the catch rate a bit slower than other reservoirs. Try using jigs and lures that glow as the thickness of the ice and snow has made the depths quite dark. The reservoir has special catch-and-release regulations. You must use flies and lures only—bait is not allowed. See the Utah Fishing Guidebook for details. |
| Cottonwood Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
The reservoir has ice, but there are no reports on fishing conditions. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. |
| Crouse Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
There are signs of anglers fishing the reservoir, but no contacts so the catch rates are unknown. As of last weekend, the roads were open and mostly clear or packed snow. |
| Currant Creek Reservoir 2012-02-03 Good |
The last few reports stated good fishing with easily accessible roads; however, that was before the last snowstorm. Fishing was hot and they caught rainbows, cutthroat and tiger trout. Anglers are fishing near the dam in over 50 feet of water but said most of the fish were within the 15 to 25 foot range. Glow and brightly colored jigging spoons and jigs tipped with a mealworm were the most successful gear. Anglers reported solid ice conditions where they were fishing. The southern road was open with easy drive-in access. There are no reports on the road conditions since the last set of snowstorms. |
| East Park Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
Ice covers the reservoir. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. |
| Flaming Gorge 2012-02-03 Good |
There is fishable ice in the northern arms but no safe ice in Utah. There is good open-water fishing for the trout species from both shore and boats. Lake trout: Lake trout fishing has been good to excellent with anglers finding fish almost everywhere. Ice anglers fishing the northern arms are doing well for the pups. In Utah, anglers fishing the shore for rainbows in 15 to 20 feet of water have also caught lake trout. Schools of pups have been reported from close to the surface to 100 feet. If you can find a school, the hits will be fast but light. A good line (fluorocarbon or braid) helps you feel the strike and get a good hook-set when jigging. You can help the Flaming Gorge fishery by harvesting a limit of smaller lake trout. The limit is eight fish, with one over 28 inches. Kokanee salmon: Not hearing much about kokanee. Water temperatures have cooled down so fish could be anywhere. Although the DWR has stocked millions of kokanee over the last few years, the population remains low due to predation by lake trout and burbot. Anglers need to harvest small lake trout and burbot to reduce their impact on kokanee. Rainbow trout: Anglers report good to excellent fishing from the shoreline and from boats (casting and trolling). A boat is essential to access most of the reservoir; however, there is shore fishing near the visitor center (by the dam) and by the boat ramps. Fish can be anywhere including close to shore. Look for schools near cliffs, points and submerged ridges in about 10 to 60 feet of water. Smallmouth bass: Bass fishing has been slow. It's mostly over until next summer; however, an angler caught one a month ago at 70 feet while jigging for lake trout. Burbot: The 2012 Burbot Bash had 233 anglers who caught 1057 burbot in three nights, or roughly 1700 pounds of fish. Fishing was mostly confined to the two northern arms, as there is a lack of ice in the main channel. The winds also kept anglers from trying to fish from boats during the Bash, though several reported success on earlier attempts. Three tags were returned, all from this year's tagging efforts. Two of the tagged fish moved quite a ways up the Black's Fork Arm which may be a sign that some burbot are moving toward the inflows to spawn, so anglers may potentially increase their catch rates if they target those areas. Note: be careful on the ice this year as most of the lake did not freeze. Between the winds and irregular freezing patterns, ice conditions can change rapidly from one spot to the next. Ice thickness ranges from thin ice to roughly two feet. There are also numerous pressure ridges and some of these have reopened near anglers even though the surrounding ice was six or more inches thick. Anglers are catching burbot through the ice in the northern arms and from shore and boats below the confluence and into Utah. Some fish are over eight pounds. Fishing started slow this year but has continued to improve over the last few weeks. Try fishing for a few hours, starting around sunset, along the rocky points and cliffs near the main channel. Burbot will hit during the day, generally in the deeper waters, and become more active during the twilight hours when they move into the shallows to forage. Fish the bottom or just slightly above it in depths from 10 to 50 feet. Use just about anything that glows (spoons, tube jigs, curly-tailed jigs, minnow jigs) and tip it with some type of bait (cut bait like sucker meat recommended). Place your lure close to the bottom and recharge the glow frequently. It is common to catch a fish immediately after re-glowing and dropping a lure. You can use up to six lines through the ice. So far, there doesn't seem to be much of pattern as to jigging technique, some nights dead sticking works best and other nights active jigging brings in the most fish. You'll help the Flaming Gorge fishery by harvesting as many burbot as possible. There is no limit on burbot. |
| Green River below Flaming Gorge dam 2012-02-03 Good |
Anglers have shifted over to their winter presentations and many are using a double rig with a large fish imitation with a scud, shrimp or imitation salmon egg trailer. Often the fish are attracted to the larger presentation and then hit the smaller. Watch for hatches as they can occur on the warmer days. On windy days, anglers who use lures have been more successful because it's easier to cast. Try Rapalas (floating, countdown and husky jerk), spinners, spoons, black, brown or olive marabou jigs, and plastic jigs. |
| Long Park Reservoir 2012-02-03 Fair |
Ice covers the reservoir. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. The roads are closed at the gates and the area has received snow during the last few storms so access is now by skis and snowmobile. |
| Matt Warner 2012-02-03 Good |
Fishing has been good to excellent using glowing or brightly colors jigs and spoons. Tip the lure with bait such as a mealworm or night crawler. As of last Sunday, the road was accessible by branching off the Jones Hole Road at the coral. This road has been kept open by anglers breaking through the drifts. Due to the last storm, high clearance vehicles are a must. |
| Moose Pond 2012-02-03 Fair |
Ice covers the pond and ice anglers report having done well, though now the fishing has slowed. Try a small jig or ice fly tipped with a meal or wax worm. |
| Pelican Lake 2012-02-03 Good |
The fishing shut down seems to have broken. Not many anglers have been fishing because of the shut down the first few weeks of January, but the newest reports have been good. Most anglers have fished the north and east sides and report fair to good fishing for bass and bluegill. |
| Red Fleet Reservoir 2012-02-03 Good |
Anglers report good fishing for rainbows near the dam and the boat ramp. We've even heard from a couple of anglers who targeted and caught walleye as well as a couple that found bluegill near the dam. From the boat ramp parking lot it looks like the reservoir is completely frozen, however it froze in irregular patterns so there could easily be unsafe ice in some areas. There is also a ring around the bank where there is new ice as the reservoir is being filled and the thicker ice is being pulled away from the shore. Last week's snow may also be covering thinner ice so proceed with caution and check the ice carefully before venturing out. |
| Sheep Creek Lake 2012-02-03 Fair |
There are no recent repots. Ice covers the lake, but the conditions aren't absolute so proceed with caution and check the ice carefully before venturing out. The gates are closed and roads snow-covered and a bit icy, so access is now by skis and snowmobiles. |
| Spirit Lake 2012-02-03 Fair |
The ice is fishable and conditions should be fair to good. The roads are closed so access is now by skis and snow machines. Check the ice carefully before venturing out. |
| Starvation Reservoir 2012-02-03 Good |
Anglers report slow to excellent fishing for rainbows and fair fishing for yellow perch and browns; however, there are numerous areas with open water and they are growing in size and abundance. Anglers fishing Rabbit Gulch this weekend reported good fishing but the open water area was getting larger. There are new areas of open water in the middle, in Indian Bay and in front of the main boat ramp and campground. In many other areas, including north east of the bridge, the ice is turning blue-grey, which is a sign that it's deteriorating. The safest ice is likely southwest of the bridge and near the dam; however, the reservoir is getting filled and the older, thicker ice is being pulled away from the shoreline. The ice conditions in most areas aren't absolute, so proceed with caution and check it carefully before venturing out. |
| Steinaker Reservoir 2012-02-03 Good |
Angler reports are mixed. Some report good fishing while others thought it was slow. We are seeing more browns on the ice this year. The two areas of open water near the north end are starting to join together so the open water looks like a big figure 8. Anglers have been out on the ice near the boat ramp and close to the dam and have reported eight or more inches. Ice conditions vary and it is likely the unsafe areas are expanding, so proceed with caution. The reservoir is being filled so there is an edge of thinner new ice which formed as the older thicker ice was lifted up and pulled away from the shoreline. |
