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Seven ice fishing tournaments and events to check out this winter. Read more.
Ice fishing: Moving beyond the basics. Read tips and tricks, and about the gear that will make this a season to remember.
Big Sandwash Reservoir: ★★ As of 12/27/20 water levels are at 31% capacity. The reservoir has 7-8"" of ice. Please be aware BSW fills all winter and edges are usually very soft. Most anglers have been accessing the reservoir from the main ramp, but you are able to reach the water from the northern access now. Anglers report a slower week for all species at Big Sandwash Reservoir. Perch and walleye are deep, rainbow trout fishing was very slow last week. ** Please be aware of barotrauma in both yellow perch and walleye. If you target this species in deep water they likely not be able to swim back down and will die under the surface of the ice. Please be prepared to count these fish into your daily limit of 50 perch. UDWR staff will be continuing angler surveys throughout the winter. If you see them please be aware we would like to collect some information from you about your fishing trip. (December 29, 2020)
Browne Lake: ★★★★ Covered with 12+ inches of solid ice. No recent reports since roads closed. USFS road gates are closed. Over the snow machines are required to access. Try fishing typical trout lures (jigs tipped with mealworms/worms, spoons, ice flies, powerbait) as these methods usually produce fish. (January 13, 2021)
Calder Reservoir (Blue Ribbon): ★★★★ Anglers report good catch rates for rainbow trout. Fish are suspending 6-12 feet below ice. Road access is good for wheeled vehicles. Be careful accessing the ice as there are aerators on this water. Fish consume mostly midge larvae, scuds and red side shiners in this water. Try imitating those food sources for the best fishing results. The reservoir has special catch-and-release regulations. You must use flies and lures only — bait is not allowed. Please use good catch-and-release techniques. See the Utah Fishing Guidebook for details. (January 13, 2021)
Cottonwood Reservoir: ★★★ Cottonwood report for 1/4/2021. Cottonwood reservoir is still filling, there is a large open hole near the inlet. Edges of the lake are very soft as it is filling fast. To access the ice you should drive to the east and north or follow the sled trails along the base of the dam away from the inlet. The ice around the inlet is very unsafe and a large buffer away from it should be given. Ice thickness ranges from 1" near the inlet to 12" at mid lake. Average ice depth is closer to 10". A small group of us fished Cottonwood on January 4th with the goal of catching a wiper through the ice. Wiper are traditionally hard to find and hard to catch though the ice. We learned you can be successful at catching both muskie and wiper through the ice at cottonwood reservoir. We caught wiper ranging from 6 inches to 17 inches in length. You will need to be prepared to move around and drill a few holes. Electronics are critical to your success and you will need to "attract" the wiper to your lure and be able to watch how they react. Jigging spoons worked for us (they must have a rattle in them). Colors seemed to be important, try patters of gold, greens and yellows. Wiper were found at several locations in the reservoir. It appears to be a similar pattern for a wiper bite (morning and evening), we had no action in the middle of the day. We were able to catch a few smaller tiger muskie as well. One angler was using a tube jig with bait and another a rattling jigging spoon. Cottonwood is a place that can provide a challenge for an avid ice angler. You must be willing to work for both species, be patient and be ready to move around the lake. The muskie were caught in 20-25 feet of water, the wiper in a bit deeper water from 30-40 feet. Please be aware of the Tiger Muskie regulation at Cottonwood and practice good catch and release techniques. Also be aware the wiper limit has changed statewide. You my harvest 3 wiper at Cottonwood per day, per angler with no size restriction. At this time, we are still a several years out from developing a boat ramp at Cottonwood. Please use caution when launching and navigating this reservoir as it is not a state park and no marker buoys are deployed for hazards. (January 05, 2021)
Flaming Gorge Reservoir (Blue Ribbon): ★★★★ Ice from Brinegar Ranch north and building south. Be careful as ice thickness has been highly variable. UT ramps still open.
Lake trout: Recent fishing reports indicate that lake trout fishing success is fair to good depending on the day and location, patience is key when fishing for lake trout. Lake trout are at all depths due to cooler temps. Try locating active fish (surface-60 feet) trolling or casting lures or jigging baits. If you don't find them there, try along main channel depths in 80-120 feet of water. Good lures to try are jigging spoons such as Northland Buckshots or Crippled Herrings, jigging raps and 3.5 inch tube jigs in 1/4-3/8 oz. weight and tipped with sucker or chub meat. Try larger tubes for larger fish. Watch your sonar as many of the more active fish can actually be suspended in the water column but most will hug the bottom. If trolling lures on downriggers, watch for concentrations and individual fish on your fish finder and if located, vertically jig for them. Open water jigging lures work well for ice fishing also. Small lake trout less than 25-inches have become overabundant, causing competition for food and a decrease in growth rates. If this trend continues, it will impact the trophy lake trout component (less food to grow big fish). Please help the resource by harvesting lake trout less than 25-inches. This size class of fish also makes exceptional table fare.
Kokanee salmon: Reports of a few fish being caught. Look for concentrated schools that move around in open water from 40-100 feet deep and the backs of bays and try jigging spoons tipped with gulp or power bait if you can stay on top of them.
Rainbow and cutthroat trout: Anglers report fishing has been fair to good. Catchable stocked fish have provided a good opportunity to catch fish from the surface to 70 ft. deep. Small spoons and spinners work well, tipped with meal worm, night crawler, or even Gulp. Reports of decent ice fishing in WY.
Smallmouth bass: No recent reports. Fish have moved deep and are tough to catch in winter. Crayfish are the main forage for bass in this water.
Burbot: Anglers report good catch rates in the north end of the reservoir. Ice fishing is possible from Brinegar Ferry crossing upstream and some backs of bays south of that. Target burbot on rocky points and shorelines in 10-30 feet of water at night using glow-in-the-dark lures like Yamamoto grubs, Radical Glow tubes, Maniac Cutterbugs, and Northland Buckshot spoons. Tip the lure with sucker/chub meat, recharge glow frequently, and jig or deadstick the presentation a couple inches from the bottom. Buckboard Marina is once again hosting the ‘Pup’ulation Control Contest for lake trout. Anglers will be able to participate in this contest now through mid-June 2021 for only $20 per angler. Registered participants will be entered for prizes and immediate cash rewards for catching a tagged lake trout. One hundred lake trout under 25 inches were tagged in Wyoming with a bright green external tag and these fish are worth $100. Additionally, there are more than 80 lake trout with orange external tags remaining from last year’s contest that are worth $50. The goal of the contest is to make anglers aware of the abundance of small lake trout (<25 inches) in Flaming Gorge Reservoir and encourage harvest of these fish. Only those registered will qualify for cash and prizes. You can find more information about the contest including rules at Buckboardmarina.net. (January 13, 2021)
Green River Below Flaming Gorge Dam (Blue Ribbon): ★★★★ Flows are now 900 cfs base flow with a single peak to 2200 cfs starting around 4 pm. Water temp is around 40 degrees. Fishing access is good. Streamers have been working. Egg patterns should work as browns were spawning. Some midge hatches. Nymphs for trout and whitefish mostly this time of year. Jigs, crankbaits, spinners and spoons can also work well. Pinch down barbs for a quick release and try to limit time out of the water when releasing fish. Please use other good catch and release techniques when fishing this highly pressured water. Please avoid brown trout spawning redds in the upcoming months. See current water releases from Flaming Gorge Dam.(January 13, 2021)
Little Montes Reservoir: ★★★ As of 1/9/2021 ice at Little Montes is 4-6" Fishing was slower this week, but anglers are still catching stocked rainbows and a few brood stock brook trout. Little Montes is a great place to try if you are new to ice fishing or have family/friends who want to join in the fun. Anglers PLEASE remember to clean up your trash and others and help keep our Wildlife Management areas clean. (January 10, 2021)
Long Park Reservoir, North Slope: ★★★★ Capped with 12+ inches of ice. No recent reports. USFS road gates are closed, over the snow vehicles required for access. There are plenty of fish in the reservoir. Rainbows, Brook trout and grayling are all present in good numbers. Most fish eat aquatic insect larvae so try patterns that might look like midges. Typical trout lures (worms, powerbait, jigging spoons, tube jigs, marabou jigs, ice flies) usually work well at this water. (January 13, 2021)
Matt Warner Reservoir: ★★★★ Capped with fishable ice. Reports of good fishing for rainbows from 13 to 21 inches. Typical trout lures such as jigs or spoons tipped with worms, powerbait, or mealworms should work to catch fish. Try deadstick presentation if fish aren't biting. Dissolved Oxygen levels are highest near the surface so try fishing a few feet off the bottom. A fishing graph will help ice anglers see what depth the fish are so you can get your lure in front of them. The reservoir is about 8 ft. below full pool. Try moving away from launch ramp if not finding fish. (January 13, 2021)
Moose Pond: ★★★ Good ice conditions and should be good fishing for small rainbows. Typical trout lures such a jigs and small spoons tipped with power bait or worms should work well under the ice. The water is only a few feet deep so don't let your lure sit on the bottom when ice fishing. This is a good location to bring children as access is good. (January 13, 2021)
Pelican Lake: ★★★ As of 01/9/2021 Pelican lake had a solid 10-12" of ice and is mostly snow covered. Water levels are steadily coming up and water now reaches the edge of the bulrush. We mostly fished the east side of the reservoir off hwy 88. We actively moved around in 6-8 feet of water trying to find the edges of weed beds. We targeted bass and were successful at catching several 8-12" in total length. Try using small tube jigs and lures that imitate young bluegill (1-2" in length). Actively jigging was successful along with a few bites on a dead stick rig. Tip with 1/2 meal worm. Larger bluegill are present but are still hard to find. Small 4-5" bluegill are abundant. Black bullhead catfish are frequently caught through the ice. If you catch a carp at Pelican Lake please remove it from this fishery. Bluegill regulations have gone from a zero fish limit to a 15 fish limit only five of them over 7" long. Regulations are on a two year cycle, this regulation will be updated as this fishery progresses and our management plan goals are evaluated. On September 24th Pelican was stocked with 10,000 fingerling largemouth bass (brought in from a hatchery in Arkansas). Expect to see good growth of these fish over the next year as bluegill numbers looked great in the mid-August surveys. Current relative weight (condition of bass) is 129, which is excellent as 100 is a plump, healthy bass on this condition scale. UPDATE: Despite the DWR's best efforts, biologists have observed common carp in Pelican Lake this spring (2020). DWR crews have been out repeatedly-removing all carp captured-in an effort to control the population before they overrun the system. To date, biologists have removed only a few adult carp but numerous juvenile carp. Given this very distressing observation, and that Pelican does not yet have the number of predators required to control the carp, DWR biologists have chosen to stock over 12,000 2-inch tiger muskie into Pelican Lake to help. The tiger muskie is a sterile hybrid, so the population in the lake will always be less than what has been stocked (we know many get eaten before they have a chance to grow). We will continue to stock this species until there are enough predators in the system-including both the largemouth bass and the tiger muskie. This does mean that recovery of Pelican Lake will take a little longer; however, it also gives us a chance to better control the carp population. Without enough predators in the system, the carp will overrun the lake again. Given all the removal efforts on the lake, crews are seeing a reduction in carp numbers captured each time they go out. Biologists will continue to monitor this situation and keep the report updated with any new information. We have now completed several projects above Pelican Lake, which will help protect this fishery into the future. A sediment catch basin has been constructed and is functioning to remove heavy sediments before they are deposited into Pelican. The fish screen was constructed and has been functioning since November. This will continue to help protect Pelican from upstream sources of Common Carp. However if you are fishing on Pelican Lake and see any sign of Carp or spawning Carp activity please contact the DWR office right away. 435-781-9453. Thanks for your patience as we continue to restore this fishery. (January 10, 2021)
Red Fleet Reservoir: ★★ As of 1/6/20 Red Fleet has 7-9" of ice over the entire reservoir. Fishing is very slow right now. Anglers have reported catching perch, but very few so far. You will need to plan to move around a lot to locate fish. No reports of consistent depths or patterns yet. Traditionally Red Fleet is difficult to ice fish as access is limited and much walking is required. However if you are willing to move around and find the fish you can find success with perch, crappie and bluegill. Main access points are the main boat lunch and the North Bay angler access. (January 08, 2021)
Sheep Creek Lake: ★★★ Capped with good ice conditions. USFS road gates are closed, over the snow vehicles required for access. No recent reports. Good location to catch large cutthroat trout. Special regulations are in effect on this water. No bait allowed, size and species restrictions. Please use good catch and release techniques to preserve the fish in this water. (January 13, 2021)
Spirit Lake: ★★★ Over the snow machines required for access. USFS road gates are closed. Reports of 12"+ of ice covering the lake. No recent reports but anglers should catch tiger trout up to 14" with typical lures and baits. (January 13, 2021)
Starvation Reservoir (Blue Ribbon): ★★ Report on 1/8/2020. Current ice conditions around the lake are incredibly variable. Ice in Knight Hollow is 8-18" thick and snow covered. Reports of plentiful small rainbows being caught in 17-20 feet of water. Walleye and perch fishing was very slow today. Ice conditions near the main ramp, Indian Bay, Rabbit Gulch and the bridge area range from 5" of solid clear ice to areas of 2" of bad ice.
ICE WITH SNOW COVERING IT INSTANTLY BECOMES LESS THICK. A spud bar is a critical tool if you decide to venture out on the lake. Pending safe ice conditions, Utah State Parks will be hosting an ice fishing derby on February 6th 2020. Check out Fred Hayes State Park at Starvation Facebook and webpage for more information. (January 08, 2021)
Steinaker Reservoir: ★★★★★ As of January 10th, Steinaker has 12-14" of ice. Trout fishing was reported as excellent this week, but it has slowed down a bit since last week. Schools of bluegill are moving around the reservoir, a few brown trout have been caught and no reports of bass yet. Try fishing 15-30 feet of water using small jigs with half a meal worm or whole wax worm. Fish are swimming at all depths from just under the ice to the bottom of the lake. Ice Addiction fishing tournament will be held at Steinaker Reservoir on January 23rd. Expect 400 to 600 anglers on the lake for this event. Parking will be packed and under the control of state park rangers and Ice Addiction tournament staff. The event will last from 5AM until 12noon with prized awarded directly on the ice from 12-1PM. For more information visit Ice Addition Tournament series on Facebook or the website. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ice-addiction-steinaker-state-park-utah-tickets-129337619301 On September 24th 20,000 bluegill and 13,500 largemouth bass fingerlings were stocked into Steinaker reservoir. (January 10, 2021)
The Fish Utah website offers an in-depth, interactive map that will help you find a place to fish near you! You can also rate waters based on your most recent fishing trips. Your ratings will help us improve the management of Utah's fisheries. Visit Fish Utah to plan your next trip or leave a rating.
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