The following is the weekly Southeast Utah Fishing Report prepared by the Department of Wildlife Resources. Scofield Reservoir and Gigliotti Pond are listed by DWR Conservation Outreach Manager Brent Stettler as “Good”.
Cleveland Reservoir
Brent Stettler
Fair
On 5/16, Aquatics Technician Brian Berggren reported a few feet of open water ringing the shoreline. Open water also occurs near the inlet.
Electric Lake
Brent Stettler
Slow
On 5/16, DWR aquatics technicians reported that the lake was completely iced over, although the ice was becoming more transparent around the edges. The ice fishing season is over.
Gigliotti Pond
Brent Stettler
Good
On 5/6, Aquatics Biologist Mike Bolinski had a strike or caught a fish with every cast, using chartreuse PowerBait. Mike said that schools of albino trout were observed, cruising around the pond. Trout ranged from 11-16 inches, and included both rainbows and albino trout. The pond has been stocked twice this spring.
Angers need to remember a daily bag limit of two fish at Gigliotti Pond.
Huntington North Reservoir
Brent Stettler
Fair
State Park Manager Dan Richards reported that a 6.8 lb. 26-inch brown trout was caught from a boat during the first week in May. Dan received additional reports of nice rainbows being taken from boats this week. The reservoir was stocked in mid-April with 3,000 8-9 inch rainbow trout.
Aquatics Manager Paul Birdsey reported that during the week of May 15, approximately 100,000 wiper fry were be planted in the reservoir. These fry sre less than an inch long, but will be joined by larger wipers, which will be stocked later this summer.
Joes Valley Reservoir
Brent Stettler
Fair
The reservoir is ice-free.
On 5/14, Thad Morris caught and released five fat tiger muskies, ranging from 27-30 inches, while trolling with a silver Kastmaster.
All tiger muskies must be immediately released unharmed until they reach 40 inches in size. Tiger muskies often die from exhaustion when played by an angler. Please bring all hooked muskies quickly to the boat and keep them in the water while removing the lure. Using long needle nose pliers helps to prevent injury to both the fish and angler. If the lure can’t be removed, please cut the line and release the fish.
On 5/16, Conservation Officer Ben Stearns reported fair fishing over the weekend. The most successful anglers were using Rapalas, lures, and jigs tipped with chub meat. Rainbows were being caught on worms and PowerBait.
The limit is four trout. Only one may be over 18 inches. Tiger muskies must be released immediately.
LaSal Mountains
Brent Stettler
Good
Hidden Lake–Conservation Officer Tj Robertson reported fair fishing at Hidden Lake, based on angler reports of nice-sized fish in the lake that were hard to catch. Tj said the best success would be had with a mini-Jakes in lime green with red spots.В
Kens Lake—Tj Robertson reported good fishing at Kens Lake. Trout anglers are seeing success with green and yellow PowerBait. Salmon eggs and nightcrawlers are working as well. Jakes spinners in gold and silver colors and small flashy spoons have been effective for some anglers. Fly fishermen have been using midge patterns and grasshopper imitations. A week ago, a 10-lb. bass was caught. Tj recommends a jig that imitates a crawfish.
Rattlesnake—Anglers at this lake have been seeing a lot of success with many types of lures and spinners. The best bait has been PowerBait in green and rainbow colors. On 5/7, Aquatics Biologist Darek Elverud and a friend fished Rattlesnake, and rated fishing as good with spinners, spoons and flies. Trout ranged from 9-12 inches. Fly fishing was best with midge and scud patterns.
Mammoth Reservoir
Brent Stettler
Slow
On 5/8, Conservation Officer Ben Stearns reported that the reservoir lay under a thick covering of ice.
Millsite State Park
Brent Stettler
Fair
On 5/16, Conservation Officer Ben Stearns reported fair fishing for rainbow trout with nightcrawlers or PowerBait.
On 5/5, Tom Ogden and Perry Bunderson fished from tubes with sinking line and dark-colored leeches or wooly bugger patterns in sizes 6 and 8. They caught 16 trout in five hours. Their biggest fish was 18 inches long. The catch was a mixture of rainbows, cutthroats and splake.
Scofield Reservoir
Brent Stettler
Good
The reservoir is ice-free. Boats may be launched at both the Madsen Bay and Mountain View units.
On 5/17, one angler posted a report on the Utah Fishing Forum, saying he and his father fished the dam cove and landed nearly 40 tiger trout. The majority ranged from 8-14 inches. They used Jakes Spin-a-Lures and dead minnows. This angler also hooked what he judged to be a 8 lb. trout, but lost the fish when his line became stuck in a rock crevice.
On 5/16, an angler posted a thread on BigFishTackle.com, saying he caught some large trout by fishing deep with a down rigger. One tiger trout was close to 5-lbs.
On 5/16, Tom Ogden fished from a pontoon boat using fly tackle. He used sinking line and # 6-8 soft hackle flies with sparkle, dark leech patterns, and bead head olive leeches with a gold rib. His catch consisted of small rainbows and cutthroats. He rated fishing as slow.
At this time of year, the best lures and baits for cutthroats and tiger trout include the Jakes Spin-a-Lure, Kastmaster, and Rapalas, dead minnows, chub meat and egg sacs. Nightcrawlers and PowerBait in chartreuse are good baits for rainbow trout. Good fly patterns include wooly buggers and leeches.
This reservoir has special regulations. Please refer to the current guidebook under “Rules for Specific Waters.”