Fish are biting in the Uintas

The stage was set. The aspens had turned their usual fall colors of brilliant reds, oranges and golden yellows, the bugs had taken their cue and disappeared, temperatures were comfortable, breezes were mild and the circular ripples on the surface of the water indicated the fish were feeding.

But the audience — fishermen in this case — failed to show up for the fall performance along the Mirror Lake Highway.

The only things breaking the surface of the water over the weekend on some of the Uintas' more popular waters, those closest to the highway, like Moosehorn, Lost and Pass lakes, were fish.

"It's that way every year," reported Tom Pettengill, sports fishing coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

"After Labor Day, fishing pressure just drops off . . . and it's unfortunate because some of the best fishing is in the fall when the water temperatures start to cool and the fish begin to move in closer to shore."

About a dozen fishermen ringed the shoreline at Mirror Lake, but the only people seen over the weekend at some of the roadside lakes were those taking in the scenery.

Fall does, in fact, present some of the best fishing opportunities of the year. The fish, pushed into deeper water by the summer heat, are beginning to enjoy the cooling water closer to shore — within range of a good cast.

This is especially true for larger fish that struggle in warmer water. Anxious to gain weight before the freeze, they tend to feed aggressively in the fall.

Fish are cruising the shorelines looking for ants, beetles and worms that have fallen from trees and bushes. Which, of course, means fly fishermen will likely do best throwing ant or beetle patterns, and shore anglers will likely do best using night crawlers.

Typically, popular lakes receive large stocks of fish prior to the Labor Day weekend. In the case of the accessible lakes along the Mirror Lake Highway, they usually get one more big stocking after the holiday.

In some cases it would pay anglers to look at some of the less-visited lakes, such as Beaver and Marsh. Both are stocked in the spring and both lose the fish to winter kill in the winter. Currently, said Pettengill, both are holding "some nice, fat 16- to 18-inch rainbow."

Beaver Lake is near Whitney Reservoir in the Uintas. Marsh Lake is south of Fort Bridger on the Utah/Wyoming border.