Lots of great fishing in Utah

Even the novice angler has his or her favorite fishing hole.

Typically, it's where an angler gets the most enjoyment out of fishing, albeit the catch or the scenery.

A random sampling of known fishermen produced a list of 10 of Utah's "best" fishing spots.

1. Lake Powell

2. Strawberry Reservoir

3. Flaming Gorge

4. Green River

5. Scofield Reservoir

6. Pelican Lake

7. Provo River

8. Sand Hollow

9. Minersville Reservoir

10. Jordanelle Reservoir

It's hard to find better fishing than what Lake Powell offers. Anglers report catching upward of 100 3- to 5-pound striped bass in a single day and, if they choose, a good assortment of largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill and walleye.

There were larger striped bass in Lake Powell last year, and while the fish this year are a little smaller, they are no less plentiful.

The reason for the smaller size is the overpopulation of striped bass has, as happens, depleted its food supply of shad to the point where good meals are hard to find. But the result is the striped bass are hungry, quick to take a lure and are providing excellent fishing.

As far as other species, this is expected to be a banner year for largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleye and bluegill. There are good numbers and size to all of these fish.

The reason for the good size is there was excellent production on forage fish between 2003 and 2005, which allowed all fish, including smallmouth and largemouth, to put on weight.

Strawberry Reservoir is Utah's No. 1 fishing spot, hands down.

The reservoir gets nearly 100 angler-hours of fishing per acre and provides an average catch rate of about one fish per hour, which falls in the area of excellent fishing.

New predictions are that there are more than 200,000 cutthroat more than 20 inches in Strawberry. There were years in the mid-1990s where modeling projected there were fewer than 500 of the larger fish in the lake.