Utah anglers doing well in high lakes and deep water

The hot days of July have sent fish deep and fishermen high. Ponds along the Mirror Lake Highway through the Uinta Mountains last weekend were crowded. And, consensus is, those fishermen fishing the higher lakes caught fish.

With temperatures up, both fish and fishermen go looking for cooler places. And, the Uinta lakes are not a bad choice at all — cool, beautiful and productive.

Those anglers sticking with lakes and reservoirs at lower elevations are finding they need to fish early, very early, and/or go deeper.

Anglers who know the secrets of deep-water fishing are still doing fairly well.

At Bear Lake, for example, lake trout are being caught in 60 feet of water, even during the cooler parts of the day.

At East Canyon, boaters are trolling at depths between 25 and 30 feet to find fish. Boaters having success trolling at depths of 25 to 30 feet and using various kinds of pop-gear trailed by bait or lures.

Even at the always productive Pelican Lake, the report is the fish are going deeper.

Following is the latest report from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources:

NORTHERN REGION

BEAR LAKE: Having moderate success trolling for lake trout. Fish are in about 60 feet of water during the morning and late-evening hours.

BLACKSMITH FORK: Good success using elk hair caddis or worms.

EAST CANYON: PowerBait seems to be the bait of choice for most shore anglers. Use rainbow, chartreuse or the salmon-egg variety. Zeke's gold also popular. Boaters having success trolling at depths of 25 to 30 feet and using various kinds of pop-gear trailed by bait or lures.

LOGAN RIVER: Second Dam fishing good for trout. Anglers are having great success using PowerBait, flies and a bobber. Third Dam conditions good for trout.

LOST CREEK: PowerBait seems to be the bait of choice for most shore anglers. Try using the rainbow or chartreuse varieties. Worms and a marshmallow were also popular and produced some results. Boaters having some success trolling at depths of 20 to 30 feet with pop-gear and a lure — flatfish, Jake's or similar or bait. There were some reports of good fishing in the far inlet.

MANTUA: Having good success using black or yellow jigs tipped with a worm.

TRIAL LAKE: Having some success using PowerBait, worms and even a combination of a worm on a spinner. Some of the fish have been fairly small.

WEBER RIVER: Water is high between Echo and Stoddard. Try fishing with a small Rapala or spin-gear in the deeper holes. Fly fishing with nymphs or streamers has produced some fine fish all along the river.

Central Region