Stillwater Fishing Fish Lake

[kandersonSLC]

Headed down to Fish Lake for the weekend to hit the lake and some of the streams and beaver ponds on the plateau. Seems not many fly fish there, as we were viewed as a novelty. Maybe stillwater fishers are missing out on something.

We fished a day and a half, and hit a home run with too many planted bows to count (10-13"); a 19" brown; a 20" mac; and a nice splake. Fish seemed to favor green wooly buggers, but were willing to consider any offering. All were returned to fight another day.

We then drove up on the plateau above the lake. We first hiked up a stream 1.5 miles and started hitting one beaver pond after the other that were all spring fed (we were both surprised how comfortable it was to hike in Korker wading boots). Cute little 6" brookies were more than eager to hit a dry. Then we drove and hiked to a reservoir at 9,200 feet in a stunningly beautiful valley. This is what we love about Utah. Fished amazing areas, saw amazing sites, and only encountered a half dozen folks driving on the dirt road.

We love Fish Lake and its 1950's vibe -- especially before the season begins. No cell service, friendly people, good food, big fish. What more could you want?

P.S. Thanks to LOAH for the inspiration to explore the Fish Lake Plateau.

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[gofish435]

Thanks for the report and great pictures.
I haven't fished Fish Lake in years but we use to do pretty good out of our tubes as long as the wind would cooperate. That is one of the great things about Utah, so many places that folks can get away from the crowds and catch many different species of fish along with great scenery. Were you trolling with your flies or did you anchor up and cast & strip or drift with the wind?
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[kandersonSLC]

We only discovered Fish Lake last year, so it's new to us.

Yeah, the wind is always an issue, which is why we rent a boat with a bigger motor rather than use our pontoon. Fortunately, on the first day the wind didn't come up until 3:00 and we enjoyed glassy conditions with water clarity down about 20' (fun to watch the big fish get close to the surface and then power down ripping off line). The next day the wind was up first thing in the morning, so more of a pain but still fun.

We tried a little of everything, including tossing drys to some rising fish (no takers), cast and strip, jigging, wind drifting, and trolling at 1-2 mph with slow s-turns -- the last method being the most consistent.

It was so not crowded that I forgot it was free fishing day on Sat. I understand after July 4 until Labor Day, it can be crazy at Fish Lake, but sure pleasant the first part of June.
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[flygoddess]

Thanks for the report, K. Sounds like you too had an Epic weekend. Did you get to do a little Dragonfly fishing?
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[kandersonSLC]

The plan was to 4-wheel to the high mountain lake, but as you can see in the photo, the road was snowed in so we had to hoof it about 1/2 mile. No dragonfly this trip -- but soon.

Unfortunately, it looked like this little lake (Lost Creek) had just turned over as the water was all turbid and we didn't get any hits. Still a beautiful place to see, with a ton of other small lakes and reservoirs in the area that we'll have to explore another time.
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[LOAH]

Hey that's a great trip! You did well on the big lake. I need to spend more time there.

I'm glad you had a good time on the little creek.

About Lost Creek, you'll be really lucky to get bites from anything other than salamanders there. Even though the DWR has attempted to get a population of cutts started in there, what I'm told is that they haven't survived so far.

The water level drops dramatically too, every summer. Pity. There's a lot of food in there, if something were to take hold.
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[altizerbd]

Awesome write up!
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