Southern Utah Fly Fishing / winter fly fishing experiences

It's Winter Here In Southern Utah.

The Fly fishing Streams are Quiet.

I found my self wandering the streams alone, unless you count the weasel hunting the shoreline for voles or unwary chipmunks checking on their winter stores.

Fly Fishing Southern Utah In The Winter Reminds Me Of How it was over 20 years ago, when few people even knew the Fremont River existed, let alone U.M Creek, And Sevenmile and a host of other small streams.

Just the morning before the temperature was 3 degrees and the day seemed more catered to tying flies, or working on end of season paper work. But today was warmer and as I wandered the stream my heart rose with each of the rising trout that aggressively fed on the midges that struggled to fly from the stream surface.

There was a rustling in the undercover of the juniper tree and the cry of some small creature struggling for life as the weasel administered its life ending bite, and all was silent again. I have often reflected on the teachings of my Father in moments like this and of sacrifice, and his words sink deep in my heart. "And I watched it snow-quieting all, in haste, covering with a whitening Sacramental grace. And its snowing, I believe still, snowing- snowing crystaled Israel."

Within that silence I watched as my fly disappeared in the ring of water left behind from a rising trout! A gentle lift of the rod and my line came tight to a struggling trout, a few moments later it lay gasping for breath in my hands, and as I gently released it, watched it swim away, I pondered the significance and knew, why I fished.

Souther Utah Fly Fishing Opportunities

Quiet fly fisher guide service & Fly shop

Www.quietflyfisher.com

It’s the First day of spring!
Many of the reservoirs in the area are starting to open up, with these ice off conditions there is a great opportunity for good fishing!
Millmeadow Res.
The ice is breaking up again near the dam and the inlets are opening up this is a great time to target this Reservoir and the wild Browns that live there, in addition there are a good number of rainbow trout hold overs from last year that are available, we’ve also picked up some tiger trout and splake.

Forsyth Res.
Ice is starting to look pretty sloppy, there is some open water at the springs, it’s been hit and miss there for us, with one day catching 10 or 15 and the next 0!

Lower Bowns.
Access is possible with a high clearance vehicle four wheel drive is recommended, as the road is still wet and in some places there was still snow. The reservoir was completely open water.

Koosharem Res.
The ice was coming off fast with lots of open water! This is the time to target this reservoir in our experience! The cutthroat seem to have made a come back compared to the last couple of years.

Otter creek.
Ice was off and there were boats on the water! There have been a few good reports of some big rainbows being caught using traditional midge below an indicator rig!

Get out there and enjoy the ice off conditions!

Fly Fishing Southern Utah guide service Fly Shop

Mill meadow still had good ice on the north end most of the rest of the lake is still unsafe!
Also visited Forsyth, it’s full and spilling, there was lots of open water, I did notice a couple guys on the ice, I’m not sure how thick it was.
Fishlake has a very thin layer of ice. And good ice on the extreme north and south ends.

Both thousand lake mtn . And Boulder mtn got about 3 inches of snowdrop earlier storms, making access more difficult,
This new storm has also been dumping extra snow on top of that., there is another storm expected Thursday that could ad more.
Lower Bowns had about 7 inches of ice on the north west end of the lake, fishing was good for us there, 15 inch rainbows and Tigers.

Fly fishing Southern Utah Boulder mountain

For more info stop by the Fly Shop in Loa Utah, or visit us at www.quietflyfisher.com



Fish lake.
Ice is off, you can now launch boats.
Access is now possible on highway 25 between fishlake to millmeadow. Seven mile and UM creek are both swollen with spring run off.
Upper Fremont has increased flows from Johnson valley Reservoir, Johnson is full and coming off the overflow spillway.
Forsyth is full, millmeadow is full.
Fishing has been fair to good, swing in to the shop for the flies we have been using lately and more details.

Lower bowns is accessible and filling, it has not been this high for several years, fishing has been great!

Boulder Mountain.
Access is opening up more and more, most of the lakes immediately below the rim such as fishcreek and donkey still have ice, access was only possible with trax.
Early season fishing can be tough for fly fisher men
We have a few tips that may help, stop by.

Thousand lake mountain.
No access towards elk horn yet.
Access is possible from 72 over the top to Solomon basin now.
Lots of fishing pressure last week.

Here are a few shots from last week.

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Fly Fishing Southern Utah Capitol Reef National Park Area

We went from Tiger trout and Blue Birds, to ice and snow again this week! Just a typical spring here in Loa Utah.
Just a quick update on the conditions here.

For more info or to book a guided fly fishing trip contact us at www.quietflyfisher.com

Boulder Mountain.
Access is still limited.
You can reach coleman lake, lower bowns and some trail heads but it will be some time before access really opens up.

Thousand lakes mountain.
Access from the highway 72 side is limited to Riley springs, there are plenty of snow drifts past that point, last year several people ended up stuck on this road, it’s just not worth trying till it melts off.
You can access the Solomon basin area from the desert, the lakes there have turned over and are currently off color, morell pond was clear.

Fremont River.
Upper Fremont is still low and clear, keeping a low profile and accurate casting will help you be successful on this small stream, we use Hares ears. Pheasant tail. And midge larva, and have done well.
Bicknell Bottoms is clear, fishing here is slow. We throw black streamers. Buggers sculpzillas ect…
Below highway 12 the water is high off color and turbid.
Look for it to clear mid may.
Fish Lake.
There is some open water in the twin reeks area, this is a great place to suspend nymphs.
We have had great success for Rainbows and Splake this Spring.
There are still some people on the Ice fishing, the edges are getting soft though and the ice is getting rotten, so be careful!

Southern Utah Fly fishing guides report.

With the warmer then average weather the ice as started to melt and access is improving daily on the mountain roads also. Loa has been in the high 60s with a couple days in the low 70s. There are colder temperatures and snow in the forecast for the end of next week.
Here is our report of conditions currently.

Fishlake.
Ice conditions are still good and the fishing has been great, this reservoir typically has good ice till early April, caution should always be used though.

Millmeadow Reservoir.
The ice is coming off quickly, there is 10 to 20 feet of open water on the edges, and the section south east of the boat ramp looks like it could open up anytime. The inlets are wide open with plenty of room to fish.
We recommend leech patterns in brown and black also wooly buggers in the same colors, the fish have also actively been feeding on some of the edges in search of chirominids.

Forsyth Reservoir.
Access is good, nearly all the snow has melted from the roads.
There is anywhere from 5 to 10 feet of open water on the edges.
The inlets on this reservoir have also opened up and there has been fish cruising the edge in search of food, we suggest leech patterns here as well as chirominid patterns.

Koosharem Reservoir.The ice is basically gone, there was one big chunk floating around out there but it did not deter the boats that were there trying there luck, fishing has been slow for most people I talked to.
We like to get out on our float tubes and pontoon boats at this time of year and pull big size 2 and 4 streamers, the take can be light but the fish are huge!!!

Lower Bowns.
The reservoir is completely free of ice.
Access was still not possible by 4 wheel drive vehicle as of Tuesday, I made it maybe 3/4 of a mile down the road before running into deep snow and a spot where a couple people had been stuck. If the weather holds access may be possible by next weekend.

Fremont River.
The upper is still low and clear, fishing has been decent for smaller browns using a variety of different nymphs, are favorite at this time of year is a bead head hares ear.
Bicknell bottoms is also clear, spring can be a good time to catch fish here.
There was a prescribed burn last week so many of the cat tails and reeds are down to stubble.
Below highway 12. The flows are up and the water is turbid and off color.

Boulder Mountain.
Access is still extremely limited, unless you have tracks for your side by side or four wheeler don't plan on getting anywhere, this mountain typically dose not have decent access till may.
That being said I've made it as far as Coleman's on the donkey road as of Tuesday it was still covered in ice. There was maybe 4 feet of open water on the southeast shore line. Check the proclamation before you go as many of the lakes are closed till April.

Thousand Lake mountain.
Access is still limited to the desert side, you could only get as far as morrel pond as of yesterday, access could improve if the weather holds. Everything still had ice that we made it to.

Southern Utah Fly Fishing Guides and Fly shop

Quiet Fly Fisher Guide Service/Fly Shop

Guided Fly Fishing Trips To Southern Utah Near Capitol Reef National Park

For mor info or to book a trip go to www.quietflyfisher.com

This recent cold snap has kicked my Spring Fever in To Over-drive!!!

I can't wait to get out there and Fish!

Now is the Time to book your trip for this Spring And Summer, we have had an excellent Snow Pack and the lakes, reservoirs, and Streams are in excellent shape!

Here is a few pictures to help with any spring fever symptoms you might have. Www.quietflyfisher.com