Ryan Mosley with the UDWR's Flaming Gorge Project sent in this report.

What's going on with this winter weather? I'm usually making runs to fish ice on the north end of the Gorge or down to reservoirs in the Uinta Basin, but these unseasonably warm temperatures have me opting to fish from the boat. As you would guess, there's not a whole lot of boating pressure on the Gorge this time of year either. I was out yesterday, and we only saw 3 other boats in about 10-miles of reservoir.

What's so ironic, is the fishing is awesome right now. We fished for rainbows in Jarvies Bay the other day and two of us caught about 40 rainbows and 2 lake trout in 4-hours of fishing. Not bad. All of our fish were caught while casting 2-3 inch jigs (tube jigs and single tailed grubs in earth tones on a 3/8 oz jighead) towards shore, with most of the hits coming on the fall. Fish were chunky, ranged from about 14-20 inches, and had fillets that were "fire engine" red. Shoreline anglers are also catching fish on bait in traditional areas like those around launch ramps, the Dam Visitor center, etc. See picture of Rob Hawkins from Vernal, UT with a quality rainbow he caught while fishing a Yamamoto jig.

Lake trout fishing has also picked up, and many anglers are catching limits of pups (small lake trout), especially through the ice in the inflow area in Wyoming. Ice quickly formed uplake, but as of today, doesn't extend much below the Confluence. There's still safe ice, but unless the weather cools, it's not going to progress much quicker downlake. Anglers should always be careful when fishing the ice on Flaming Gorge, especially with these abnormally warm conditions. Make sure to take a partner, let someone know where you're going and coming home, and always check the thickness near the shore and where you observe color changes in the ice (may indicate ice that formed later).

Hope it helps and Happy New Year! Ryan

The person who coined the phrase "Money can't buy you happiness!",
never bought a Utah fishing license!

Ryan Mosley
Flaming Gorge Project Leader
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
P.O. Box 145
Dutch John, Utah 84023
CP(435)790-4097
WP(435)885-3164
ryanmosley@utah.gov