Mountain Lake · Volcanic · Utah

Fish Lake

Fish Lake venue image

Fish Lake is Utah's big natural mountain-lake answer to the Californian who has seen plenty of Sierra reservoirs and still wants something different.

Fair · Rainbow
Callibaetis Nymph · 12-16
Fairlive now
Good drifting conditions on Fish Lake
Glassy and bright — hard work without a breeze. Hard work without breeze. Look for the dimples.
55% confidence
What moved it
  • WindNE 2 km/hCalm
Today's fly
CN
Callibaetis Nymph12-16
High-confidence seasonal pick
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Wind
Calm
NE 2 km/h
N
NE
from the north-east
WaveFlat calm
Water temp—
Air temp12°C
CloudClear
Pressure1020 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm

Some readings unavailable — check directly before fishing.

How to fish it · for Rainbow
When
No strong hatch signals at the moment — general searching tactics should work best. Calm conditions may limit drift fishing — consider buzzers or dry fly if fish are rising.
Where
With limited drift, anchor or fish static from sheltered positions. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point. In the calm, a single dry fly or a slowly-fished nymph tends to out-fish an active retrieve.
The plan
Plan A

With limited drift, anchor or fish static from sheltered positions. Work a bushy searching pattern on the bob and drop a contrasting nymph on the point. In the calm, a single dry fly or a slowly-fished nymph tends to out-fish an active retrieve.

Plan B

If the main plan is not working, switch to a smaller, more imitative pattern fished slower and deeper. A change of drift angle can also make a difference.

Watch for

Evening tends to be the best period in summer — stay late if you can for a sedge or spinner fall.

Bank

Flat calm suits bank fishing near features — points, weed beds, and inflows where fish patrol.

Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 4 with Pro.

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Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Gray DrakeHatch
2
2
CallibaetisHatch
2
3
3
3
2
Hexagenia (Western)Hatch
2
2
Black MidgeHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • Verify Fish Lake-specific species and harvest rules against UDWR
  • Stillwater safety: wind and cold water matter.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Condition match
52%
Cloud25%
Wind65%
Temp60%

A reasonable day here, though cloud isn't quite in the sweet spot.

Other water nearby · 3
East Fork Sevier River — Kingston Canyon
51 km
28
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Cutthroat trout
Fremont River
31 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Boulder Mountain Lakes
50 km
Brook trout · Cutthroat trout · Rainbow trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

Fish Lake is Utah's big natural mountain-lake answer to the Californian who has seen plenty of Sierra reservoirs and still wants something different. It sits high on the Sevier Plateau in aspen and spruce country, big enough for boats, deep enough for lake trout, and still useful to fly anglers around shorelines, weed edges and cool-water windows. It is not a delicate dry-fly river; it is a high stillwater where wind, depth, ice-off and summer stratification decide the game. It's southern/central Utah's serious stillwater anchor, alongside Boulder Mountain and Panguitch.

  • Lake
  • Volcanic
Why this score
  • summer conditions with clear skies and calm wind.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 January → 31 December
Related guides
Small Stillwater Playbookstillwater tacticsThermal Layers & Troutreading depth and temperatureEuro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts