Weber River Fishing Report

Water releases from Rockport Reservoir are at 86.5 CFS. By Coalville the flows are around 161 CFS. Below Echo the Weber is flowing at 190 CFS. Throughout the I 84 canyon the Weber picks up a lot more water and is flowing at about 1,460 CFS once it gets to Ogden. Snowpack in the Weber River Drainage is sitting at 158 percent of normal. Due to snowmelt the Upper and Lower Weber are kind of out of the picture for fishing, but it is game on between Wanship and Coalville.

The Mother’s Day Caddis have arrived. Look for rising fish, especially in the evenings. I like to present a size 16 or 18 Matthew’s X caddis to these fish. If fish aren’t rising on the Weber, they love sow bugs, especially the tailwater sow in a size 16 or 18. Don’t forget to cover the subsurface caddis activity with something like a size 18 birds nest, a smaller prince nymph, or some other caddis larva of your choice. You will see some baetis activity, but not nearly as much as you will find on the Provo. Usually a purple or natural juju baetis in a size 18 will do the trick. There is also some spring midge activity on the Weber. Again not nearly as much as on the Provo, but fish will hone in on smaller gray and dark midges earlier in the day. I would cover that activity with a size 22 gray WD40 or a smaller zebra midge. I have also heard of a few people throwing streamers on the Weber. The white or natural zonker as been the streamer of choice for those anglers.

Small Stream Fishing Report

With Utah sitting somewhere between 96 and 297 percent of average snowpack, snow is still the major issue when it comes to access on many of Utah’s smaller streams. Focus on tailwater fisheries or spring creeks as well as rivers with paved roads leading to them.

May is a great time to be adventurous. The Provo is busy with the baetis and midge hatches popping off. Baetis and midges are hatching on a lot of other rivers as well. Who knows, depending on where you are at, you might stumble upon a Stonefly or early caddis hatch or maybe even cicadas. When exploring, be mindful of the weather and that if a river is crystal clear in the morning, runoff could cause it to become unfishable in the afternoon.

I like to fish small streams with a dry dropper rig this time of the year, unless fish our rising. If they are rising you should probable tie on something that matches the hatch. Some of my favorite point flies are a peacock cluster midge in a size 16 or a Paracricket or PMX in a size 12-14. It terms of droppers, I like a size 18-20 zebra midge, size 18 pheasant tail, or a size 16 prince nymph. If you are fishing streamers, think smaller. A Scuplizza or Zonker in white, black, or olive should do the trick.

Southwest Wyoming Fishing Report

There is still a lot of snow out there. Snowpack in the Upper Green River Drainage is at 100 percent of normal, the Lower Green River Drainage is at 89 percent, and the Upper Bear Drainage is at 117 percent. With all the snow and cooler temperatures, peak runoff is still awhile away. Runoff is beginning to increase the flows into Fontenelle Reservoir and are currently at 4,500 CFS, but will get much higher in the coming days. Flows coming out of Fontenelle continue to hold around 1,750 CFS. Those will probably increase within the coming days as well.

There has been a lot of midge activity on the days that the wind doesn’t blow the bugs off the water and lots of baetis are around as well. If you are nymphing, scuds, San Juan worms, midges, and baetis will get the job down. The dry fly fishing is pretty subpar, but if you see some fish rising you can get them with a cluster midge or a baetis cripple. The streamer fishing has been fair. Fish the slower, deeper runs with darker streamers and you should have some success. Water clarity has also been an issue due to snowmelt and quite a bit of rain over the past few days.

Weber River Fishing Report

Water releases from Rockport Reservoir are at 215 CFS. By Coalville the flows are around 273 CFS. Below Echo the Weber is flowing at 183 CFS. Throughout the I 84 canyon the Weber picks up a lot more water and is flowing at about 1,200 CFS once it gets to Ogden. Snowpack in the Weber River Drainage is sitting at 139 percent of normal. Due to snowmelt the Upper and Lower Weber are kind of out of the picture for fishing, but it is game on between Wanship and Coalville.

When trying to fish the Weber this time of the year, you will find the fish heavily concentrated in the deeper runs. They love sow bugs, especially the tailwater sow in a size 16 or 18. You will see some baetis activity, but not nearly as much as you will find on the Provo. Usually a purple or natural juju baetis in a size 18 will do the trick. There is also some spring midge activity on the Weber. Again not nearly as much as on the Provo, but fish will hone in on smaller gray and dark midges earlier in the day. I would cover that activity with a size 22 gray WD40 or a smaller zebra midge. I have heard of a few people throwing streamers on the Weber. The white or natural zonker as been the streamer of choice for those anglers.

Any day now the flows will begin to ramp up. Spring is in the air. Look for caddis activity to start heating up in the coming weeks.