Small Stream Fishing Report

With Utah sitting somewhere between 131 and 242 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. I’ve seen some cars stuck in some precarious places as of late.

With that being said, April is a great time to begin 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 as well. 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.

Weber River Fishing Report

Water releases from Rockport Reservoir are at 77.5 CFS. By Coalville the flows are around 132 CFS. Below Echo the Weber is flowing at 1.75 CFS. Throughout the I 84 canyon the Weber picks up a lot more water and is raging at about 1,740 CFS once it gets to Ogden. Snowpack in the Weber Rive Drainage is sitting at 147 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.

Southwest Wyoming Fishing Report

Signs of Spring are starting to show themselves in Southwest Wyoming, but there is still a lot of snow out there. Snowpack in the Upper Green River Drainage is at 107 percent of normal, the Lower Green River Drainage is at 117 percent, and the Upper Bear Drainage is at 120 percent. The day time temperatures are still chilly and the water temps are still quite low. Therefore, fish are still holding in deeper, slower, winter holding water. Lots of whitefish are sitting in the riffles. If that’s what you are into, get after it. Snowmelt has been leading to blowing out of rivers in the afternoons. Stay high to avoid runoff. Flows below Fontenelle Reservoir have been around 973 CFS.

There has been a lot of midge activity on the days that the wind doesn’t blow the bugs off the water and some baetis are showing up. If you are nymphing, scuds, San Juan worms, and midges 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.. The streamer fishing has been good. Fish the slower, deeper runs with darker streamers and you should have some success.

Green River Fishing Report

800 CFS is still the name of the game, but we don’t know how long that will last. The Upper Green River Drainage is sitting at 97 percent of average snowpack and the Lower Green River Drainage is sitting at 99 percent of average. River temperatures are still around 38 degrees Fahrenheit.

With the constant changing of the weather patterns, fishing can be fantastic or just okay. When high pressure settles in the midge hatch is thick and the fish are quite active. When a storm rolls through the bug life diminishes and therefore the fish activity does as well. The good news is that more and more baetis are beginning to hatch everyday and the blue winged olives love temperamental weather.

Due to melting snow up in Wyoming, Red Creek is flowing and the lower river is pretty off color. Fishing has been consistently inconsistent between the Dam and Red Creek. Fish are honed in on midges and scuds in the morning. In the afternoon, the fish are feeding on the baetis nymphs moving around.

There are some fish rising in the slower back water and down by Little Hole, but not enough to sound the alarms. The streamer bite has been pretty good on the white Sculpzilla, the Articulated Goldie, and the Olive Peanut Envy.

Look for more updates as the flows change and the fishing begins to heat up now that April is here.