Fishing Utah Lake near the State Park in Provo, Utah.
I headed out Sunday evening looking for a new area to fish along Utah Lake in Provo, Utah. Typically, I have fished along the northwest side of Utah Lake near the pump houses but I wanted to try see what the other side have to offer.
Utah Lake, Utah
I arrived to the State Park entrance and that is as far as I got as I wasn’t about to pay $9 to enter the State Park just to fish for couple of hours. After quizzing the gate guard about other areas nearby to fish that won’t cost me anything but time, I headed to a remote stretch of old road that skirts the local airport and the shoreline. I couldn’t find a good spot as the brush was so thick and mosquitoes were starting to come out in swarms.
I probably found the best spot along that entire stretch as I had access to a wide area to fish without having to traverse through the marsh. The largemouth bass were active and a pretty good size. I spent 30 minutes fishing with a weedless rig with a water bobber attached to get some distance. It was a great experience to hone my skills in fishing in heavy vegetation and I took advantage of it. No tackle was lost in this lesson! If I had actually caught a fish, the story would be different regarding not losing any tackle. There was so much debris that I would had to fight the fish through just to get it to me that I would probably have lost the fish and the terminal tackle.
Utah Lake along the airport outer road.
I managed to get out there before the mosquitoes came out in full force and capture some pictures of the area and of the sunset. I wouldn’t go back to this area or probably to Utah Lake unless on a boat as there are just no good areas to access the shore unless you want to pay. I don’t mind walking away skunked ( I do mind a little) but there is nothing worse than paying and walking away with nothing but a sad story of failure.
Utah Lake has a variety of fish and if you can find a good spot, it could be a fun time. I did fish off the Saratoga Springs Marina couple of months ago and caught a White Bass. I don’t recall needing to pay unless you are launching a boat but the shoreline is very limited and could get overly crowded easily. Utah Lake has largemouth bass, walleye, white bass, carp, channel catfish, bullhead catfish, black crappie and possibly lake trout. It is a shallow lake and gets plenty active with boaters.
For the hour I spent driving to that location and dealing with all the road construction, I will probably head to Settlement Canyon Reservoir or Grantsville Reservoir at near Tooele, Utah next time. If you are in the mood for some white bass, stick to the northwest area near the pump houses or fish the Provo River inlets.
Once fall and winter moves in, I’ll give Utah Lake another try as there are some good size fish in that lake and a variety.