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Wasatch Waterways: Late Summer Trout, Cats, and Kokanee Bite Around Salt Lake City
Published 8 months ago
Description
It’s Artificial Lure bringing you the latest from the water for August 28th, 2025, right here around Salt Lake City, Utah. Today, anglers woke up to partly cloudy skies with a mild high near 80 and a low dipping into the low 60s by night. We had a few morning showers with the chance of a scattered thunderstorm this afternoon—classic Wasatch late summer. Some haze drifted in from Oregon fires, putting a little edge on air quality, but nothing trouty noses can’t handle. The weather’s looking drier and warmer moving into the weekend, so conditions will only improve for your next dawn patrol.
Sunrise hit at 7:10 AM, and the sun won’t dip below the Oquirrhs until 7:52 PM, giving us over twelve and a half hours of daylight. That’s prime time. According to the Solunar tables, the major fish activity windows today were from 3:08–5:08 AM and again from 3:38–5:38 PM, with a minor push around 8:20–9:20 AM. The moon’s creeping up, at just 15% waxing crescent, so the bite’s been subtle, favoring stealthy approaches and lighter presentations.
Local reports from regional fly shops and clubs have confirmed strong late-summer patterns. On the Lower Provo, the mornings have seen good hatches of midges and PMDs, with anglers bringing in rainbows and browns—fish topping out around 17 inches aren’t uncommon. Olive and black zebra midges, size 18-20, have been working in slower runs, and small PMD emergers have pulled fish in riffles. Euro-nymphers have been hooking up with lighter tungsten jigs—think brown or olive with a hot spot.
Strawberry Reservoir and Jordanelle are still producing nice cutthroat and rainbows. Folks trolling with silver Rapalas and gold Kastmasters have landed fish in the 16-19 inch range during the evening bite. Fly anglers are throwing leech patterns and olive woolly buggers; a slow retrieve near drop-offs and inlets is best. At Strawberry, kokanee are starting to color up—if you want a shot at those pre-spawn salmon, pink marabou jigs or glow-in-the-dark tubes fished near Soldier Creek inlets are money, according to recent Utah Division of Wildlife Resources updates.
Closer to town, Community Fisheries like Liberty Park and Sugar House stocked channel cats and rainbows last week. PowerBait in chartreuse or bright pink, tipped with a bit of nightcrawler, has been hot. Evening hours are especially productive as water temps back off.
Hot spots today:
- Lower Provo River: Consistent action on browns and rainbows, best early and late.
- Strawberry Reservoir: Productive for cutts, bows, and those transition-phase kokanee.
- Jordan River and Community Fisheries: Easy access, reliable cats and stocked trout.
Best lures and bait right now:
- Lower Provo: #18-20 zebra midges (olive/black), PMD emergers, tungsten jig euro nymphs.
- Reservoirs: Silver/gold Kastmasters, Rapalas (black/silver or perch), olive woolly buggers.
- Community ponds: PowerBait nuggets (chartreuse, salmon), chunk nightcrawler, small spinners.
As for tides, keep in mind we’re freshwater only up here—no tidal swings for the Wasatch Front, just those solunar peaks and water releases from the dams.
With smoky skies, keep those sunglasses handy, and if you’re bringing kids out, watch for lingering showers in the late afternoon. Weekend’s shaping up clear and warmer—get lines wet early to beat both the crowds and the sun.
Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe for more local fishing tips, and good luck out there. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Sunrise hit at 7:10 AM, and the sun won’t dip below the Oquirrhs until 7:52 PM, giving us over twelve and a half hours of daylight. That’s prime time. According to the Solunar tables, the major fish activity windows today were from 3:08–5:08 AM and again from 3:38–5:38 PM, with a minor push around 8:20–9:20 AM. The moon’s creeping up, at just 15% waxing crescent, so the bite’s been subtle, favoring stealthy approaches and lighter presentations.
Local reports from regional fly shops and clubs have confirmed strong late-summer patterns. On the Lower Provo, the mornings have seen good hatches of midges and PMDs, with anglers bringing in rainbows and browns—fish topping out around 17 inches aren’t uncommon. Olive and black zebra midges, size 18-20, have been working in slower runs, and small PMD emergers have pulled fish in riffles. Euro-nymphers have been hooking up with lighter tungsten jigs—think brown or olive with a hot spot.
Strawberry Reservoir and Jordanelle are still producing nice cutthroat and rainbows. Folks trolling with silver Rapalas and gold Kastmasters have landed fish in the 16-19 inch range during the evening bite. Fly anglers are throwing leech patterns and olive woolly buggers; a slow retrieve near drop-offs and inlets is best. At Strawberry, kokanee are starting to color up—if you want a shot at those pre-spawn salmon, pink marabou jigs or glow-in-the-dark tubes fished near Soldier Creek inlets are money, according to recent Utah Division of Wildlife Resources updates.
Closer to town, Community Fisheries like Liberty Park and Sugar House stocked channel cats and rainbows last week. PowerBait in chartreuse or bright pink, tipped with a bit of nightcrawler, has been hot. Evening hours are especially productive as water temps back off.
Hot spots today:
- Lower Provo River: Consistent action on browns and rainbows, best early and late.
- Strawberry Reservoir: Productive for cutts, bows, and those transition-phase kokanee.
- Jordan River and Community Fisheries: Easy access, reliable cats and stocked trout.
Best lures and bait right now:
- Lower Provo: #18-20 zebra midges (olive/black), PMD emergers, tungsten jig euro nymphs.
- Reservoirs: Silver/gold Kastmasters, Rapalas (black/silver or perch), olive woolly buggers.
- Community ponds: PowerBait nuggets (chartreuse, salmon), chunk nightcrawler, small spinners.
As for tides, keep in mind we’re freshwater only up here—no tidal swings for the Wasatch Front, just those solunar peaks and water releases from the dams.
With smoky skies, keep those sunglasses handy, and if you’re bringing kids out, watch for lingering showers in the late afternoon. Weekend’s shaping up clear and warmer—get lines wet early to beat both the crowds and the sun.
Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe for more local fishing tips, and good luck out there. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.