Boulder Mountain fishing — Aquarius Plateau lakes
41 lakes, creeks, and reservoirs · distances from Posey Lake.
Boulder Mountain is the 11,000-foot Aquarius Plateau in south-central Utah, between Torrey, Escalante, and Boulder — the highest timbered plateau in North America and one of the best brook trout regions in the West. Eighty-odd lakes on the flat, aspen-and-spruce top and its shoulders are managed for brook trout, cutthroat, tiger trout, splake, and rainbows, and the fish here run bigger than in the Uintas: 16-inch brookies and 20-inch tigers are realistic. Most lakes are stocked by air; a few of the roadside ones by truck.
Getting there
UT-12 between Torrey and Boulder crosses the mountain's east shoulder at 9,600 feet, with the Bowns Reservoir, Lower Bowns, Oak Creek, and Pleasant Creek areas off it; the Posey Lake road (Hell's Backbone) from Escalante reaches the west side. Boulder Top itself is a rough 4WD road (the Boulder Top road) that reaches the plateau lakes — Raft, Ridge, Surveyors, Row Lakes, Miller — when it's dry, generally July through September. Snow closes the top by November and it opens in June.
Season
Ice-off on the top is mid-June; the shoulder lakes open a few weeks earlier. July through September is the season, with the same afternoon-thunderstorm pattern as the Uintas. Fall — mid-September into October — is the best time for big brook trout and tigers, when the aspens turn and the fish are shallow and colored up. The plateau lakes freeze by mid-November.
What works
Leeches, damselfly nymphs, and small streamers on a sinking line from a float tube take the bigger fish; dries in the evening; a spinner or a worm from shore works everywhere. The tiger trout lakes are the trophy draw — a slow-stripped black or olive leech along the weed edges. Several Boulder Mountain lakes have special limits or artificial-only rules to grow big fish; every water page lists them.
Most recently stocked
- Bowns Res, Lower
- Grass Lake
- Round Lake Tlm
- Blue Lake Ncl
- Big Lake Bts
- Crater Lake Bts
- Ridge Lake Btn
- Bess Lake Btn
All Boulder Mountain lakes
| Water | Miles | Right now | Flow | Water temp | Stocked | Species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Posey Lake | 0 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, rainbow trout, splake (lake × brook trout hybrid), … |
| Tule Lake | 1 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Green Lake Ebs | 4 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Mcgath Lake | 8 | Fair | — | — | 14mo ago | brook trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Big Lake Bts | 10 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Row Lake 3 | 11 | Fair | — | — | 2mo ago | rainbow trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Row Lake 7-banana-gt | 11 | Fair | — | — | 2mo ago | rainbow trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Row Lake 8 | 11 | Fair | — | — | 3mo ago | tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Purple Lake | 12 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Blue Lake | 12 | Fair | — | — | 13mo ago | cutthroat trout |
| Blue Lake Ncl | 12 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Rim Lake Bts | 14 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Spectacle Lake Bts | 14 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Crescent Lake Bts | 15 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | cutthroat trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Half Moon Lake Bts | 16 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| East Lake Bts | 16 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Surveyors Lake Btn | 16 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Grass Lake | 16 | Fair | — | — | 4w ago | brook trout |
| Horseshoe Lake Bts | 16 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Ledge Lake Bts | 16 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Chuck Lake Btn | 17 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Crater Lake Bts | 17 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, arctic grayling |
| Miller Lake Btn | 17 | Fair | — | — | 2mo ago | rainbow trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Cook Lake | 19 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, rainbow trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Ridge Lake Btn | 19 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Bess Lake Btn | 19 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, arctic grayling |
| Raft Lake Btn | 19 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, arctic grayling |
| Pine Creek Reservoir Btn | 20 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | cutthroat trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Grass Lake Tlm | 20 | Fair | — | — | 13mo ago | brook trout |
| Cub Lake | 20 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Honeymoon Lake | 21 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Solitaire Lake Nbs | 21 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | cutthroat trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Pear Lake Nbs | 21 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Blind Lake Nbs | 22 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | cutthroat trout, arctic grayling, kokanee salmon, … |
| Blind Lake Tlm | 22 | Fair | — | — | 13mo ago | brook trout |
| Green Lake Nbs | 22 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Round Lake Nbs | 22 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout, arctic grayling |
| Round Lake Tlm | 22 | Fair | — | — | 4w ago | brook trout, rainbow trout |
| Lost Lake (Government) Nbs | 23 | Fair | — | — | 7w ago | brook trout |
| Bullberry Lake #4 (North) | 24 | Fair | — | — | 8w ago | tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |
| Bowns Res, Lower | 26 | Good | — | — | 2w ago | cutbow (cutthroat × rainbow hybrid), rainbow trout, tiger trout (brown × brook hybrid) |