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Utah fishing in August

Hot low water, cool high lakes, and the monsoon.

August is the hardest month on low-elevation trout: reservoirs are warm and low, rivers are at their lowest base flow with water temperatures that can top 68°F by afternoon, and stocking drops off sharply until fall. The move is up — the high lakes are at their peak, with big brook trout and cutthroat feeding hard before winter — or over to warm-water fish, which love August: catfish, bass, wipers, and bluegill. Monsoon thunderstorms can muddy southern rivers overnight, so check the 72-hour chart before driving. Kokanee start staging for their run at Strawberry, Flaming Gorge, and Jordanelle late in the month.

Where to go in August

Uinta and Boulder Mountain high lakes, the upper Weber and Provo, Fish Lake (splake and lake trout deep), Utah Lake and Willard Bay for warm-water species, tailwaters at first light.

Species in season

Right now — live

It’s August: 1 waters are fishing Hot and 36 Good across Utah today. Full statewide report →

• Middle Provo RiverHot — water temp 55°F is in the prime trout range
• Butterfly LakeGood — stocked 7 days ago — fresh fish in the water
• Fish LakeGood — stocked 5 days ago — fresh fish in the water
• Lilly LakeGood — stocked 7 days ago — fresh fish in the water
• Mirror LakeGood — stocked 7 days ago — fresh fish in the water
• Upper Weber RiverGood — flows are steady
• American Fork RiverGood — flows are dropping — often the best window
• Antimony Lake EmwGood — stocked 12 days ago

What the DWR stocks in August

Historically August is the #7 stocking month in Utah — about 5% of the year’s plants (730 recorded events across 227 waters). These are the waters stocked most often in August:

• Logan River — 33 plants over 6 years · 22,085 fish · Cache Co.
• Butterfly Lake — 32 plants over 6 years · 8,730 fish · Duchesne Co.
• Fish Lake — 31 plants over 5 years · 160,699 fish · Sevier Co.
• Mirror Lake — 31 plants over 6 years · 23,958 fish · Duchesne Co.
• Pass Lake — 29 plants over 6 years · 9,615 fish · Duchesne Co.
• Trial Lake — 24 plants over 6 years · 19,856 fish · Summit Co.
• Teapot Lake — 24 plants over 6 years · 9,052 fish · Summit Co.
• Lilly Lake — 22 plants over 6 years · 4,836 fish · Summit Co.
• Moosehorn Lake — 21 plants over 6 years · 6,045 fish · Duchesne Co.
• Tibble Fork Reservoir — 14 plants over 5 years · 15,854 fish · Utah Co.
• Mill Hollow Reservoir — 14 plants over 6 years · 9,125 fish · Wasatch Co.
• Deer Creek Reservoir — 11 plants over 2 years · 35,445 fish · Wasatch Co.
• Smith and Morehouse Reservoir — 10 plants over 6 years · 12,843 fish · Summit Co.
• Navajo Lake — 9 plants over 2 years · 17,770 fish · Kane Co.
• Stillwater Fork — 9 plants over 6 years · 1,801 fish · Summit Co.

River flows in August

Across Utah’s gauged rivers, August flows typically run about 104% of each river’s year-round median (period-of-record USGS data). Comfortable wading flows on most rivers.

• Lower Provo River — typically ~18 cfs (13% of annual median)
• Upper Provo River — typically ~87 cfs (46% of annual median)
• Upper Weber River — typically ~108 cfs (57% of annual median)
• Duchesne River — typically ~86 cfs (57% of annual median)
• South Fork Ogden River — typically ~59 cfs (61% of annual median)
• American Fork River — typically ~34 cfs (70% of annual median)
• Mammoth Creek — typically ~25 cfs (70% of annual median)
• Logan River — typically ~143 cfs (73% of annual median)
• Beaver River — typically ~31 cfs (73% of annual median)
• Upper Sevier River — typically ~75 cfs (80% of annual median)
• Fremont River — typically ~61 cfs (84% of annual median)
• Blacksmith Fork River — typically ~96 cfs (88% of annual median)

August tips

• Stop fishing for trout when water temperature passes 68°F — the temp is on every gauged water's page.
• Fish rivers from dawn to about 10 AM, then switch to a reservoir or head uphill.
• Kokanee turn red at Strawberry's inlets late in the month — a spectacle worth the drive even if you can't keep them.

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