← Fishing calendar

Utah fishing in February

Best ice of the year, and the first stocking trucks roll south.

February usually has the thickest, safest ice in Utah and the most consistent ice fishing of the winter — fish have settled into predictable depths and the DWR runs its ice-fishing events. Down south, the season quietly turns: the DWR starts stocking St. George-area community ponds and warm-water reservoirs like Quail Creek and Sand Hollow, and warm afternoons open the low-elevation waters. The tailwaters keep producing on midges and eggs as the brown trout finish spawning and rainbows start.

Where to go in February

Ice: Strawberry, Scofield, Fish Lake, Panguitch, Flaming Gorge (burbot at night). Open water: the Green, the Provo, Quail Creek, Sand Hollow, Gunlock, and the Washington County ponds.

Species in season

What the DWR stocks in February

Historically February is the #10 stocking month in Utah — about 1% of the year’s plants (178 recorded events across 46 waters). These are the waters stocked most often in February:

• Razor Ridge Pond — 13 plants over 6 years · 4,757 fish · Washington Co.
• Towa P. Lower — 13 plants over 6 years · 4,260 fish · Washington Co.
• Towa P, Upper — 12 plants over 6 years · 7,256 fish · Washington Co.
• Stratton Pond — 12 plants over 6 years · 5,710 fish · Washington Co.
• Skyline Pond — 12 plants over 6 years · 5,398 fish · Washington Co.
• Virgin River Park Pond — 12 plants over 6 years · 4,057 fish · Washington Co.
• Meadow Creek Pond — 9 plants over 6 years · 2,777 fish · Weber Co.
• Willow Park Pond — 7 plants over 3 years · 2,618 fish · Salt Lake Co.
• Flaming Gorge Reservoir — 6 plants over 3 years · 398,340 fish · Daggett Co.
• Jensen Nature Park Pond — 6 plants over 4 years · 3,338 fish · Davis Co.
• Jackson Flat Reservoir — 5 plants over 2 years · 4,389 fish · Kane Co.
• Smith Family Park Pond — 5 plants over 3 years · 2,552 fish · Weber Co.
• Steed Pond — 5 plants over 4 years · 2,235 fish · Davis Co.
• Bountiful Pond — 4 plants over 3 years · 2,452 fish · Davis Co.
• Manila Creek Park Pond — 4 plants over 3 years · 1,877 fish · Utah Co.

River flows in February

Across Utah’s gauged rivers, February flows typically run about 56% of each river’s year-round median (period-of-record USGS data). Low, clear water: wade carefully, fish early, and watch water temperature.

• Lake Fork River — typically ~0 cfs (0% of annual median)
• Diamond Fork — typically ~30 cfs (22% of annual median)
• Ashley Creek — typically ~19 cfs (24% of annual median)
• Ogden River — typically ~11 cfs (24% of annual median)
• East Fork Sevier River — typically ~16 cfs (28% of annual median)
• Upper Weber River — typically ~55 cfs (29% of annual median)
• American Fork River — typically ~14 cfs (29% of annual median)
• Upper Provo River — typically ~56 cfs (30% of annual median)
• Mammoth Creek — typically ~11 cfs (31% of annual median)
• Yellowstone River (Uintas) — typically ~47 cfs (40% of annual median)
• Beaver River — typically ~18 cfs (42% of annual median)
• South Fork Ogden River — typically ~42 cfs (44% of annual median)

February tips

• Burbot on Flaming Gorge are a February specialty — glow jigs after dark over rocky points.
• Late-month warm spells put pre-spawn rainbows on the move in the Provo — egg patterns and San Juan worms.
• Sand Hollow bass start staging on the flats on sunny afternoons when water hits the upper 40s.

← January · March →