← Fishing calendar

Utah fishing in May

Runoff on the rivers, everything else is on fire.

May splits Utah in two. Freestone rivers are usually blown out with snowmelt — high, cold, and off-color — so river anglers move to the tailwaters or wait. Everywhere else it's the best month of the year: reservoirs are full and rising, water temperatures are in the mid-50s, the DWR stocks around two thousand times statewide, and warm-water species are spawning. Bass move onto beds at Sand Hollow, Quail Creek, Lake Powell, and Utah Lake; bluegill and crappie stack up in the shallows; wipers hit the surface at Willard Bay.

Where to go in May

Tailwaters: the Green (best month for the cicada hatch prep), Middle Provo, Lower Weber. Reservoirs: Strawberry, Jordanelle, Deer Creek, Rockport, Willard Bay, Yuba, Lake Powell. Community ponds are stocked constantly.

Species in season

What the DWR stocks in May

Historically May is the #3 stocking month in Utah — about 15% of the year’s plants (1,991 recorded events across 271 waters). These are the waters stocked most often in May:

• Flaming Gorge Reservoir — 112 plants over 6 years · 1,867,696 fish · Daggett Co.
• Fish Lake — 48 plants over 6 years · 1,267,956 fish · Sevier Co.
• Scofield Reservoir — 34 plants over 6 years · 268,847 fish · Carbon Co.
• Willow Park Pond — 30 plants over 6 years · 15,668 fish · Salt Lake Co.
• Highland Glen Park Pond — 30 plants over 6 years · 8,635 fish · Utah Co.
• Strawberry Reservoir — 28 plants over 4 years · 831,010 fish · Wasatch Co.
• Spanish Oaks Pond — 26 plants over 6 years · 12,269 fish · Utah Co.
• Panguitch Lake — 25 plants over 6 years · 199,374 fish · Garfield Co.
• Lost Creek Reservoir — 24 plants over 5 years · 108,639 fish · Morgan Co.
• Palisade Reservoir — 23 plants over 6 years · 37,483 fish · Sanpete Co.
• Tibble Fork Reservoir — 23 plants over 6 years · 25,677 fish · Utah Co.
• Manila Creek Park Pond — 23 plants over 6 years · 11,038 fish · Utah Co.
• Sandy Community Fishery — 23 plants over 6 years · 10,344 fish · Salt Lake Co.
• Midas Pond — 23 plants over 6 years · 5,946 fish · Salt Lake Co.
• Jordanelle Reservoir — 22 plants over 4 years · 328,346 fish · Wasatch Co.

River flows in May

Across Utah’s gauged rivers, May flows typically run about 224% of each river’s year-round median (period-of-record USGS data). That's runoff territory on the freestones — favor tailwaters and reservoirs.

• Jordan River — typically ~119 cfs (87% of annual median)
• Fremont River — typically ~68 cfs (94% of annual median)
• Rock Creek (Uintas) — typically ~52 cfs (101% of annual median)
• Green River (below Flaming Gorge) — typically ~1,916 cfs (116% of annual median)
• Strawberry River — typically ~51 cfs (127% of annual median)
• Currant Creek — typically ~44 cfs (131% of annual median)
• Diamond Fork — typically ~197 cfs (145% of annual median)
• Lower Provo River — typically ~212 cfs (147% of annual median)
• Middle Provo River — typically ~391 cfs (166% of annual median)
• Yellowstone River (Uintas) — typically ~200 cfs (170% of annual median)
• East Fork Sevier River — typically ~110 cfs (184% of annual median)
• Ogden River — typically ~91 cfs (198% of annual median)

May tips

• The Green's flows are dam-controlled, so it fishes through runoff — and late May can bring the first cicadas.
• Sight-fish bedding smallmouth at Jordanelle, Deer Creek, and Flaming Gorge; release them quickly.
• Uinta high lakes are still under ice — wait for late June.

← April · June →