How to catch lake trout in Utah
Deep, cold, and huge. Flaming Gorge lakers run to 40+ pounds; Bear Lake and Fish Lake hold their own fisheries for anglers with downriggers or jigging patience.
Behavior & tendencies
Lakers live deep, cold, and long. Flaming Gorge fish top 40 pounds; Bear Lake and Fish Lake hold their own giants. Small "pup" lakers school and bite freely; the trophies are solitary, bottom-oriented, and won't chase far — put the bait on their nose.
Seasonal patterns
Right after ice-out they're shallow and reachable from shore or shallow trolling — the one easy window. Summer sends them to 60–100 feet (downriggers or deep jigging). Late fall brings spawners to rocky shoals. Winter jigging at Fish Lake is a Utah classic.
What they bite
Chubs, cisco, kokanee, whitefish — and at Bear Lake, the endemic Bonneville cisco.
Recommended presentations
- Vertical jigging with tube jigs or heavy spoons over deep structure
- Downrigger trolling with big plugs or dodger-and-squid
- Dead-bait rigs (where legal) near bottom for trophy fish
- White tube jigs at Bear Lake during the January cisco run
Best months for lake trout
3 waters holding lake trout
Sorted by how they’re fishing right now.
- Bear LakeFairBlue Ribbon
- Fish LakeFairBlue Ribbon
- Flaming Gorge ReservoirFairBlue Ribbon