Salt Lake City — With warmer temperatures in the air, many anglers may be planning their next spring or summer fishing trips. If you want to target largemouth or smallmouth bass, Utah has three stunning locations that not only offer great fishing, but that also need more bass harvest.
Gunlock and Sand Hollow reservoirs are both state parks in Washington County that offer largemouth bass fishing. Lake Powell is primarily located in Garfield, Kane and San Juan counties in southern Utah, with a small portion in Coconino County in northern Arizona. Lake Powell lies within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and offers fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth bass.
"We would like to see an increased harvest of bass at Sand Hollow, Gunlock and Lake Powell," Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Southern Region Warmwater Biologist Jonathan Hudson said. "Increasing harvest at Sand Hollow will help improve the size, age structure and condition of the bass there. Recent fishery surveys showed evidence of a stunted largemouth population — with few larger than 20 inches — and angler groups have voiced support for trying to improve fish growth and condition at these waterbodies. But arguably the best reason for harvesting bass is how delicious they are! Bass have a light, mild-tasting meat that takes on flavors well and doesn't have a strong 'fishy' taste."
If you want to take home some of these tasty fish, here is some information to help you target them in Utah:
Time of year
Largemouth bass can be caught throughout most of the year, but fishing success really improves when the water temperatures warm up. Largemouth bass are a warmwater fish species, and they start to move into shallower habitats to spawn as the water warms in the spring. In the northern part of the state, bass spawning typically occurs in late May or early June. In the southern part of the state, spawning typically takes place in mid-April.
Smallmouth bass are considered a coolwater fish — preferring slightly cooler temperatures than largemouth bass — and they are more difficult to catch through the ice. They tend to spawn later than largemouth bass.
In general, April through June and September through October are the more productive fishing seasons for both smallmouth and largemouth bass in Utah.
Equipment
Both of these species will aggressively respond to plastic lures, which are typically inexpensive. If the water is really clear, focus on using more natural-colored lures, like browns and blacks, with colorful flecks that will get the fish's attention. If the water is more turbid, then brightly colored lures can be a good option. (This also applies if you are fishing deep later in the summer where the light doesn't penetrate as far). There are many other lures you can use successfully, however, including crank baits, buzz baits and spinner baits, depending on the time of year.
Techniques
The most successful fishing techniques will depend on the time of year when you are targeting bass and also on which species of bass you are targeting. Largemouth bass typically prefer vegetative cover, and smallmouth bass really like rocky habitat.
"Typically, techniques for one species will work for the other, but imitating small crayfish in rocky habitat will help you better target smallmouth, while using bigger, moving baits near brushy areas will draw more largemouth," Hudson said.
If you are bass fishing in early spring (between mid-March and mid-April), you can typically find the bass in 20-30 feet of water, so a boat can be helpful. Once you locate a school of fish, cast swimbaits and drop-shot rigs and work them slowly. As water temperatures warm to the mid-50s, you can find bass in 10-15 feet of water near spawning areas, and they typically react to jigs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits.
When water temperatures hit the 60s, you can often see bass in shallow water, actively fanning and guarding their nests during spawning season. They will react aggressively to any baits that come near their nests, including topwaters and jigs. After spawning ends — typically in mid-May — the bass will return to 10-15 feet of water. Fishing early and late in the day, with moving lures like cranks and swimbaits, can be effective at this point, as the bass are typically feeding on sunfish and crayfish.
During the hot summer months, bass will move into deeper water near contours and other structures. Anglers will find the most success targeting them early or late in the day when it's cooler, and they may be a little shallower. While boats make bass fishing easier, shore anglers can also have good success targeting them during the spring and fall when the fish are in shallower water.
"Bass are a really popular sportfish around the country and even around the world — and it is no different here in Utah, because who doesn't love the thrill of fighting a bass on the end of your line?" DWR Sportfish Coordinator Trina Hedrick said. "They are also typically a low-maintenance fish for us because we only need to stock bass for a few years in a waterbody before they take off on their own and start naturally reproducing. Because of this, bass are an efficient species for us and free up more of our fish hatchery space. The greater issue for us is getting enough harvest. Anglers who keep the bass they catch are actually helping the overall population. Without harvest, there will be an abundance of smaller fish competing against each other for a limited supply of food. If anglers are concerned about overharvesting at a bass fishery, they can contact their local DWR office for more information."
While Gunlock and Sand Hollow reservoirs and Lake Powell are great places to fish for bass in Utah, you can find other waterbodies that also offer bass fishing by visiting the Fish Utah map on the DWR website.
