Where We Fish
Boulder Mountain
Often referred to as the Boulders, Boulder Mountain is an 11,316 foot mountain and the highest timbered plateau in North America. It’s home to the Boulder Mountain Cinquefoil (Potentilla angelliae). This flower is native to the mountain and found nowhere else. Not only is it home to rare flowers, it is home to huge fish too.
The mountain was created by volcanic and glacial activity and as a result has some of the most fertile lakes in Utah. These lakes are best known for producing huge Brook Trout, with the state record being a 7 1/2 pound monster! These lakes also produce big Grayling, Cutthroat Trout, Tiger Trout, Splake, and Rainbow Trout.
Access is difficult! A four wheel drive vehicle is often required just to reach the trail head to these lakes. The Quiet Fly Fisher guide service is a great way to explore the mountain safely and successfully while having a lot of fun exploring this beautiful area. We have fished it for over 20 years and would love to teach you it’s secrets.
Thousand Lake Mountain
While not as popular with fly fishing as Boulder Mountain, the lakes on Thousand Lake Mountain offer some incredible fishing opportunities. There are several small ponds and lakes on this mountain that time seems to have forgotten, many of which don’t even show up on maps, often stocked years ago by kids who carried them in an old milk canister or bucket to create their own secret fishing hole.
The fish found on this mountain are Tiger Trout, Splake, Cutthroat, Rainbow and Brook Trout.
Monroe Mountain
Manning Meadow Reservoir is used by the Utah DNR as a brood lake for Bonneville Cutthroat Trout. Fishing here begins the second Saturday in July and can provide some of the best dry fly action anywhere for big cutthroat. If that’s not enough for you there are also several other lakes managed with Rainbow Trout, Tiger Trout, and Brook Trout. There are also a few streams that flow of this mountain that provide good fishing for Cutthroat and Rainbows.
Fishlake / Fish Lake Mountain
The largest natural lake in Utah and one of the deepest is best known for its large Lake Trout and Splake. It provides great fishing for many species all year long. We often target this lake in the fall or early spring; a day here would be targeting fish that come on to the gravel bars and small inlets to feed. This is a place our kids love because it usually means a hard fighting fish every other cast.
If Fish Lake is not your thing we also fish the nearby Lake Creek, Sevenmile Creek, UM Creek, and Fremont River drainages. These streams and the small reservoirs they feed have Brook Trout, Colorado Cutthroat, Tiger Trout, Rainbows and Browns; we also catch some impressive Tiger Muskie.
Rivers & Streams
The streams and rivers of Southern Utah are small waters with an abundance of beautiful fish. The Fremont River is the largest river in the area and begins at the confluence of Lake Creek and Sevenmile Creek, flowing down towards the valley where it is joined by UM Creek.
This section is known as upper Fremont, or “up the crick” by the old ranchers in the area. It contains one of the largest populations of wild Brown Trout in the state, and fly fishing the hatches of caddis and stoneflies is an unreal experience that brings anglers back year after year to experience.
The upper Fremont River eventually flows in to Mill Meadow Reservoir where the water is held and used for irrigation for the rich, green farmlands and quaint towns in the valley below.
The Lower Fremont River begins again near the town of Bicknell, where crystal clear springs and small streams join the old river bed in a lush landscape of tules and farmland against an amazing backdrop of red rock bluffs that the Southern Utah area is famous for. This area is known as the Bottoms and has some of the biggest Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout in the area. We have caught several fish in the 24 to 30 inch range, with fish under 14 inches rarely caught. Be warned, though. This area is extremely marshy and muddy, and a place that is not easy to figure out.
Below the Bottoms the river enters private property for several miles. We provide exclusive access to fish the first section of this private water. After flowing through the town of Torrey, the river leaves private property and can be fished below Highway 12 as the river continues on its path towards Capitol Reef National Park.
