Where to Fish for Kokanee in Utah

Kokanee Fishing in Utah

Utah has 14 lakes or reservoirs where you can find kokanee throughout the state. They’re no where near as plentiful as rainbow trout, but you’ve got some great options to hook into what I think is the best tasting fish in the state of Utah. In no particular order, here are all the places to fish for kokanee Salmon in the state of Utah.

Which Utah Lakes Have Kokanee Salmon

Below is a list which will have more information on these Utah lakes that have kokanee salmon, along with links that will provide you with fishing reports, locations, and what gear people are reporting success with at those lakes.

Strawberry Reservoir

Strawberry is our favorite place to fish for kokanee salmon in the state of Utah. They have really nice kokanee, excellent facilities, and little to no water sport boaters to compete with. Strawberry Reservoir has had a population of kokanee longer than any other body of water in the state of Utah, as we learned in our research into the history of kokanee in Utah. In addition, Strawberry has a really healthy cutthroat trout population, that likes to strike at the same rig that you use for kokanee, meaning there is a lot of action, and its just a lot of fun. Additionally, its just off of a major highway, and is within an hour or two of most of the population of Utah. If you haven’t chased the kokes at the berry, you’re missing out.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Flaming Gorge is in both Utah and Wyoming, along the Green River, and is created with the Flaming Gorge Dam. If you want to fish in the water for both states, you can pick up a reciprocal stamp from either Utah or Wyoming, whichever you don’t have a license for, and then you can fish both sides of the state line. Flaming Gorge has trophy kokanee, to go along with a huge variety of other game fish, including some monster lake trout.

Fish Lake

Fish Lake is the furthest south you can find kokanee salmon in the state of Utah, and is located in Sevier County, Utah. It’s a high alpine lake at 8848 feet. The lake supports a fairly healthy kokanee population, and has several other varieties of trout and other fish. If you limit out on trout and kokanee, you can still fish for yellow perch, with no limit.

Jordanelle Reservoir

Jordanelle is a beautiful body of water, and has some great fishing. The problem is that its large lake, and is lower in elevation, and has a warmer climate than the other big kokanee lakes. This leads to a lot more water sport boaters who compete with the fishermen. It’s hard to compete with a jet boat in the water, and it can be unpleasant at best, and dangerous at worst. It’s a good kokanee fishery that produces some nice, big, kokanee, and we recommend giving it a try before school gets out towards the end of May, or on week days, especially cold days, otherwise you’re in competition with those boaters.

Porcupine Reservoir

Porcupine Reservoir is located in East Canyon, up north in Cache County, Utah. It has a water surface of 190 acres, and a maximum capacity of 12,500 acre-feet (15,400,000 m³), with an elevation of 5,381 feet (1,640 m). The lake is popular for fishing, boating, and camping, although there are no recreational facilities. It’s one of the smaller kokanee fisheries in the state, but still a fun location. Kokanee salmon were last stocked in Porcupine Reservoir in 2007.

Electric Lake

Electric lake is a long narrow lake located in Emery County, Utah. Technically, Electric Lake is actually a reservoir instead of a natural lake. In 1974 the reservoir was created after a dam was constructed. Much of the land surrounding the lake, including much of the shoreline, is owned by Huntington-Cleveland Irrigation Company and the Utah Power and Light, so you aren’t able to get to or fish all parts of the lake from the shore. That said, there is a small boat ramp where you can still get out onto the reservoir. Once you’re out on the water, you’re home free.

If you’re looking to troll for kokanee at Electric Lake, we recommend just going right down the middle of the lake, up and down, until you get into the fish. This is another smaller reservoir with generally smaller kokanee, but you can still find some decent fish here.

Causey Reservoir

Causey Reservoir is a small body of water located in Weber County, Utah. The reservoir is only a 142 acre body of water. Although its small, it gets down as to 182 feet deep, which is why such a small lake can support a population of kokanee. You can’t really put a boat in at Causey, but its an extremely popular place to kayak fish for kokanee. The fish generally aren’t as big as the kokanee in Strawberry or the Gorge, but its still a fun place to go chase kokanee.

Starvation Reservoir

Starvation Reservoir is just outside of the town of Duchesne, UT. Duchesne used to be a little nothing town that you had to pass better fishing to get to, a not a lot of redeeming features in terms of attractions. It has added a couple restaurants in the last few years, making Starvation a much more attractive fishing destination, especially with the ability to get off the water and grab a quick bite to eat before heading home. The fish have always been there, but Starvation was always kind of just ok, and most people have to pass Strawberry to get to Starvation, and for the most part, most people would rather just stop at Strawberry. That said, if you’re in eastern Utah, Starvation is a great option for chasing that chrome in the water.

East Canyon Reservoir

East Canyon Reservoir is a 608-acre (246 ha) reservoir. The Reservoir is a part of East Canyon State Park, and is located northeast of Salt Lake City in Morgan County, Utah. The reservoir has historically had kokanee in the reservoir, but drought activity can be hard on them. The Utah DWR continues to stock additional kokanee though, so if there have been a few good water years in a row, this place could be promising. If there have been droughts, as Utah is prone to, the kokanee population will really suffer. Kokanee here are also really only likely to grow up to 14-16 inches. If you’re looking for the 5 pounders or bigger, you’ll probably want to check out the larger kokanee fisheries in the state.

Lost Creek Reservoir

Lost Creek Reservoir is a smaller, 365 acre, reservoir that also has kokanee. The reservoir is in Morgan County, up Weber Canyon, 10 miles northeast of Croydon. It has a boat ramp, and those permanent porta-poties that look a lot nicer than they actually are. All boats have to be wake-less, so you won’t have to compete with water sporters, but the smaller reservoir isn’t as likely to produce the monster kokanee. Lost Creek is also a popular winter ice fishing reservoir, and there is usually good road access all the way to the water through the winter, if you want to try jigging for kokanee through the ice.

Moon Lake

Moon Lake is a smaller lake located on the south slope of the High Uinta’s in Duchesne County, Utah. It’s a high mountain reservoir that was expanded by a dam on what was then the smaller Moon Lake. Moon Lake is a medium sized lake, and is one of the most overlooked kokanee spots in the lake. It’s out of the way, but its beautiful, and a remote destination without a lot of competition.

Upper Enterprise Reservoir

Upper Enterprise Reservoir is located in Washington County, Utah. The state of Utah began stocking kokanee salmon in enterprise reservoir in the spring of 2020. Fishermen shouldn’t expect to catch any salmon from the reservoir until about 2023, assuming they survive and take to the lake.

Rockport Reservoir

Rockport Reservoir is located in Summit County, Utah. The state of Utah began stocking kokanee salmon in Rockport Reservoir in the spring of 2020. Fishermen shouldn’t expect to catch any salmon from the reservoir until about 2023, assuming they survive and take to the lake. By the stocking reports though, I’m optimistic. About 500% more kokanee were introduced to Rockport Reservoir in 2020 than were introduced in Upper Enterprise Reservoir in that same year, and then the DWR added almost that same amount again the following year in 2021, which leads me to believe that the DWR probably thinks that kokanee have pretty good odds of surviving in Rockport Reservoir.

Stateline Reservoir

I just had a conversation with the Utah DWR about the kokanee in Stateline Reservoir. They are numerous but small. In order to try to manage for that, they said, “We have started stocking some lake trout into Stateline (started in 2020 so they are not fully established) and are looking at some regulation changes to help thin their numbers so we can get a little better growth.”

Blind Lake, Boulder Mountains

in 2022, the Utah DWR took kokanee in to Blind Lake by horseback to have another option for kokanee fishing in the state. It’s a small lake, and the goal is to establish a lake where it might be possible to fish for kokanee from shore. Read more about the Blind Lake kokanee stocking efforts.

Utah Kokanee Fishing Regulations

• The state of Utah considers kokanee to be a part of the trout bag limit
• You Cannot have any kokanee salmon in your possession at any body of water from September 10 through November 30
• Bag Limit is a total of 4 kokanee salmon or trout, with additional kokanee bag limits at some specific bodies of water.

Fishing regulations can change at any time, so we recommend that you check on the latest Utah fishing regulations before you hit the lake.