Fish Lake, UT Kokanee Salmon Fishing

Kokanee Salmon Fishing on Fish Lake

Fish Lake is a high alpine lake located in Sevier County, Utah and sits at 8,850 feet above sea level. The lake doesn’t have as many or as large of kokanee as Strawberry or Flaming Gorge, but it is still rated a blue ribbon fishery, and still makes our list for being one of the best places to fish for Kokanee in Utah. Due to the high elevation, the water there is consistently cold, which keeps the other water sport people away, and makes for great fishing.

In this article on kokanee salmon fishing on Fish Lake, we look at the best locations on the lake, boat speed, depth, and what most people are having the most success with. We’ve pulled this data from multiple forums, tabulating averages and what most people are reporting success with, and then we put it to the test, and tried it out for ourselves. If you want to catch Kokanee at Fish Lake, Here’s what you need to know.

Most Popular Kokanee Salmon Rig for Fishing Fish Lake

I combed through several forums and social media groups to figure out what most people were reporting having success with. We’ve also fished Fish Lake and so have some of our suggestions and our own experience here as well.

Most Popular Lure or Hoochie at Fish Lake

Squid hoochies are the most popular type of lure used on Fish Lake, though some also use wedding ring lures and flutter bugs as well. Pink is the most popular color that people have had success with, followed closely by orange.

Rocky Mountain Tackle Pink Squid Hoochie

Most Popular Dodger at Fish Lake

There were several popular dodger colors according to the forums. By the forums, the winner was an orange dodger. It was also notable to point out that, generally speaking, people had success with most other popular dodger colors, including pink, silver, and green. You don’t have to just use Orange, but it is the most reported.

Mack’s Lure Orange Sling Blade Dodger

Most Popular Bait for Kokanee At Fish Lake

The most popular bait to tip the hooks with at the end of your lure or hoochie is a kernel or two of shoe peg corn. Shoe peg corn is small enough that it doesn’t hinder the action of the lure, hoochie, or dodger. Gulp Maggots are also popular, but the majority of kokanee anglers use shoe peg corn at Fish Lake according to our research.

Pink Fire Corn

Most Popular Scent at Fish Lake

Kokanee are extremely sensitive to scents, so many anglers use a scent spray or gel to help both cover the human scent, and attract the kokanee. According to our analysis of the forums, the most popular scent is Bloody Tuna scent with Garlic and Anise smelly jelly also being very popular. You can put the scent gel on the dodger, line, and lure or hoochie.

Pro-Cure Bloody Tuna

Most Common Depth for Finding Kokanee on Fish Lake

You can start trolling for Kokanee salmon once the ice comes off the lake. Fish Lake is usually one of the last in the state to thaw- usually some time in May. As it gets warmer, kokanee salmon go deeper. Depending on the water temperature, you can find Kokanee salmon from 30 to 45 feet deep. If you don’t have a fish finder, I would start around 30 feet, and then go down from there based on what success you have and the time of year, going deeper as the year goes on. Because of its high elevation, and generally cold water year round, there isn’t as much variation as other kokanee spots in the lake, such as Flaming Gorge for instance. Most troll at 1.5 mph on Fish Lake, which is pretty standard for kokanee fishing.

Areas of Fish Lake You Can Find Kokanee Salmon

Fish Lake isn’t as big as many other Kokanee fisheries, so the best strategy that we would recommend is to go down the middle of the lake, doing slow S curves until you find the salmon. Fish Lake doesn’t have as big of Kokanee as other areas in the state. If you’re looking for the big ones, try Fishing for Kokanee at Strawberry, or make your way further north to chase the kokanee in Flaming Gorge.

Video of Kokanee and Rainbow Trout Fishing at Fish Lake

Where is Fish Lake?

Other fish you can catch trolling for kokanee at Fish Lake

Rainbow Trout

You probably will catch a good mix of Kokanee and Rainbows while trolling. There are a ton of rainbows on Fish Lake. If you want to target Rainbow Trout specifically, I’ve had a lot of success with Powerbait suspended about 2-3 feet from the bottom. I’ve had luck with chartreuse, rainbow, and pink, but I’ve had the best luck with plain trout Powerbait lately.

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.