Moon Lake, UT Kokanee Fishing

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.

I’ve fished all the kokanee lakes in the state of Utah and have great relationships with the state biologists that manage the state fisheries. I do my best to experiment and test in all the lakes and reservoirs with kokanee to give people the best advice from my experience. I also test and look at other people’s experience to see if it holds up. This article is a combination of that experience.

I asked state biologists about the condition of Moon Lake recently, and the kokanee there, and they said it only produces 8-12″ fish.  They reproduce on their own, and the state does not stock them and they seem to always be there despite the low water conditions we can see at Moon Lake.

Where is Moon Lake

How to Fish for Kokanee in Moon Lake

The most popular way to fish for kokanee at Moon Lake is trolling with a downrigger. You’ll want to troll at 1-1.8 mph with a kokanee rig, and I list the most popular gear below for that. You can also jig for kokanee but trolling is definitely the more popular option. You need to find the kokanee, get on them, and then work that school of kokanee until they move on. Then you find them again.

Most Common Depth for Finding Kokanee on Moon Lake

As it gets warmer, kokanee salmon go deeper. They can be hard to find, but depending on the water temperature, you can find Kokanee salmon from the surface to deep with an average being around 30’, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to consistently find them at 30’. Electronics are very important, and especially at Moon Lake where the water is deep and kokanee depths can vary so drastically.

About Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee salmon are sockeye salmon that are landlocked in fresh water. They primarily feed on Zoo plankton and are generally found in larger lakes that can maintain a cool temperature, or have enough depth to maintain a cool temperature. Kokanee are native to many lakes in the western United States and Canada including Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho in the United States and British Columbia and Yukon in Canada. Populations of kokanee salmon are also found in Japan and Russia. 

Additionally, kokanee have been introduced to many other lakes in the United States including in those states mentioned above as well as in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico in the west, as well as in New England, New York and North Carolina in the east. Kokanee have also been introduced to lakes in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

Most Popular Kokanee Salmon Rig for Fishing Moon Lake

I combed through several forums, fishing reports, and social media groups to figure out what most people were reporting having success with. Your most common kokanee trolling setups will probably work, but a little refinement and knowledge from locals never hurts. This is what people are reporting success with.

Most Popular Lure or Hoochie at Moon Lake

Squid hoochies are the most popular type of lure used on Moon Lake, though wedding ring lures are pretty popular as well. Pink was by far the most popular lure color on the water, with green and orange as secondary choices. I personally prefer the double hook kokanee lures, as kokanee strike out of aggression, and the two hooks provides twice the opportunity to hook into a kokanee. I’ve had good luck at Moon Lake lately with the Boone Hoochie rig. It’s a solid choice. I also have done well with the super squid from Rocky Mountain tackle, but you want smaller lures with the smaller kokanee out on this lake.

Most Popular Dodger at Moon Lake

There were several popular kokanee dodger colors according to the forums. According to the forums and groups, a pink dodger is the way to go. People also liked pink combos. I put this to the test and did find that pinks did get me the most action. Specifically, the Double D Dodger from Mack’s Lures outperformed the others. It has a very distinct action that’s different from your “traditional” skateboard dodger. The action it makes was just working for me.

Most Popular Bait for Kokanee At Moon Lake

The most popular bait to tip the hooks with at the end of your lure or hoochie is overwhelmingly shoe peg corn. Shoe peg corn is a more firm and resilient type of corn that can stay on the hook better and longer than regular sweet corn. The corn can also absorb scent and flavor, and it provides a kokanee something soft to bite into. If they aren’t hit on the first strike, they’re more likely to strike again. I’m a fan of fire corn, which is a dyed and scented corn and stays good for a long while in my tackle box.

Most Popular Scent at Moon 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. Gulp maggots or scented shoepeg corn can help cover that scent, but others like adding a gel as well. According to our analysis of the forums, the most popular scent were garlic scents. You can soak your corn in with some garlic, but I also like to but a dab of the gel on my dodger. It puts good scent in the water without gumming up your hoochie.

Video of Kokanee Fishing on Moon Lake 

This video showcases a good snapshot of the sizes of kokanee on Moon Lake, as well as how hot the fishing can be on the reservoir.

Other Fish You Can Catch Trolling for Kokanee at Moon Lake

Cutthroat Trout

There is a healthy cutthroat trout population at Moon Lake, and there are 100,000 more stocked in the lake every year. Cutthroat trout are a lot of fun to catch and will often bite on the same gear as what you’d use for kokanee. At Moon Lake the cutthroat are often in more shallow water than the kokanee.

Rainbow Trout

There aren’t as many rainbows in Moon Lake as there are kokanee or cutthroat trout, but they’re there, and there’s a chance you’ll hook into one when fishing for kokanee. If you’re looking for table fare, I personally like the taste of kokanee vs rainbow trout, but they’re both a lot of fun to catch.

Other Fish in Moon Lake

• Tiger Trout
• Splake
• Brook Trout
• Arctic Grayling

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.