Fly Fishing in Utah

A regional note specific to this state: the trout fishery here is a small but well-managed tailwater fishery, and the state agency manages a single high-quality tailwater as a wild trout fishery, and the most productive water is the section of the tailwater that runs through the national forest. Utah trout fishing is a small but diverse fishery built on the cold-water discharge of tailwaters and a series of small streams in the northern part of the state. The state has about 2,000 miles of fishable trout water, including the famous Green River below Flaming Gorge, the Provo River below Jordanelle, the Bear River, the Logan River, and dozens more. The most famous trout river is the Green River below Flaming Gorge, a tailwater that runs through the high-desert canyon of northeastern Utah and produces trophy browns and rainbows averaging 16 to 20 inches. The state's trout program is administered through the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the agency stocks the put-and-take rivers and lakes in the spring and fall while managing the wild trout water through a combination of slot limits and Trophy Trout designations. A regular Utah fishing license is required, and the cost is $34 for residents and $85 for non-residents, and the daily limit is 4 trout combined in most waters with a 2-trout limit on the Trophy Trout water.