Fishing Cedar City-Area

Navajo Lake | Ken Lund, Flickr CC

Weather: Mostly Clear, 33F

Navajo Lake

If you are looking for a good spot to cast your line, head east out of Cedar City on Highway 14 with the goal of reaching Navajo Lake. This lake is a high altitude mountain fishing destination, located just over 9,000 feet. The roughly 40-minute drive traverses the open flats of Cedar City through a red rock canyon and forests of pine and quaking aspen.

Navajo Lake is a great place for a day trip or a weekend retreat. Because it’s not as busy as other lakes, there’s a better chance of snagging a prize catch. Be aware state officials are working on the water level issues and fishing should remain consistent if solutions are discovered.

About the Fish

Fishing has always been good for stocked rainbow trout and brook trout, but an experiment to help control non-game Utah chub has produced some monster hybrid trout. Splake, a sterile mix between a brook trout and a lake trout, are voracious fish eaters and love Utah chub. When the water remains high enough to sustain splake through the winter they grow quickly.

Splake up to 10 pounds have been caught at Navajo. Since the big trout enjoy Utah chub so much, many anglers start their trip to Navajo by fishing with worms to catch Utah chub. The chub are then used as bait or to tip lures.

Ice Fishing

Ice fishing can be very good for splake, but access usually requires a snowmobile.

Duck Creek Reservoir

If fishing is slow at Navajo, or you just want fish for the frying pan, head a little farther east on Highway 14 to nearby Duck Creek Reservoir. This small, high mountain lake (9,300 feet) is stocked heavily with rainbow trout and also gets a decent number of tiger trout — a hybrid mix between a brook trout and brown trout. Cutthroat roam these waters as well, but are illegal to harvest so make sure to release any that may find their way to your line. Tiger trout are limited to two per day at Duck Creek.

Asay Creek

Located five miles from Hatch, Asay Creek is an excellent place for fly fisherman to enjoy a day on the river. The blue ribbon water of this spring fed creek has regular pockets of crystal-clear pools, long runs and deep water. Brown trout are stocked in the creek and mountain whitefish are a native species, thanks to the depth of the creek. River access is through the town of Panguitch and the area is seldom crowded.

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