April has been a beautiful month at Six Lakes. The fishing has been amazing, and the guests at Six Lakes have been enjoying the spectacular fishing and watching the waterfowl and wildlife. The fishing has been gradually getting better as the water temperatures have been warming. The water temperatures are almost perfect this week and will stay perfect for trout in the high 50s and low 60s over the next few weeks at Six Lakes. These ideal temperatures make trout very active, and they feed heavily through the month of May in trout lakes throughout northern Utah. In this blog, we will share the top five flies for fishing lakes for trout in Utah during spring.

Woolly buggers are one of the most versatile fishing flies and can be used to catch fish in lakes and rivers throughout the western United States. In lakes around northern Utah, they are a very effective pattern in a variety of colors. During early spring when the water temperatures are cold, they should be worked very slowly near the bottom of the lake, and as water temperatures get warmer in May, they can be worked a little faster in shallower bays and edges of the lake near weed beds.

Balanced leeches are also a very effective pattern across the western United States and this pattern works great in Utah as well. The balanced leech pattern is hung off a strike indicator about five to nine feet. During the early spring when the water temperatures are cold, a balanced leech should be hung far off the strike indicator, 10 to 15 feet. As the water temperature warms, the trout will get more active in the shallow areas and edges of the lakes, and fishing with balanced leeches shallower in 5 to 9 feet of water is very effective. 

Small zebra midges in sizes 18 and 20 are also a very effective pattern in the western United States on both lakes and rivers in the early spring. Red zebra midges are one of our favorite patterns at Six Lakes during the early spring. During late March and April, small midges and gnats hatch off lakes, and hanging a small zebra midge off a strike indicator imitates the emerging midges in the early spring. A rust or red colored zebra midge works very well on lakes in our area, and we hang these off a strike indicator about 10 feet while fishing for feeding trout in late March and April.

In May, larger midges begin hatching on many lakes, and sno cone chironomids are one of the best fly patterns to use in May. We like to hang the sno cone chironomids off a strike indicator about 5 to 10 feet and drop a zebra midge another 2 feet off the bottom of the chironomid. This gives fish the option of a small midge or a large midge and is a very effective way to fish in May. Casting this set up at feeding trout along the edges of weed beds and the edges of bays is a great way to catch fish at Six Lakes in May.

Damselflies get very active in late spring on the lakes around Six Lakes. Near the end of May, damselfly nymphs are one of the most effective patterns to use on lakes in northern Utah. Dark olive damselfly nymphs fished in sizes 12 and 14 and stripped along the edge of weed beds around the lakes is a great way to catch fish in late May and early June. 

May is one of the best months of the year to fish at Six Lakes. We hope to see you this May at Six Lakes for some spectacular fishing!