# Fish Lake in the fall



## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Is there a better place than Fish Lake in the fall? I just love it up there. Everything is so vibrant right now, from the glowing gold aspen leaves to the flaming red kokanee. And to have elk bugling in the background? Amazing!









































































Click for video of kokanee:


http://imgur.com/9KhkszD


----------



## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

Thanks for posting.. Might have to see if my wife wants to do a scenic drive there on Sunday. Time to get out of the house and enjoy the best time of the year.


----------



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Awesome! 

We saw how the hunt is going, but any chance to do some fishing?


----------



## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Back -- I'm heading out hunting again on Saturday (headed to Boulder unit). My wife said to me "I'm going to take the girls for a drive Saturday. We're going to Fish Lake to see the salmon, then over the Boulder and around to Tropic...".


That made me happy! 




Cat -- I didn't do any fishing. Just walked Twin Creeks, looked at the sea of red in the lake at the mouth of Twin Creeks, then watched some giant carp swimming in the marina. That satisfied my urges.


----------



## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Incredible pictures!


----------



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

One quick question;

It would appear that the kokes are thriving in Fish Lake. Is the DWR pleased with how they are doing so far?


----------



## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

I absolutely love the Fish Lake range! Between fishing, hunting, camping or just taking in the scenery, it's definitely on the top of my go to spots. Great pics PBH, thanks for sharing!


----------



## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Cat -- I think they are happy with the program right now. I also think that we are already seeing dividends being paid on other species -- we're seeing more large lake trout (and splake) being caught since the introduction of kokanee than prior to it. The downside is that people were somewhat frustrated with fishing this summer due to the lack of rainbow trout. It's just going to take some time for the "Fish Lake" anglers to figure out how to catch kokanee. Once they do, I think everyone is going to be happy.


The big difference with having kokanee in Fish Lake today vs. kokanee trials in the past is that Utah now has a hatchery system that can support the kokanee. Obviously, they want to get some natural reproduction. But that doesn't happen in Twin Creeks. The stream is just too cold to support natural reproduction of any of the species of fish in Fish Lake. Historically (pre white-man), native fish in the lake reproduced in Lake Creek (outflow). The DWR is trying to use "late" spawning kokanee that will attempt to spawn at the mouth of Twin Creeks (lake spawning) vs. trying to rely on the fish going up the stream. Combine some natural reproduction with hatchery supplemental stocking, and I think that this is going to be a good long-term plan.


----------

