# Uinta Mountain lakes



## sverchok566 (Feb 18, 2009)

Uinta Mountain lakes

I am planing to do some hiking east of Mirror Lake this month. There are a number of lakes scattered around that area. Does anyone know whether they are stocked with fish or not? 

Also, is it legal to camp overnight 10-15 miles east of Mirror Lake?

Thank you.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

sverchok566 said:


> Uinta Mountain lakes
> 
> I am planing to do some hiking east of Mirror Lake this month. There are a number of lakes scattered around that area. Does anyone know whether they are stocked with fish or not?
> 
> ...


If you can tell me what basin or creek drainage you intend to hit I can better answer your question(s).

Many of the lakes are stocked on an approximate 5-year rotation. Some lakes exhibit natural reproduction and do not get stocked. Sometimes the creeks offer better fishing than the lakes. Tiger Trout have been increasingly stocked with great success. A few of the lakes do not have fish.

10 to 15 miles east of Mirror Lake Highway on the Highline Trail is part of the High Uintas Wilderness Area.

The DNR has info booklets for every drainage in the Uintas, though outdated, they are very helpful.

There's over a 1000 lakes in the Uintas, enjoy.


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## sverchok566 (Feb 18, 2009)

Thank you Wyogoob. I actually have found a website (http://www.utahfishinginfo.com/dwr/fish ... report.php) that has info on fishing stocking of all Utah lakes. I take it if a lake is not on the list they don't stock it.

I am going to be hiking around Pinto, Pine Island, Mohawk, Fish Hatchery and Grandaddy lakes. Fishing is not a high priority, but I still would love to catch some fish.

Do you know anything about these lakes?


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## nkunz (Sep 25, 2007)

As already pointed out the high lakes are not planted every year so you need to look back through several years to see when they were planted last. With that said, unless the lake in question is so shallow that it winter kills it probably has some fish in it. The big question is how many and are they biting the day you decide to fish there.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

sverchok566 said:


> Thank you Wyogoob. I actually have found a website (http://www.utahfishinginfo.com/dwr/fish ... report.php) that has info on fishing stocking of all Utah lakes. I take it if a lake is not on the list they don't stock it.
> 
> I am going to be hiking around Pinto, Pine Island, Mohawk, Fish Hatchery and Grandaddy lakes. Fishing is not a high priority, but I still would love to catch some fish.
> 
> Do you know anything about these lakes?


The lake is not on the list because:
A) It wasn't stocked that year.
B) It has a self-sustaining population of fish and does not get stocked.
C) The lake does not sustain fish.

Grandaddy Basin holds some nice fish, especially Grandaddy Lake. It's fished hard but I think that thins the fish out enough to keep the size up. Pinto use to have nice Brookies.

The basin is one of the most heavily used areas in the Uintas. At times it can be over-run with scouts, God bless 'em.

Leave a car at Mirror Lake and then get dumped off at the Highline Trailhead. In 5 days you can go to 40 lakes easy.

I haven't been there for over 15 years, too much trash.


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## BerryNut (Dec 29, 2008)

Two friends and I did a great hike a couple years back in the same area youre talking about. We actually started out at grand daddy lake and fished for a week working our way to the highline trail. We couldnt keep em off at Pinto lake with a fly and bubble rig. Pine island had nice fish but they were few and far between. Goob is right about Grand Daddy, it was good fishing but there were quite a few people fishing it. Governor Dern lake was fun and probably held the largest fish of the week long trip. A brown trout crocodile seemed to be the lure that caught the most fish, I had two of them and out fished my buddies by double everywhere we went until I let my friend use the lure and he lost it. Such is life I guess. There are a couple more lakes by Pinto that I hear are good but cant remember the name. It was the funnest week I had fishing in my laife until I went to Alaska, but its still a close second. It will be a good time no matter what though. Beautiful country. Good luck


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