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Tackle + Bait Slots
Trolling: dodger + pink squid, corn-tipped.
Why Fish Here
Moon Lake began as a natural lake and grew in 1938, when the Bureau of Reclamation finished a 98-foot earthen dam across the Lake Fork River to store irrigation water. It sits at 8,125 feet on the south slope of the Uintas inside the Ashley National Forest, high enough that mornings stay cold into July. Because the lake is still an irrigation storage reservoir, the shoreline moves through the season, which matters more to bank anglers than to anyone with a boat.
How To Fish It
Best rigs: Troll squids for kokes; spinners off the inlet
Bait and lures: Squids, worms, spinners
Best time: Dawn. Season: June-September
Local tip: High Uintas base camp with a lodge - canoe at sunrise.
Species Playbook
Kokanee Salmon
Rig: Troll pink/orange squid behind a dodger, 25-60 ft down
Bait: Pink squids tipped with white shoepeg corn
When: Crack of dawn - bite dies mid-morning
CLOSED to harvest during fall spawn (check dates). Turn bright red in September.
Cutthroat Trout
Rig: Strawberry: white tube jig 15-30 ft; Bear Lake: troll minnow-profile lures
Bait: Tube jigs, dead minnows (where legal), dry flies in creeks
When: Morning bite is king; ice-off is legendary
The Bonneville cutthroat is Utah's state fish. Strawberry slot: release cutts 15-22 in.
Brook Trout
Rig: Ultralight spinner or bubble-and-fly rig
Bait: Small spinners, worms, ants/attractor dry flies
When: All day at altitude; evenings best in summer
Aggressive and gorgeous. Boulder Mountain grows Utah's biggest brookies.
Getting There + Nearby
Nearby adventures: Moon Lake Campground (Camping, 0 mi) · Duchesne River (Fishing, 7 mi) · Uinta Backcountry Lakes (Fishing, 14 mi) · Amethyst Lake (Hike, 16 mi)
Quick Answers
- What fish are in Moon Lake?
- Kokanee Salmon, Cutthroat Trout, Brook Trout.
- What is the best bait at Moon Lake?
- Squids, worms, spinners
- When is the best time to fish Moon Lake?
- Dawn. Season: June-September.
- Why fish Moon Lake?
- Moon Lake is one of the few Uinta waters you can drive to and still fish for kokanee salmon, which are scarce on this side of the range. Cutthroat and brook trout cover the days the salmon will not move. Being deep in the Ashley National Forest, it stays quieter than the lakes strung along the Mirror Lake Highway.