Conditions Right Now
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Tackle + Bait Slots
Winter loadout: auger, ice cleats, short jig rod, insulated bibs.
Why Fish Here
Pelican sits below 5,000 feet out in the Uinta Basin, which is why it fishes like a Midwest farm pond instead of a Utah mountain lake and why the ice arrives and leaves early. The water is shallow and choked with tules, so a float tube or small boat that lets you work the outside weed edge beats standing on the bank most days. The BLM maintains a boat ramp, with smaller launches around the shoreline. Summer brings biting flies, so pack repellent.
How To Fish It
Best rigs: Tiny jig or worm 3 ft under a bobber near the reeds
Bait and lures: Worms, mealworms, 1/32 oz jigs
Best time: All day. Season: May-September; ice fishing for gills
Local tip: NATIONALLY famous bluegill water - dinner-plate gills in the tules. Best fly-rod panfishing in the West.
Species Playbook
Bluegill & Sunfish
Rig: Worm under a small bobber, size 10 hook - that's it
Bait: Worms, mealworms, tiny jigs
When: All day long, all summer
THE kid fish. Pelican Lake grows bluegill the size of dinner plates.
Largemouth Bass
Rig: Texas-rigged worm near weeds; wacky rig Senko
Bait: Senkos, jigs, frogs over pads, topwater at dawn
When: Dawn topwater, evenings; pre-spawn (April-May) is prime
Look for submerged brush, tules, and shade lines.
Getting There + Nearby
Nearby adventures: Utah Field House of Natural History SP (State Park, 20 mi) · Steinaker Reservoir (Fishing, 24 mi) · Steinaker State Park (State Park, 24 mi) · Red Fleet Reservoir (Fishing, 31 mi)
Quick Answers
- What fish are in Pelican Lake?
- Bluegill & Sunfish, Largemouth Bass.
- What is the best bait at Pelican Lake?
- Worms, mealworms, 1/32 oz jigs
- When is the best time to fish Pelican Lake?
- All day. Season: May-September; ice fishing for gills.
- Why fish Pelican Lake?
- State biologists rate the bluegill here as a Blue Ribbon fishery, and it is the best-known water in Utah for oversized panfish. Largemouth bass share the same weed lines, with bullhead, channel catfish and green sunfish filling out the list. Primitive camping on site makes a dawn start easy.