Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Locations, Trip Reports, Utah Bass Fishing

Bass Fishing Flaming Gorge

I finally was able to get out with my family bass fishing Flaming Gorge. We had a full boat and had a great time. We fished for about 4 hours late afternoon, and caught about a dozen smallmouth bass. Here are the conditions, where we fished, and what we used to catch a few good smallmouth bass at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. Hope you can use this report to “Krak” a few bass yourself!

Bass Fishing Flaming Gorge

Flaming Gorge is a spectacular place to go bass fishing. Although on this trip things weren’t fast and furious, we still caught a solid dozen bass in an evening which made it fun. The bass started moving in shallow, and we found some to catch. I brought my entire family on the boat, and we all had a good time. Here is how we got “Kraken” bass on Flaming Gorge.

Flaming Gorge Conditions:

Here are the conditions we had while bass fishing flaming gorge on Friday, June 12th from 3:30pm – 8:00pm.

Water Temperature:

61 Degrees

Weather:

Air Temperature 75 degrees, bright & sunny skies.

Wind:

0-5 MPH, dead calm with an occasional light breeze.

Water Clarity:

Clear, visibility 10 – 15 feet deep

Flaming Gorge Bass Fishing Baits:

Here is the list of baits we used that caught bass. We tried quite a few different things, but these three baits seemed to work the best.

Reins Bubble Shaker:

The 4 inch Reins Bubbling Shaker in the color morning dawn worked really well set up on a drop shot rig. We used a 1/0 red gamakatsu drop shot hook with a 1/8 oz drop shot weight for the drop shot rig. The reins bubbling shaker we worked by letting the drop shot hit the bottom, and slowly crawling it back to the boat. The bright pink morning dawn color drew the fish from a long way off in the clear water, so the key was to wait for them to swim over and grab it.

Jackall Squarebill Crankbait:

The Jackall Square Bill Super Crawfish Crankbait caught some smallmouth bass. It worked best when it was banging the bottom knocking the rocks and gravel. The crankbait attracted the smallmouth with the bottom banging, and they would come over and smack it. They could see it along way off in the clear water. We would throw the bait up super shallow, maybe 1 – 2 feet from the bank, and retrieve it parallel to the shore. Always keeping contact with the bottom was essential for getting bites.

Smallie Beaver:

A green pumpkin smallie beaver texas rigged worked well at getting those tight lipped smallmouth to munch. We texas rigged the smallie beaver on a small 1/0 offset gamakatsu hook, and pegged on the line a 1/8 oz bullet weight. When fishing the smallie beaver you would throw it out, and let it fall to the bottom. Once your bait is on the bottom, slowly hop it along like a skirting crayfish.

Flaming Gorge Bass Fishing Spots:

Here is a map of the shorelines we fished, and what happened at each spot.
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Details of Bass Fishing Flaming Gorge:

I brought my family out with me, and met my dad at flaming gorge to try some bass fishing. It had been a long time since I had been out bass fishing Flaming Gorge. I was nervous about what we would find. It turned out to be a great evening. It took us a while to find a few fish, but when we did it was stoking.

The water temperature seemed just right at the 61 degree mark, and so we started pounding the banks looking for the bass moving in shallow building or sitting on nests for their annual spawn. The first stop we made was a bust. We wound up catching a trout on a smallie beaver in the area next to the lucerne marina, so we decided to head down lake to try our luck on the Utah side.

We pulled on to a point, and I popped one pretty quickly on a squarebill crankbait on my 3rd cast with it. Then the crankbait went silent for a while. Once we pulled down into the backs of the coves, we started picking up more bass on the soft plastics. We actually spotted one on a bed, and when I tied on the reins bubbling shaker in morning dawn, he came out and munched it. It’s always cool to see the strikes when the bass are guarding there beds. Here are a few pictures of the smallmouth we caught in the backs of the coves at our second stop including the bedding fish.

We pulled into another area along a stepper bank, and I busted out the squarebill crankbait. It was on fire. I had several strikes, and boated a few of them. They were all really small though, so we decided to move to another spot to hopefully find some bigger fish. Here is a picture of one of the little guys caught on a crankbait.

We tried some shallow running points, and we caught a few more before the close of the day. Nothing really worthy of telling your mom about, but it’s always fun to get your line stretched. We caught some little guys my son had fun messing around with. It’s always fun to get your children out fishing with you.

In the aftermath of the trip it seemed like the bigger fish were in the backs of the coves sitting in about 5 – 15 feet of water gearing up to spawn. If I could do the trip again I would focus on those areas, and look for more bedding fish. Hopefully, this trip report will get you stoked to go out bass fishing Flaming gorge. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog for more great reports and tips and techniques to help you get “Kraken” bass! Please comment below, and let me know what you’ve found bass Flaming Gorge. I’d love more feedback on what you’ve found works.

As Always,

Stay Stoked!