Autumn Bites on the Wasatch: Salt Lake City Fishing Report for September 28, 2025

Artificial Lure here, bringing your Salt Lake City, Utah fishing report for Sunday, September 28, 2025. Step outside and you’ll feel that unmistakable early fall chill. Dawn cracked with sunrise at 7:17 AM, lighting up the Wasatch. Tonight, sunset hits at 7:13 PM—prime opportunity for those golden-hour bites. No tides to report for freshwater, but low barometric pressure and a cool, partly cloudy morning push fish into feeding mode. Expect a warming trend by mid-morning, with highs around the upper 60s and a light breeze—ideal autumn angling weather, especially with the changing leaves reflecting off local waters. The past week’s fishing action in and around Salt Lake has been lively, especially for those targeting bass, trout, and catfish. Up at Jordanelle Reservoir, folks have been reporting healthy numbers of smallmouth and largemouth, most falling in the 1–3 pound range, with a few pushing over 4. Drop shot rigs with natural 3-inch soft plastics and Texas-rigged black and blue beaver baits have been hot. A couple of anglers out of Rockport hooked into some chunky cutthroat trout using gold spoons and chartreuse PowerBait—late September means these trout are chasing a little more aggressively as water temps cool. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources reports rainbow trout stocking in the last two weeks at places like Kaysville Ponds and the Jordan River Parkway lakes, so family-friendly fishing is strong. Salmon eggs, nightcrawlers, and pink or orange marshmallow baits under a slip float are filling limits, especially in the early mornings. If you’re chasing warmwater species, Utah Lake’s harbor areas are producing decent white bass and channel cats. Cut shad and shrimp are the baits of choice, with catfish up to 8 pounds landed near Provo Boat Harbor just yesterday. Throw a swim jig or crankbait for white bass—they’re schooling up along rocky points. For bass hounds, Pineview Reservoir is yielding steady smallmouth bites around submerged shrub lines and rocky drop-offs. Anglers are having success with shakey heads and green pumpkin stickbaits, especially around midday. Spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits are also drawing reaction strikes as the sun climbs. Bait-wise, this week’s go-tos across our region: - Soft plastics: 3–4 inch stickbaits in green pumpkin, watermelon, and black/blue - Swimbaits and jerkbaits imitating native shad or perch - Crankbaits with gold or chartreuse reflectivity - Traditional nightcrawlers for panfish and trout - Cut bait or chicken liver for catfish at Utah Lake and the Lower Jordan Hot spots to focus your efforts: - **Jordanelle State Park boat launch coves**: Early morning for largemouth and smallmouth, especially on the weed edges. - **Provo Boat Harbor, Utah Lake**: Anchor near the drop-offs for cats and white bass with bait, or jig plastics along the rocks. - And don’t sleep on the **Jordan River Parkway ponds** for kid-friendly trout and bluegill. AnglersChannel shares that fall patterns mean fish are m This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.