Fall Trophies and Hatches on the Provo, Weber, and Strawberry Reservoir

Good morning from Salt Lake City! You're tuned in with Artificial Lure, bringing you the latest angling action for Saturday, October 18, 2025. The sun rises today at 7:42 a.m. and sets at 6:47 p.m., giving us a crisp autumn day with highs near 56°F and mostly sunny skies—perfect weather to chase some fall trophies before winter grabs the mountains. Now, we don’t get tidal movement around Salt Lake City, but the solunar charts say prime fish feeding windows are set for mid-morning and again right near sunset. That twilight bite has been money this week. Let’s start local. The Middle and Lower Provo are both running lower than summertime—Middle Provo at 150 CFS and Lower Provo at about 165 CFS, according to Western Rivers Flyfisher’s latest update. Flows have fish hugging the banks and settled into skinnier pockets, especially with the cooler weather. What’s working? Folks are finding pods of healthy browns and rainbows rising on Pseudocloeon mayflies (think #20-#24 dries), and there are good caddis hatches rolling in late afternoon (#12-14, #18). If you’re fishing mid-morning through evening, ants, beetles, and hoppers along the banks are a must—terrestrial season isn’t over yet. Early risers are swinging streamers in the slot water and picking up some aggressive takes from bigger trout working the edges. The Weber River is a solid backup if you want less traffic. It’s low (between 47 and 285 CFS depending where you go), but still fishable. Bring caddis dries and nymphs, small mayfly patterns, and don’t be shy with an ant or beetle. Moving after a couple of catches helps avoid burning out a hole and keeps those fish happy for everyone. Reservoirs are a fall go-to. Strawberry, according to recent posts on Utah Wildlife Forum, is “hard to beat” right now—float-tubers and shore anglers are catching plenty of cutthroat and rainbows, mainly on streamers, woolly buggers, and the always-reliable Chubby Chernobyls or attractor dries. Early mornings and evenings have been lights-out, with reports of big, healthy fish moving shallow to chase bait. If you want to mix things up, Willard Bay still has good warmwater action with wipers, walleye, and crappie. Local chatter is that trolling crankbaits and using white or chartreuse jigs are producing, with the occasional decent catfish for the patient bottom anglers. Best baits and lures this weekend: - For trout, bring small mayfly dries, caddis, and some beetle/hopper terrestrials as dries - Nymph rigs with pheasant tails, hare’s ears, and Copper Johns - Streamers in olive, black, or brown, especially during low light - On reservoirs, don’t forget leech patterns or smaller swim baits - At Willard, try crankbaits, jigheads with plastics, and live nightcrawlers if you can Hot spots to try: - Middle Provo River from Charleston Bridge to River Road (look for deep pockets and undercut banks with less foot traffic) - Strawberry Reservoir near Soldier Creek, especially around inlets for big cutthroat in the mor This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.