Wasatch Winter Wonders: Trout, Cats & Wipers On the Bite Around SLC

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Wasatch Front fishing rundown. We don’t worry about tides up here along the Wasatch; every drop you’ll fish today is lake or river fed by snowmelt and springs, so no tidal swing to plan around. Focus instead on flows and water temps. Weather around the Salt Lake Valley is classic early-winter inversion pattern: cold start near freezing, light breeze, high topping out in the upper 30s to low 40s, mostly clear skies with some haze. Sunrise hit right around 7:40 a.m., sunset will be just after 5:00 p.m., so your prime windows are that first hour of light and the last 90 minutes before dark. Trout across the Central Region have been active mid‑day when the sun finally warms things a touch. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources reports heavy 2025 stocking along the Wasatch despite a slight cutback for drought: over 11 million fish statewide, with emphasis on rainbows, cutthroats, tiger trout, wipers, walleye, bass, and catfish in lakes that can handle lower water. Fox 13 Utah notes managers are leaning harder into warmwater species as our reservoirs keep running warm. Recent catches around town: - **Jordan River / community ponds (Sugar House, Liberty, Willow, Bountiful Pond)**: Folks are picking off planter rainbows, a few brood rainbows to 18 inches, and the occasional catfish. PowerBait off the bottom, nightcrawlers under a bobber, and small gold spinners have all been doing work. Channel cats are still taking cut bait in the deeper holes on the Jordan. - **Jordanelle and Deer Creek**: Anglers are reporting steady rainbow and brown trout on small spoons and tube jigs, plus some fat smallmouth caught dragging plastics on rocky points when the sun is high. A handful of walleye have come on slow‑rolled crankbaits at dawn and dusk. - **Strawberry**: Slower than fall but still giving up cutts and rainbows to patient folks fishing ice‑edge and deeper breaks with white and chartreuse tube jigs tipped with chub meat or waxworms. Best offerings right now: - For trout in ponds and reservoirs: • Chartreuse, orange, or rainbow‑glitter PowerBait on light leaders • 1/16–1/8 oz jigheads with white or brown tube jigs, tipped with a worm piece • Small silver or gold inline spinners and Kastmasters retrieved slow and steady - For warmwater (Jordan River, lower reservoirs): • 3–4 inch green pumpkin or black soft plastics on a shaky head or Ned rig for smallmouth • Slow‑rolled paddle‑tail swimbaits in shad colors for walleye and wiper • Nightcrawlers or cut bait on the bottom for channel cats A couple of local hot spots to circle: - **Willow Pond in Murray** – Easy access, freshly stocked bows, plus holdover cats. Fish the deeper middle with slip bobbers mid‑day; work the east bank at dawn with small spoons. - **Bountiful Lake** – Good mix of planter rainbows, occasional wiper, and cats. Toss small swimbaits along the wind‑blown shore for wipers; soak bait off the bottom for trout and c This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.