Fish on: The ice-off is underway at Porcupine Reservoir

The ice-off is on.

Utah State University student Trevor Zubeck was among the first people to take advantage of the annual pre-spring melt at Porcupine Reservoir, bringing in a 19-inch brown trout on Monday at noon.

Zubeck’s fish, which was caught on the northeast side of the reservoir near the runoff, reminded the outdoor enthusiast of the plump promises that lurk just below Porcupine’s icy cover this time of year.

“Porcupine has been kept a secret as far as fishing goes,” Zubeck said. “Everyone comes here in the summer to cliff jump but not many come to fish. When the ice first starts to melt, fishing is really good if you can catch it just right, like I did today.”

Zubeck caught the fish on a fly pole, using a black woolly bugger fly. He said that as he stripped his fly off the edge of the ice, brown trout immediately came to the surface, devouring the lure.

“And so the fishing begins,” said Zubeck, who plans to spend many hours at Porcupine Reservoir this week.

After the long winter months, fish are hungry for surface-level flies. That’s why ice-off is ideal for catching big fish. But this part of the season is fleeting: Ice-off fishing could lasts a few days, or for up to a week depending on how warm temperatures get.

“In the summer, fish are more selective with what they’ll eat because there’s so much available to them,” said Kyle Jensen, a fish guide at Roundrocks Fly Fishing in Logan. “Ice-off is when the fish really gorge themselves on surface level food, which is what’s going on right now at some of lakes and reservoirs around here.”

Porcupine Reservoir is known throughout the state for its large population of kokanee salmon, but also has substantial amounts brown trout and perch. The reservoir is located about 15 miles south of Logan.