We fished, boated and tubed at Flaming Gorge in mid-July (2121) and had a great time. It has been a very hot summer and the air temperature was hotter than expected. (Usually Flaming Gorge has pleasant temps even during the middle of summer). The water temperature was perfect for swimming and tubing.

Fishing was a little slower than expected. We usually do well there even during the dog days, but we had to work to catch fish this trip. We targeted kokanee and found them down about 40 feet. We trolled using downriggers with traditional kokanee setups and had pretty good success.

We also tried other lures and caught almost as many kokanee on a Lil Jakes as we did on kokanee rigs. Except the Jakes caused a problem in that small rainbows would take it and not trip the downrigger. So we would drag the rainbow around for 20 minutes before realizing it was there. We would troll through fish we marked on the graph and say, “Why didn’t we get a bite.” We’d pull in our line to check the rig and find a little rainbow on the end.

We also had a challenge hooking the fish. We got many bites that did not result in a hook set. It seems like the fish were a little lethargic in the hot temperatures.

Our best fishing came down in the Hideout area.

We stayed in the dispersed camping area along Sheep Creek, about a mile above the boat ramp. We found shade down along the stream and it was very nice. The tiny campground by the boat ramp was full, as expected, but there were sites available in the nearby developed campgrounds.

The lake water level was fine, no problem launching and plenty of water to fish. With Powell and Mead so slow, they say they are going to let extra water out of Flaming Gorge, but boating conditions should be fine there through the summer.

The Lucerne Marina and campground area was packed with people. I’m sure the area around the dam was also crazy busy. We were glad we dropped down to Sheep Creek to avoid the crowds.