Scofield Reservoir

Scofield Reservoir sits at about 7,600 feet on the Wasatch Plateau west of Price, a shallow, fertile lake of about 2,800 acres inside Scofield State Park. Utah stocks it with tiger trout and cutthroat to eat the chubs that crowd it, and with rainbows, and all three grow fast. The rules protect the middle of the cutthroat and tiger population: fish from 15 to 22 inches go back, so the lake holds plenty of them.

The best fly fishing comes right after ice-off, usually in May, when fish cruise the shallows on chironomids and leeches, and again in fall. Madsen Bay at the north end and the shallow flats near the state park are the usual starts, from a float tube or a pontoon. Summer brings warm water and algae, and the fish go deeper. Scofield is also one of Utah's busiest ice fisheries. Trout may not be filleted in the field here.