Silver Lake Flat Report

[tallsteve]

The gate is finally open to get up to Silver Lake Flat so I drove up there to fish last night after work. The lake is the fullest I've seen it in years. When It's full, the surface area is probably double that of it's lower elevation cousin Tibble Fork. Dusted off the small pontoon kick-boat and fly rod and fished the north end of the lake by the inlet. Lost count after 15, so probably 20 or so in a couple of hours. All brookies except one small rainbow. Started off with just a brown/green wooley bugger and caught a couple from that but the action really started after I tied on a prince nymph dropper off the wooley bugger shank. That was the ticket! Nothing huge but the brookies put up a fight. Sorry, no pics- I forgot my camera. Next time!

[LOAH]

Nice. How's the snow up there? Did the trail going up to the next lake look good?

[tallsteve]

The road is all clear of snow and there was no snow in the parking area at the Silver Lake trailhead. Not sure if you could get up to Silver Lake or not. I could see patches of snow that direction up higher.

[VinnyP]

I was up there last night. The gate that allows access past Silver Lake Flat is still closed ( crosses the river). The water is higher than I have ever seen it.

[vamedtech]

I'm taking the kids to tibble tomorrow maybe we'l head up to silver for a while too. Thanks

[Alex]

Where is Silver lake? I want to take my kids fishing tonight and not sure where to go... any suggestions?

PS: I should say I live on the east side of SLC

[vamedtech]

Head up American Fork canyon and go left at the Fork toward Tibble Fork res. The road keeps going past Tibble and past the Granit Flat camp ground. Keep following the road and youll reach Silver Lake.

[Alex]

oh ok, that's the one I had in mind, thanks!

Much fishing there?

[tallsteve]

If you haven't gone yet I'll add to the directions: When you get to Tibble Fork Reservoir, drive toward the east end of the lake, stay on the paved road as it bends sharply to the left. Stay on the paved road then turn right on the dirt road just before the entrance to Granite Flat Campground. There are no other turnoffs until you get to the Silver Lake Flat reservoir a couple of miles up the road. The fishing right from the dam is good for kids- easy to get to and plenty of room to cast. There is a bathroom at the north end of the lake. Have fun!

[Jaxx]

Thanks for the directions!
Went up there last night after work with the family. My daughter had one on but she was off wandering around and it got off by the time she got back to reel it in. She was using powerbait 18'' under a bubble.
I got one strike on my lil'jake brass lure.

Next time I go up there, hopefully really soon it is sooooo beautiful, I will put a fly about 5' behind a clear bubble. A guy next to us was using that and caught 6 fish in less than a couple hours.

Will take pics next time. It is so awesome up there. The north face of timp looks so awesome reflecting off the lake.

Off topic: how do you get the clear inline bubbles to stay in place. I have not had very good luck putting a split-shot sinker on the line on each end to hold them in place. Please help!

[LOAH]

The fly/bubble combination works really well when you've got a decent bite going. Try a small to medium sized Parachute Adams and drag it slowly.

To rig, just tie the fly on the line, snip the line about 5 to 6 feet up, and then slide the bubble onto the line still strung through your rod. Make sure the end of the bubble with the wider opening (the stopper end) is facing the end of the line.

Now tie on a swivel (snap or regular) to the end of that line and the bubble won't slide down past the swivel. If you use a snap swivel, tie on the wider end, with the clasp, to the line.

Finally, tie on the other line (with the fly) to the other end of the swivel. Now you're set and the line won't twist very much while fighting any fish.

A lot of people tie a bigger fly on and then tie a smaller fly (a dropper) to the hook of the big one. That gives you two chances to match what they're biting and can be really effective.

The most fish I ever caught in a day came from the fly/bubble combo at Scofield.

Glad you got out even if you didn't get to hold any.

[tallsteve]

My experience fishing with the kids at Silver Lake Flat from the shore is night crawlers tipped with a marshmellow works best or night crawlers from a bubble.

[bbennett]

Thanks for the thread. I LOVE Silver Lake.

[Jaxx]

thanks for the info LOAH and Steve. I am thinking about heading up again this weekend, mabey. I will bring worms for the small kids and a fly for wife and I and older daughter. Someone will catch something hopefully!

[jester]

I went up to Silver Lake on July 7th. I caught 1 after about 30 minutes. After that I didnt have another bite for the 6 hours we were there. I did manage a second degree sunburn on my legs though... :roll:

So anyway what seems to work best up there for bait? I am pretty new to fishing so you will have to give me a break. I was using powerbait but like I said, it only got me 1 fish.