Where to fish close to Salt Lake?

[Wasatch Rebel]

I need a place to fish--and most likely it should be a lake as I will have my 1 year old grandson with me--within just an hour or so of Salt Lake. My son will be getting off work about 6:15, so we want to be able to fish for at least an hour or so with a good chance of catching something before it gets dark. Any ideas? The fish don't have to be monsters.

[DOSS]

Settlement canyon Res (here in Tooele) has had some decent fishing by the inlet recently :) its only 10 minutes from my house.. and about an hour from Salt Lake - you could always go to the little fishing holes that the parks and rec have around the valley too

[Wasatch Rebel]

Settlement canyon Res (here in Tooele) has had some decent fishing by the inlet recently :) its only 10 minutes from my house.. and about an hour from Salt Lake - you could always go to the little fishing holes that the parks and rec have around the valley too

Oh yeah, TC, I forgot about Settlement. Is the inlet easy to get to? As for the community fishing spots, I'm not sure how good most of them really are--they stock them early, from what I've heard, and are pretty much fished out by now--if not by the old guys who sit there all day, then by the cormorants.

[DOSS]

Its not too hard to get to.. park at the shack (big parking lot) then hike up the road a little bit and follow the stream back to the lake.. If you want company let me know if I am not in School (going back to college after a failed career) I would be happy to drag one of my girls out and do some more fishing :)

[Wasatch Rebel]

Its not too hard to get to.. park at the shack (big parking lot) then hike up the road a little bit and follow the stream back to the lake.. If you want company let me know if I am not in School (going back to college after a failed career) I would be happy to drag one of my girls out and do some more fishing :)

Hey, I'll let you know. I've got to touch bases with my son and his wife about when they can do it, but I'd be happy to have you along. It'll probably be in early September.

[Scott P]

When I was a kid we used to fish in Decker Lake in West Valley (walking distance of our old house). That was before they put a juvie center there.

I'm not recommending it, but the post just reminded me of it and I was wondering how the place is now. I haven't been since I was eight or nine years old. Do people still fish there or is it a run down gang land? People used to ice skate it in the winter too.

[accadacca]

Decker Lake looked pretty run down the last time I saw it, but it seems to be cleaned up a little since then.

Report from 2008 on another forum:

The waters at about full now. I've seen it maybe 6" higher.

As far as fish... Channel Catfish, Black Bullheads, Black Crappie, Bluegill, Largemouth Bass, White Bass, Walleye, Utah Sucker, and of course Carp. I've caught them all personally.

Pink jigs work well for the sunfish, bass and walleye. Come may or so chucking them and retrieving right along the bottom works well. No jigging. Just a strait retrieve. The largemouths hold tight to structure. I like 3 1/2" dark colored tube jigs. Pitch it in, and try to finess them out. They're few and far between, but definately some nice fish.

A chunk of worm on bottom will catch small bullheads anytime. But, they are small. Most are between about 3-6". For channels and bigger bullies, I've had my best success with skinless carp meat marinated in a worm flavored bass scent. Go figure.

Carp will hit about anything. I usually hit a few on jigs and worms. Dough baits also do extremely well.

Right now, it's early in the year. For sure. Once may comes, it'll be hot fishing. North winds usually mean the fish aren't going to bite. Anywhere from the Decker lake youth center, around the main lake and to the other side is usually decent fishing. As has already been stated, the west side is really shallow. Mostly carp over there. The inflows can get a few white bass in them, though.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Decker Lake looked pretty run down the last time I saw it, but it seems to be cleaned up a little since then.

Report from 2008 on another forum:

Thanks. That sounds like a place to try for sure.

[ilanimaka]

The farthest point east is the outlet. It has concrete slabs & looks like a good spot for some kitties. The inlet on the north east side was barely a trickle when I was checkin it out. Lots of ducks & pelicans too... Lemme know if you hit Decker. I live right up the road and wouldn't mind testing the waters.

[ilanimaka]

Hit Decker lake tonight with the kiddies. The bugs were really thick and in a half hour my 2 girls each caught a kitty in that eastern-most point on the lake. I'll head back next week after the kids have gone back to their moms.

[Wasatch Rebel]

Yeah, I don't know when I'm going to get to any of these places at this point. I need to see what my son and his wife want to do. I still need to fill my archery tag too, so I just gotta figure things out. I've been too busy this past week to get out at all. What kind of bugs? Mosquitoes?

[ilanimaka]

There were some mosquitoes, but mostly somethin else. It was dark, so I couldn't get a good look, but they were more like moths. More nuisances than anything else. I also found that the creek inlet on the west side runs deep before it turns shallow. Might be a good place too. If nothing else, it's a good place for nettings some minnows. Gonna bring my net next time.