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JORDANELLE RESERVOIR, HEBER CITY, UTAH

High in the Wasatch Mountains, near the famous ski resorts surrounding Park City, Utah, sits Jordanelle Reservoir - a smallmouth angler's dream lake.

Other than Lake Powell, Utah isn't really known for quality bass fishing, but numerous lakes throughout the state offer decent largemouth fishing and great smallmouth fishing.

"The best smallmouth lake in the state is Jordanelle," said Roy Hawk, a pro bass angler from nearby Salt Lake City and a part-time guide on Jordanelle. "The lake is fairly new (the first facilities opened in 1994), but it's a great smallmouth lake. It's good from April through the summer, but pre-spawn in late April is dynamite. On a good, you can catch 30 bass. My best five-bass limit on the lake is 26 pounds, and I've caught quite a few 6-pound fish. Smallies up to 7 pounds have been caught there. It's basically a catch-and-release lake. You can't keep any smallies over 12 inches."

"The lake is about 6,200 feet high. That's an amazing altitude for bass."

At 3,300 acres, Jordanelle is not a large lake, but it holds a lot of water. The deepest point hits nearly 300 feet, and the average depth exceeds 100 feet.

For more information on Jordanelle Reservoir and the guide service Roy Hawk works for, visit parkcityexcursions.com or call 435-655-5131. For general information, visit the Web site of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources at wildlife.utah.gov.

From the April 2007 edition of FLW Outdoors magazine, The fishing authority.