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Deer Creek Reservoir Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Provo Canyon's blue anchor: walleye and smallmouth over clean rock, rainbow trolling lanes and Timpanogos filling the windshield.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~55 F est.
Air / High
46 / 50 F
Wind
SW 15 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Deer Creek Reservoir rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings clear skies, wind SW around 15 mph, falling pressure near 1016 hPa and a high of 50. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perchGood

Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

Tomorrow: Similar at 54 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Utah requires a fishing licence from age 12, from $40.00 for residents. What a Utah licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with UDWR before you keep anything. The season dates for Utah, read off the agency, are on the Utah seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp46 F
High / Low50 / 40 F
WindSW 15-24 mph
Pressure1016.0 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 92%
Sunrise / Sunset07:45 / 18:34
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Deer Creek Reservoir this week

The best day on Deer Creek Reservoir this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:04 AM-12:04 PM and 10:33 PM-12:33 AM
Minor period
4:28 AM-5:28 AM
Sun
07:45 to 18:34
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 21 mph
Rain chance
92%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Deer Creek Reservoir: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Yellow perch illustration

Yellow perch

Caught all year, including under the ice through winter

Yellow perch are schooling panfish of the Great Lakes and northern lakes, and Michigan DNR calls them the game fish most often caught in that state. Spring and fall: perch hold shallower and, by Michigan DNR's account, feed through the day, so shoreline weed edges, flats and the shallows near spawning areas are worth searching.

When to come: the Deer Creek Reservoir calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye
Smallmouth bass
Northern pike
Yellow perch
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Deer Creek Reservoir today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 58 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 64 F, wind to 11 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Utah requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Utah license. Walleye 10/day (encouraged); smallmouth liberal: check DWR.

Access

Deer Creek SP main and Island ramps; Charleston and Wallsburg bay accesses.

About this water

2,965 acres on the Provo River, Wasatch County, UT. The Wasatch Front's walleye-and-bronze canyon lake.

Fishing Deer Creek Reservoir: the full guide

The canyon reservoir

Deer Creek pools the Provo River beneath Mount Timpanogos: Wasatch Front water twenty minutes from Provo, ringed by state-park ramps and the canyon highway. The fishery balances four programs: walleye on the rocky structure, smallmouth everywhere, trolled rainbows, and the perch schools that feed them all: a complete Utah lake in postcard packaging.

Walleye and bronze on the rock

The dam-area rock and Charleston flats hold the walleye rotation: jigs at ice-out along the riprap, bottom bouncers over 15-25 ft through summer, blades in fall. Smallmouth own every gravel slide (Neds and tubes: 100-fish summer days for the systematic): and the clear water pushes both bites to morning and chop.

Troll lanes and perch buckets

Rainbow trolling runs the mid-lake lanes (pop gear and worms, spoons on leadcore as the thermocline drops): the island and Wallsburg arms concentrate. Winter caps the upper end most years: perch through the ice (the family staple) with rainbows mixed: the Wallsburg bay village is a Wasatch tradition.

Front-range practicalities

The state park runs both ramps (Island and main): the Provo's blue-ribbon tailwater begins below the dam: pair the day. Afternoon canyon winds are guaranteed: sailboarders celebrate, anglers plan mornings. Quagga inspections apply at launch: arrive clean-drained-dry like everywhere in Utah now.

Common questions

What is the best bite on Deer Creek?

Smallmouth for numbers (every rock slide, all summer), walleye for the table at dawn on the rock. The clear water makes low light and wind your allies.

Does Deer Creek connect to the Provo River fishery?

Directly: the blue-ribbon middle Provo flows in, the famous lower Provo tailwater flows out below the dam. Lake mornings and river evenings make the canyon's perfect double.

Is fishing good at Deer Creek Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Jordanelle Reservoir14 miProvo River17 miStrawberry Reservoir25 miWeber River35 miStrawberry River40 miScofield Reservoir47 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 40.4000, -111.5000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.