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Panguitch Lake Fishing Report

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

Southern Utah's trout bowl at 8,400 feet: rainbows fattened on scuds, a cutthroat comeback, and ice fishing framed by red-rock country.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Water temp
~47 F est.
Air / High
43 / 44 F
Wind
NW 11 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.

Panguitch Lake fishes cold and honest: earn your bites in the deep stuff. Today brings a mixed sky, wind NW around 11 mph, rising pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 44. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 10:09 AM-12:09 PM and 10:38 PM-12:38 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 43 F with a rain chance. 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 rainbow trout 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.

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp43 F
High / Low44 / 32 F
WindNW 11-11 mph
Pressure1015.4 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain38% cloud, 26%
Sunrise / Sunset07:46 / 18:42
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~47 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 Panguitch Lake this week

Today is the pick of the week on Panguitch Lake, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” fair at 3/5, rising pressure behind a front, typically the slowest.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:09 AM-12:09 PM and 10:38 PM-12:38 AM
Minor period
4:33 AM-5:33 AM
Sun
07:46 to 18:42
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Rain, 15 mph
Rain chance
26%

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

Species guide

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

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Panguitch Lake 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
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 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 Panguitch Lake 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. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 50 F, wind to 22 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 48 F, wind to 14 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 53 F, wind to 15 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. Cutthroat slot: release mid-size, keep small/large per current DWR sign. Rainbows: standard harvest.

Access

South and west public ramps, resort marinas, winter ice access at the plowed lots.

About this water

1,250 acres at 8,400 ft, Garfield County, UT. The high trout lake of Bryce country.

Fishing Panguitch Lake: the full guide

High water in red-rock country

Panguitch sits improbably: an 8,400-ft trout lake twenty minutes from Bryce Canyon's tourists. Cold springs and scud beds grow rainbows thick-shouldered fast; Bear Lake cutthroat (stocked as the predator solution) add trophy potential; and the ice season runs December-March under juniper hills that glow red at dawn.

The chub war, won

Utah chubs once collapsed this fishery: management answered with sterile rainbows and predatory cutthroat, and the balance holds: today's fish average 16-20 inches with cutts past 24. The lesson shapes the rules: cutthroat protected in a slot, rainbows the harvest fishery: check the sign at the ramp.

Four earnest seasons

Ice-out (April-May): the year's aggression: fish cruising banks eat anything stripped slow. Summer: mornings troll pop-gear and worms; evenings rise to midges on the flats: float tubes rule the calm. Fall: October's pre-ice feed is locals' favorite week. Winter: a genuine ice-village scene: jigs tipped with meal worms over 15-30 ft.

Basecamp logistics

The lake rings with lodges, a store and formal ramps: the west side's public campgrounds face sunrise; the resort docks rent everything. Bryce, red canyon rides and the Sevier's small-stream fishing pad the trip: Panguitch works as southern Utah's fishing basecamp, not just a stop.

Common questions

When does Panguitch Lake freeze?

Reliably by late December, fishing well through February: 15-30 ft with jigs and meal worms. The elevation makes it one of Utah's most dependable ice fisheries.

Why are some Panguitch cutthroat protected?

They are the chub control: the slot keeps the predator class working. Release the slot fish quickly: they are the reason the rainbows stay fat.

Is fishing good at Panguitch Lake 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

Minersville Reservoir37 miOtter Creek Reservoir47 miFish Lake77 miColorado River82 miLake Powell108 miLake Mead144 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 37.7020, -112.6530 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.