Fishing in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area spans the Colorado Plateau across southern Utah and northern Arizona, built around two very different kinds of water: Lake Powell, the massive reservoir impounded by Glen Canyon Dam, and the cold tailwater stretch of the Colorado River running downstream from the dam to Lees Ferry.

Lake Powell is the dominant fishery. The reservoir stretches 186 miles upstream from the dam and holds largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, walleye, crappie, bluegill, and catfish.

Before the dam went in, the Colorado ran too turbid and warm for most game fish — only native suckers, bonytails, and chubs had adapted to those conditions over generations. The clear, impounded water changed that entirely.

The lake straddles the Utah-Arizona state line, but a license from either state is valid across all of Lake Powell; check with the park and the relevant state agency for current requirements.

Guided fishing trips on the lake operate out of the marinas, running from Wahweap up to Hite. The Colorado River below the dam is a different fishery altogether.

Cold water released from the bottom of Lake Powell — running between 46 and 50°F — transformed the 15-mile reach between the dam and Lees Ferry into a tailwater trout fishery.

Arizona Game and Fish began stocking rainbow trout there shortly after the dam's completion in 1964 and designated it a Blue Ribbon fishery in 1981.

Brown trout are also present in this stretch, and the park has run an active removal incentive program — paying anglers at least $25 per brown trout harvested — to protect the rainbow trout population and, further downstream, native fish in Grand Canyon.

An Arizona fishing license is required on the river section. The native fish that lived here before the dam — humpback chub, bonytail, razorback sucker — are federally listed as endangered, and their protection is the park's stated highest priority.

That context shapes how regulations are written and enforced.

Before heading out, check current rules with the park and with Arizona Game and Fish or Utah Division of Wildlife Resources; regulations on specific waters, bait restrictions, and closed areas can change.

The fishing here is tied directly to the dam's operation in ways most reservoirs aren't. Flow regimes affect trout density and size in the Lees Ferry reach. Drought cycles affect lake levels and access ramps on Powell. Pay attention to both before you go.