Newcastle Reservoir Fishing Near St. George Utah
The Newcastle Reservoir is located right in the Iron County, on the west side area of Cedar City in Utah. It is one of the most popular destinations for sport fishing. To get there, simply drive west for about 30 miles, right in the SR-56 highway, coming from Cedar City going to Newcastle. Then head east right on the south of Newcastle. Read on to find out more information about the Newcastle Reservoir.
Details of the Newcastle Reservoir Fishing
The Newcastle Reservoir is about 224 acres in size. It has an elevation of 5,980 feet and has no time restrictions, so you can visit anytime you want. You will likely to catch rainbow trout, wiper, and smallmouth bass on the reservoir and you can possibly catch the green sunfish as well. In order to find out the state wide regulations for the reservoir, it is best to refer to the Fishing Guidebook.
Site Description
The Newcastle Reservoir is more or less 30 miles away on the west side of Cedar City. It will take up to 3 or 4 hours to drive from Las Vegas or Salt Lake, Utah, respectively. The Division of Wildlife Resources in Utah has a massive conservation pool that safeguards the fishery on dry years. The shoreline is accessible to the public and among the amenities available is a paved boat ramp.
Fishing on the reservoir has greatly changed over the years. Before 1986, the pool has been managed exclusively for the rainbow trout. The smallmouth bass has been introduced on the same year in order to better make use of the rising crayfish population within the reservoir. Golden shiners have been illegally introduced as well in 1994 and have shown to be a leading challenger of the trout.
Smallmouth Bass
Not like the issues that the pool has with the trout, the smallmouth bass has been a success for the Newcastle Reservoir. The crayfish and the shiners have been proven to be an outstanding source of food for the smallmouth bass. A lot of the Newcastle bass will grow into a size of 3 to 5 pounds, although they are challenging to catch. Even if experienced anglers can catch big ones, anglers will have to contend with the abundance of food.
New Management Strategy
Last 2005, the division has implemented a unique strategy by introducing the wipers, which is a cross combination of striped bass and the white bass. This is done to minimize the population of shiner. As you know, wipers are hostile predators and in 2007 and 2008, samples have shown that the wipers have been enduring and budding well enough. All this is a result of eating shiners.
In order to catch wipers, it is best to troll shiner imitating crank baits in a faster speed compared to what you would do with the trout. Some anglers have caught wipers on the shore using streamers, lures and spinners.
