Logan River Fishing Guides and Conditions, Utah

About the Logan River

The Logan River runs down Logan Canyon from the Bear River Range through some of the prettiest limestone country in northern Utah, and it fishes far better than its size suggests. The upper river above Red Banks holds native Bonneville cutthroat and brook trout in small, clear pocket water. The middle canyon has a mix of cutthroat, browns and rainbows in classic riffle and pool water along the highway. The lower river through Logan itself holds big, hard-to-catch brown trout in water most drivers pass without a glance.

This is a wading river, small enough to cross in most places and technical enough to keep you honest. Early-summer stoneflies, midsummer caddis and terrestrials, and blue-winged olives in fall carry the hatch calendar, and the cutthroat up high are the most willing fish on the river. Special regulations apply on parts of the canyon, including cutthroat protections, so read the current guidebook before keeping anything.

The gauge above State Dam reads the river as it leaves the canyon. Readings in the tens to low hundreds of cfs are normal and wadeable; spring runoff in May and June pushes it up, colors it, and makes the canyon reaches genuinely dangerous to cross. It settles quickly by mid-summer, and irrigation diversion affects the lowest reaches through the valley.

Logan is the base and Utah State University is right there, which gives the town more fly shops and more twenty-two-year-olds who fish than a valley this size would otherwise have. The canyon road makes access easy, with campgrounds and pullouts along the whole run.

Access

Franklin Basin and the upper canyon: headwater access and small-stream cutthroat.
Red Banks and Tony Grove Road: upper canyon campgrounds and pullouts.
Guinavah-Malibu and Spring Hollow: mid-canyon campgrounds with river frontage.
Third Dam and Second Dam: popular canyon access points near town.
First Dam and the Logan city reaches: lower river access near the gauge.
Logan Canyon Scenic Byway pullouts: roadside access along most of the river.
Cutthroat regulations vary by reach; check the current guidebook.

Seasons

April and May: pre-runoff fishing, then high, cold and pushy water.
June: runoff tapering; the lower river clears first.
July through September: the main season, easy wading, terrestrials and caddis.
October through March: browns in the fall, then winter fishing on the lower river when the canyon road is clear.