Johnson Valley to Mill Meadow
The Fremont starts on the Fish Lake plateau and is released from Johnson Valley Reservoir, then winds about eight miles through Fishlake National Forest to Mill Meadow Reservoir. It is small, brushy water with small browns and rainbows and undercuts that hold bigger fish, and the first few miles below the Johnson Valley dam see almost nobody. Below Mill Meadow the river is diverted for irrigation and dwindles through the Fremont, Loa and Lyman farm valley, where most of the water is private.
Bicknell Bottoms to Torrey
Springs off the Boulder and Parker plateaus rebuild the river near Bicknell, and the DWR's Bicknell Bottoms wildlife management area, a big marsh of reeds and soft mud along UT 24, is where the productive Fremont begins. From there to Torrey it is slow, weedy, undercut-bank water with large browns and a good number of rainbows, fished tight to the banks with streamers, dry-dropper rigs and ants. Springs keep summer flows steady except when monsoon floods blow the river out. Below Torrey it is nearly all private with little public access.
Capitol Reef National Park
The river picks up silt and warmth on its way east, and trout drop out a few miles above the park boundary. Inside Capitol Reef the Fremont River gorge upstream of Fruita holds some brown trout, while the river through Fruita and downstream is not a sport fishery. Fishing in the park needs a Utah fishing license and follows Utah DWR rules; the park sells no permit of its own.
Brown and rainbow trout
Browns are the main catch on the lower Fremont, with rainbows in good numbers, and the hatches on the Bicknell to Torrey water run through midges, baetis, PMDs, callibaetis, caddis, yellow sallies and terrestrials. Fremont River Guides in Torrey is the local shop for the river and for the Boulder Mountain lakes.
Season and regulations
This page's gauge sits above Bicknell, so it reads the river before the springs add to it, and the Fremont is a small stream by any measure. FlyGuysNLies' wading guidance for Bicknell Bottoms is 10 to 60 cfs, with the soft bottom hard to wade above that, and this page uses that band as in range.
The Fremont is open year-round under Utah's statewide rules: a 4-trout limit and no gear restriction, with Bicknell Bottoms open except where posted closed. A Utah license is required everywhere including inside Capitol Reef. Confirm in the current Utah DWR fishing guidebook and with the park visitor center.