Six-year-old Tommy lands bigger kokanee on Flaming Gorge fishing trip

Tommy’s first real fishing trip with the older guys ended with a bigger kokanee than his dad had ever brought to the boat. The six-year-old from the KSL Outdoors Snapshot spent the day at Flaming Gorge as a deckhand, helping reel in fish and turning what could have been a quiet outing into one of those family water days that kids remember for years.

The catch mattered because it fit a longer family pattern. Tommy’s earlier trophy fish are already being preserved through taxidermy, including a 23-inch tiger trout, so the kokanee was not just a lucky bite. It became the latest entry in a homegrown outdoor tradition built around time on the water, a little competition, and a boy old enough to earn his place beside the adults.

Flaming Gorge is built for that kind of trip. The Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area is administered by Ashley National Forest, and the reservoir stretches 91 miles through a landscape of coves, inlets, peninsulas, and islands. The Forest Service says visitors come from all over the nation to fish the Blue Ribbon waters of the reservoir and the Green River, and the fish list is broad enough to keep both beginners and seasoned anglers engaged, with lake trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, smallmouth bass, and channel catfish in the mix.

The setting also carries practical family appeal. An ADA-accessible fishing pier sits next to Flaming Gorge Dam, giving visitors an easier starting point without losing the reservoir feel. Visit Utah says the dam was completed in 1963, and the name Flaming Gorge traces back to John Wesley Powell’s 1869 Green River expedition, a reminder that this stretch of water has been part of Southwest travel lore for generations.

Wildlife managers also point to current pressure on the fishery. Wyoming Game & Fish says Flaming Gorge remains a premier kokanee and trophy lake-trout destination, but it has been challenged by an overabundance of small lake trout under 25 inches and by reservoir drawdowns that helped push kokanee numbers down. The agency encourages anglers to keep harvesting smaller lake trout to help kokanee and trophy trout rebound, a management note that matters for anyone planning a trip across the Utah-Wyoming line. Utah’s 2026 fishing guidebook says a Utah license covers the Utah portion of Flaming Gorge, while the Wyoming side requires a Wyoming reciprocal fishing permit.

Adam Eakle, who has hosted KSL Outdoors since his first TV appearance on Saturday, October 7, 2006, has built the show around exactly this kind of outing: Utah fishing, family time, and kids getting pulled into the outdoors one cast at a time. Tommy’s kokanee was the kind of payoff that makes a place like Flaming Gorge feel less like a destination and more like the start of a lifelong habit.