Drive-by Fishing

I went in to Sportsman's Warehouse for no other reason than to have a look-see and probably end up spending more than I should. Walking right back to the fly fishing section, I noticed an older gentleman there getting help from a store employee and overheard him ask a question about the fly line that he was holding. The employee stated, "I don't know" and walked off. I was so shocked that I may of stared a little bit. The older guy noticed and asked if I was a fly fisherman. I told him I was and helped him pick out a new fly line, backing and tapered leader. Wish I would've known a different store that I could've referred him to, but not being from the area I didn't know of any. After helping him, and listening to how he used to fish a lot while he lived in Wyoming, I picked out a couple things I needed and a couple things that were on sale. 

Every year I go to Southern Utah for the midwinter Utah Music Educator's Conference, and usually I take my fishing stuff so I can stop on the way back and fish for a few minutes. For some reason I've never had much success with this plan. Usually that's due to having to get back for some reason, or the streams not being in good shape, but none of that stood in my way this year. I stopped by a river that has given me some great times in the past, but one that I haven't fished much for the last couple of years. 

A couple of midges were coming off when I first arrived so I started with a nymph rig with a Zebra Midge. When that didn't provide any action, even after changing the length of my leader and adding weight, I tried about everything I had in my box. Only after putting on an egg pattern did I finally get a response from a confused looking little snub-nosed rainbow.

Working my way upstream was more difficult than usual because of the higher-than-normal flow. At one point this kept me from crossing the river and made me instead climb up and over some boulders that lined the bank. Well, I tried to climb up and over the boulders when my foot slipped out from under me and slammed my hand down on the boulder before falling backwards into the river. Not exactly the most graceful move I've ever made, and it messed up my hand a bit. Luckily, my rod & reel didn't suffer any damage and that made the icy cold water not seem quite as bad. Having my fill of high water, literally, I decided to check out another stream in the area to see if I could turn my luck around before heading home.

This stream is one that I need to spend some time at soon. But it's super low and cold right now which made for a pretty sight, but not the best fishing conditions. After a few pictures I headed for home with a plan to return in the near future.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder