Hoping For

Once school is out I have a few weeks without work, so my schedule is pretty open. Unfortunately, my wife Deli's schedule isn't. She has to plan for a vacation for quite a while, and she's the type of person that won't take a vacation if it's going to be inconvenient for her coworkers. So we planned on taking a few days and going camping, but we were locked into those days even when the weather looked like it wasn't going to be that great during our trip. 

Last year when we made the trip to Flaming Gorge I got hooked on fishing for kokanee salmon (read about that trip HERE). This fish puts up an amazing fight, is super cool looking, and tastes great. I was really excited to get back after them. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any kokanee this trip. Not sure if it was the weather, time of year, or just bad luck, but we couldn't seem to track down any salmon. So, we did what anybody who has been to the gorge probably would've done and switched gears to catching lake trout instead. 

These fish are what they refer to as 'pups' and are relatively small for lake trout, but seemed plenty big enough to me! I still can't wrap my head around the fact that a 20-24" fish could possibly be a little one. The DWR encourages people to keep these fish, so we did our part and had plenty for a good fish fry.

We didn't really use our boat too much at first because of the weather, and instead, I would go out in the mornings with Weston in his boat then the weather would keep us off the water for the rest of the day. Once Weston left, we broke out our boat and my Dad and Atley both found good fish. 

The weather completely changed for the better, but everyone had to go home so Deli, the boys and I were the only ones left to enjoy it. We managed to find another good fish before we had to call it and head back home. The first of many trips out with the boat (I hope) this year was a success, even if it wasn't exactly what we were hoping for.