Snow Day

A couple of weeks ago I was hired to be an adjudicator for a music festival at a nearby school for their region festival. While I was there I talked to Lane's wife for a minute and she asked if I'd go out fishing with Lane so she didn't have to. That's definitely a request that I can help out with! Fishing with Lane is always fun, and I always learn something from him. With both of us being music teachers you'd think we'd spend a lot of time talking shop about our jobs, but both of us fish obsessively and have plenty to talk about our piscatorial pursuits.

As seems to be par for the course lately, I didn't really have a plan when it came to the day's pursuits. I didn't even text Lane until about 9:30 in the morning and was really glad when he agreed to put up with me joining him. I set out pretty quickly after that, hoping to beat the weather but the blizzard that I drove through persisted for most of the day. 

First stop for the day was more to check water levels and clarity, though we did manage to get the skunk off quickly. Lane started out with a Griffith's Gnat and a Zebra Midge dropper and got the fish's attention from the get-go. I had on a large Ant for an indicator and an electric green Zebra Midge for a dropper. 

I'm thinking this one will be killer when caddis start making their move

Second stop had a good stretch of water and a promising looking beaver pond that we spotted from the road. After a short hike we approached the dam from downstream and found a couple of nice spots to try. After a small fish the green Zebra turned off cold, but Lane found some willing trout with a brown Wooly Bugger. The pond itself was probably the deepest water we fished all day, but it seemed void of life. Above the pond, as is often the case, there were more ponds that held willing fish. Some had to be left alone because we couldn't figure out how to get a fly wet through all the trees and willows. Lane seems to really like this type of fishing, and I do too but a little goes a long way and I like to have a back cast now and again. 

It may not look like it, but casting was very difficult with all the vegetation

One of mine, just awesome colors

As we worked through the bush we traded off fish except when I wasted my turn by getting stuck on a log. Lane caught five or six while I watched. To his credit, he did offer me his rod but even when I finally agreed to give it a go the fish knew I wasn't deserving. These fish were stunningly beautiful, like they were still colored up for the spawn.

Glowing fish, and no, Lane doesn't have anything in his mouth

Another of Lane's fish, this one with the lucky bugger

We decided to drive upstream to another spot that Lane likes to fish but the low, clear water made fishing difficult and the best part of the day was behind us. Lane managed a couple of rianbows in this stretch and I got my last fish for the day, a small brown. It was obvious that the day was over, even if we weren't entirely ready to stop. I'm really hoping that this is the first of many trips with Lane this year. The guy knows how to fish, casts extremely accurately, and can spot fish better than anyone else I know. I can learn a lot...

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Getting Out

It's been a while since I've made it out fishing. Over a month, in fact, unless you count the few minutes I carried a rod while walking by a blue line. It's been even longer since I felt rusty with my fly casting. The water was clear, and the weather was nice, which made it feel great to be out there. The fish were active and excited to try a Tri-Colored Nymph for breakfast, which made it even better. The first awkward cast had me hooked into a fish momentarily and on the second cast I brought a little brownie to hand. Beautiful little fish that reminded me of why I'm so obsessed with fishing. 

Despite it being very accessible, with good numbers of fish and some decent hatches I just seem to consistently overlook this stream. I'd say that I'll try and remedy that, but honestly I probably won't, there are just too many good places to fish near where I live. Makes you wonder why I haven't been getting out, doesn't it?

I was getting consistent action so I took the opportunity to try out some different patterns, with not much hatching nothing worked better than the Tri-Colored nymph that I started with. Though I did get a couple to come up to a Pauterbaugh Caddis, which was the top fly in my dry/dropper rig. Seemed like every hole had a few fish that were willing to play. 

Once I reached a certain bend in the stream the bite just turned off. I still managed to get a couple more fish but they were fewer and further between. I'm not sure if I'd just reached a point where someone else had fished lately, or if it was just time of day. Either way, I'd had a good day and was overdue for heading back home. It felt really good to get out again.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Out With The Boys

I know that no one feels bad for me, probably because of all the fishing and hunting I get to do, but I needed a break. I had a personal day that needed to be used or I'd lose it come the end of May and Southern Utah was calling me. In anticipation of the native cutthroat trout that I imagined we'd be pulling in hand over foot, I signed Atley and me up for the Utah Cutthroat Slam figuring that it'd be easy to cross off at least one of the species. 

I'm not sure if it was just the appeal of a day off from school, or if they actually wanted to spend time with their dad, but either way the boys wanted to come!! On the road for a bit of a long drive but the boys had fun picking what music we listened to and I enjoyed the scenery.

First stop was a cool little spot that Loah at Utah Water Log told me about and it soon produced some beautiful tiger trout that were suckers for a Woolley Bugger fished deep. It was all fun and games until Atley found out how cold the water was when he fell in.

The fish were nice, but the bite was slow and soon the boys wanted lunch and a change of scenery. After some peanut butter and honey sandwiches we were on our way to lake #2 in hope of more fish and maybe some cutthroats. The boys seemed more interested in playing games with each other than fishing, which is fine by me. I love when the boys fish but I was still just happy that they were there with me, and they still ran down to reel in a fish or take a picture of one I caught. 

I'm not sure why I didn't try it at the first spot, but the first fly I tied on was a Barber Pole like my Dad had taught me how to tie about twenty years ago. Maybe I'll show you how we tie and fish them like a soft hackle. The fish sure seemed to like it on a slow strip and we caught one every two or three casts while the hatch kept up. Tiger trout really are pretty, even if they are a little weird. We even managed to get a Cutthroat, our only one of the trip.

As the light went off the water we watched a deer make its way down the hill for a drink as I kept catching fish. The boys were having fun playing with the camera and throwing rocks. I wished it could've lasted for hours. This lake is one of the prettiest I've been to and in the evening half light, watching the deer, hearing wild turkeys and having fish on the end of my line with the boys it was the best place on earth. 

It seems like food was the only thing that interrupted my fishing on this trip, and it wasn't long before the boys were begging for dinner. Reluctantly I ended my evening fishing and we headed out in search of a place to camp. 

We found an amazing camp site under the ponderosa pines where we cooked hot dogs over the fire and hung out. Dessert was supposed to be roasted marshmallows but they were pretty nasty so we burned the whole package. The boys thought it was hilarious how the flames changed colors and it burned for over an hour. The dropping temps of Spring in the high(ish) country prompted us to forego the tent in favor of the cab of the truck. Where we were surprisingly comfortable.

In the morning we set about cleaning up the camp and found a pretty old looking pile of trash. I figured we could take a few minutes and clean it up, but there was so much trash we'll have to finish the job the next time we're there. After we had cleaned up as much as we had space for we headed to a new spot where I know some nice Cutthroats live. Apparently nobody told them they were supposed to make an appearance, but we'll be back. Heading down the mountain we decided to make one more spot to eat lunch before making the trek home in time to color eggs and all that Easter stuff. Started making some Top Ramen for the boys and caught a pretty brook trout before the water had boiled. 

The boys managed to catch a couple of small, but fat, rainbows to end our fishing for the trip. It was a great time out with the boys and I'm glad we got it in while we could. With the upcoming move and house build there might not be too much time for many trips like this. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

I found my sign!

Short Trip

The boys and I are on spring break this week! Too bad Del isn't and we've had to spend a bunch of money the last few days for the upcoming move. That means staying close to home and doing everything as low budget as possible. For the first few days of the break I stayed home, tied flies, and listened to the rain outside. That just made my back hurt and my cabin fever reach dangerous levels. Today the sun was shining and the trout were calling. 

The initial plan was to take the DSLR camera and try shooting some video of the boys fishing. Didn't realize that I'd forgotten the SD card until we were already on the stream. Oh well, there will be other days to shoot video. The water was a bit high and a little off color so Atley tried a black woolly bugger to start. 

Surprisingly, the fish weren't interested in the bugger so I threw a dry dropper rig at them. On top I had a pink Indicator Chernobyl and hung a flash back Hare's Ear down below. I was just about to hand Atley the rod when the ant went under and it was fish on. Soon a solid fish was in hand.

Not sure what put the huge hole in her back, but if it was a fish I'd like to meet him. With that in mind I handed Atley the rod (Caden wasn't too interested today) and hoped that there was another fish in the pool. Several casts later without any luck and I started thinking about getting down a little deeper. So I added some tippet below the Hare's Ear and tied a San Juan Worm on. Took a cast to make sure it wasn't going to be a constant tangle before handing it to Atley and of course a fish decided to take it. Right away I knew this was a really solid fish that was pretty insistent on staying at the bottom of the pool. Once I coaxed him out with as much pressure as my little 4wt fiberglass rod and the 6x tippet would allow we saw that he was a big fish. We had to follow him down to the next pool and hope that the connection would stay through a couple of good leaps and runs. Luckily, Atley is a great net man and he got as much of the fish that would fit into the net!

The boys and I were all pretty excited about this beauty and Atley called first dibs on the next hole. Didn't take him long to get his own fish to hand, and while it wasn't a hog I was pretty proud of how independent of a fisherman he's become. 

Seeing how we had done it, Caden wanted his turn and I tried to help him as much as possible. Once we had a fish hooked, all he wanted to do was be the net man and he did a great job.

The boys realized how hungry they'd become despite us only being on the stream for an hour or so, and I knew that no matter what I said they had decided it was time to go home. So we headed back home with memories made in a short trip. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Barbless

I've been tying a lot of flies lately. It's a good way to have some quiet time and think through things when I can't be on the water. I also listen to the Orvis Podcast with Tom Rosenbauer  while tying, it's a really good way to learn a bunch about fly fishing and I highly recommend it. One thing that really got me re-thinking the way I do things was Tom really pushing barbless hooks. I've smashed the barb down from time to time, but I've never been too concerned with it. Which is surprising considering how many times I've hooked myself! I'm sure it won't make up for all my iniquities, but I've made a resolution to smash the barb on all my flies for the next little while to see if my catch rates go down. 

 The past few tying sessions have been dedicated to filling my nymph box. With our house on the market (we've already had one offer!) I'm not sure if there will be much time to tie in the coming months. Which means I'm going to need lots of Hare's Ears, Prince Nymphs, and Pheasant tails in all the variations I like to fish. 

When I was told about a last minute showing of the house for Saturday afternoon I took it as a sign to stop tying and go check on one of the local streams. Upon arrival I spotted a couple of fish rising inconsistently. There were quite a few midges around, but with the infrequent rises I figured it had to be the few Blue Winged Olives that the fish were after. It was at this point I realized that my dry box hadn't made the drive with me! I made due with an Orange Asher I happened to have in my drying patch, and while it wasn't what they really wanted I managed to start the day off with a fish caught on a dry fly. 

Unfortunately, not many fish were willing to eat a fly they didn't really want. So as I made my way to the next hole I switched out the Asher for a Tri-Colored Nymph under an indicator and picked up a few small browns right away. 

Working my way upstream there were more fish to be had with the nymph rig, but whenever I spotted a rising fish I switched back to the Asher to give it a shot. I managed one more on a dry, but most fish came on the Tri-Colored. The best fish, the prettiest fish, and the last fish of the day came just before dark and was my only Cutthroat of the day. I'm so glad there are Cutts in this stream! They are always a treat to catch and break up the usual browns. The Utah Division of Natural Resources should be commended for their efforts to restore these native fish back where they belong.

I did lose a few fish, but no more than usual and not one that I could honestly say was a result of my smashed barb. Maybe this won't be so bad...

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Bead Head Hare's Ear

Baby Damsel

Tri-Colored Nymph