While the Gettin's Good

Since having such a successful day with Lane last week (read about that HERE) thoughts of going back have been weighing on my mind. The fish that got away are always a huge motivating factor, but also the impending "Buffalo Midge" hatch would be great to hit when it's in full swing. The rainbows should start moving up into the stream to spawn and then there's always the spring "Blue Wing Olive" hatch that shouldn't be too far off. Besides, the weather has been really nice lately and you might as well get out and enjoy it.

It's been awhile since Ross and I have fished together, which has to be a sign that life is getting way too busy. We headed out early and were actually the 2nd vehicle in the parking lot. The parking lot hole wasn't as productive as it had been the week before, but fish were hooked and missed while we tried to figure out what flies were going to be productive. Ross managed to catch his first fish on a fly that he tied himself! It's a really cool 'first' and I was glad to have been there for it. 

We worked our way upstream, trading off missing fish, losing flies, or actually landing one. The fish were really stacked up in the deeper pools so once we found them we tried out different patterns to try to really get onto what they'd like. Lots of midge larva and pupa were in the water, so we tried Zebra Midges in different colors matching the size as closely as we could. Ross started getting them on a white and copper, while I found some success with a copper and blue including a decent tiger trout!

Every time we thought about moving on we'd get another hook up and have to stay for a few more casts. A mix of rainbows and browns came to hand, but nothing too big until a the fish of the day took my point fly, a San Juan Worm. 

The next hole almost gave up another healthy bow, but he came unbuttoned pretty quickly. We moved up to deeper water, but we couldn't seem to find the fish. We kept working on our way up stream, trying different flies/depths/strategy when we found a pod of rising fish! Ross's back was giving him him a rough time, so he sat down to watch me drop a Bunny Midge right in front of a riser that ate it with no hesitation. Of course, he quickly came unbuttoned right after spooking every fish in the pool. 

The day was clearly over but I couldn't help but throw a streamer on and swing it during the walk back. Several hits and one more fish came to hand, and why not? Gotta get it while the gettin's good!

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Zion's

This past weekend I was able to attend our state's Music Educator's conference down in sunny St. George Utah. While there were some really good clinics (and a couple of terrible ones) I couldn't help but think about sneaking away and doing something outdoors. For the record, I didn't play hooky, but I wanted to. 

We decided to do something fun on our way home from the conference, and the logical choice was Zion's National Park. The Wife and I had been there years ago, but the kids never had. We had a great time doing an easy hike, driving the mile long tunnel, and doing a little exploring. The rest of the story is in the pics (which the Wife took).

Mind-blowing beauty everywhere you look

Cado looks like he's going to get in trouble...

The only wildlife we saw in the Park

Atley loves it when we ask him to take a picture for us

The rock just looks like it flowed

Layers

Nice panoramic

There isn't much green here, but when you find it the green stands out

The stop made for a late night drive home, but it was totally worth it. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

There's just something about water...

Arches

Usually we try and get one of families to do an early Thanksgiving dinner so that we don't have to choose between them. This year, both sides wanted to do a dinner early which left Thanksgiving day open for us to do as we pleased. So we decided to load the kids up and take a day trip down to Arches National Park to celebrate the day.

First things first, upon arrival we had to check out the visitor's center. It was here that the kids encountered a strange relic from the past:

They actually work!

The fog was unbelievable en route, and made the ride considerably longer, but once we were in the park it made for some really nice views.

It almost doesn't even look real

Arches is a great park to take the kids. With a ton of short hikes and plenty of awesome views, our young'uns found some great arches.

Double Arch

Really cool to be able to get right up under them

However, the kids couldn't make every hike. So we ended up settling for the viewpoint when it came to the iconic Delicate Arch.

Not a bad pic from a distance!

Made for a great day with the family, and a great reminder of what I'm thankful for. Tomorrow, I'll get some fishing in.