Valentine's Day

Paper hearts, chocolate, love notes and romance are what most people think of when February 14th comes around. This year I had a day off and thoughts of hitting a stream with my fly rod was all I could think of. This is the time of year where fishing could be great, even if it's unlikely. Most of the time it's a lot of casting, lots of fly changes, lots of layers of clothing, lots of ice in the guides and (if you're lucky) a couple of trout that freeze your fingers. Still, the need to get out and do something can really weigh on you until you start to lash out at those around you without cause. Spring Fever. 

A few years ago, I lived just minutes from the Weber River and rarely fished it. Different streams and lakes held my attention along with going to school and providing for my young family. Still seems like I squandered some opportunity, but with it in the past there's nothing I could do about it even if I wanted to. Now, it's a long drive passing by several other places that I like to fish and a drive that I haven't been up to make for a while. My dad grew up fishing the Weber and with him being retired now it didn't take much to talk him into it. 

The drive up went surprisingly fast, and before I knew it I was meeting Dad at his house for the final push to the river. Our first stop was a spot where we've fished before and found some success, although the water this time was really low and clear. I was worried that fishing would be tougher than we were up for but when the first whitefish ate a red Zebra Midge on the first or second cast my fears subsided and we just fished. 

Dad usually loses enthusiasm for fishing nymphs under an indicator pretty quickly, but he seemed happy to just be out fishing no matter what the method. With an indicator, weighted flies, and additional weight all trying to go different ways with each cast tangles were inevitable. A mixed bag of browns and whitefish were the payoff, with both of us finding fish.

I know that some people have some disdain for whitefish, but I don't share it. Growing up, we only fished dry-flies on the streams so we never caught whitefish. I've spent most of my adult life living in Southern Utah where there aren't any whitefish in the local streams. I think they're a fine fish. Like a grayling without the showy dorsal fin. Many times, especially in the winter, catching a whitefish is the only thing that keeps the skunk off.

Another peculiarity of winter fishing is that we don't cover near the water that we would in the warmer months. Eventually, the first hole stopped producing and we decided to move up stream. The second hole wasn't as productive as the first, but it did give up some good fish including a brown with a deformed mouth. Not sure what happened, but it didn't stop him from eating. 

There's always a hope that temperatures will climb high enough to get some fish looking up. Dry fly fishing is always a welcomed reprieve from fishing weighted flies, but when the wind kicked up significantly our hopes of dry flies and rises went out the window. In fact, the wind started blowing so hard that the water was being churned up pretty good. Before retreating to the the truck I had to try a few casts back into the hole where we had started and I was sure glad I did! The wind made casting difficult, but anytime my flies hit the water it seemed like the fish would eat. The fish kept up the excitement up for a few more minutes, but once the bite slowed down we headed for the truck and a break from the wind. 

We made one more stop on the way back to my Dad's, but we decided to not fish even though we spotted a very large whitefish from the road. I had some stops to make and Deli was home waiting for her Valentine's lasagna dinner.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Mid Week Fix

Warm temperatures and dry weather make the work days crawl by. So one afternoon I made a break for it to the local stream to get my fly fishing fix. A few midges were coming off the water but without any fish making their presence known at the surface I put on a nymph rig to try and dredge up some action. The first fish came quick, but not to the Zebra Midge as I would've anticipated but instead to the Prince Nymph that I was mainly using for weight! 

I kept with the rig just in case any other fish were looking to the midges but surprisingly the next couple of browns that came to play also wanted the bigger fly. Nothing that I could find in the water or under rocks could explain it but sometimes you've just got to give 'em what they want! 

As I moved upstream I noticed that a landowner had removed one of the bigger beaver dams which could've made a productive hole upstream back to its former glory. I had to check it out and sure enough the river had almost returned to the way it had been. Complete with a small brown that was willing to take down a flash-back Hare's Ear.

It sure feels good to be able to get my fix midweek and still be home for dinner! 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Last Fish, First Fish

Atley and I decided to make a video of closing out 2017 and starting our new fishing adventures in 2018 but getting started took a little more effort than we expected. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Purple Haze

Purple Haze was in my brain,

lately things don't seem the same,

actin' funny but I don't know why,

'scuse me while I kiss the sky.

Last night on my way to the area that locals refer to as 'Up North' (which constitutes a huge area anywhere north of Spanish Fork, Utah) I was able to stop off and fish a small creek for about the last hour of light. Once I made my way to the stream I found some mayflies and caddis doin' their thing above the water. There wasn't any surface action going on just yet, but I figured it would still be a great bet and threw on a #16 Purple Haze. I hadn't ever fished this pattern before, but I've heard good things, liked the slim profile of the fly, and am a sucker for flies with a great name. Two casts in and I began to really like this fly.

Even fish this size can be a blast on dries

The next 40 minutes or so were filled with lots of fish about this size taking the Haze with complete confidence. Even if I was a little late in setting the hook I was still catching the fish (which shows how much the fish were liking the pattern too!). Seemed like every fish I saw rise would come to sample my fly as long as I had a good drift, and on a small stream like this good drifts weren't tough to manage. The night's highlight was this guy that I saw take a natural, I moved into a better casting postition (I wasn't wearing waders and was trying to stay dry, so it took a couple of minutes), saw him rise again and placed my cast. Just about a perfect cast/drift and he came and sucked it in. Sometimes everything goes just right and you wonder how you managed it (and why it can't always be like this).

Pretty nice fish for such a small stream

Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Cold in June

Before bright and early I packed up the car and headed out. 'Night Morning' is what one of my boys calls it, and I think that works pretty well. Today I was supposed to meet my Dad and Brother at a stream that has been pretty good to us the past few years. Couldn't have timed the arrival better, seeing as how we all drove into the parking area at the same exact time. We quickly grabbed our gear and realized just how cold it is before dawn, even in June.

The advantage to being cold when you hike is that you move a little faster in an attempt to warm up. Unfortunately the fish seemed to still be asleep when we arrived at our starting point. Our standard rig for this stream is a dry/dropper with an Indicator Chernobyl or a Chubby Chernobyl on top, a bead headed Nymph for weight and a Sow Bug for a trailer. But the rig barely brought in a couple of non-enthusiastic trout of the small variety. Talk started early about pulling out and trying a different river, or lake, or something. 
The morning continued being tough fishing until about 10:00 when we starting getting into them with a Black Bugger. Streamer fishing is one of my favorite methods, and having the fish slam the fly is exactly what I needed to keep my attention. 

All the fish seemed to have some serious guts on 'em

Soon after that though the streamer action seemed to die off and we were again left with very little action. Going home started to come up in the conversation. Then I set up a Mod. Hares Ear under an indicator with some additional weight about 12" above the fly. Fishing again picked up and we were soon into several fish right near the river bottom. Some trout with several Utah Chubs mixed in. This late action was highlighted by a nice thick brown with a crazy-cat eye, which was a good way to close out the day.

Chub eater. 

Crazy-Cat eye and a chunk missing from his snout. Looks to have had a run in with a treble hook at some point.

Always great to get out with my family to do some fishing, even if it wasn't everything we'd hoped. We kept after it and still found some success. Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Fun & Games

After a night of unrest I wasn't surprised that my boy felt too tired for a long ride and long hike to fish. I wasn't too upset about it figuring another opportunity was just around the corner. So I was surprised about an hour later when the boy came out of his room (hair in all directions, a small amount of panic in his voice) and said, "Is it too late to go fishing?"

I assured him that it wasn't if we stayed a bit closer to home and he asked if we could go fish his favorite bit of stream. Fine by me! So we quickly loaded up and headed out. The stream was somewhat off color, but the flows were decent and I was sure we could find a few trout. Once I got Atley rigged and pointed in the right direction I worked on setting my own rod up. After a few tangles, and a bit of frustration, the boy came through.

I nice way to get the skunk off, with a native

 What followed was a great day for so many reasons. Our local stream is bouncing back brilliantly after the fire of a couple of years ago, it was a great day to be out enjoying the outdoors, and my boy fished well without nearly the assistance that he needed even a year ago. So fun to watch him figure things out for himself.

The joy on his face comes from catching and landing this fish while I had my back turned

And yes, I caught a few today too. Including some more Cutthroat that have been a welcome addition to the stream that was once all Browns.

This fish is going to turn into a real nice one by the end of the season

Plenty of fun without a single video game in sight! It's Summer for the boys here too, and it's looking to be a great one. Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Warm

Traditionally I go fishing on my birthday. That's just the way it's been for as long as I can remember. I've missed years of course, but the norm is fishing (as it should be). This year looked like it was going to be one of the exceptions till we ran down to the carp pond for a few minutes. What we found was beyond discouraging. The water was as low as I've ever seen it and tinted a sickly brown. No fish were caught and I don't think I'll be going back this year. On the way back we saw this snake (about three feet long) dead on the road...kinda summed up the trip really.

So, needless to say, I still felt the fishing itch and decided to take the family camping (and fishing) at a new spot for us. Huntington North Reservoir looked like a nice place for an early season trip with the possibility of crossing a few species off the "Grand Slam". 

Nice camp. Sorry about the smudge, not sure when that happened...

The Grand Slam is our family's goal of catching all the possible game fish in Utah. As far as trout go we're doing pretty well, but the warm water species are lacking. Part of the rules are it doesn't count without a pic, and it has to be in Utah. I'll post a new 'page' on here with all the species just in case you're interested. 

Well, we got our camp set up with a little time before the light failed us so I set out to test the waters. Some fish were surfacing, so I threw the flyrod at them and quickly landed two of the fattest (and biggest)  chubs I've ever seen. Not exactly what I was looking for, but it is what it is.

Fatty

Trophy chub

The next morning I got out decently early in my kick boat to see what else the reservoir could hold for me and was pleasantly surprised to catch a nice brown. Unfortunately the fight was long and hard on him, so I quickly resuscitated and released him. I was sure there would be more to follow.

Nice gill...I think.

There wasn't. I had one wiper up to the boat before he came off, and caught some bluegill (which somehow I had never caught before) but no more trout. Still great to be out and spend some time with the family, despite some of the other guests in the State Park. I'm looking forward to some great trips this summer. Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

We need more of this in our lives

Crazy

So...I've been busy. In the past week I've decided to change jobs, sell my house and move back to the city. I accepted the job offer, had a buyer lined up and everything was a go. Something just wasn't right, and the more I thought about it, prayed about it, and asked for advice from people I respect, it became clear that I was about to make a huge mistake. So, I passed on the job, canceled the sale, and am feeling great about my decision to stay. 

I knew things were amiss when a buddy of mine brought by his fishing stuff Monday afternoon and I'd actually forgotten mine. IT'S A SIGN! In an effort to repent, and possibly celebrate my decision, we got out and hit the local pond and stream this afternoon.

The pond was pretty off color, but gave up a few of it's smaller residents for closer inspection.

"Smaller" could be interchangeable with "Smallest"

With the pond not quite giving us what we'd hoped we headed over to the local stream to check up her. This stream fell victim to the Wood Hollow Fire in June of 2012, suffering a nearly 100% fish kill. So finding several fish, both Cutts and Browns, was really encouraging. Hopefully it will continue to recover.

Small, but I'm glad to be seeing more fish in this stream again

So basically, nothing's changing and we caught some little fish. But not bad for a Tuesday! Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Atta Kid

Despite the lack of money, I decided that to waste the remaining days of Spring break would be too much of a sin to ever forgive myself. With that in mind I grabbed the boy and headed south today in search of some trout. 

We're at a crossroads of sorts with the boy. He's not the baby, or "little kid" anymore, but at the same time he can't be entrusted with too many new responsibilities. I've been trying really hard to stop treating him like a child, and today I did my best to stick with that by letting him fish by himself even more than usual. When he was really young, I'd cast, hook a fish and then let him play it in. Later on, I'd just cast and let him take care of the rest. The last year or two I'm letting him do the casting but I'm still right there to help and tell him where to cast and when to set the hook. Today was the first time I let him go on his own. Sure, he didn't have as much success as I had hoped but he still seemed to have a good time and when he does find success it'll be completely his own. Hopefully that will lead to more motivation and work towards being successful. I'm confident it will, as long as he doesn't give up too soon.

Gettin' to it

We arrived on the stream a little late so I was expecting the action to be mid swing when we got in. Unfortunately, the bite was a bit slow to start and we had to work for any action. Atley did well until a slippery bank took him for a dunking. From there on out he seemed less willing to get after it, even when the fishing turned on. 

Sometimes he'd rather just take the pics

When we worked our way up to the deepest hole (and my favorite) of the stretch, Atley decided to play it safe and walk out and around. Too bad to, this hole was where I found several fish coming to the surface and a few willing to fall for an Orange Asher. This was my first time using the fly that I found over on Fly Fish Food (they have a ton of great stuff over there, and some of the best tying vids out there) and I'm seriously impressed. These fish refused my CDC midge that looked like a spot on ringer (to my eye) but would move a foot or more to inhale the Asher. Could be a new go-to! It's somewhat like a Griffith's Gnat, but I've never seen fish react to the gnat like they did to the Asher today. 

You can see how simple the Asher really is

At the top of the hole and around a large rock, I could hear Atley trying to work the run. He seemed to be finding the trees more than the river and was venting some frustration. Although he didn't actually swear, this seemed like a great graphic for the moment:

He kept after it despite the less than ideal casting situation, which made me proud. Then when I showed him how to roll cast you could just see the relief on his face! Doubt he'll need reminding of how to roll cast anytime soon. The rest of the afternoon it was the only cast he wanted to do.

Our day ended with me hooking into several more fish on the way back to the car including a nice fish that was easily the largest I've seen (personally) from this stream. Of course, he spit the hook before I could get him to the net. Can't wait to get back out there again. Hopefully you get a chance to get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

They do seem prettier when you catch 'em on top

Can't Win 'Em All

Pretty place to play

So great to get out this weekend with my brother-in-law Courtney from Zip Dog Fishing (check out his blog) to hit some rivers in his neck of the woods.  Up and out the door at 6:30 we found the Logan still in the clutches of winter. I started out throwing a bugger while Court was trying his luck with a nymph, and I changed over to try my luck with one after finding the trout mostly unresponsive. We came up on a moose and the remains of a small avalanche, but not many fish. Anyone who has been out with me in the winter knows that I usually don't let cold get in my way, but this was ridiculous. I couldn't feel whether I was touching my tippet or not, and once the shivering set in I knew it was time to get out of the shade. While we both managed fish on this first stretch, the cold and lack of consistent action sent us looking for greener pastures. 

Maybe not the best place to fish....

But all's well that ends well

This guy looks like he's been caught before. Quite the mug shot.

The second stretch let us fish in the sun and we found more willing fish here, but it still wasn't quite what we were hoping for. I did shoot a little video (the wife says it's the most boring video, ever) of Court hooking and playing a nice white fish. 

I like white fish. They tend to be heavy, they fight pretty good, and they release the same as trout (or, according to some, they taste really good if you smoke 'em. I haven't tried it, just passing on rumors). I know a lot of fishermen look down on them, but I don't really get it. They look kinda like grayling without the big fin. They can be pretty in a non-showy, meant for business sort of way and they can literally save you from getting a skunking in the winter. 

The sun sure felt good

Anyway, about mid-day we decided to head on over and try our luck on the Blacksmith Fork. The first stretch started out great with me hooking into a couple browns and missing another. Then it just shut off. We tried everything we could, but just couldn't get anything consistent going until I started seeing a couple rising fish. A quick setup change and I was into a nice cutt that evaded the net. Court got a brown to hand and things were looking up.

Mid afternoon temps were up into comfortable range and the fish kept feeding on (and near) the top. First hole on a new section saw several missed hook-sets, which is hilarious to watch and frustrating to experience. The second hole provided us with more dry fly action and the beginning of getting back into the groove of setting the hook. Most fish took confidently and I simply had to remember to just tighten the line. Quickly...not hard...but still firm....unless he takes it differently.....not too tough right? Anyway, one fish (out of many in the area) decides that he doesn't like my Parachute B.W.O, or the Emerger, or the floating nymph, or seemingly anything else. I even gave him these options in different sizes. All the other fish liked them just fine, but this guy would come up within a 1/2 inch to look at the fly before slowly turning away. I had to fool him. So, I throw on a B.W.O. Dun with an upright feather wing. First cast he takes it hard and fast, and I miss him like an idiot. Oh well, "You can't win 'em all".

These cutts have the craziest eyes!

Just as quickly as the dry fly action began, it ended and I finished the day dredging up a couple more fish with a stonefly nymph. Great start to my spring break and hopefully the first of many days with some dry fly action. Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Looking Forward

Seeing as how we're 8 days into this year and I'm tired of watching New Zealand fishing videos, I thought I'd tell you about some of the plans (hopes?) I have for the upcoming year. 

Soon (very soon) I'd like to head out and hit some tailwaters for some mid-winter nymphing and, with any luck, some midge action. Last year I had some great days in January and am anxious to get back at it. (Read the post here) I'd also like to take the winter show on the road and hit a big tailwater, if the funds allow.....

As soon as the weather warms up a bit I'd like to get after some carp like I did last year in April (Read the post here) and hopefully put the new 8 wt. to use chasing some Pike. I've never caught a Pike on the fly before but I'm hoping to check that off the bucket list early this year. I'm also thinking about going after some Largemouth Bass on the fly (that bucket list won't know what hit it).

May will bring warmer temps, run-off, irrigation flows, and hopefully a trip to the south in search of Brook Trout. Last year I found a nice lake that promised nice brookies, but all I hooked up with were Cutts (here) and I can't wait to get back to it. May into June should be pretty epic. 

As far as 'Resolutions' go I'm not too good, but I've got some things that I'd like to focus on in the blog this year. One this is, I'm going to try and get more creative with the camera. I like taking the fish pics, but feel like I need to mix it up. I'll keep working on underwater views, and different angles. I'm also hoping to add some short video clips and tutorial type stuff. 

I'm also looking forward to trying some different techniques. Mainly streamer fishing. I've done it at odd times here and there, but last year I was able to get into some night time streamer fishing and think I may have a new obsession. (here)

From there it should be a summer free from classes at the University. Looking forward to camping more and taking my sons out into nature. But for now I'll spin rods, tie flies and watch youtube angrily. Hope to get out soon, and hope that you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Beginning of the End

Thanksgiving break came with a lot of 'stuff' to get done this year. So I was really excited to be able to get out today and enjoy the last of the good weather. Bright and early I was heading south to pick up where we had left off on The Sevier River.

Early success

 Once I hit the water I was greeted with a couple of quick fish. But holy crap it was cold!

Never had ice cake my line before...

 The cold and ice made for some slow going, especially when I got a tangle or had to tie a knot, but once the sun came out it warmed up fast.

Beauty

And the fishing warmed up too. Nymphs were the way to go for sure. Best fly was the mod. Hares Ear by far and was consistent throughout the day. 

Post spawn

Fishing was awesome throughout the day, but the last hour was amazing. After a fish rose to my indicator I threw on a Chubby Chernobyle and managed a few on top, on a terrestrial, on the first of December!

Double!

Last cast of the day I managed a double! One on top and one on the dropper. 

Mug Shot

Playing with the camera

Parting Shot

Amazing day on the stream today, but looking at the forecast it'll probably be the last for a little while. I think it might be time to break out the auger and hit the hard deck. Either way, I can't wait to get out again. Hopefully you'll get a chance to get out and enjoy the water.