Jumping Off

With our schools here in Utah shut down, I had to start working from home and trying to teach music remotely. It sucks. I know that there are lots of people going through a lot worse, and my perspective is a privileged one, but it's hard not to focus on what you're going through personally. I'm trying to be productive, getting my steps in, doing pushups, and working on finishing a room downstairs that will be for all my hobbies. I can't wait to tie flies, build rods, practice saxophone, and store all my stuff in a dedicated space. 

I've also set up trail cameras in the back yard and we're all excited to have the deer and elk back! The turkeys are teasing me with only a couple of weeks on until the opener, but I know they'll disappear before the hunt starts. Hopefully, the skunk will make himself scarce too!

The weather is warming up nicely and Del was getting the itch to get outside and have some fun. She just turned in her final project for her Bachelors Degree (spoiler: She passed!!). So we rode the 4-wheeler up to a good jumping-off point and took a hike 'shed hunting'. Although, if we didn't see any sheds we wouldn't have been surprised or too worried about it. A hike like this is always a great way to get out and have some fun, finding something is just a bonus. With Summer fast approaching I'm hoping this is just the first of many. It will help get us in shape and keep me from going crazy. The scrub oak was super thick, but we found some really nice openings with tons of elk sign. It will be interesting to see if they stick around all Summer. Maybe I've been going up too high to chase elk and would have just as much luck sticking close to home? We'll see. 

As usual, Del found what we were looking for long before I did when she spotted a nice little three-point deadhead. This would've been a cool buck in another year or so, but even 'as is' there was some cool mass and it was a good find. 

It's funny how getting the first find out of the way makes you look harder and have more hope in your search. I definitely started looking harder hoping to find something! What I didn't see was the black clouds building across our valley and they were over us really quickly. We took shelter under a juniper tree, but it didn't help too much. The rain and wind were cold, but it stepped up a notch when the rain turned to hail. One poncho between the two of us kept us relatively dry, but it didn't quite cover everything!

After the storm the sun came back out and temperatures rose back up to comfortable. If you don't like the weather in Utah just wait ten minutes! The sun melted the marble-sized hail and made for some really muddy trails. Slipping and sliding along! We both ended up taking a fall and carrying a little extra weight in the form of mud, plastered to our backsides. I did make one find, a little two-point shed, before we called it a day and headed back to the wheeler. The short ride home had one little adventure in store for us as we slid off the road! It was tense for a minute, until Del got off and let me try and get through the rough spots. Never a dull moment! 

I'm sure this is just the first of many adventures that we'll have this Spring/Summer and I can't wait. 

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

Shooting

After a bunch of work and cleaning, our house is now officially on the market (you can see the listing Here). Today was the first showing with the realtor which meant that our family needed to vacate the premises while this was happening. So we grabbed some guns and headed to the hills for a little target practice. 

The first thing that shocked us was the huge amount of garbage that people had left up here. I've never been able to understand how someone can just dump garbage out in random places and forget about it. Maybe it's just me, but making the places that I want to play look like a dump just doesn't make sense. 

After shooting the pistols (a .22 and a 9mm) the boys wanted to shoot the .22 long rifle for a bit. Atley is quite the old pro at this, but Caden still needs to get used to a rifle. He'd better hurry though, because this year he'll be taking Hunter Safety.

After shooting we spent a few minutes picking up what garbage we could, though if we spent a month cleaning there'd still be more to do. It was still a great time spent with the family.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Looking Back & Planning Ahead

We're hoping for lots of changes in the upcoming year. Right now we're prepping our house to put it on the market, I just got braces (in an attempt to save my saxophone playing), I just accepted the position of Jazz VP in our state's Music Educator's Association, and we're looking at potential places to buy or build a new home. Whenever life's on the brink of new adventures it seems like a good time to look back. Luckily, google put together a slideshow of the past year that helps with that.

Even with all the changes that could be happening, I'm tying flies and looking forward to getting some fishing in. 

Crazy time in the Kidder household, but we feel like great things are in store. Hope you're as lucky,

- Kidder

* This is Post #200!!! Maybe we should do a giveaway or something*