More Than The Fish or The Water

My boys and Del gave me a "Go-Pro" style camera for Father's Day this year and I decided to get out and try it sooner rather than later. The state of Utah seems to be on fire right now, so I had to be sure that I could still get to the water but luckily the road in question was still open. Listening to the MeatEater podcast makes for a short ride on these solo trips and soon I was there.

The cold water trickling down my leg had me thinking about a new pair of waders as I tried to figure out what the fish would be willing to take. Years ago, I used to wet wade this stream but the cold water made me glad that I had half a pair of waders for today. This is one of the first streams that I ever fished, when a single fish would've made for a great day. Our family would come camping to the reservoir above this stream and I would beg Dad to take me down the canyon. We caught plenty of fish from shore or out of our small boat at the reservoir, but fishing the stream was an early obsession. Back then we only fished one fly and would have to wait until late July for the stream to come down to fishable levels. Our long-term drought has changed that, so fishing in June is now possible even if the water was a little high and cold.

I brought my little fiberglass rod thinking that it would compliment these little browns perfectly, but I kinda forgot about the usual canyon breeze and how hard it would make casting. This stream can be tricky to wade even when the water is low, but with it just a little higher than normal I had a hard time navigating my way upstream and even a tougher time casting across stream when I couldn't wade over there. I didn't find very many willing fish to start, but a few came up to my Chubby Ant even if I couldn't find a consistent producer to use for a dropper. 

The Go-Pro didn't seem to want and cooperate. For much of the morning the SD Card wasn't reading, once I figured that out it wasn't long before the first battery died. I still have a lot to learn, but it could be fun to do more fishing videos without having to coerce Atley into being a cameraman. 

The fishing got better as the day wore on, but I headed for the truck a little earlier than usual to try and make up for the mistakes of the past trip (Read about that HERE). I try to make it to this stream at least once a year, but the fishing is only part of the equation. Memories of being with my Dad and learning how to fly fish are as much a part of this canyon as the the fish or the water in my mind. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Perspective

Caden's account:

In the trip I remember making hot dogs for dinner and we worked on the first legends of Caden! [a book him and his brother are writing] And we went fishing for a couple of hours then headed back to have some cheese burgers! And in the last day we went fishing for a little bit then we went to camp, packed up and left!

Atley's Account:

When my Dad told me we were going fishing/camping I wasn't surprised, my Dad had been talking about camping with Grandpa a lot! So after we were ready we left. We listened to music on the way and had a good time. After we got to Fish Lake we spent a bit of time looking for a campsite. It was so crowded. So many people in one place that wasn't a city! 

After we were done setting up we went fishing at a lake that I don't remember the name of. I fished a little bit but I didn't catch anything. After we left we ate dinner, it was my brother's night to cook so we had hot dogs, they were very good! After dinner I fell asleep really fast! My Dad went fishing in the morning and when he came back, Caden and I were still in bed! It was like 9:30 AM So we ate poptarts and drew until it was time to go fishing again. After we got to our fishing spot I played with my cousins and took pictures it was a crowded area with all of the people. After my Grandpa and Uncle left I fished a little bit and caught a fish it was small.... A little while after, we left and cooked hamburgers at camp for Dinner and it was delicious! We went to bed a while after. In the morning my Dad went fishing. When he got back we packed up and left!

My Account:

My Dad decided that he'd like to go camping before we get busy building houses and preparing for the next hunting season & school year so we made it happen. Decided to get out of the heat and head for the mountains. Fish Lake is a place that we always talk about going to more often but never seem to, so now seemed like a great time to get up there. Unfortunately, some wind decided to make a mess that my Dad had to help clean up and we got a little bit of a late start to our trip.

Once we had made it down to the lake we went out in search of a place to put our trailers and had a bit of trouble finding a good one. My trailer is pretty small and can be set up in relatively small spots, but Weston's and my Dad's trailers are pretty big and so finding a spot to accommodate them was a little more of a challenge. We ended up staying in a campground that cost us a bit of money, but made for a nice camp spot. Weston came up a little later, so he missed out on finding a camp spot but still had to make the rounds in order to find us. By the time camp was decided on and set up the boys were starving, so Caden made some hotdogs that tasted great!

Bright and early, Dad and I headed out to try several spots around Fish Lake but had a hard time finding a productive spot. Dad did manage to catch a pretty splake, but other than that the early morning was a strikeout. 

Decided to head back to camp and get everyone else so we could take a ride to a 'nearby' reservoir to see if our luck would change. Forsyth Reservoir is a place that I'd never fished before but one that I'll definitely return to. The boys and I elected to fish near the dam but Weston, Dad and their families decided to find another spot that would be easier with the little kids. We found a few fish that were willing to come to a Baby Damsel as long as it was near the bottom with a slow retrieve. 

It got hot quick, so we headed back to camp for sandwiches and an unplanned nap. The boys spent their time in camp drawing and working on a story that they've been working on together. Part of me wanted them to head outside and explore, but after spending the better part of the morning in the sun they probably needed a break. In the evening we decided to try Fish Lake again, this time with the whole camp.

Lots of fish were surfacing, so I decided to go with a midge cluster pattern pulled behind a casting bubble on my spinning outfit. Initially it was the bait fishers that did well with my Dad's wife Deb catching a couple of small bows. I think everyone ended up catching a couple and it was fun to see the girls react to the fish. 

After the rest got bored with the fishing, the boys and I stayed on a little longer. Atley finally pulled himself out from behind the camera to fish a bit for himself and caught a little planter for himself. Then we spent a few minutes skipping rocks (the boys know better than to do this while people are trying to fish) and the boys were happy.

One last bright and early excursion for Dad and me found us on top of a mountain looking for fishy water. The first reservoir we stopped at looked promising, but all we saw were waterdogs (my Grandpa always claimed that if a lake had waterdogs it meant that there weren't any fish) so we headed on hoping to catch a few before heading back to clean up camp. 

We found a pretty lake to try out and I used my spinning outfit again. It didn't take long for some rainbows to check in by way of a black Woolly Bugger and Prince nymph behind my casting bubble. A large cougar track on shore was pretty cool to see, until we heard the cat going after some nesting ducks, then it was really cool! Dad didn't have much luck until he slowed his retrieve down, but even then he could only buy a couple of hits before we had to head back to camp.

Cleaned up and headed for home, where we decided to take the trailer straight to our new property. Excited to see that the footings had been poured and the foundation was being formed up!

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Strawberry

It seems like it's always last minute with us. It's true that there are times when a trip is planned well in advance, but usually it's more like a day or two before we just decide it's time to go. That's how it was when my Dad called and invited us to go camping with him up to Strawberry Reservoir. The first thought was to try and find time to get everything ready to go, but with the new trailer most of our stuff was already packed!

When I was growing up we spent a lot of time at Strawberry trolling from our flat-bottomed boat. For a kid that would much rather be casting a fly rod, trolling pop-gear and worm for hours on end is just about the equivalent of hell. Yes, we caught fish. Lots of fish in fact, but the mindlessness of trolling cannot be overstated and so, I hated Strawberry. Conversely, Del's family spent a lot of time at Strawberry when she was a kid too and she has fond memories of camping with family. So, while I wasn't too excited about the trip Del was looking forward to it.

My less than fond memories probably led to a lack of focus on fishing for the trip. The first evening we focused on setting up camp and didn't really have any desire to rush out to do anything else. That night and most of the next day I tried to catch up on the sleep I was lacking from running the Summer Band program that had started up that week. The boys didn't seem to mind since there was a 4-wheeler in camp. Del and I took a nice walk up a tributary that was closed to fishing and spotted some Cutthroat that were traveling upstream to spawn. I'm not sure how they made it so far up this tiny creek with all the pelicans and cranes that were hunting them, but I guess that's just the dangers of love.

Much to the frustration of my Dad and Brother we didn't get around to fishing until that evening and even then it was only for a little while. I hooked one small rainbow on my first cast with a Woolly Bugger behind a bubble on my spinning rod, but that was the extent of our fishing success. The boys had much more fun skipping rocks than trying to catch fish and sometimes that's okay. Back at camp we had fajitas for dinner and the boys had fun making s'mores around the campfire.

The final morning of our little trip my Dad and I took a little drive to a stream that wasn't closed for spawning fish to do a little fly fishing. This was one of the first streams that I had fished with a fly rod and I had fond memories of eager little browns that were real confidence boosters. Not sure why, but Dad and I didn't find that much success early on. We tried a few different rigs/flies but it didn't seem to make much of a difference until mid-morning when the temperatures began to rise. The little stream hadn't changed much in the years since I was last here and my little fiberglass rod was perfect for it's inhabitants. Dad didn't have much success, instead electing to watch me for most of the morning despite my many objections. He did finally make a connection on what turned out to be the fish of the day, and the last fish of the day, when he casted into a beaver pond that really didn't look all that promising (to me at least). The 13" brown fought well and would've made for a nice pic had I not forgotten the camera.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Del's family for Father's Day and while it wasn't camping or fishing, it was still a good time. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Father's Day

I think they've definitely spoiled me this year. Not only did my family get me a sweet reel case, an awesome sweatshirt and a fitbit (so there's proof to how lazy I've been) but they also agreed to go fishing with me. With the homemade breakfast and gifts out of the way, we loaded the rowboat into the back of the truck and headed into the high country. 

Some great views up here

Once at our destination, we quickly set up and launched our small boat. Before we were really even started Del hooked up with a fat brook trout while trolling a small gold spinner. I tried to get the boys set up with similar rigs while fighting the gusty wind that would be off and on the whole time we were there. The boys had several hits, but only Del could close the deal while trolling.

Prettiest fisherwoman I know

After a bit of a slow stretch, during which I wore out my arms/back from rowing, we decided to drop anchor and see if a different approach might yield better results. We set Del and the boys up with bait while I tried a jig tipped with a Gulp! minnow. Probably should've changed over sooner! As soon as my jig went down it was being attacked. Meanwhile, the bait fishermen/woman seemed to have pretty good luck too. 

It's a nice fish, but I'm not sure why he's holding it that way...

Everyone, that is, except Cado. He had struck out while trolling and was starting to get really frustrated with fishing altogether. To keep talks of lunch at bay, I let him pull one in on my rod and that seemed to get rid of the skunk. Soon he had one of the few rainbows we caught on his own pole.

This brookie got the skunk off

The play by play of Cado's 'bow

After Cado got his fish we headed in, loaded up, and went to search out a place to have lunch. We found a nice little spot that would be great to camp in (maybe soon?), ate, the kids did bigfoot calls, and Del played with her camera a bit.

Nice perspective

I don't know how everyone else celebrates this holiday, but I think our way is best. I can't think of a place that would've been any better, or anyone that it would've been to be with, than being outdoors fishing with my family. Hope you had a great Father's Day, and hope that you can get out, be safe, and enjoy the outdoors.

- Kidder

Recharge

This past week it was my turn to attend a professional development conference. Some teachers don't like these, but I find after a long school year nothing gets me excited about getting back to work than hearing some new ideas, reconnecting with other teachers, and of course sneaking away to do some fishing on streams that I don't often get to fish. On the way up to Logan, UT I stopped off to pick up my Father's Day gift from Del and boys at Cabelas (It was in bags, so I still don't know what it is). I also delivered my Dad's Father's Day/Birthday gift from me, the nice 8wt rod that I built for him (read about that here).

Nice stream

Even after all that I still arrived with plenty of time to check into the hotel, grab something to eat, and head up to the stream. Just to mix things up even more, I passed on fishing the usual spots and elected to instead drive further up than I've ever fished before to explore. Right off the bat I found some willing fish, and pulled in a nice sized whitefish to start the evening. Living and fishing in Southern Utah means that I don't see many of these, so they're still somewhat of a novelty to me. Fishing upstream, I found quick runs and beautiful glassy pools filled with mostly brown trout, though there were also some cutthroat trout intermixed to keep it interesting (along with the odd whitefish). 

Always good to catch multiple species

At one point the stream-side brush was really thick, the current heavy and deep in front of me with overhanging trees from bank to bank. I decided to push on, and after a few tense moments when I realized there must be a good sized hole in my waders somewhere in the vicinity of my crotch, I made it through. When I broke out into the open again it felt as though I'd stumbled into a secret room. Open only to the sky, I could see that casting was going to be difficult, but there were many rising fish to make sure the effort was worth it.

With no one waiting for me back at the hotel I continued fishing my way upstream until I could no longer see my parachute PMD. 

Fish of the evening, a beauty of a Cutt

The next evening another teacher at the conference joined me for the evening of fishing. Josh and I are actually neighbors but it seems like we never get out fishing together. It could have something to do with him being a music teacher at two schools, volunteering as an EMT, and having five kids, but I'm not sure. Anyway, an afternoon rainstorm that seemed to stick around just to sprinkle on us enough to keep us worried about a complete downpour had made this evening much cooler than the night before. At first I was worried that the fishing would be a lot tougher, but the fish didn't seem to notice too much and were still willing to rise for our dry fly offerings. We fished until we could no longer see our flies, but the mosquitos didn't seem to have any problem finding us. 

Glad Josh could get into several fish

At the conclusion of the conference the next day I had to hurry home for a school board meeting and get ready for my Summer Band program to start. Though it was too bad I didn't get out for another evening before having to head home, it sure felt good to hit some different water and recharge my batteries. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

Who wouldn't love to be here?