First of the Year

Ideally, the temperature reaches at least 40 degrees or more to give you a shot at a good midge hatch. Even if the hatch doesn't pan out, those kinds of temps would at least keep the ice out of your guides. You really should invite someone to go with you, just to keep you from getting into trouble out there if nothing else. You could always stay home, and that thought has more than crossed your mind as you lie in bed, but you haven't caught a fish yet this year, and even though it's only been a couple of weeks that still bothers you on a deep level.

Fishing alone does come with its advantages, like not having to share the morning's donuts, and not having to discuss where you'd like to fish today. You know where you're going even if it is a little bit longer of a drive. Not having to run that by someone, or have any compromises feels pretty good sometimes. So you head right to where you want to fish, but the first hole only ties you to a small fish for a moment before he throws the hook. Working upstream produces a handful of missed fish and nothing brought to hand, how long has it been since you last fished? 

Right when you start wondering if it just might not happen today, you catch your first fish. A nice-sized whitefish that fought really well and took your zebra midge perfectly. You know these fish are looked down on in some circles, but you can't help but admire the iridescent scales in the light before accidentally releasing it because whitefish are too strong to hold with one hand like you do when taking pictures of trout. 

Fishing nymphs under an indicator always starts out as a guessing game, then you catch a couple of fish and get that confidence back. Your fly, which a few minutes ago you were about to change, is the one they've been waiting for all morning. You watch your drifts meticulously and set or at least check every time that indicator stalls or dips. Consequently, you start hooking into more fish but is it because your fly is the right one or because you're now fishing it like it's the right one? 

You spot the odd rise across the stream in a back eddy and even though you're still picking up fish on the nymph rig you start planning your approach once you've switched over to the dry. The rises become more regular so you wade back downstream to where you can easily cross and sneak up the other bank. It's a back eddy, so you circle wide and approach from upstream so the fish are facing away from you. A Griffith's Gnat is the fly of choice and as you're tying that on it becomes apparent that the pod of fish is actually one fish that is working around the eddy. The first cast shows that the swirling currents aren't going to make it easy on you, but as the fish works its way back to the head of the eddy you make a good cast that drifts drag-free just long enough to fool the fish. A quick but gentle lift of the rod and you're hooked up with your first fish of the year on a dry fly. 

You could've stayed in bed, slept in, and spent the day checking some honey-dos off the list. Instead, you got out there, braved the cold, and caught some fish. On the ride home, while finishing up the last of the morning's donuts, you're already planning your next trip out. 

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

Soaked Ice

Talked the wife and kids into joining me for a couple of hours on the local pond's hard deck. Whenever I can get out with the family it's a good time, even if we were in the middle of a January rain storm. Yes, a rainstorm in January. Usually at this time of year you can open the fridge to warm up the kitchen a bit, but this year it's decided to rain instead of snow. 

You'd think that if it's warm enough to be raining that it might not feel so cold when you're out there on the ice, but the way it actually worked was that we were all wet by the time we got set up. We stuck it out for a little while, but soon it was obvious that the day was going to be cut short. At least the boys were both able to get a fish, their first of the year, and Caden even lost a little better tiger at the hole. Too bad the wife couldn't get her first fish of the year on the ice but I might be able to get her back out there one more time this year.

Cleaning up our ice shack soaked in rain was a cold experience, one that I hope I can avoid in the future. It's always good to spend time with my favorite people, hope you're as lucky!

Kidder

Earning It

Sometimes falling asleep isn't as easy as it should be, like when you can go fishing in the morning but haven't figured out where. The usual haunts are always good options but a new spot might work out to be even better, so the argument goes on in your head until you've stayed up much too late. Then, more often than not, you end up sleeping in and eliminating so many of the options that you had considered. Pretty much how I decided to hit up one of the local streams this morning on the search for my first fish of the year. 

The morning (yes, it was still morning. I only slept in a little) was warmer than it has been lately and there was even some good cloud cover that I thought would help the fishing. So anxious to get on the water I put my waders on at the house so I wouldn't have to waste any time once I arrived. Good thing too, since the first two hours of fishing yielded zero fish. No hits, no fish spotted, nada. I started out using the dependable black Wooly Bugger only to find the fish weren't interested. I had figured that might be the case while I was not sleeping the night before, so I put on the nymph indicator rig to try and dredge something up. I tried every fly, in every color and/or size that I thought would get rid of the skunk to no avail. 

Heading back to the car, tail between my legs, I spotted what would surely turn this day around, a rising fish! Off came the nymphs and I set about rebuilding my leader to make better use of the small dry fly. I chose a red Zebra Parachute in a size 20 since I wasn't seeing the fish's nose when it ate and hoped this would be a good emerging pattern. The first cast splashed a little more than the fish liked because I had forgotten to take off the strike indicator! I may have been a little excited at the prospect of my first fish being caught on a dry. Off came the indicator as I waited for the fish to show himself again. Once he had come back and eaten a couple of times I risked a cast. Perfect! The fish ate after the fly had only floated down current a few inches and I set the hook. Somehow, the perfection ended there as the fly came free without so much as a hitch and right into a tree. As I tied on a new fly the fish showed himself again and I had another shot. Another good cast was met with another good eat and I tightened the line to feel the weight of the fish for a moment before he came loose...

I figured it was a done deal as I made my way back to the car. There were no more risers in sight. I put the wooly bugger back on just to try one of the spots before calling it a day. No sooner said than done, I had the first fish of the year in hand. A quick pic and release and my fishing year was underway. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Fishless Stream

 I finally finished a fly rod for Luc just in time for Spring break and his growing obsession of fly fishing. While the weather was less than ideal, there were still a couple of days nice enough to get out and do some fishing. He broke the rod in fast during an afternoon on the stream and was ready now for a full day excursion to chase some fin.

The rod, the stalk and the first fish

Some people just have a certain luck about them. For some this is some type of good luck, others...well, not so much. Luc is bad luck. Seems like every time we go out the fishing ends up being less than what we'd hoped. He has the type of bad juju that can affect everyone's fishing that has the misfortune of fishing with him.  Like last year when we made the hike into a stretch of stream only to find finicky fish and more people than that stream can really handle. The best catch of that day was when Luc tangled into a bird that just happened to be flying by. OR like the time we hiked down on a nice stream when we got hailed on and managed to keep pushing a couple of pelicans ahead of us for most of the day. The only saving grace of that day was when Luc stuck a nice fish. There are some people that don't believe in luck, but my guess would be that they aren't fishermen. Any fisherman in the know understands that there is some mysterious power at work that grants good fishing to some while giving the shaft to others. 

A cool old tractor cab

In an effort to hedge our bets we decided to fish on a private stretch of stream that I've gotten permission to fish. I wish there was some story behind gaining the access. A tale of working the grapevine, schmoozing the owners with promises of releasing fish, cleaning up garbage, exchanging labor for access or maybe even something a little more epic. But no, I heard that a co-worker owned a stretch of stream, brought it up to her and she said I could come fish whenever. The stream has some really nice looking stretches that have a good mix of riffles and pools with some undercut banks, trees and willows for cover. The fish food available is incredible with lots of scuds, aquatic worms, leeches, mayflies, caddis, and midges with equally incredible terrestrials with field mice, voles, and grasshoppers (at the right time of year). The problem? No fish seem to live in this stretch. We fished the whole thing which is a good days worth of fishing and if the fish were biting it would probably be more than a days worth and only saw a few fish. Perfect drift after perfect drift through some amazing looking water that brought no fish made for some frustrating fishing. We kept saying, "maybe we'll start seeing them from here up" then "Okay, from here up" then "Are there no fish, or do we just suck?" 

It really is a beautiful stretch of stream

This stretch reminds me of a stream a few years ago where the water from a dam had been turned off without warning and it killed thousands of fish. The next year there had been an explosion of Utah Chubs with very few trout in the mix, but they were really nice. Every year since we've found more and more fish, but the average size has gone down. Hopefully we'll hit it just right when there are some nice sized fish in the stream but before they begin to become stunted. 

Looks like a beatis to me

We kept working our way upstream until we found what was keeping the fish we'd found in the upper stretches from getting down to the private stretch, a diversion dam. I think it's going to take some serious run-off to flush some fish over that thing, or they're going to need to restock the stream. The beginnings of the beatis hatch were stirring, so we felt confident that if we could find some fish we could probably catch some fish. A likely looking hole that looked pretty deep proved us right once Luc switched to an indicator nymphing set-up with enough weight to get the flies down. Several fish were caught quickly, including some beautiful Cutthroat, on a BH Pheasant Tail (which we expected would work) and a big #8 Hare's Ear with a orange bead (which we didn't expect to work that well). 

After a morning of frustration, Luc seems pretty happy to be catching

From there up it was good fishing with even a few risers to keep things interesting. I managed to hook and lose a decent brown when my dropper got in-bedded into a submerged log. The cutts were definitely out in force after not seeing many of them for quite a while (where do they all hide?) and they look like they're ramping up for the spawn. All in all, another great day out on the water with good company. As an added bonus we managed to break the bad juju and catch our fair share of fish despite starting out on a fishless stream. 

Hope you can get out,

Kidder

There are sharks in the water

He just doesn't like to call it a day

Inkling of Spring

It's in the air. Despite the snowstorms and cold temperatures, Spring is most definitely on the way and I for one am ready. I've been trying to spend some time getting ready for the upcoming season by tying flies, building rods, putting my waders back together and finishing nets. 

Last weekend I hit the wall and just had to get out, with or without company. So I loaded up and headed South hoping that the water wouldn't be too dirty with all this warm weather. I had my back up plan in place and assured the wife that it would be a short day. 

The last time I fished this stream I had an epic day so I was hopeful for a good first trip out with my new fiberglass rod. Really weird trying to cast glass after so many years of fishing with graphite! Slowing down doesn't begin to describe it, but I can definitely see how throwing one of these would help beginning casters feel the load of a rod. 

It's a nice place to get skunked

Of course, the first few likely spots produced only one half-hearted strike and I wasn't even seeing the fish who were showing me the middle fin. Finally made the connection for the first fish caught on my glass rod.

Yes, I set a fish on the ground for two seconds. Try not to lose your mind.

Taking a moment to look around I noticed a car parked not too far ahead and another fisherman wasn't too far away, so I got out and put a good half mile between us. No reason to fish in a crowd. Once I was back in the water I turned over some rocks to figure out what they'd be feeding on and found some pretty big bugs. 

Just in case you wondered where Hollywood got their ideas for aliens...

After upgrading my fly selection by a size or two the fishing really turned on and I spent the rest of the day catching a bunch of little browns on Hares Ears and Prince Nymphs.

This stream makes some pretty fish

The shadows being thrown across the stream gave me the hint that it was probably way past time to start heading home. 

There was just one spot that I had to stop and fish before I could head home, luckily it was vacant. The head of the run produced the fish of the day, on the last cast of the day (which is pretty rare for me). 

So many of these fish seem to not have many spots, kinda weird.

With that fish to hand it was definitely time to head home and face the music that was an angry wife. Luckily, she knows that I need to get out and fish in order to stay somewhat sane, especially this time of year. 

Hope you can get out,

- Kidder

Dedicated

Part of being a Dedicated Hunter in Utah is doing volunteer hours. Honestly, I think this is what keeps more people from joining the program but in my opinion it's just not a big deal. Especially when your brothers arrange to do a project for hours that incorporates what we do, woodworking. Most people know me as more of a music guy, but my whole family has worked in woods of some form so building some stuff for the DNR to get our hours was the perfect opportunity. 

There's a hundred cut and drilled, probably four hundred more to go....

To say these things are tedious to make is a bit of an understatement, but I'd still rather be working in the shop than stuffing envelopes. Lots more to do, but it's a good start. 

The wife and kids took the trip up North with me and wanted to spend the night at my sister's house. So I talked my Dad into hitting one of the rivers up there that I don't get to fish often.

You know it's cold when I don't want to touch 'em

It was pretty freakin' cold, but the fish didn't seem to mind. Picked up the first fish I've ever caught on one of my new rods (see rod pics HERE). I'd love to tell you it was the brownie in the pic above, but it was a small whitefish. But that's the name of the game when you fish certain rivers with nymphs, and we were happy to find some willing fish. Dad was having some issues with tangles (cold hands weren't helping) but the fish seemed to be hungry for a Hare's Ear as long as it was near the bottom. 

This one was pretty thick with that hump-back

As always, Dad was being a little hard-headed when it came to changing flies, adding weight, or getting in many casts. I think he might just enjoy being out there, seeing some fish, and being my camera man. Maybe not, maybe he's just not that into nymphing for whitefish....

I'll take fish like this any day!

The top of the run produced the most fish and we were actually seeing more browns than the whities we were expecting. Finished out the run with the fish of the day, a nice brown that fought like a champ. 

Probably the best fish I've caught on this stream

We figured that if we hurried back to the truck we might still have time to hit another spot before I would try and beat the weather home. That was, before we came up behind a Union Pacific truck and watched it get stuck in the snow. After watching him try and rock his way out we decided to get out and lend a hand. After digging him out, pushing his truck, and watching him get re-stuck after traveling about 10 feet a few times he finally got past the worst spot and it was our turn. My Dad knew I was in a hurry, so he managed to only get stuck once and not nearly as badly as the Union Pacific guy. 

Fun in the snow

Still, all the digging and pushing cost us what little fishing time we had left and so we headed back to Dad's house. A good day of fishing on a day that most people wouldn't have even headed out with some really good company is a win in my book. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

It was a long drive home...

Firsts

After making sure that the Wife and kids didn't want to go, I invited a friend of mine to head out on Memorial Day to do some fishing. When Ross said he couldn't, I asked if his little brother Luc would be interested. Luc hasn't done much fly fishing so he was pretty excited to get out for a full day on the water. 

We found the parking area unusually busy, but not crowded by any stretch so we put on our waders, grabbed our stuff, and put some distance between us and everyone else. While making our way downstream I even managed to not stop where I usually get distracted, but this was the first trip to this stream for the year and I was excited to get fishing. 

Sorry for the grainy pic, but I've never seen a crane up a tree before

Started fishing at the same place as I did years ago when I first made the hike down and we found some willing fish right off the bat, even if the first few were long-line released. Luc then made the first catch of the day and informed me that this was his first fish on a fly rod, and his first brown trout. I was pretty excited for him, and glad that he quickly added other brownies to his resumé.

Glad to be a part of this first!

Luc was using a Chubby Chernobyl with a Prince Nymph dropper and while the fish didn't seem too interested in the dry, I still had hope. I managed to catch a couple on my dropper, a Mod. Hare's Ear that I fished behind an Indicator Chernobyl. The second hole even let me show Luc what a tiger trout looks like.

Cute lil guy

The fishing seemed to get quite a bit slower when the sun came out. Although the pair of pelicans that insisted on staying just ahead of us probably didn't help much.

They know where the fish are

With the slow down in the fishing action, we started looking for answers by way of fly changes and while I tried a Slumpbuster, Luc decided to put on a Zebra Midge that he bought at Walmart as a second dropper. It was money well spent as he soon hooked the biggest fish he's ever caught.

A beauty

Other than Luc's big fish we didn't find much more success for a while so we stopped for lunch and enjoyed the sunshine. After that we decided to skip ahead to a good hole that's been productive for me in the past. Too bad the fish didn't hear about that as we continued to struggle finding any willing fish. That is until I reached the very top of the hole and put on my Simple Sow Bug (I'll tie some of these up soon so you can see 'em) as a second dropper and found a few willing fish, including a couple of small rainbows and a cutthroat. That rounded out all the trout species that live in this stream! Moving up stream the fishing was still spotty, but we found a few more willing fish as long as our nymphs were fished deep enough. 

Some great fish were caught today

At the final spot before making the hike back to the truck both Luc and I hooked into a nice fish...briefly. Even though it was tempting to continue fishing, it seemed like a good finish to a great day. The hike out always seems at least twice as long as the hike in, but we made it in good time. It only gets better from here on out! Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

Can't wait to get back there