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

Recentering

The weekend started by taking the rifle out for a long walk, otherwise known as elk hunting. Going into it I didn't have much confidence in the last day of the rifle season, but I decided to use the hike to explore a new area. Coming across bear tracks when you're out hiking always puts a new edge on things, but when it's obviously a sow with cubs it definitely makes you pay attention!

I wasn't about to let seeing some tracks ruin my hunt or deter me from the area, so I continued on up the trail. As I was trying to find a way across the gully I found this really cool claw. Not sure what it is, but I think it's pretty neat.

Slowly working my way across the north-facing hillside I found some heavily used bedding areas and was getting excited when I spooked a cow that spooked every other elk in the draw. I tried to find a spot where I might see the elk on the opposing side, but couldn't before the herd had worked it's way out of my life forever. This is definitely an area that I'll be heading back into, but I don't know if that will be this year or next. 

I finished the day sitting on a hillside above a group of does watching the light fade on the rifle elk season. The next day I was really feeling all the hiking, so I stayed around the house and tried to get some honey-dos off the list. Fixing posts on the patio and running kids around is all part of the job, but when we pulled the cards from our back yard trail cams I got excited to set some traps. 

  

Got the traps set and planned on taking it easy with the wife until we saw some turkeys in the yard and Atley wanted to fill his tag. We snuck up behind the flock and Atley made a great shot on a bird, then he handed me the gun and I couldn't help but fill my tag too. I had to leave to pick Caden up from a sleepover and told Atley to take care of the birds. When I got back I was pretty impressed that Atley had both birds cleaned out and ready to go. Pretty fun, and really tasty! 

Started the next day with a family breakfast and cleaning up around the house. After our turkey nugget lunch I started getting the bug to get out and do some fishing! I haven't been out for months, but the itch seems to be coming back and I wanted to hit a local stream for the afternoon. Started out hot with an olive jig fly that caught a few then turned off cold.

Made the switch over to a Purple Haze to throw at some risers and picked up a few more fish. If they were rising consistently the fishing was pretty simple, just put a good cast in front of them without spooking the fish and you'd get an eat. I was working my way upstream switching between the small parachute dry and a dry/dropper set-up when I tried a Barr's Emerger pattern for the first time. Why haven't I used this fly before? Several more fish came to hand, including a nice one to end the day.

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The next day I woke up to dogs barking and a headache. Whenever I have traps set I make sure to check them often and I was sure glad that I did this morning. Both traps that I had out had a fox in them! First catches ever for me and quite the way to end our Fall Break! Hopefully, Deli's chickens will be a bit safer now...

I'm not sure if a break like this makes it any easier to go back to work, but I'm very thankful for the time to be with my family and to get out into nature. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Da Greeen!

Dad taught us how to fly fish small streams and rivers with an automatic reel, a level leader and a renegade. There were no other flies on the stream. Fly fishing was for July and August only, once the water came down and cleared. I fished this way for years, catching quite a few fish and devoting the other months of the year to fishing lakes with my spinning rod. One summer, we did a job building a garage and pouring a new driveway for my Dad's cousin Gary. We knew Gary fly fished, but he used all those weird flies and didn't fish like us. During the build, there were several mornings when Gary would head out to fly fish, even though it was only May! He had a lot of success which made us want to get out too. Weston and I headed for the middle provo river where we figured was some of the only fishable water in the state at that time of year. We caught some fish, little ones, using our 'traditional' approach. Talking with Gary at the end of the next day he invited us into the house to show me a couple of flies and how to tie them. I still have those flies: Deer hair caddis, pheasant tail, para-hopper, Chernobyl Ant. After a trip (or two) to Sportsman's Warehouse and a local fly shop (full of snobs) I gathered all the needed materials to reproduce these flies on my own and an addiction at the vise took hold.

Another thing that Gary showed us was how to float Utah's Green River below Flaming Gorge on kick boats. I distinctly remember floating that river and watching Gary catch 5 fish or more to my every strike. This fishing was SO WEIRD! Sitting in what felt like an easy chair floating down the stream "with" your fly was strange, but the way the fish would come up and sip the fly from the surface was the weirdest. Fishing the riffles with a renegade meant that strikes came sudden and violent, it was too much to wait until the fish took the fly and several times I pulled the fly right out of their mouths.

Fast forward 15 years and I don't think there's a single renegade in my boxes (although I should have some, it's a great fly) and I've been trying to fish like Gary ever since. With these memories haunting me throughout the long cold winter, I decided to make the trek out to the green after several years of 'being too busy' with Dad and my boys in tow. 

Stayed the night at Dad's with Del and the boys since she had to be up north the next morning for a work conference. Early morning we headed out by way of Wyoming to the green, arriving at Little Hole not long after sunrise. To start we were the only ones around, though we knew that wouldn't last. In my rush to get a fly wet I didn't put on waders, and ended up not getting them on all day even though it would've made things a lot easier. 

Fish were active in the riffles taking beatis nymphs and I managed to catch a few before people started joining us and we decided to hike up the canyon to try a different spot. Most active fish were out of reach from shore, so we headed back to the truck for some lunch and a break from the wind. Watching more and more people arrive made us decide to drive up to try below the dam before heading for home. 

The change in scenery and getting out of the wind was nice, but Dad didn't want to fish too much longer so he dropped Atley and me off to fish for a little while and he took a nap while Caden told him all about the movie "Tron" that he's been obsessed with lately. We found a pod of rising bows to play with and they were willing to come up for a parachute blue wing olive. The  fish were cruising around a back eddy - so timing and accuracy were needed to fool them into eating at the end of a 40 foot cast. Some of the most fun you can have while flyfishing - sight fishing dries to rising fish. A few fish brought to hand and we decided it was time to call it a day. 

  

A sleepy blur of sagebrush and kids talking about random things is all I remember of the drive home as Dad made good use of the nap time he'd had. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Reprieve

In addition to teaching music at the local high school, for the past two years I've also been in charge of jazz music for our state which includes running the State Jazz Festival the weekend before Spring Break. Leading into this festival is always pretty stressful, but the one thing that kept me going were some loosely laid plans of fishing during the break. The one definite plan was a trip with Weston and Dad to where nessie has been rumored to live. As it always seems, the best laid plans were screwed by the unexpected. This time Dad catching a stomach bug kept him from coming, but me and Wes decided to go without him. 

The new plan included staying at Weston's the night before and then making an early morning drive. I haven't watched basketball for awhile, so I was shocked when watching the game before going to bed. When did the NBA stop playing defense? Went to sleep with the image running through my head of some guy breaking his leg during the game...

The drive was a good one talking with Wes and listening to Randy Newberg podcasts. The wind was waiting for us as we got out of the truck but right away Weston hooked up on a good rainbow. These fish were coming off the spawn looking like they'd been run through a blender, but still had a lot of fight in them. 

Tried lots of streamers since that was the kind of fishing we wanted to do, but the good old Olive Wooly Bugger was more effective than anything else. Fishing was spotty, but we made contact in most spots we stopped. Even the new spot that required a little more effort by way of walking produced some fish, including the only splake (Brook Trout + Lake Trout = Splake) I've ever seen out here.

The next day Weston had to work early so we called it a day decently early and hit the long road. Lots of fun and a great reprieve from work.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Getaway

You know how it is, right? When your job is looking to take over the weekends and the weather forecast says you should stay home on the only days still free. So what do you do? You call around to see who is willing to brave the weather and go on a marathon drive in hopes of finding some open water. Sane people turn you down and try to talk you out of it. Dad and Atley agreed to go, and the plan comes together to make a day trip where travel time will most likely equal fishing time. You run to the vice to make sure that you have the flies that would've worked last time, even though you know you can't fill the boxes in a short session.

"At least it will be fly-fishing," you tell yourself in an attempt to justify the money spent and the time behind the wheel. The first leg of the trip is a drive to Dad's house where we'll spend the night, until about 2:30 in the morning when you'll start the real drive. Dad will talk to you the whole way to make sure you're awake, and the topics will vary widely. From politics he knows you won't agree with, to family members who are trying to complicate lives. Things that will keep you engaged, fishing and hunting trips might also be discussed, but no concrete plans will come of these. 

Arriving on the scene, it's exactly how you knew it would be. Cold, wind, snow and coyotes in evidence with the promise of more throughout the day. Some of the dogs you see, like the one that runs the shore opposite of you until it's sure that it doesn't want to get any closer, others you'll only hear. The cold, wind and snow all team up to make you question your motives but when Dad hooks into the first fish of the day the doubts go away. You're here to fish, because you're a fisherman. Everything else are just details that need to be managed. 

Atley was trying to manage the cold that was making his hands hurt when he retreated to the truck to warm up. The wind decided to push his fly rod into the path of his closing door right before it came closed with a snap. His anger isn't lost on you, but you assure him that we can build a new one and we can share a rod for the rest of the trip. No big deal, although you feel bad that he's so upset. The tiger trout that you open your day with doesn't make his mood improve, but staying in the truck for a little while warms him up enough to try fishing again.

A new spot, not too far away, seemed to bring the cold wind into greater focus, even if the fishing did pick up. The mistake of not bringing a net is one that you had hoped to get past by this point in your fishing career, but sure enough it wasn't with the equipment you packed. Tailing fish is tough, but it's even harder when you can barely feel your fingers. Some fish are worth it, and the ones that seem to like the Green Hare's Ear that you're fishing for the first time are well worth the effort. A new personal best rainbow is celebrated with a short stint in the truck to warm back up, even the adrenaline can't keep you out there for too long. Losing an even bigger fish doesn't even piss you off, though it may haunt you in the days to come. 

Dad and Atley are struggling to find fish. Atley just can't seem to be in the right place at the right time, Dad is refusing to change to a nymph and indicator insisting on staying with the bugger that got him that first fish. A new spot brings some fish to Atley, but Dad just can't seem to make it come together. 

Even with a very long, tired, drive looming we still hit up the first spot to see if fishing has improved before calling it a day. Lots of fun looking for fin in the cold, but Spring will be welcomed if it ever shows.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Video: Tying the Chubby Ant

This is how to tie one of my favorite flies to use in a hopper dropper rig. The Chubby Ant is a quick tie that fish seem to love around here, hopefully it works well for you.

School's Out

The end of the school year brings with it a lot of different emotions. On the one hand I'm really excited at the prospect of a few weeks off before the summer programs start, but on the other, I'm sad to see the seniors leave. Also, I hate the graduation ceremony. The dread of that night is the only thing that makes time continue to move as we near the last day of school.

All that aside, I knew where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing on my first day of break. I would've made it to the trailhead sooner if I would've been able to find my camera. Normally I would've just used my phone and went without the camera but I'm trying to learn from my mistakes (read that story Here). Still started my hike just after daybreak watching for elk up on the hill, but all I saw were a couple of deer that kicked up in front of me. In the past I've had a herd of elk watch me as I made this hike, I've also seen bears rooting along the hillside. Stories I like to pull out and rehash whenever I bring someone new here, even though I know how unimpressive those tales are.

This stream has the potential to be one of the best in the state but de-watering, fire runoff, chub and carp over-population seems to always hit the reset button just when you think the fishing's really going to take off. The fish I could see from a vantage point definitely had the chub-school look to it, but i still made a cast to confirm........trophy chub.

Moving downstream I decided to make a stop where I usually end my day, hoping to find a big fish to start. What I found were streamer-eating chubs and a couple of small browns. I didn't think chubs would be able to eat a size 6 woolly bugger, but when you're talking about trophy chubs you have to re-assess your expectations. I decided to back out to the trail and head downstream, then work my way back towards the truck throughout the day. 

The walk down always seems to be half as long as the hike back out. In the years that I've left this stream alone some of my favorite holes have turned into riffles and riffles have become pools. Subsequently, the fish aren't where I expect them to be but it keeps things interesting. A mixed bag of browns and chubs, all about the same size, seemed anxious to eat a size 12 prince nymph that I hung below a chubby ant. At the top end of the pool a little brown ate, I managed to make a good hookset and the little guy spooked the king of the pool. A stellar couple feet of brown (or at least it seemed like it) from next to the little guy, never to be seen again. But at least I know where he lives.

Giving up on seeing the big one again I moved up to the next hole where several fish seemed hungry, not only for the prince nymph but a few were coming up for the ant. Dry dropper where both options are being picked up is almost too much fun. I cast across the slick to a foamy back eddy and high sticked to avoid getting any drag. From the dark water a fish rose slowly and inhaled my ant from the top. Significantly bigger than anything I'd hooked so far, he dogged me deep in the run where he seemed to pick up enough steam that I couldn't keep him from running out the back of the pool. I tried to keep side pressure on him to get him out of the riffle and into the flat where netting him would be easier. A good look through the clear water showed why I was having trouble controlling this fish, the nymph had a good sized chub connected to it. Just as I was trying to lift the browns head across the bow of the net the 5x gave way and the fish disappeared into the next run with the chub in tow. 

I hate leaving hooks in fish, especially when its the last fly of a working pattern! I tried a similar fly without the white wing, but while the fish liked it, including a nice tiger, but I couldn't see the fly on the water because of the cloudy sky. So I switched it up to a stone flopper that I haven't thrown for quite a while and still had fish coming up for it, including a nice tiger trout.

The winds and clouds made fishing a little tougher, but it didn't rain at all. I tried out a couple of different droppers, but the prince seemed like it was all they wanted and the stone flopper kept bringing in a few too. The last good hole before I was re-fishing was another spot that I'd caught some good fish in the past so I took it slow, to leave no corner un-fished. On the edge of what I would consider the prime lie I hooked into what seemed like a good fish. This fish stayed in the pool until he was ready to come to the net and was thrilled with a solid cutthroat that was the biggest of the day (and splashed the camera before I could get a pic).

The rest of the day brought more fish to the net, but fewer as I re-fished some spots closer to the truck. The hike out wasn't as bad as it will be when the temps are higher, but it's obvious that I'm not in fishing shape. The only way to remedy that is more fishing. I can handle that.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder