Worth It

Winter break came just in time to salvage what little sanity I still have left. With a break in the cold weather we saw our opportunity to get out an do some fishing so we took it. Dad and I tried to make plans that included my brothers but they couldn't get away from the pre-christmas honey-do's, so we went without them. Gotta get out while you can.

1:30 in the AM felt more than a little early, but in order to get enough fishing in to make the trip worth it you've got to get the driving done in the dark. Making the trip 'worth it's is highly subjective, but getting at least as much fishing in as driving you have to do to get there is the minimum for me. A 1:1 ratio isn't the ideal, but I make up for it most of the year fishing close to home. This drive is a long one that includes lots of caffeine, conversation and working out all of life's problems. A bull elk, several deer, a coyote and even a fox came in into our headlight's glow on the way, luckily none are in our lane.

We arrived just after light and started fishing as quick as we could get our warm clothes on and rigged up our rods. Small hits we're pretty regular right away, but hook ups didn't come as quick. Once I managed to get a couple in, it was clear that the hole was chuck full small rainbows. Dad couldn't seem to hook up, but I managed a real nice fish in between the little guys.

Onto the next spot, where it was more of the same for me. Lots of little fish without much difference between them. Dad was getting some strikes but just couldn't get a hook set and was getting a little frustrated. Not sure how this works sometimes, but once he got one fish more followed without too much difficulty. Fishing can be weird like that sometimes. 

We tried a bunch of different spots, each one seemed to have the same size and number of fish. We decided to try a small pond that has held some nice fish in the past, but tended to be pretty difficult to fish. Shallow, super clear water is tough enough but this pond has the added fun of thorned bushes around the shore that like to grab your fly line and make the long casts needed to get to where the fish are almost impossible. While working into position and trying to find a good place to cast from we were reminded of another reason this pond is less than ideal when dad stepped into a hole and fell down. Thankfully the loud crack I heard as he went down was only his net. Dad wasn't too happy about his net, and the fish were less than sympathetic ignoring our efforts. 

We finished out the day starting on our long drive in the light. Spotting deer and another coyote was a pretty cool way to finish out a good day of fishing with my dad.

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

Day Dream

Fly tying - One of the few few activities that makes it permissible to spend hours hours alone day dreaming. You can argue it if you like, but if it really was only about filling a need in your box you wouldn't be tying hoppers in January. No, you tie hoppers in January to recall the warm afternoons of August when you we wade the stream to make the heat more bearable. The grass of the fields has turned to yellow and brown hinting at the fall to come, while the grass on the banks stays green. This brings all the bugs of the land perilously close to where the fish, an odd combo of browns and cutts, wait with their attention turned toward the surface. Ho they see it from under the cut bank is more than a mystery, but you don't spend too much time contemplating the properties of light refraction. Instead, you rinse the sunscreen off your hands before picking out a hopper to attach to your leader. Longer and lighter than you'd like, the leader is just heavy enough to turn over the tan and black Hopper Juan that hasn't been pulled from the box since you placed it there back in January when you anticipated this moment, despite the snow gently piling up outside. 

If there had been more snow, the water would be moving a little quicker and you might've gotten away with a shorter, stouter leader. As it is, you'll be banking on the fish waiting for a hopper to fall into the river with a splash, just like your fake one does when you cast it about a foot away from the bank that has held so many fish in the past. You let it dead drift back towards you, saving the twitches you'll add for later if the dead drift proves ineffective. You see her turn and follow the imitation down stream towards you and though it feels like half an hour passes, she quickly takes down your fly with a determined gulp. You wait for her head to turn back upstream before you set the hook and feel her weight. 

That's why you tie hoppers in January.

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

Getting Out

It's been a while since I've made it out fishing. Over a month, in fact, unless you count the few minutes I carried a rod while walking by a blue line. It's been even longer since I felt rusty with my fly casting. The water was clear, and the weather was nice, which made it feel great to be out there. The fish were active and excited to try a Tri-Colored Nymph for breakfast, which made it even better. The first awkward cast had me hooked into a fish momentarily and on the second cast I brought a little brownie to hand. Beautiful little fish that reminded me of why I'm so obsessed with fishing. 

Despite it being very accessible, with good numbers of fish and some decent hatches I just seem to consistently overlook this stream. I'd say that I'll try and remedy that, but honestly I probably won't, there are just too many good places to fish near where I live. Makes you wonder why I haven't been getting out, doesn't it?

I was getting consistent action so I took the opportunity to try out some different patterns, with not much hatching nothing worked better than the Tri-Colored nymph that I started with. Though I did get a couple to come up to a Pauterbaugh Caddis, which was the top fly in my dry/dropper rig. Seemed like every hole had a few fish that were willing to play. 

Once I reached a certain bend in the stream the bite just turned off. I still managed to get a couple more fish but they were fewer and further between. I'm not sure if I'd just reached a point where someone else had fished lately, or if it was just time of day. Either way, I'd had a good day and was overdue for heading back home. It felt really good to get out again.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Good Weekend

It's definitely weekends like this that keep me going throughout the work-week. Two full days to be at home and take care of a few things with the possibility of slipping away for a couple of hours to do some fishing. 

First on the docket was to fix a couple of rods that were overdue. One was my son's that had the tip come off. Not a big deal to fix, and the job went quickly. The second was my older brother Jeff's. He had broken the tip off while trying to remove some ice. After testing out a possible patch job I decided to lose the 1-1/2" that had broken off and put on a new tip. Quick wrap and epoxy and the repair was done. Just to make sure the action wasn't effected too much I test casted it out in the back yard and it felt great. This is a rod that I built as a Christmas present for him a couple of years ago, so I am still a little attached to her. 

Done and done

Sunday brought a morning of a great breakfast with the family and tying up some flies. I bought a new fly box that had a couple of stickers over the cover. What's the point of a clear fly box if you're not going to be able to see through it? So I attempted to remove the stickers and was left with a ton of residue that was really sticky. Didn't believe it myself, but tried it anyway and was shocked to find out that peanut butter works great. Weird. 

Who knew right?

Then Atley and I were out the door to fish a small local stream to see if any fish were active. 

I love living here

Atley just wanted to play photographer today so I was left to do the fishing. First thing we walked down to a hole that usually holds a fish or two but the first few casts didn't bring anything. Rather than start changing flies I added some weight to my nymph rig and caught a surprisingly nice cutthroat for this stream.

Beautiful fish in a beautiful net, compliments of J Wood Flyfishing

The next hole brought an identical looking trout to hand but then nothing seemed to be stirring. We worked our way up stream but didn't move any fish for the next 30-40 minutes and it was obviously time to head back home. All in all a great time out on the water and the perfect end to a nice weekend. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature. 

- Kidder

Discovery

This was a hectic week! Every night I had some sort of work, whether it be my main job or my second, and not a whole lot of time to relax. Saturday felt good to be with the family. We went "Up North" to catch a marching band competition and pick up some new fish for the aquarium. Sunday began with plans to go fishing but first I 'needed' to make an order for some new fly tying supplies. Nothing too crazy or different, just some stuff I've been needing. If you haven't checked out www.hookhack.com you definitely should, they have some great stuff and awesome customer service (No, I'm not affiliated with them). The only type of shopping I actually like took long enough for the whole family to wake up and decide to join me. We decided to try a small reservoir that we'd never fished before.

Pretty

Why haven't I fished here?

The kids had some fun with their BB guns while Deli took some pictures and I tossed some flies. What I found were some scrappy rainbows that ranged between 11 and 14 inches. They seemed to like my Fathead fly in golden olive and black. Even so I tried out a few different flies dropping off the back just to see what would happen, but they still seemed more interested in the streamer. 

Pretty lil' bows

Talk about a great decision! The only thing I'm wondering right now is why I haven't been up to this lake before. Not only was it a great looking lake with lots of willing fish (read: great for kids) its not even very far from my house. 

Old boy

After the Wife & Kids completed their trek around the shore I knew it would soon be time to go. Not wanting to leave without giving something else an effort I strung up a spinning outfit with a jig to try my hand. I don't have a lot of experience at this type of fishing, but the fish didn't know that and were more than willing to play. After a few more tugs we packed it up and headed for home, though I wasn't quite set for the week.

Chillin'

Once we were home and got the dogs put away I convinced Atley to head out with me to try a small (really small) stream. I've had a hunch about this stream for a long time now but can't ever seem to commit to trying it. It's not really on the way to any of my other usual spots and it's in that awkward size category where it could hold fish, but it also could not. Perfect for a late Sunday afternoon extension. 

It's amazing how much beauty is all around here

But are there fish??

Once on the stream it was apparent that we should have brought the waders! Atley was having fun jumping around on the rocks, trying to get in position to make a cast but I would have preferred focusing on the fishing. The first good looking hole seemed to be a dud until I had a little strike as I was pulling the fly up. It was enough to keep us going and at the next hole we found a few willing fish. Nice little cutties mixed with 'bows just to keep everything interesting. All they wanted was a MHE, though a few took the Indicator Chernobyl only to be missed.

Workin' the outside corner

Stealth mode

Lots of these

Looks good in my vest too

The bows all had parr marks

They all seemed pretty fat and healthy, even if they weren't all that big

Atley kicked butt on this stream, catching 8 fish and both the largest and the smallest fish were caught by him. It was great to see him getting interested in fishing again. On the way home he was talking about coming back to show his brother. I can't wait. It was the perfect end to a nice weekend with the family. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy the outdoors.

- Kidder

Love it when this kid fishes with me