Got an IM from a friend Brandon telling me that a particular river in Central Utah was fishing well. After getting the low down and patterns that was working good for him I decided to give a few friends a call to saddle up were hitting some water. The calls went out to Jerry and Nich. Nich whom I haven’t had the pleasure of fishing with before was good company and full of laughs. We set the pick-up time for 8am and we motored out.
I was sent a google map of how to get to this location and after a missed dirt road we found our way traversing a mountain ridge at around 9000ft. Plenty of wildflowers all over the mountainside as we drove this single track dirt road. I would have hated it if we had to encounter another vehicle coming from the opposite direct but luck would have it that we didn’t see another vehicle on the way in. Sounds of chirping Cicadas were predominate throughout the drive down the mountain inching our way closer to the rivers edge.
By this time it was after 10:30am. As we pulled in the smell of hot brakes was in the air. We saw that parking area had 5 other vehicles which had the same idea's in mind. We quickly rigged our rods double check flies and all the other items needed for the day. Wet wading was the calling of the day and off we were.
Once at the river edge we saw fish rising in a nice pool. Nich quickly tossed out a Cicada pattern and "BAM" first fish of the day was on. Jer on the other hand was up above me having his own go at some fish as well. I was near Jerry when I heard him say "Fish On!" A nice 16" brown came to his hand using a Adams Dry. The fish were not very particular on what patterns they wanted but the presentation was the key.
I walked ahead of the guys to look at what the river looked like above where we were. I came across a nice slow running pool. I tied on a CDC Elk Hair Caddis and "WHAM" a nice cutthroat came to hand. Nich was working upstream and Jerry wasn’t to be seen until later in the afternoon.
I packed up my gear and started walking up river. Lots of stones fluttered the water laying their eggs in the slack water. Caddis were sparse but they were out as well. I could still hear the Cicadas in the trees. At this point I stumbled across an open meadow. Slow water and a lot different than the river below. The fish in this area seemed very spooky. Stealth was the answer in this section. Throwing patterns across the river to the opposite bank was the ticket. I took a couple nice fish throwing Hopper Patterns to get into a few risers.
Nich finally showed up and he was casting near a log in the water with about a 5 foot drop. He tossed his Cicada pattern by the log and pulled a nice brown out of there. That Brown tried to wrap him up into the deep undercut bank but Nich managed to pull him out no problem. By this time we walked up river a little and found a couple of other fly fisherman and decided to turn back to find Jer.
Once we got to the Railroad tracks we saw Jerry walking our direction. We stopped talked about how he did and what we seen down in the meadow section. We 3 walked back downstream talked about the various spots and holes that we fished earlier.
For one last shot Jer decided to throw a Black PMX out in this nice run and again he scored another nice brown. Than Nich scored again on his Cicada Pattern. Nice way to close the day out. We decided to fish where we entered the river in the moring before unloading all or gear and head out. Jer's Pizza was waiting for us when we got back and it was some good tasting pizza after a long day on the river. Let’s do it again guys!!
I was sent a google map of how to get to this location and after a missed dirt road we found our way traversing a mountain ridge at around 9000ft. Plenty of wildflowers all over the mountainside as we drove this single track dirt road. I would have hated it if we had to encounter another vehicle coming from the opposite direct but luck would have it that we didn’t see another vehicle on the way in. Sounds of chirping Cicadas were predominate throughout the drive down the mountain inching our way closer to the rivers edge.
By this time it was after 10:30am. As we pulled in the smell of hot brakes was in the air. We saw that parking area had 5 other vehicles which had the same idea's in mind. We quickly rigged our rods double check flies and all the other items needed for the day. Wet wading was the calling of the day and off we were.
Once at the river edge we saw fish rising in a nice pool. Nich quickly tossed out a Cicada pattern and "BAM" first fish of the day was on. Jer on the other hand was up above me having his own go at some fish as well. I was near Jerry when I heard him say "Fish On!" A nice 16" brown came to his hand using a Adams Dry. The fish were not very particular on what patterns they wanted but the presentation was the key.
I walked ahead of the guys to look at what the river looked like above where we were. I came across a nice slow running pool. I tied on a CDC Elk Hair Caddis and "WHAM" a nice cutthroat came to hand. Nich was working upstream and Jerry wasn’t to be seen until later in the afternoon.
I packed up my gear and started walking up river. Lots of stones fluttered the water laying their eggs in the slack water. Caddis were sparse but they were out as well. I could still hear the Cicadas in the trees. At this point I stumbled across an open meadow. Slow water and a lot different than the river below. The fish in this area seemed very spooky. Stealth was the answer in this section. Throwing patterns across the river to the opposite bank was the ticket. I took a couple nice fish throwing Hopper Patterns to get into a few risers.
Nich finally showed up and he was casting near a log in the water with about a 5 foot drop. He tossed his Cicada pattern by the log and pulled a nice brown out of there. That Brown tried to wrap him up into the deep undercut bank but Nich managed to pull him out no problem. By this time we walked up river a little and found a couple of other fly fisherman and decided to turn back to find Jer.
Once we got to the Railroad tracks we saw Jerry walking our direction. We stopped talked about how he did and what we seen down in the meadow section. We 3 walked back downstream talked about the various spots and holes that we fished earlier.
For one last shot Jer decided to throw a Black PMX out in this nice run and again he scored another nice brown. Than Nich scored again on his Cicada Pattern. Nice way to close the day out. We decided to fish where we entered the river in the moring before unloading all or gear and head out. Jer's Pizza was waiting for us when we got back and it was some good tasting pizza after a long day on the river. Let’s do it again guys!!
9 comments:
Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man, my daddy would have LOVED your site! I'm going to put it on my "Favorites" list for just a while, if you don't mind. (By the way, I have a couple of his rods that -- I've been told -- are worth some $$. I haven't the vaguest idea whether they are or not. How the devil would one go about find a thing like that out, anyway??)
I remember him tying his own flies, too. (Is that the correct term?) Think I probably have some of his paraphernalia still in the garage, but I'm not positive.
When he died, many years ago, I wanted his waders and creel. The waders had already been given away and my sister took his creel, which she subsequently had made into a purse for me, if you can imagine!
No need to respond to this comment. I just wanted to tell you how glad I am that I found your site while "net-surfing".
Thats was a great day and thanks for the invite! Nice blog BTW I'll have to check it out from here on.
Nich lets do it again man. It was fun.
damn it! now i really wish i would have gone! sounds like you guys had a killer day!
Lets get ready for Night Time Cutts. Thanks for the comments Cor!
Damn Pat! That looks like a good time. Great write-up and pics!
This is a nice blog, you have such a wealth of information in your links. That alone is worth checking up on you. Let alone the great post.
Colby D
Colby, thanks for the kind words. I've been checking out your blog too and I've added yours to my Google reader also.
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