Round 2 1/2, Pole Creek and the Uintah Mountains

So, one of the things that I wanted to do this summer was take my kids and give them their first taste of fly fishing.  I knew they would not last long fishing, but that they would love to see the fish and maybe even touch it.  So I needed to go somewhere where I could catch a fish quickly.   We decided to head up into the Uintahs to have a picnic with all the grandkids and I told both of the kids that we would go fishing.  They both have their little poles and they love to look at my fish pictures, and they were both so excited to go fishing.   We did not fish for long (the kids got cold), but it was fun having them walk by me and get excited about fishing.   My son did not want to use anything but his pole.  He did not even want me to cast for him, but was just content to pretend cast and reel.   But we finally got them away from the lake and over to the little stream.   It still brings a smile to my face remembering their reactions.

It was just great to be up in the mountains.  I hope that my kids enjoy it when they are older as much as they do now.  I could seriously live up here during the summer.  The weather was a little over cast and cloudy and we got some rain coming off the mountain.  But it was perfect weather when we first got up there.

Two of my fishing buddies.  I hope this is the first of many trips with them.

They say that a family that fishes together stays together.  (Well, maybe not, but I think so).  Both of the kids were so excited to go fishing.  The almost could not wait to let me put a lure on their hooks.  My daughter wanted to carry her pole everywhere, and the little guy did not even want me to help him cast.  Finally I just had to give him his pole, and he sat there acting like he was casting and then justed reeled against the drag.  There was nothing happening in the lake, so I rigged up the fly rod and we took a little hike to the stream flowing into the lake.

Look at that concentration.

When we got to the stream, all the kids wanted to see the fish, but they kept scaring them away.  I finally got them all to stand behind me, and we all would sneak up to the stream together.   It was fun watching the kids sneak with me.   The very first fish broke me off (I was a little upset at that), so as I rigged up again I told the kids to stay behind me to not scare the fish so I could catch the fish who stole my hook.   I never could get him back,  but the next fish was a bit of a surprise.

More sneaking and trying to stay by dad.

I hooked a nice little 12" rainbow that was had come up from the lake.   It was a nice little fish for this little stream.  The kids got so excited (including Hudson).  And I was excited to for this nice little fish.

I thought both of the kids would love to touch the fish,  my daughter could not keep her hands off it, but my son would not touch it ( I thought if anything it would be the other way around).  But they both loved to look at it.  All the kids even paid attention as I explained the different types of fish and how to tell them apart by their markings.  We caught the rainbow, a nice little brookie, and a tiny little brown.

This shows a little her excitement of catching her first fish.

A nice little fish, took me by surprise.  He hit the fly like he was a shark, and really took off,  I was not expecting that, so I was really excited, which got the kids really excited.

More sneaking up on the fish.  I hope there are many more of these moments.  Nothing better then being with my family in one of my favorite places.

Most of the kids watching me bring in another fish.  I wanted to let some of the older kids have a turn bringing the fish in,  but the were mostly so small that there was not much to bring in.   But a couple of them got turns.

I am also very glad that we have grandparents on both sides that love the outdoors and enjoy doing things with their kids and grandkids.  Not many family today would pack up 10+ kids and take an hour plus drive up into the mountains for picnics and fishing, but that is one of the most desired activities in this family.

This trip only counted as a 1/2 trip since we only fished for maybe 20 minutes, but it was probably one of the most enjoyable trips,  that is until the cold wind started and the kids all got tired and cold at the same time and then we had to hike out carrying all of the kids.  But it was fun while it lasted.

Round 2, West Fork of the White Rocks River

This river is probably one of the best fishing streams that I have ever fished.  There is a slight hike involved, but if you want to catch a lot of wild Brook and Cut throat trout, this is the place.   The average size of the fish here is 8-10", which is a lot larger than most averages in these high Uintah Mountain streams.  And you have a chance to catch some really nice fish (see earlier posts).
This trip, my father in law and I decided we wanted to hike in around some large boulder fields that have blocked our fishing further down the river.  So we had a pretty good hike on our hands today, but it was great to be up in the mountains, and the fishing was amazing as always.  I also got to introduce my puppy to the place where I grew up.  He loved it and was a great fishing companion.   Hopefully this was the first of many trips with him.

This was the view from the hike in.

My fishing buddies

I love this river.  Just wish it had a bit more access, but that helps to keep it pristine like it is.

The fish in this river are very vibrantly colored.  The pictures do not do them justice.

All CutThroat and Brook Trout.

Hudson actually did really well on the hike.  This is the first time he has been out of Arizona, but I think he likes the cool Utah weather.  It took him a while to get the hang of jumping over all the down timber and he did not like to cross the stream.  But he did very good climbing up and down the steep slopes and really enjoyed being up in the mountains.

Hudson was also very interested in the fish.  He would stand right by us and wait till we would catch a fish, then he would stay right by us and we un-hooked and release them.   He would even watch us cast back and forth like he was looking for the fish to come out of the water.  (Yes, the fish literally come out of the water almost as fast as you can cast. 

This was the big fish of the trip.  I was not holding him very well, but he was about a 14" Cut, very nice fish.  

The first pool that I casted into, I did not get a single look at my fly. So I was wondering what was going on as my Father in Law landed 3 before I even got my fly in the water.  So I was stripping in my line for another cast and WHAM!.  The fish just started attacking my fly.  I landed at least 6 out of that little hole, and I probably could have landed more, but I started feeling sorry for them.  I would just drag my fly across the water and the fish would hit it.  The rest of the river was not like this,  only this hole.  But it sure was a fun way to start of a great day of fishing.

Round 1 of my Utah Trip, Jones Hole

I try to take advantage of our Trips up to Utah to visit family to try to get in some fishing.  This week I was in Roosevelt so I wanted to take a trip up to two of my favorite places, and also hit one of the spots that I just cannot figure out.

Jones hole is up on Diamond Mountain near the green river.  There is a fish hatchery up there but the fish are all mostly wild trout from the river.  The stream is feed from underground streams and holds some very large trout.   I have never done very well up there, and I usually get frustrated because I hear of some big fish coming out of there (I have even seen a few pictures).   But yet it is one of those places that I just cannot figure out.   I have been up there numerous times and I love to be in the canyon, and I love hiking the stream.   And one of these days I am going to figure out those big browns and Rainbows.   We did catch a few.  My biggest was about 12".   I did hook a nice Rainbow (I think around 16"), but as soon as I hooked him he took off up stream and ran right under a overhanging tree.  Yes, be broke me off and I was ticked because he probably would have been the biggest fish that I have ever landed there.

On our way out, we got lucky enough to see some of the big bucks that makes Diamond Mountain a great trophy special entry deer hunt.

Lake Fishing

So, most of my life I have fished on moving water.   Streams and Rivers have always been my favorite water to fish.  I don't really know why, it is where I feel the most comfortable.  Many times when I go out on a lake or pond, I feel inadequate and really do not know what I am doing.

Lately, my dad has been going back and revisiting some of his childhood fishing spots in Idaho, and has been re-learning how to fish still water.   I have figured that I need to learn how, partly because some of the best fishing here in Arizona is on still water.  And second because my Dad sends me pictures like these.

I Guess I am going to have to take some lessons this summer while we are up in Utah.

Oak Creek, Sedona AZ

So, I was finally able to get out and attempt to curb my fishing craving that I have had for a couple of months now.  I think this trip had been planned and postponed at least a couple of times.  So it was good to finally get out.   We decided to go up to Oak Creek after doing some research.   We knew that if we did not catch any fish we would at least be in a very scenic part of the state.  My good friend Jesse went with me.  Luckily, we were able to catch some fish, so the scenery was just a bonus.

The Red Rock is the trade mark of that part of the state, parts of the river actually ran right over the rocks, making for some very interesting features in the river.

The lower parts of the river right above Sedona looked amazing for fishing. However,  we were two of the hundreds of people there this weekend.  And the lower parts of the river were the most popular, this is one of the few sections without people swimming  in it.  So there was not much fishinig to be had here.

We camped in Cave Springs campground which is in the upper part of the Canyon.  The campground was full the night we got there so we found a place off to the side of the road and slept in the back of Jesse's truck.  We got up early and got in line at the camgground to make sure we had a spot. 
The upper part of the river was a lot less crowded .  Although we did have to compete with some sort of youth group, and a bunch of spin fisherman around the campgrounds and major parking spots.  We were able to find some areas of the river that we could fish on.

The water in the river was some of the clearest that I have ever seen.  Making for some tough fishing.  This was combat fishing to its most intense.  Make one wrong move, and those brown trout went flying out of their hiding places.  You could not see them until they were spooked or they hit your hook.  We spooked most of the ones that we saw, but we were able to fool a couple of them. 

Here are a couple of holes were we caught some of our bigger fish.  We did not get any good pictures of fish on this trip.  Most of the fish we landed were in the 4-8'' range.  My big fish of the trip was about 12'',  I think Jesse had one about the same size.   We also caught of few of the stocked rainbows that were in the river. 

We had to make us of every bolder and high pool to sneak up on these fish.  Needless to say both of us had some slips as we attempted to not spook the fish, watch our back casts, make good casts, and watch our footing.  

We fished with a dry dropper combination for most of the time.  The mornings and evenings they were on both the dry and dropper about the same.  During the day we switched to only a dry.  They hit the stimulator mostly.  With hits also coming on the caddis and adams.  We fished mostly some pheasant tails nymphs underneath. 

This was my big fish of the trip.  Right as we were getting ready to take his picture, I dropped him.  Sorry, you will have to take my word for it.  There were a few hatches coming off.  Mostly small midges and some caddis.   The fish really never got up on the hatches very heavy.  There were a few holes were they got fairly active and we had some success.  We just felt good any time we could even induce a strike. 

So a fun trip.  Not a lot of fish, but a very fun place to be up in the mountains.  We will probably hit Oak Creek again early in the spring or late fall.   Thanks Jesse for going with. 

Flaming Gorge

My Uncle was kind enough to share some of these pictures with me.  (Maybe he shouldn't have because now I am mad that I was not there).  Hopefully my time of living vicariously through other people's pictures won't last much longer, but these sure are an eye full.

My father in law was able to go for a day.  Hopefully he feels good about not telling me he went on this trip.    I was told not to reveal the location of this place.  But to give you a clue.  It is a creek running into Flaming Gorge.  Spring run off is just starting, and these are all spawning fish.  

You can see how dark and murky the water is, so no sight fishing.  But look at the dark and bright
 colors of these fish.  Pretty awesome for lake spawn's.  The fly of the trip was jig-a-glows.

This appears to be one of the biggest.  Around 23''.  A very nice catch in that size of creek.

My Cousin Carlton broke in his new birthday rode here.  I great way to break in a fly rod.

You can see the weather was perfect, a little wet, but very nice to be fishing in.  I love the colors of the rocks in this area.  Makes me feel a little home sick for my child hood home.

Thanks for sharing the your trip Guy.  It looks like you had a great time.  4 Days of fishing, and a lot of fish later.   I will be seeing you next year for this trip