Christmas in Utah!!

First off, Merry Christmas to everyone!

We are up in Utah again to be with family for Christmas and New Year. And of course being this close to the Green I had to make a trip. I almost did not go because I could not find anyone to go with me, and because it is a lot colder here than in Tucson AZ. Luckily a face book post caught the attention of my old high school buddy Tyler, and we then talked another buddy Broc into heading up to the Green for a morning trip. It was actually a bit warmer up in Flaming Gorge than in Roosevelt, and being waist deep in the Green just felt great. Thanks Tyler and Broc for going with me. We only fished for a few hours, and it took us a little while to figure out what was going on. We ended up catching most of the fish on copper johns, and I landed a few on an egg pattern. The fishing was getting better right when we left, they lowered the flows to about 900 and we were able to get into a few. We didn't catch anything big, although the Rainbow that I landed is probably the biggest fish I have landed on the Green for a while. But it was fun, I think I missed as many as I landed. I was having trouble setting the hook. But it was a fun trip. I think I am going to have to make this a tradition, so next year you are all invited.
Broc landed a nice Brown for his first fish

My Rainbow

November Utah Trip

I was able to take 2 days in our trip to Utah to get some fishing in. Friday the 20th I went with my Father and brother in law up to Jones hole on Diamond Mtn. It was a great day for fishing, just someone forgot to tell the fish. My uncle had gone up the week before and said that he had done great, which is evident by the nice Rainbow he landed there. So I was pretty excited. We to there and the first hole I casted in I landed two fish, one decent Rainbow and a little Brown. So I was pretty excited. But the rest of the day went pretty slow. I think I landed maybe 4 more fish, nothing of any size. Both John and Cody did a little better but nothing spectacular. The fish were everywhere, just not eating what we were throwing at them. This time of year the Browns are spawning there and are usually pretty aggressive. I threw a little jigaglow egg pattern most of the day, landed all my fish on that. I did have a few hits on the big dry I had on top. Cody and John had luck throwing spinners. The most exciting part of the day was in the last hole on the way back to the truck. I hooked a nice fish but he broke me off. I never really got a good look at him but he felt really nice. So I called it good after that. Just nice to be up in the mountains.

My Uncle Guy and his Big Rainbow

Saturday my Dad and Brother drove up from Logan and we floated down the Green. There were actualy quite a few other boats on the river. The morning was perfect, actually really nice for that time of year. We had come prepared for snow and had to take off all our cold gear. Around 11 though a cold wind started blowing and the temperature dropped. Again, the fishing was not super hot. I think I landed around 8 fish, Ryan and Dad about half of that. We did double up once with both Ryan and my dad landing 16-17 inch browns. Again we fished with Egg patterns but had a few hits on the Dry, I think my dad landed one on the Dry, a big foam ant pattern. It was just really nice to be up on the Green after more than 2 years. We got to Little Hole just as the storm blew in and we drove off the mountain in a snow Storm. But a fun Trip.

All of the fish were almost identical in size, 16-17 inch fish. Ryan landed the big one of the day

Lots of boats on the River, But we were the only boat that ever doubled up. (Good guiding I think)Thanks Ryan and Dad for taking time off to go fishing with me, I sure enjoyed it.

Fish Pictures

So, I am always on the lookout for nice pictures of fish and nature. I found a site that has some pretty awesome Pictures. I thought I would share the site with anyone who is interested.

http://www.castawayfilms.com/
Enjoy

Fishing Withdrawals

So,
I am beginning to forget what it is like to catch a fish. I can't wait for November. We are heading up to Utah for Thanksgiving and are planning at least a trip to Jones Hole, and hopefully a trip down the Green. If you are going to be in the Uintah Basin at that time and would like in let me know. Anyway, I thought I would post a few pics to make me miss the fall and fishing even more.

No, that is not me. But someplace that I am going to go someday. Platte River in Colorado. MAN!

My Dad, Sister, and Brother in law. Paradise, Cache Valley Utah. That a girl sis. I knew you had some of the fishing blood in you. My Dad and Aaron went fishing while Carly and the kids came to visit us down in AZ. Thanks Aaron for letting your family come and visit. We enjoyed them. Hope you had fun fishing.

July 11, 2009. West fork of the White Rocks River.

The White Rocks River is in the Uintah Mountains. It flows from Chepata lake. There is a trail that cuts down to the river about 4-5 miles below the dam. It is a pretty easy hike to get to the River. It is about a half hour hike from the road. Hiking along the river is a little tougher. Part of the river is open and easy walking. other parts go through rock slides or steep canyons where you have to either get up higher or walk in the river. The river was running pretty high so wading was not easy. There were some bugs out. We saw some big Caddis which is always a good sign. But I don't think it matters what you use. The fish hit anything that you threw to them. The water is so fast that if you can hit your spots there are at least a couple of fish in every little hole and eddie. There are some parts of the river that have some nice runs where is you can make good casts and mend nicely you can get some good runs. John would hit every little slow spot in the river. Behind rocks or back eddies on the bank. If you can get your fly into the whole you will probably catch fish. We used a variety of flies, but we ended up just using the biggest flies (to discourage the little fish from hitting) that seemed to float the best and take a beating. We caught a lot of fish.

Secret Lake

So, I don't know if I should tell anyone where these pictures were taken. I'll give you a clue and then you can go and explore. High lake up in the Uintah Mountains. I was not present during this trip, but from the stories and Pictures the fishing was amazing. John, Cody, and James took some horses in and had a great day.

Jones Hole Utah

Jones Hole is a little stream that feeds a fish hatchery and then flows into the Green River above Split Mountain. The stream is about 4 miles long until it reaches the green, but it has some good fishing with the potential to land some big fish. I have not fished there a lot but it is a beautiful canyon with wildlife, native American petroglyphs, amazing canyons and great fishing.

John and I had a great day fishing, but I think Cody got skunked. So he decided to take it out on the local wildlife.

Fishing in the Uintahs

These pictures are a little old, but I wanted to put them on. Last summer John and I went up to the west fork of the White Rocks river and had a blast. Even though there was still a lot of runoff the fishing was great. I don't think it would have matter what you were fishing with, you were going to catch fish. I ended up just putting on a big cicada pattern that would float and take a beating.
This was the catch of the day. John still needs to learn how to hold fish for pictures to show the length. But this one measured around 19 inches. Not bad for a wild mountain stream.
Another Nice Catch. The fish were very bright colored and very aggressive. Mostly brook trout and Cut Throat.

Newton Tiger

So my dad has been trying to land a Tiger Muskie at Newton Lake up in Cache Valley Utah. He has gone out a few times with no luck. Finally, after a bunch of follows, he was able to hook up. These would be fun to fish for if you could catch more than 1 fish per 4 days of fishing. But good job dad for persevering.

Fishing withdrawals

So, we have recently moved to Tucson Arizona. Not much fly fishing or any fishing for that matter. Yet I now have time to actually spend fishing. So as time and opportunity permit, I will now begin to update and post. Please feel free to send me your stories. I like to look at pictures and hear a good fish tale.