Two States & Ten Rivers

The plan was to fish any blue line on our map that looked worthy to toss a line in. Wyoming and Montana were the destinations, and it seemed there were more blue lines than actual roads. This was a good thing. It was time to get off the beaten path. My sisters wedding was two days out, and we had plenty of time to hit the water.

Wyoming:

Our first blue line was a river that my dad truly cherished. His father had taken him there as a youngster, and he had not been back in many years. Before our venture up the canyon we stopped at a local hunting and fishing outfitter store for our Wyoming fishing licenses. The man at the counter gladly welcomed us and supported a true handlebar mustache. We got into the topic of wolves and Yellowstone National Park. We learned that the wolves were brought into the park from Canada. They were bigger, and much more aggressive than the traditional Yellowstone wolf. Who in their right mind would think introducing a Canadian wolf would be a good thing? Regardless, they are now a big problem, and it will be interesting to see how the park service handles the situation.  The store worker, being a local rancher himself,was not very enthused about the wolves and the destruction they have had on his and other local ranchers livestock. The wolves have been killing animals and just recently the state of Wyoming have let ranchers shoot the animals if on their property. Our short time in Wyoming confirmed that many people are upset and are seeking explanation.

Driving on a dirt road alongside the river reminded me a little of the Animas in Colorado. It was big water surrounded by a beautiful forest. The one thing missing was the huge towering peaks that looked over the Animas. Still, it was beautiful and brought back memories of running the Animas a couple months ago. We would not fish the main branch of river until later on. First, we were hitting the tributary where my dad grew up fishing.

Snake river fine spotted cutthroat trout were the target species. Mountain whitefish also lived here, but we didn't see nor catch any. When I think cutthroat trout I think dry flies. And dry flies were the hot menu item. These fish were beautiful, and just may of been the first time I recall catching this species of cutthroat.

We had our fun on this little stream but now we were ready for bigger water. We drove a short distance downstream and made a left and drove up the dirt road alongside the river. The river was big and wide, but like most rivers, it branched off in a few spots which split the river in two, sometimes three's. This was our target water. Getting to the right spot had us driving past numerous campers and other fisherman until we finally found a spot to pull over.  The river was split here and we would take the closest stem.

With dry flies still rigged we hurried to the water and began tossing big foam bugs down foam lies. I went to a spot that had a small tributary stream running in and let my big bug splat the surface hard. A fine spotted cutthroat sipped up the bug and slashed at the surface revealing it's crimson jaw.

As darkness fell upon us and after a full day of catching cutthroat on dries, we opted to leave and make the drive back to Alpine. Amy, my dad's good friend invited us to stay the night in her home.  Her house was a ways off the beaten path and was nestled up against the mountains. It turned out to be a great place to crash.

Due to the extreme lateness of this blog post, I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

The highlight of the trip was this beautiful Yellowstone cutthroat I caught. I waded across the river and spotted a break in the opposite bank that looked like a fishy spot. I tossed my hopper right above and as it went into the break this fish came out and nailed it. The fish put up a good fight and I landed him by myself in my net which was a little tough due to the high water, but I managed. It was a fish and moment I'll never forget.

Cabin views

The boys

Where my grandpa used to take my dad fishing

During my stay at my sisters in Livingston, my dad and I snuck away one morning to a stream he discovered a while back. We arrived to the stream and light rain was falling with low lying clouds. Downed logs from a fire a while back made for tough, yet fun fishing conditions. The Yellowstone cutts favored the fallen trees but a well placed beetle pattern often sparked their interest. The beetle pattern I tied had a fluorescent green hot spot which helped me differentiate between fly and the many raindrops hitting the water. 

Misty wet morning

Fun cabins at Pine Creek Lodge 

Beautiful sisters wedding

DeYoung!

Fall and Spring Mashup - Tigers and Brookies

This is an overdue blog post. Due to the lateness, I have decided to combine a couple of trips together as they were in the same area, though at different times. Truth is, fishing trips have unfortunately been few and far in-between lately. As I said in my last post, I have been quite busy lately with lots of changes going on. I am however excited to say that I was accepted to graduate school and am moving to Maine! I am stoked and cannot wait to scout out the area and see what Maine has to offer.  I will be super busy in school but I hope to make the time and get out and fish and explore. Stay tuned for future blog posts!

The lack of fishing lately has been a bummer but the trips I have been on have been good ones.  Last fall Mike and I went to chase some tigers and I was awarded with a new personal best.

Smashed a damselfly nymph

This lake is used for the breeding of the native Colorado river cutthroat. Surprisingly, we caught lots of smaller brookies and just a few cutthroat. 

Tim Allen???

You know there is a big ol brookie under that tree

Just this past weekend, we visited the area again but, unfortunately, the tiger lakes were frozen solid. We did find a lake that was completely open (which remains a mystery), and a couple others partially open. The gang this go-around consisted of Mike, his neighbor Conner, and Conners friend Mitch and myself. Upon leaving Cedar City, the weather was not pleasant. It was cold and snowing. I was second guessing this trip but then again, I wasn't because this would be my last time in who knows how long. We were all optimistic the weather would turn and our beliefs were granted. Though, mother nature did make herself known that first evening.

Mike fell through the ice here

While fishing ice free water our first evening the winds picked up and snow began to fall. A bitter cold chill came and I hurried for the fleece and rain jacket. We all kept on fishing for another hour and a half or so until the cold and lack of fish had us seeking the warmth of a fire.

Beaver home

The following morning we geared up for the tiger lakes.  We hiked through roughly a five inch depth of snow the entire way. Much to our dismay, when we arrived both lakes were completely frozen. I remember feeling super bummed out, as I desperately wanted to catch some big tigers. We also felt bad for Conner and Mitch because Mike and I had talked up the lakes so much. With nothing we could do, we headed out and back to the truck, but not first without a bird lesson from Conner. Turns out, Conner is what you would call a "birder", aka someone who ventures out to find and identify species of birds and record their findings. We all got a good chuckle out of his enthusiasm for birds but I admit it was interesting to know about the various types in the area we were in. Hiking and birding!

Plan B was to head to a couple other lakes we had success before. The lakes, to our knowledge, did not contain anything big but, they produced lots of numbers. The first lake we arrived at had a small opening from where the stream came in. Mike immediately hooked into a couple but, no more came out to play.

We then headed to the other nearby lake. This lake, while still mainly frozen fortunately had some open water at either ends. Mike and I headed across the lake and caught some small brookies though it was not easy. Our flies had to dodge all the logs and come in close contact with the ice shelf to entice the fish. This made it more fun than when we were catching countless of these little guys last year in open water. It was rewarding to place our flies in tight quarters and catch the small yet aggressive brookies.

Snack time!

Big ol caddis

After a couple hours of fishing we decided to head back to the open water lake in hope for some bigger fish. But not first without a little fun. On this trip I brought some of my uncle Paul's homemade M-80's. These were a wedding gift nearly seven years ago and an awesome one, in my opinion. My wife thought otherwise.

We decided to light one and chuck it out onto the lake to see if we could blow a hole in the ice. Our plan failed. When the bomb made contact with the ice slush put the fuse out and we were left with no explosion. Within a matter of minutes however the four of us were working on trying to retrieve the bomb to try and light it again. This consisted of Mitch wading halfway out and Mike and I lobbing a tree out onto the ice for Mitch to use to scoot the bomb closer his way. It worked. Though after lighting the fuse again it stopped once again with only a pinch away from going boom. We waited a while and then Mike bravely went over and hurried and grabbed it and chucked it into the water. Maybe a fish ate it and was dealt a lucky surprise?

The highlight of the trip for me was a nice brookie I caught under a beavers home. The day prior, I tossed a fly over the edge and waited patiently as I bobbed the leech up and down hoping for a strike. A brookie eventually exploded out but did not commit to the fly. This fish was much smaller than the one I caught the next day with the same technique. This time, I tossed a chironomid over and just as I brought it right up under the beaver home, the fish bolted out and smashed the little fly. I then had the challenge of keeping the fish on as there were logs all over the place. I raised my rod tip high and kept the fish as close to the surface as possible and walked over the beaver home onto the shore. From there, I netted the fish and Mike came over and snapped a couple pics.

The other memorable fish I caught happened right along a deep weed bed. It came from under the weeds and slammed my black leech.

All of us caught nice fish at this lake and the fish were much bigger than the other lakes nearby. Im just glad that my last trip here wasn't a total bust and that we all had success.

Midges were plentiful

FUEL

That evening something special happened. Mitch happened to have a turkey tag and the turkeys were plentiful. It was rather interesting to see so many because we had been there other times and had not seen any. 

After fishing we were driving back to camp and stumbled upon a tom turkey and lots of hens by his side. Mitch immediately grabbed his shot gun and hurried out of the truck to chase the tom.  He got off one shot and the tom leaped into the air and we though he had gotten him. However, within seconds the group was suddenly booking it over the ridge. Mitch chased them and Mike, Connor and I sat and waited. Soon, we heard another shot, and then another. After a while Mitch came back through the woods with a turkey lunged over his back. He got him.

Not a bad first turkey

That evening, the beautiful bird was gutted and prepared. Conner, knowing the process instructed Mitch as it was his first turkey. It was obviously not the typical way to hunt the bird but, it will be a memorable first for him. I kept some feathers for fly tying. We'll have to see what I come up with.

In all honesty, watching the whole process of hunting this turkey kind of made me want to start hunting for them. I have never hunted before but, this had me really thinking about it.

These two last trips on my favorite mountain made for memorable adventures. I am surely going to miss this place but am glad I got to experience it one last time before the move. I am very excited to move to Maine and look forward to exploring a new area. I will definitely be making time to explore and fish so once again, stay tuned for future blog posts!

Blog Update/Photo Contests

I know, it has been a long time since I last posted.  A lot has been going on in my life, and some of the events have made it hard for me to blog. Our family recently moved and I have been travelling for grad school interviews. Lastly, my computer decided to crash. It simply will not turn on anymore. I haven't been able to take it to a computer store as of yet to see what the problem is but hopefully I can soon. As of now, I am borrowing a computer until mine is up and running. Truth is, writing is a form of therapy for me. There is something about journaling and expressing your emotions through writing that is therapeutic. I hope to get back to posting more regularly soon simply for my own well being.

Being that it is now winter, though it honestly does not feel like it due to the extreme lack of precipation Utah is experiencing, I have not been out fishing. Sad excuse because I know there is open water. I have also not been tying flies. Moving has really put a halt on tying due to lack of room in our current living situation. Hopefully I can get back to tying soon as I miss the art. Regardless, this season I have done other things with the family such as hiking and snowshoeing. It has been a lot of fun making memories together.

Recently, I am honored to say that I have won two photography contests. One was just a small Facebook contest, the other, a larger one put on by American Angler magazine. The Facebook contest was through a fly shop in Wyoming- Fly Shop of the Bighorns. They sent me a surprise box filled with all sorts of goods and also threw in something special for my daughter. As you can see in the picture below, Emma was quite happy with the gift, so was her dad. For the American Angler contest, my image debuted in the February/March edition which was recently released. I received the mag in the mail last week and it was awesome to see my image in the magazine. I won third place in the "Pass It On" category. Photography is something I really enjoy and seek to get better at. The few contests I have won have been a rewarding experience.

Hopefully I can get back to posting more regularly soon. Thanks for reading and tightlines!

Emma loves her new Patagonia jacket

My image is featured on the bottom right