Provo River

November 25, 2008

Being that we had a week planned in Utah for Thanksgiving with the family I figured that I would spend two of the days up fishing the Middle and Lower Provo River. The weather turned out to be on my side with a warm front through the state with temperatures along the river around 50 degrees the first day and although it snowed a bit the night before the second day it was still in the 40's for some perfect fishing weather.

The first day I stopped by a local fly shop in Heber called Four Seasons Fly Shop to get some advice about what was happening on the water. After getting some great advice and some new flies I was on the middle section just below the Jordanelle dam by 8 in the morning. It was a perfect morning to be fishing as there was not another fisherman in sight, it was looking like I would have the river to myself. I decided to start out just below the dam and work my way down river. After about 8 casts over some riffles along a shelf I watched my indicator shoot under and I was rewarded with a solid hook set and head shake as I was hooked into my first fish of the day. After a pretty good fight I landed a beautiful Brown. I continued to work the riffles for a while with no luck. As I continued to work down river I started to find some nice pocket water and after landing around 4 more nice browns all on nymphs in different locations I started to see fish slurping flies off the surface. After a few minutes of just enjoying the moment I noticed they were surfacing to a blue wing olive hatch. I tied on a size 20 BWO and started casting to them. I had a few misses but was having a hard time seeing my size 20 on the water with the glare of the sun so after 45 minutes without a fish on I decided to put my Hopper Dropper Nymph rig back on and continue down river. It seemed that things were starting to slow down and I was glad to be able to hook into two more fish, a Rainbow and a Brown before everything shut down for the day. Over all it was an exceptional day of solitude and good fishing, I think I landed around 6 or so fish from 8am to 1pm and then everything shut down from 1pm to 5pm.

November 28, 2008

After such a wonderful first day on the Provo I was set to get back up for one additional day so I could try out the lower section of the river below Deer Creek dam. While the rest of the world was going shopping on the busiest day of the year I was glad to be headed to the river. I got on the river early in the morning and didn't have a plan as to where I was going to fish on the lower section so I just pulled over at the first pull off along side the road and rigged up. It was a bit cooler than the previous trip as well as there was a dusting of snow on the ground. Just like the day before I hooked up early with a nice sized Brown in some ripples. Despite a day of beautiful scenery that was the only fish I landed for the day. There were several fisherman out and I didn't see anyone else catching any fish either so it appeared the fish just weren't biting. I did get to explore much of the river and next time I think I will continue up the canyon to what appeared to be the second pull off, there were more plunge pools and other good looking trout holding sections on this stretch then further down. All and all it was a great couple of days on the river and I cant wait to get back up there in the near future.

Lees Ferry

November 24th 2008

For Thanksgiving this year we were heading up to Utah and being that we did not feel our son could manage a 12 hour car drive in one sitting I thought up the perfect selfless plan. It just so happens that halfway between our home and Utah is Lees Ferry, one of the best tail water fisheries in the South West. So after staying the night in a very simple Hotel in the very small town of Marble Canyon we met out guide for the day Rocky and we were headed up the Colorado searching for a monster Rainbow.

One of the reasons we choose the guide company we went with was that they actually encouraged me to bring my wife and son along for the day. I was very impressed with this as I could totally understand why a guide would not want a small child along for the day. Our guide rocky was great and we all had a blast. The day started off pretty good as we started to hook up one fish after another. After several fish Rocky thought we should try to head up river in search of some larger fish. As we went up river the fishing seemed to slow down and by the afternoon it had totally shut down, and while I was bumbed to see it slow down we had a great morning. At one of the holes along the way I thought I had hooked the big one. After a solid hook set the fish started to run, and after taking several feet of line it did not stop running, soon I was in my backing and the guide was rushing to pull up the anchor so we could chase the fish down before I ran out of line. Well after a good fight and a lot of excitment I landed the fish and instead of being the big one it turned out that I had just hooked in on the outside of the mouth which allowed it to fight much harder. So my search continues for the fish that will take me into my backing.



All three of us were in total amazement of the beauty of the Canyon. The water was clear and crisp and everywere we looked we were amazed at the beauty. It was a cold day and being so deep in the canyon we did not see all that much sun shine, we were bundled up and enjoyed the crisp weather. Carter had a blast walking around on the boat, watching the fishies, and being a charming.

Silver Creek

October 2008

After a wonderful weekend in Greer we decided to stop by Silver Creek on our way home. I had heard some good things about the Creek, and although as I was told it is not a very technical fishery there were several stories of some big fish. I had also heard that it was a pretty well maintained area so I figured it would be a good place for us all as a family to take a break and have some fun for a couple of hours before heading home. So after stopping by the local general store of the town of Silver Creek to get directions we finally found our way to the creek. Silver Creek is one of the few fisheries in Arizona that mandate catch and release only as well as artificial lure and fly only regulations. I am a strong believer in catch and release regulations and am glad to see the state supporting the sport.






We made it to the creek early in the afternoon with the thought of fishing for a couple of hours or so while exploring the area. I was not to optimistic after talking to two fishermen that had just spend the day with out a bite. However on the first hole I was landing my first Apache trout (native only to Arizona waters, as well as the only fish to come off of the endangered species list). Turned out that the fishing was actually rocking and we were landing Apaches and Rainbows every 10 minutes or so. Pretty soon an hour turned into several hours, luckly I have the most patient wife and son and we were all having a blast exloring the creek and catching fish. Finally when we were about to call it a day we came a cross a whole that was producing a fish on every drift. After several smaller fish I hooked into my first really big (over 14 inces) fish of the day and landed a 18.5" Apache. If that was'nt enough after a few more casts I hooked into a fish that ran me 30 feet up the creek the second I set the hook, after several more runs, as well as struggling to land him in my net which was half the length of the net I landed this beautiful 24" rainbow. One of the best parts about fishing with my wife is she takes some amazing pictures. It ended up being a wonderul day for fishing as well as some family fun, the only way this sport can get any better is when you get to share it with the ones you love.

X-Diamond Ranch

October 16-19, 2008

Had a great weekend with my wife and son and some friends to one of my favorite vacation spots in Arizona. We took off for a long weekend to X-Diamond Ranch near Greer Arizona to fly fish their private water section of the Little Colorado and stay at one of their cozy cabins.

I was able to fish for two days from sun up to sun down and although the river was running low there were fish to catch in almost every pool throughout the day. I went on the trip dreaming of landing a large Brown however while I saw some large ones and even had a few rise to my fly, such as one of the times when I snuck up through some tall reads on a large shallow pool, I tossed out my fly just up current of the pool and as it drifted into the mouth of the pool I saw a beautiful dark red brown cruise over from 4 feet away to hit my fly, alth0ugh as is very commen problem of mine just as he went to grab the fly I got so excited at seeing this georgous fish I set the hook to early and pulled the fly out of the water just as he was hitting it. So while I was sad not to land my dream brown I had a blast catching rainbow after rainbow a few in the 18" range.













Look closely and you can see that my amazingly talented wife snapped this shot just as this Rainbow jumped out of the water.

Chevelon Lake

October 11 2008

Since I have started to really get into fly fishing this year I have been looking for and dreaming about my first big brown. All summer long I have been hearing about how during the fall spawn they really start to get active up at Chevelon lake. So when I heard that my Mother and Sister-in-law were going to be in town in October I figured that would be my chance to get away. So after a week of anticipation and dreams about 20"+ browns taking me into my backing I was ready to go. However there was one problem, the weather report was saying 40+ MPH winds all weekend long. Being one who hates to change his plans as well as not understanding when to give up I decided to head up anyways. So Late Friday night I drove 3 hours up to Chevelon Lake and hunkered down in my sleeping bag in the back of my "new" Jeep (from here out known as Rubi) for the night. I started to get concerned when at 2 in the morning "Rubi" started to rock and shake from the winds, but while falling back asleep I hoped for the best. Sadly when I awoke at dawn to the sound of tree limbs snapping in the wind I knew I was in for an adventure. I snaked out of by sleeping bag and strapped my pontoon boat onto my back for the mile hike down the canyon into the lake.


I knew it was going to be a ruff day when I could barely get into my pontoon boat without it blowing down the lake. But not to be deterred I lunged in and despite the small group of boy scouts looking at me like I was crazy (while probable thinking how exciting it's going to be to finally have the opportunity to put to use the CPR they learned for their first aid marit badge) I kicked out into the lake. The wind was blowing spray from the lake horizontal across the water and as I tried to row and kick across the lake the wind drove me down the lake five feet for every two feet across. To make a long story short I've learned my lesson and for now on I will heed the weather man.

I stayed and fished the whole day and after cramped legs from constantly kicking my fins against the wind, and sore arms from rowing, I had myself 3 small Rainbows to show for it. Despite all of that, it was, as it always is, a great day to be in the outdoors and a wonderful place to spend a Saturday.

South Fork of the Snake River June 2008

This year we decided to go on a family vacation up to Jackson Wyoming with my wife's side of the family. Knowing that this was home to the Snake River I was thrilled with the idea. However I began to get dismayed as I began calling guides and fly shops to hear from one after another that do to higher than normal aounts of runoff the snake was totally unfishable and running like chocolate milk. I began to get worried that I was not going to be getting any flies in the water this year. Luckily after calling guide after guide, praying, and pleading that I would find the one guide who knew the secret spot to turn our luck around. After speaking to 5 or more guides I found my my answer. Turns out that the South Fork of the Snake is a tail water so it's not as affected by the runoff as the rest of the river and most guides don't have the permits to guide on this section. (special thanks to World Cast Anglers)

Bright and early after a long sleepless night of dreaming about landing monster trout Aimee my sister-in-law (the only other one in our group wise and mature enough to appreciate fly fishing) and I, gity, and ready to get to fishing took off to to meet our World Cast Guide Keith, the fly fish master of Victor, Idaho.
The water was a bit mirky so dry flies were going to be out of the question, not that I mind a day of nymphing. It was cold, we had forgotten our jackets and the fishing started slow. Just as I started to worry that our fishing trip may turn into a sight seeing trip my indicator shot below the surface and we had our first fish on. Moments later Aimee landed her first and we where in for a day of fast action and a 75+ fish day. Although it was a close call, and after some friendly debating and close picture inspection I succeeded the biggest fish of the day to Aimee with a nice 19" rainbow, and with my close second at just over 18" we didn't have anything to complain about.


Aimees 19" Rainbow

The fishing was fabulous, scenery stunning, and company wonderful, what more can you ask for.

Someone needs to teach this girl how to hold a fish for a picture.

We landed several different species of fish Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroats, and Cutthroat/Rainbow Hybrid and White Fish.