The Journey: Utah

For a long time now I have been dreaming up a great fishing adventure; in search of not only pristine wild trout waters but also of adventure.  I am exploring rivers in some of the most renowned fishing states: Idaho, Montana, and Utah. Last Thursday I packed up nearly everything I own, threw it into my truck and trailer, and headed out east to Utah to begin my trip in some of the fine trout streams of the Uintas.

In typical WTW style, my long time fishing buddy Ross and I found a blue line on a map and pointed the car in that direction.  Our first stop was a place some refer to indiscriminately as "fish creek" and it had some of the finest runs that I have ever seen in a small stream.  We found a series of runs, one with a school of 12" browns stacked up in a dark mass that looked more like a bait cloud than a bunch of feeding trout.
The excitement was hard to contain as we threw everything from stoneflies to midges at them, all with moderate success.  Much of the fishing was textbook, spot a nose break the surface, figure out how to limit underwater landscaping, and drift a fly through the zone.  Ross was the first to pluck out a nice fish, I have to add that he did so using my set up!  The excitement of that fish apparently made Ross hungry and soon after and he attempted to eat a can of chili by pouring it all over his face.

Although we spotted a lot of nice fish, the packed down trails along the waters edge and the bait chukars near the dam gave us the message that we needed to get to a more remote spot, we soon found ourselves camped out under a bridge next to railroad tracks, and we found ourselves enjoying the cool utah night.  We felt like trolls, eating food like barbarians while living under a bridge, and most importantly guarding the gateway to pristine water.

The limited pressure worked in our favor and we kept plucking fish out of every single bend in the river.  We came across some large pools where we even got some fish to chase streamers.  Fish seem to love the streamers that are ginger/white, much like a juvenile whitefish or brown.  I like to fish them on a sink tip and a switch rod.  Streamer fishing can require patients but on this trip the extra patients paid off.

Despite great fishing we wanted to explore another river, Im not usually one to leave a good time for a good time, but our move was wise and we got into some great fish.  Both on streamers and stoneflies.

Tomorrow I will be heading north, I pray the wind is at my back and fish stay hungry.  Wish me luck and stay tuned for my Montana update.