Southern Utah Big Mouths...

This past weekend Jesse Riding (manager of Rainy's Flies) and I found ourselves in Southern Utah chasing largemouth bass on the fly. We arrived at S. Hollow Friday morning and were disappointed to see that the lake was low and none of the cattails were flooded on the shore lines..... No cover generally equates to no bass and especially no bluegill. We moved toward what little cover was present and began chuckin' junk into the clear water. We were excited to pick off a couple small bass right off the bat, blind casting into the deep. (Make sure to click on pics to get the full effect)



After about an hour or so we spotted a hawg fish that had staked claim under a submerged sagebrush. We threw at him for ten or fifteen minutes without as much as a wiggle. We decided to move on. In the next couple hours, we caught a few more decent fish and one nicer fish sight fishing. I love seeing a bucket inhale an articulated dungeon!










Around noonish, I spotted a 4+lb fish hangin' out between two big brush piles. I threw a dungeon about 5 feet in front of him. To my complete surprise, he casually swam up to the sinking fly and with one twitch of his jaw, the fly disapeared! I strip-set as hard as I could, but I had tons of slack and the set was as girly as ever. The fish came up and tail-walked, and unfortunately, spit the fly on the leap. He laughed casually as he slowly swam into the depths.... I was frustrated but Jesse reminded me that I at least had him on and had the chance to fight a great fish. My dad came down and met us and fished with my nephew, Connelly. They caught hawg! Connelly reeled him in, but wasn't too excited to touch the beast...



In the afternoon, we decided to go back and try the big fish from the morning. Upon finding him in the exact same location, we threw a bunch of different patterns with no success. After spooking the fish out of his hideout multiple times, it became apparent that he was staying put. To make a long story short, we spent over 45 minutes on the fish and eventually made the fish mad enough that I hooked into a bass of a lifetime on my seven weight... The fight was sweet especially since Jesse caught the play by play on his digital camera...... Enjoy.







Finally.........the beast in hand. It was a beautiful fish.... the coolest part was the tail of a 9-10in bass hanging out of its throat into its mouth.....(sorry no pic)





We tried Quail in the evening, but we were unsuccessful. The following morning we decided to ditch the bucket mouths and head for higher elevations to chase some pig bows and cutties. Panguitch lake is a great fishery. We launched Jesse's kayak and I fished from shore. Fishing was tough and we moved a couple times before we got into any action. I finally hooked up on an awesome male rainbow on a crystal bugger under an indicator. Jesse paddled over for a pic and I dropped it back into the lake while trying to take a photo. Good thing Jesse suggested we take a pic while the fish was in the net! The pic doesn't do the fish justice.....twas one of my favorite rainbows of all time.



To FINALLY end this book of a post, I fished Wednesday on our way home from the Johnson Ranch up Salina canyon. I fished Yogo Creek with the Johnsons, my wife, my son Gunner, and my daughter Addie. The fish were looking up and I took good numbers of Bonnies on a chernobyl and a stimulator. I love topwater action. I was starting to forget how sweet it is to see cutthroat casually taking bugs off the top. Talk about a perfect week...Thanks again Jesse.......... Still smilin'.................

Rainbows that "tug"

The end of the semester celebration was a good one. Thanks Clarence, Gilbert, Paul and James for a good time on the ponds. I couldn't help but laugh as we started catching these hawgs!!! Sweetness all the way....
ps...check out Paul's sweet handmade net.... It handled some big boys today!

More pics from the trip can be found at Gilberts blog here

Gilwire

Blacksmith Salmon Flies

I got up early this morning to enjoy a brisk trip on the river. I parked in a campground just past Left Hand Fork at about 6:15am. After flipping a rock near shore it was obvious the salmon flies were moving toward shore. One single rock had 25+ monster nymphs under it! I started fishing a Rowley Stone... I lost it along with a rainbow warrior my first cast. I decided to fish a rubber leg stone that I tied with pickle chenille and another r. warrior. On my next cast after the dreaded re-rig, I spotted a brownie lie tight to the bank below me. I tried to get a good drift straight below me, but my cast train wrecked and everything piled up about 5ft short of my target. The line straightened, however, and the nymph's rubber legs came alive as the fish swam 2+feet upstream to grab it. It was a sweet take. The action was hot on the rubber leg with an occasional heavy white fish on the bead. After about 10 baby brownies, a baby bow, and a few nice white fish, I spotted a little brownie across the stream, hugging the bank. I made a check cast to test distance then shot the pickle into the small window in front of the fish. The nymph slapped hard and I was surprised it didn't spook Mr. Spotty. He assumed the opposite and aggressively attacked! He put up a good fight for a Blacksmith baby of a brown. To make an already long story short, I had a great time catching my fill. The sight fishing was an added bonus as well..... The smile is wide. Yes Joe........the poo stick actually catches fish.

Back in my groove.....

So life has been a little crazy the past few months. Time seems like a distant dream. In my spare minutes here and there, I find myself web surfing and reading articles , trying to absorb as much relevant info as possible for the upcoming year. I must say, I have read a lot and I feel like my knowledge continues growing exponentially as far as destinations, techniques, and BIG fish are concerned. I've met and talked to a ton of sweet peeps whose mountain of knowledge continues to impress me. This year, I hope to put some of that info to good use. Typically at the beginning of each year, I make these silly goals pertaining to flies, fish and destinations. Last year I accomplished most of my goals and a couple that I hadn't planned on tackling. First and foremost,...... I caught some DANG nice fish on a MOUSE!!!!.....To me this truly was "the year of the mouse" and one of my greatest fly fishing highlights of all time.....The crazy thing is, as I run the past year through my head, many other fantastic trips jump out at me. I figure I would throw out some other crazy goals for 2010 as the semester comes to a close and I feel I will be able to finally wet a line...

(Disclaimer: I know it's April and the year began more than three months ago, but for those who really fish, you know the "real" fishing year begins when Scofield begins to thaw and the river.......begins to flow....)

1) Tiger Musky AND N. Pike on the fly. (Newton and private pike pond)
2) Fish a streamer A LOT! (SculpinZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BABY!)
3) The Green River (Can you believe I've never fished it?!!! I can't!)
4) Steelhead in Idaho (This would have been done this weekend if it weren't for a test...ARRG!)
5) Chinook in the summer (I love Idaho... Did I mention I love it?)
6) 24 inch brownie ("Alright I didn't mean it but...Yes I did, I said it!"
7) Enjoy watching my Daughter reel in innumerable fish on the fly (Gunner, you'll soon be old enough buddy)
8) I almost forgot, an 8lb largemouth is also on the agenda :) (Oh yeah baby, I made battle with her last year and she conquered.... She's mine!)
9) Brownie on a mouse (Go ahead and check 22in Cuttie off the mouse list.... I'm still smilin)
10) Remain sane as I try to juggle life, school, work, an obsession, and most importantly, my FANTASTICLY SUPERB family.

Ps.... I recently accepted a job at Rainy's Flies taking care of business as their "in house" sales rep for Alaska, Canada, BC, and some eastern states around Virginia..... I'm still learning the ropes, but talk about an atmosphere! I get paid to talk to guys about flies and fishing! WHAT? Good times.........

Winter in Idaho and Montana.......

So I figure that I would write a little about whats been going on the last little while. I haven't been fishing hardly at all due to the FREEZING weather around here. Last weekend however that all changed as we packed up and headed to Idaho and Montana for a little winter fishing. Rich and I fished just below the dam on South Fork for a few hours on Friday morning. It was somewhere in the ballpark of 20 below zero but we still managed to pick off some nice fish. Rich battled with a 21+ inch cuttie but lost it due to the lack of a net. (Joe get on it) I landed a monster brownie and many 16-18in cutties and bows. We then headed to Henries Lake to stay in the cabin. Snowmobiles were on the agenda and we had a good time. He headed up to Montana on Saturday morning to fish the Madison and as soon as Rich found the bows we slayed em consistently for an hour or two before we had to head out. We had a bunch of doubles and of course, Rich lost the big one......thanks Rich for a good time.


Remember..............snow and lethargic trout are only temporary......

Egg MANIA: Lower Fish Creek

Joe and I hit Lower Fish Creek (Saturday Oct. 10th, Low 30's in Morning, High 50's in the afternoon) for one last fly fall HOORAH. The flows were lower than optimum, but reasonable. The browns were spawning and there were redds everywhere! The fish were aggressive and eating eggs like mad. We caught some really nice browns and bows. The fall leaves and spawner colors were AMAZING! Thanks Joe....

Another sweet flick.......