Downtown Brown Town
Tag Archives: trout
Late March in Utah
After winter blasted one last dump a few weeks ago, I’ve kinda given up on snowboarding for 2012. Better luck next year Old Man Winter. I truly am rooting for you, since I do work in a ski shop and all.
The weather has been a little wild this March though with record high temperatures and winds that make it difficult to toss the fly out there. On one of those windy days, I was feeling like getting out and doing some fishing, but not like driving out to the Provo so I decided to try one of Salt Lake City’s local canyons. I had fished Big Cottonwood last year, but wanted to go somewhere dog friendly to give the girlfriend some rest and relaxation while I was out. Therefore, I decided to check out good old Millcreek Canyon.
Although I found some success on a size 16 parachute adams and a size 18 zebra midge and it was fun to catch fish close to home the following day I decided to venture out into the wild.
I’m not used to nymphing such small streams, but after fishing a couple of hours with minimal success using a stimulator with a dropper, I decided to test my luck with some nymphs. The pheasant tail is my go to, so I tied that one on with a zebra midge in tail.
Although the fishing was pretty decent that day, the highlight of this trip was Bandito getting into a scuffle with a river otter. Without going into details, Bandito lost and the otter ran to the river biting my pooch and slapping him with his tail.
Round 3
Best Water in the USA
It’s been a warm and dry winter out here in Utah this year to say the least. Last year, I was hunting powder day in and out in March. This year, I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to get a change of scenery. For the past couple of weeks I’d been dabbling on the Weber and Provo and getting the itch to get out to the more remote streams that make fishing in Utah so great. Daylight savings time hit, the days instantly got longer, and it was time to pack the car and get away with the lady and the dogs.
Ever since Eagle Point opened up last year, I’ve been wanting to go. Being only three hours from Salt Lake City, it makes it the perfect distance for a weekend getaway.
To get up to the mountains, you have to drive through Beaver and with a billboard like that you have to find a local restaurant to give the water a try. Right off the main road we found a diner that had been in existence since the mid 1900’s and I understood why as soon as I drank the best damn water I’d ever had.
The food was pretty delicious as well 
After breakfast it was time to get up into the mountains 
Boardin' the point 
Snowcat instead of chairlifts? Fuck Yea 
Unhappy puppies I’ll keep my banter on the riding to a minimum since this is a fishing blog; but the resort was empty, the weather was perfect for untouched spring-time groomers, the service was awesome, pets are allowed, the condo was really nice, and the Outpost Grill needs a special shout out. The brand new lodge had a great mountain atmosphere with excellent food and drinks.
Day two, was fishing day. I’m never one to give up my locations, but if you know the area or looked at a map you probably could figure out the stream we fished. A lot of the river was still iced over, but the lower sections of the canyon opened up nicely for some great pocket water.
One of many zones throughout the canyon I think we hit up the zone in the canyon a little bit too early in the day because the fishing was a little slow. I almost had to forgo this entry because of a skunking, but after we went into town to refuel the vehicle we found a section on the stream about one or two thousand feet lower where the fish were quite active and more that willing to take the fly.
Walk of shame 
Zone 2 As soon as we saw the stream we saw fish rising to a BWO hatch that was going off. The only problem with fishing tiny flies in the wind is when you’re blind you can’t see the fly. I tried my luck with some size twenties to start, but every hook set was a little late. After this I tied on a size 16 Renegade with a size 18 Zebra Midge below. The fish weren’t going for the top fly, but they sure were excited about the dropper. No trophies were pulled out of the water on this journey, but it sure was nice to get out there.
Tala examining the catch The itch to get back to Southern Utah to fish has been reignited as I am finishing up this post. To everyone out there, keep on hunting for that tug.
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