The Kreelex is a successful pattern for trout. I have fished it on the Snake and Green Rivers, both with success. The audio on this isn’t so great.

From This is Fly Daily

via LOADED.

Big Weber River brown trout

Wildlife biologists in Utah have been busy in recent weeks conducting gill net and electroshock studies on local fisheries.  Generally the reports have been quite positive.  Here are links to some of the results:

• Weber River survey report (via Salt Lake Tribune Fishing Blog)
• Big tigers and wild browns (via Utah DWR)
• Flaming Gorge survey report – big fish (via Salt Lake Tribune Fishing Blog)

Let’s get out and get some!

Me and a brown trout

I recently had a chance to float the Green River in Eastern Utah with a couple of old friends Andrew and Kevin.  We had a great time.  We floated the A section from the dam down to Little Hole in a drift boat we rented from the local lodge.  The weather was incredibly snowy, but we carried on undaunted.  The day started a little late as we were recovering from our late-night drive to the lodge which included plenty of snow, an encounter with pajama clad vixens in the Mountain View, Wyoming Maverick gas station, and a VERY near miss with a bounding deer (actually she brushed up against the car, but there was no real contact).

Kevin and a brown trout

After hearty breakfast at the lodge, we headed off to the river.  We started the day with some deep nymphing, but found that to be a little slow, mostly I think this was due to not finding the right depth and feeding lanes.  Within an hour of getting on the water however, we found ourselves in the midst of the biggest midge hatch I have ever seen.  They were on the water in droves and everywhere you looked there dozens of fish up and feeding actively on the surface.  We pulled over to make some rigging adjustments and I got out to wade fish.  I had two beautiful browns in a matter of moments interestingly enough they were both caught on my olive compar-a-merger  pattern which let me know that the BWO were also getting … Continue Reading

I didn’t realize that the previous story I linked to Fishing: Flying on the Green, also had a companion video, which I have posted below (thanks for the tip Brett).  This is a perfect example of why I love the Green.  Around the 8:00 minute mark prepare to have your mind blown with an underwater shot of the river showing the great numbers of trout for which the Green River is famous and they aren’t tiny.  Unbelievable.  I need to get there soon!

(Click on the resolution setting in the player to watch in HD)

• Green River fishing story and video
• Fishing: Flying on the Green (via Salt Lake Tribune)

Wow, two book reviews in two days hard to imagine.

Today I am reviewing a great children’s book called Trout are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre (Author) and Kate Endle (Illustrator). This book offers an educational, yet fun look at the circle of life in a trout stream and describes how trees ultimately become trout.  It is a great way to teach your kids about ecology and start them on the path to amateur entomology, we call fly fishing.  This is a timely read given that Earth Day will soon be upon us and you will have a fun book you can share with your kids.

Trout cruising (photo from another outing)

The other day I was out scouting a local urban creek to look for some fishing opportunities.  Mostly I was going to see if there were any carp in a place I had seen  them before, thinking it would be fun to tie into one on a little creek.  What I found surprised me.  As I approached the creek, I could see there were 20-30 fish schooled up at the bottom of the run.  I couldn’t distinguish what they were, so I moved in for a closer look.  This move scared off several of the nicer ones and for a moment I thought I was looking at some mountain whitefish.  However when I got a clear look at the few that remained I found they were all trout, some in the 14-16 inch range.  I was shocked to say the least.  Historically, I had caught trout on higher up on the creek as a kid, but after years of pollution and encroachment of white bass and carp, I guess I figured that trout were a thing of the past.  These trout were stacked like cord wood in there and they were all wild.  Amazing!  Now to get back there and hook a few without drawing too much attention to myself, that will be the real trick!

SkateTheFly.com, a blog by Dylan Rose has a great post today featuring the photos of Jason Jagger (not sure if he is related to Mick).  The photos are primarily of trout in the act of feeding and are really killer shots.  This is sort of the still photo version of the video I posted a couple weeks back.  I have included my favorite here, but you will need to click the link below to see the rest.

STF SPOTLIGHT: JASON JAGGER

If this clip doesn’t have you salivating over some sweet dry fly fishing then there is something wrong with you! The trailer is for a film called Chasing Hatches by from RA Beattie (Vimeo channel). I have never seen such great footage of rising trout. Really incredible! Enjoy!chasing hatches from RA Beattie on Vimeo.

This article Utah wildlife officials to reintroduce cutthroat trout to creeks from the Deseret News talks about a project to restore the native Bonneville Cutthroat Trout (the state fish of Utah) to a few smaller creeks in Davis County.  This is exciting news as it opens up new possibilities to anglers and increases the range of the these awesome fish.  Thanks Utah DWR!

I came across a few interesting outdoors related headlines this weekend. Here is the run down:

• Utah’s exotic species: The good, the bad and the ugly – The Salt Lake Tribune – This article covers several of the numerous introduced species to Utah – some loved and some not so much. Of they ones they list I am most annoyed by starlings, burbot, quagga and zebra mussels, and tamarisk. A couple of trees they didn’t list, but drive me nuts is the are chinese elms and sumacs; they are nearly impossible to kill. It strikes me as a bit hypocritical to pick and and choose which non-native species we tolerate. In just about every case on the list, I would be just as happy with the native counterpart in sport. Bonneville cutthroat trout are the native trout in Utah and they are fun to catch on the fly. I don’t know if I would miss brown or rainbow trout if they were never introduced but hard to imagine. I know that bighorn sheep were once abundant in the mountains here so not sure why they favored bringing goats in instead of recovering sheep.
• Man catches carp the weight of Kylie Minogue – The Telegraph – Perhaps the best written headline of the weekend. I would like a to catch a fish that could be measured to a popular celebrity, perhaps the size of someone like Meatloaf or David Crosby. Anyway that is one MONSTER carp. Looks like something from an episode of River Monsters or Hooked. 
• Utah Field Guide: Bonneville Cisco – Roughin’ It Outdoors on KUTV 2 – A little feature on a fish found only in Utah’s Bear Lake. A smelt-like remnant of the ancient inland sea that covered the region, Lake Bonneville. 

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