chuckwater
Member
Fishing has been good in the high Uintas this year so far. Lots of healthy fish this year.
I try to get there are as early as possible to avoid crowds. This year I made it up shortly after the gate opened, and most of the lakes had already iced off, except for Mirror Lake itself.
The first stop was a lake i've always ignored. It has a variety of species, with stocked rainbows and wild brookies being the main catch. For the last couple years i've been experimenting with big articulated streamers in the high elevation to see it something up there would eat it. A schmidt's meal ticket was tossed around for a while and a 20" tiger eventually smashed it. I wasn't expecting that but i'll take it.
For the next trip i had some hiking in mind. I always scope out new places, but usually end up going to the same fickle lake anyways. This particular lake has some hold overs lurking in it but they are not always easy to catch. Most of the time they are impossible to catch for a variety of reasons. But the main reason is low numbers, and large average size. I could toss out a dead minnow on gear, but i want to catch them on the fly.
After walking the entire perimeter of the lake i had one chunky brookie to show, and at the last spot something stopped my simi seal leech dead in its tracks. It wasn't a hard hit, but the weight of the fish was undeniable. It fought ridiculously hard, as do most big tigers. I was pleased to pull in a 21" tiger, which is probably my biggest tiger on the fly so far, at least by length. Talk about spoiled!
After catching two big tigers from lakes i decided it was time to fish the streams and rivers. It was time to check off some of the spots on the back log of places i wanted to explore.
First was an area i tried to explore last year, but ended up running into a stoic moose and turning around. This time no moose. It took awhile to find a fishy spot. Most of the water was void of fish. Not surprising as the river was raging 1800 cfs white water not too long ago. When the flows drop its a bit of a gamble where the fish will be. Its a harsh river for fish at times, with the river bed showing scars of past flows.
A spot where a smaller stream converges resulted in one bite on a zuddler, but it appeared to be a small stockie rainbow.
A little further down I finally found a couple deeper holes, the first one being a nice pocket below a rock. A plump brown was waiting there to ambush the zuddler.
The next hole i took my time fishing as it was large and deep. Surprisingly on the first pass no fish were seen of caught. It wasn't until i had hiked down and then back again when a second shot at the hole casting from a different angle resulted in a bite from something a little bigger than i normally expect on this stretch of the Provo.
A nice cutt? Definately a first for me on this section. Ive caught cutts closer to Jordanelle, but never by highway 150. There are small streams in the area that have cutts so i guess it's not out of the question.
On the way back a diversion up the small side stream was made, where i caught a small brookie.
Then it was on to a different stretch. Luckily i found some fish fairly fast and didn't have to hike to find them. Its fun walking on the river bed that was not too long ago under raging water.
A brown and yet another cutt showed up, both taking a small black leech.
A little further down from there was a nice run. It wasn't too deep, but could still hold a fish or two. The first cast into the run, and a dark figure started following the leech. I didn't get an ID on the species but it looked like a good sized fish.
Then it was on to explore a pond i thought might have some big brookies. Nothing was caught at the pond but a dead 15" brookie was floating near the bank. Winterkill maybe?
Looks like moving water will be on the schedule at least until the temps start dropping.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I try to get there are as early as possible to avoid crowds. This year I made it up shortly after the gate opened, and most of the lakes had already iced off, except for Mirror Lake itself.
The first stop was a lake i've always ignored. It has a variety of species, with stocked rainbows and wild brookies being the main catch. For the last couple years i've been experimenting with big articulated streamers in the high elevation to see it something up there would eat it. A schmidt's meal ticket was tossed around for a while and a 20" tiger eventually smashed it. I wasn't expecting that but i'll take it.
For the next trip i had some hiking in mind. I always scope out new places, but usually end up going to the same fickle lake anyways. This particular lake has some hold overs lurking in it but they are not always easy to catch. Most of the time they are impossible to catch for a variety of reasons. But the main reason is low numbers, and large average size. I could toss out a dead minnow on gear, but i want to catch them on the fly.
After walking the entire perimeter of the lake i had one chunky brookie to show, and at the last spot something stopped my simi seal leech dead in its tracks. It wasn't a hard hit, but the weight of the fish was undeniable. It fought ridiculously hard, as do most big tigers. I was pleased to pull in a 21" tiger, which is probably my biggest tiger on the fly so far, at least by length. Talk about spoiled!
After catching two big tigers from lakes i decided it was time to fish the streams and rivers. It was time to check off some of the spots on the back log of places i wanted to explore.
First was an area i tried to explore last year, but ended up running into a stoic moose and turning around. This time no moose. It took awhile to find a fishy spot. Most of the water was void of fish. Not surprising as the river was raging 1800 cfs white water not too long ago. When the flows drop its a bit of a gamble where the fish will be. Its a harsh river for fish at times, with the river bed showing scars of past flows.
A spot where a smaller stream converges resulted in one bite on a zuddler, but it appeared to be a small stockie rainbow.
A little further down I finally found a couple deeper holes, the first one being a nice pocket below a rock. A plump brown was waiting there to ambush the zuddler.
The next hole i took my time fishing as it was large and deep. Surprisingly on the first pass no fish were seen of caught. It wasn't until i had hiked down and then back again when a second shot at the hole casting from a different angle resulted in a bite from something a little bigger than i normally expect on this stretch of the Provo.
A nice cutt? Definately a first for me on this section. Ive caught cutts closer to Jordanelle, but never by highway 150. There are small streams in the area that have cutts so i guess it's not out of the question.
On the way back a diversion up the small side stream was made, where i caught a small brookie.
Then it was on to a different stretch. Luckily i found some fish fairly fast and didn't have to hike to find them. Its fun walking on the river bed that was not too long ago under raging water.
A brown and yet another cutt showed up, both taking a small black leech.
A little further down from there was a nice run. It wasn't too deep, but could still hold a fish or two. The first cast into the run, and a dark figure started following the leech. I didn't get an ID on the species but it looked like a good sized fish.
Then it was on to explore a pond i thought might have some big brookies. Nothing was caught at the pond but a dead 15" brookie was floating near the bank. Winterkill maybe?
Looks like moving water will be on the schedule at least until the temps start dropping.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
