myt1
Well-known member
I was on the road for pretty much a month, from August 24, 2018, until September 20, 2018, 28 days.
During one week of that time I hooked up with my wife and we spent time in Boise and Missoula, plus we went backpacking together for three days in Glacier National Park. Luckily, smoke from the various brush fires wasn’t horrific and we had a great time. I guess if we would’ve been in the park a couple weeks earlier lack of visibility would’ve been a huge issue.
So, other than the week spent with my wife I was a full-on trout bum for three weeks, living out of the back of my pickup, eating canned food and logging 5000 miles. I also smoked a few cigars, but don’t tell my wife.
Destinations:
Boulder Mountain, UT.
There isn’t a lot of information available on this location; that is part of the charm and challenge of fishing this area. I was able to find minimal data on three areas I wanted to fish, two were borderline great and one spot was a total bust; which I guess is sorta typical.
Definitely try to bring your float tube. In only one location did I even see any other anglers. They were fishing from shore and I definitely caught more fish than they did, and trust me, it was because of any greater skill on my part. During the three days I fished I caught Cutthroat, Brook Trout and Tiger Trout, most were in the 12 to 14 inch range, but a couple of the Tiger Trout measured 20 inches.
Also definitely, have a solid four wheel drive vehicle if you are going to try and make it to some of the more remote lakes. I have a Toyota Tundra with a 3 inch lift and a heavy duty suspension with a camper shell that is the same height as the roof of the cab, and I really couldn’t imagine negotiating some of these roads with anything less. I really felt as if I was close to the limit of what my vehicle could handle. Not only that, but overhead clearance is an issue as well. A couple of times I was able to drive under fallen trees that spanned the road, but if I would’ve had even a pop up camper I’m not sure I would’ve made it.
On advice offered on this website I purchased a hi-lift jack, plus a lot of other stuff to extricate my truck should I ever get stuck. It was even recommended that I bring a chainsaw. I passed on the saw though since I have never used one and I have heard too many stories of people losing limbs using those things. Luckily, I didn’t need any of that stuff, but I owe this more to luck than anything else. I saw numerous places where trees had fallen across the road and been moved or sawed by previous motorist. Also, if it ever rained the roads would turn to a giant rocky slimy slip and slide. You really do roll the dice when head up some of those roads, particularly if you are traveling solo as I was.
In many respects this was the best part of my trip. I loved the solitude.
One of the unfishable lakes. I drove nine miles of 4wd roads only to discover this.
My campsite at over 10,000 feet.
One of the 20 inch Tiger Trout.
One of several over-hanging trees. Low clearance was essential. Also, it was way steeper than it appears in the photo
Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, NV.
This was my second trip to RLNWR and I couldn’t believe how much different and better it was than a year and half ago when I was there with some buddies.
During my first trip my buddies called the fishing tough. I simply called it sh*tty.
The first day I arrived late in the afternoon, about 4:30, and I decided to try my luck before heading to the campsite. I fished one of the pools north of the campsite and I caught several fish, both on dry flies and nymphs. These fish were not a push over, but they weren’t excessively picky either. I started by using a rather typical dry-dropper setup. My dry was a rather larger Stimulator fly, mainly because it was one of the only dry flies that I had that I thought would be large enough to float my beaded nymph fly. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t an actual caddis fly within miles, my fly stuck out like a sore thumb on the water…I think the fish were feeding on small midges…but they hit my Stimulator rather aggressively nonetheless. It was a good evening.
The next day, my first full day of fishing, I cracked the 22 inch barrier when I caught a very nice Rainbow on a very small red zebra fly. By the way, definitely fish red when you are here. It is the magic color.
Even though it was still before Labor Day I was the only one I saw fishing, and although there were a few other campers in the campsite I pretty much had the place to myself.
I really couldn’t believe how lucky my trip was starting out.
Ruby Lake.
The 22 incher.
This is the fly I used. I tied it myself. I need serious help tying more durable flies.
During one week of that time I hooked up with my wife and we spent time in Boise and Missoula, plus we went backpacking together for three days in Glacier National Park. Luckily, smoke from the various brush fires wasn’t horrific and we had a great time. I guess if we would’ve been in the park a couple weeks earlier lack of visibility would’ve been a huge issue.
So, other than the week spent with my wife I was a full-on trout bum for three weeks, living out of the back of my pickup, eating canned food and logging 5000 miles. I also smoked a few cigars, but don’t tell my wife.
Destinations:
Boulder Mountain, UT.
There isn’t a lot of information available on this location; that is part of the charm and challenge of fishing this area. I was able to find minimal data on three areas I wanted to fish, two were borderline great and one spot was a total bust; which I guess is sorta typical.
Definitely try to bring your float tube. In only one location did I even see any other anglers. They were fishing from shore and I definitely caught more fish than they did, and trust me, it was because of any greater skill on my part. During the three days I fished I caught Cutthroat, Brook Trout and Tiger Trout, most were in the 12 to 14 inch range, but a couple of the Tiger Trout measured 20 inches.
Also definitely, have a solid four wheel drive vehicle if you are going to try and make it to some of the more remote lakes. I have a Toyota Tundra with a 3 inch lift and a heavy duty suspension with a camper shell that is the same height as the roof of the cab, and I really couldn’t imagine negotiating some of these roads with anything less. I really felt as if I was close to the limit of what my vehicle could handle. Not only that, but overhead clearance is an issue as well. A couple of times I was able to drive under fallen trees that spanned the road, but if I would’ve had even a pop up camper I’m not sure I would’ve made it.
On advice offered on this website I purchased a hi-lift jack, plus a lot of other stuff to extricate my truck should I ever get stuck. It was even recommended that I bring a chainsaw. I passed on the saw though since I have never used one and I have heard too many stories of people losing limbs using those things. Luckily, I didn’t need any of that stuff, but I owe this more to luck than anything else. I saw numerous places where trees had fallen across the road and been moved or sawed by previous motorist. Also, if it ever rained the roads would turn to a giant rocky slimy slip and slide. You really do roll the dice when head up some of those roads, particularly if you are traveling solo as I was.
In many respects this was the best part of my trip. I loved the solitude.
One of the unfishable lakes. I drove nine miles of 4wd roads only to discover this.
My campsite at over 10,000 feet.
One of the 20 inch Tiger Trout.
One of several over-hanging trees. Low clearance was essential. Also, it was way steeper than it appears in the photo
Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, NV.
This was my second trip to RLNWR and I couldn’t believe how much different and better it was than a year and half ago when I was there with some buddies.
During my first trip my buddies called the fishing tough. I simply called it sh*tty.
The first day I arrived late in the afternoon, about 4:30, and I decided to try my luck before heading to the campsite. I fished one of the pools north of the campsite and I caught several fish, both on dry flies and nymphs. These fish were not a push over, but they weren’t excessively picky either. I started by using a rather typical dry-dropper setup. My dry was a rather larger Stimulator fly, mainly because it was one of the only dry flies that I had that I thought would be large enough to float my beaded nymph fly. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t an actual caddis fly within miles, my fly stuck out like a sore thumb on the water…I think the fish were feeding on small midges…but they hit my Stimulator rather aggressively nonetheless. It was a good evening.
The next day, my first full day of fishing, I cracked the 22 inch barrier when I caught a very nice Rainbow on a very small red zebra fly. By the way, definitely fish red when you are here. It is the magic color.
Even though it was still before Labor Day I was the only one I saw fishing, and although there were a few other campers in the campsite I pretty much had the place to myself.
I really couldn’t believe how lucky my trip was starting out.
Ruby Lake.
The 22 incher.
This is the fly I used. I tied it myself. I need serious help tying more durable flies.