A Welcomed Wet Wade | Fly Fishing Utah's Summer Waters

I’m not a photographer – I’m a fishing addict. I’m also pretty obsessed with trout. They’re beautiful. It has; however, started to bug me a little when I get back from trips and all I have is a bunch of fish photos. I take time to soak it all in when I’m out the beauty, it seems that I rarely think to try and photograph it and I’m ofter too eager to fish my guts out when I’m out on the water. It’s a bummer cause a big part of why I started to blog in the first place was to have a place to store all the good times I’ve had out on the water and in the beauty this earth has to offer. So after looking through photos from this trip I’ve made a commitment to better document my (our) trips and to get more creative with my photography. Not sure anyone cares, but just a heads up. Ha.

So let’s get down to business. Beautiful day out and Derek and I were headed to fish some great-looking water. It was a fun adventure getting in. The road was windy and bumpy. Some leftover rainwater served up a thorough mud pain job. We dropped down the windyness into the canyon and ended up a stones through from the water’s edge. We popped over to take a peek and we were completely stoked to toss bugs on such a nice day in such a cool place (insert beautiful scenery photos here-instead of the last minute blah shot below).

I was back in Georgia last summer and this summer has been packed with having my third son, so it felt so good to be back wet wading Utah streams. It seemed like it had been soo long since I’d felt the coolness in the water against my legs – unencumbered by waders. The cool water felt good on my legs as the hot sun beat down. The water ran clear and was filled with a ton of beautiful plantlife. It swayed peacefully in the current. Dries were really only picking up dinks and every run and bend was different so ultimately we opted for the versatility that streamers provide.The fish were feisty and we moved them from their lies left and right. They all seemed eager to make the chase. We were tossing the provo hookers that we had recently received from our buddy Collin Carlson over at Finpusher.com. They were definitely doing the trick today. I’ve wanted to try this bug out for some time now but when a package shows up at your house you’ve got no excuses left! Interestingly enough, we moving and picking up mostly cutties – some with some decent size too. I absolutely love seeing these fish in our Utah waters and while dainty to some, I think many people forget that bonnies are highly piscivorous.

The first highlight of the day was hearing Derek hoot and holler from downstream. I hustled down to see him bent on what seemed to be a bulldog. I snapped a couple pictures before he continued the battle around the bend. I bushwacked over to find him kneeling with a fish in the net. Chunky monkey. I had to rifle a few of this couch potato.

The highlight of the day for me was a cuttie that we spotted holding in a 3-4ft deep pool in front of a large rock. The pool was right beside the main current and only a couple feet wide. I nuck down the the trail thirty or so feet and posted upstream from the fish. Here, the glare prevented me from seeing the fish. The second drift into it as I jigged the fly back to where it had been holding I felt it stop. I set the hook straight up (I was a rod length from the rock) and felt life. Turned out to be one of the better cutties of the day.

As the sun began to dip we worked our way back up the canyon. It was such a relaxing day fishing in the solitude of the canyon. As always though, after a long day of fishing, I wanted to punch our drive home in the face.

mike doughty August 6, 2012

i love it when it’s wet wading season. some nice chunky fish

Justin Hamblin August 6, 2012

Some nice looking fish and some awesome looking water. A buddy and I were out throwing streamers at Saturday morning. I managed to hook up with a nice looking Bonnie that hammered my size 2 sculpin pattern, among other fish. I need to get some of those Provo Hookers from Collin to try out.

Nathan August 6, 2012

I saw that bonnie on FB. Great fish! Ya, talk to Collin for sure and let him know the OSF boys sent ya and he’ll take good care of ya!

mike doughty August 8, 2012

if you tell him i sent you you won’t get shit. haha

Kirk August 6, 2012

Chunky monkey is right – what a sweet fish! That cutt is a beaut too. In three weeks I am heading home to Provo for the first time in over a year – thanks for whetting my appetite.

Thanks for the link to the Provo Hooker, I’ll be whipping some of those up soon. If I could make a request: you have mentioned that Derek had a bunch of meat tied up for fishing in Patagonia, etc. I would love to see a few of those patterns if you don’t mind divulging them.

Good stuff guys – keep it coming.

Nathan August 6, 2012

Derek, is actually in the backwoods of MT and Alberta chasing cutties, bullies, and what not right now but when he gets back I’ll definitely talk with him. I do know that it was a lot of BIG foam beatles. Not sure on the streamer side of things but for sure I’ll ask him.