Utah Cutthroat Slam - Day 2

Mel and I started the day at BYU, where she had a few things to take care of, then we headed for Silver Creek near Park City to try and find a cutthroat to qualify for the Bear River cutt. This was a location where I found a YouTube video of a guy catching some nice cutts from between the eastbound and westbound lanes of the interstate. I found a small stream with pretty low flow, but not nearly as small as the ones yesterday. Cut down a couple feet below the grassy banks, a good bit of small brush covering the stream. Runs shallow, with some deeper runs along undercut banks. Didn't see any fish on first inspection, but decided to give it a try. Didn't fare any better when probing with a dry. There could be fish here if we went further from the road, but didn't want to take the time. On to the backup plan - Beaver Cr and maybe a tributary.

I had fished Beaver Cr before around the 4th of July, and remember it had pretty good flows. We pulled up at the tributary, which had shown reasonable number of small cutts in a survey, but it was smaller than the streams yesterday, and a solid wall of brush. So we crossed the highway to try Beaver Cr. The flow was a fraction of what I remember it had been when I previously fished it, pretty small, but plenty of water for fish. But fish there were not. Worked with Mel a little to get the hang of casting, then started moving up. Some OK water that could hold fish, but nothing seen except fry coming up and hitting the fly. I dropped my fly in a little run after Mel had fished, and hooked this monster trout! I don't believe there is a size restriction on the cutthroat slam, but this was a cutt, even if a little small. It will have to do, unless I get a chance to fish the Logan after the wedding tomorrow. Tried to find another for Mel, but we were not successful. So we moved on to the upper South Fork of the Provo to look for a Bonneville. 

Not much for size, but it is still a Bear River cutt

I had caught a couple dozen in this stream around the 4th of July a few years ago. I figured this to be a slam dunk, with plenty of action likely to keep Mel entertained. But it was not to be. Lots of beautiful water, but few fish. Turned one dangling the fly into the downstream hole where we entered. I landed two, with no other strikes. Mel had one good hit, when she saw a fish rise in the current, then tossed her fly up above the overhanging bushes, where the current took it right to the fish, but too slow on the set. I had my Bonneville, but Mel was ready to leave, so we climbed back to the road. I was really disappointed with this one. Based on my experience a few years before, I expected Mel to have a chance in at least every second or third hole.

Beautiful Bonneville cutt, just not enough of them

The last species on the list was the Colorado River Cutthroat, which inhabit the W Fork of the Duchense just over Wolf Creek Pass from the S Fork Provo. This is a Utah Blue Ribbon fishery, and I expected to find reasonable numbers of fish. However, that expectation was not to be fulfilled. The three stretches fished were all similar, fairly shallow and rocky with occasional deeper runs or holes. First stop, didn't see a fish, not even when walking through the holes after fishing them. Went up farther, same thing. Fished up to a big beaver dam, only had one dink strike. Observing the pool above the dam, only saw one rise and saw no fish. Headed back to the car. Time was running out to get the Green River cutt. Heading back downstream, I stopped to try one more time. Mel was anxious and wanting to leave, so I told her I'd be back within 30 minutes. Found a similar stream, with similar results. Until after about 10 minutes and 100 yards of stream, I tossed the fly into the riffle above and immediately had what looked like a dink hit. Once hooked, it was apparent it was not a dink. A quick lift into the net, and the slam was completed!

Colorado River cutthroat - slam complete!

Accomplishing the slam in two days was fun, but was also greatly tempered by Mel's lack of success today. I thought she would at least see lots of action, but just did not. I was bummed. Guess I have an excuse to visit her at college now to help her complete her slam.