Utah Trout Time

Tuesday in Logan Canyon 

The best part of having a child attending Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah is that it provides an excuse to come fishing the wonderful Utah streams the week before classes start each August.  This is Brian's last year at BYU so I may have to start coming to visit nieces before their classes start in future years.

Tuesday, Brian & I headed to Logan to fish one of our favorites, the Logan River.  We've found the Bear River Cutthroat there previously (one of the four sub-species of Cutthroat trout in Utah).  Last year was a very late and cold spring and when we went the water temp was 44 degrees and the fish were sluggish and insect life was missing in action as well.  (See post from that trip at:  Dads and Sons )

This year was definitely better!  And we didn't have to do battle with wind and rain from thunderstorms.  Brian and I each landed a nice cutt in the first few holes.  I was fishing a Renegade and Brian had on a Chernobyl (foam) hopper.  Fish seemed quite happy to take a taste of either one.

First hole, first fish

However, as the day wore on we noticed a rather obnoxious pattern in the fish--they would come up ever so slowly and gently, turn downstream, and then gently eat the fly, all the while drifting with the current and facing downstream. This makes good hookset very difficult, especially with lots of brush overhead and on the sides.  We had lots of fish to the fly, fewer on the hook, and fewer still to hand.  Many came off at our feet as we reached to lift them for a nice photo. Frustrating when they are a sizable pretty fish and you didn't get a photo to prove it.

A beautiful Bear River cutthroat

I was able to finish the day with a very nice cutt that was a slab!  Great to fish with Brian and return to a river we love so well.

Wednesday South of Springville

Wednesday morning Brian and I met up with Mike Dover at his home in Springville to check out some new water (to us) that he'd explored the previous year.  Mike was forgiving of our tardiness--we arrived at 8:01 for our 8:00 departure.  We loaded our things in his truck and headed off.

When we arrived we started fishing right in the campground where we had parked.  Unusual, but hey, Mike knows what he's doing.  

A cold clear mountain stream
(with lots of beavers)

Brian with the only tiger trout of the day

My first cutthroat of the day

We continued fishing and found a fish here and there, usually in the deeper protected pockets with overhanging branches or some other type of structure. Beaver dams were plentiful and as we got upstream to where there were fewer willows we were surprised to find beaver dams constructed primarily of rocks with a few willow and other branches used as materials as well.  Brian was carefully casting to the darker green bush on the right bank above the dam and was rewarded with a beautiful cutt.

Our first mostly rock beaver dam

Found him hiding under a bush

Mike found this nice trout in another beaver dam.  Patience and letting the fly slowly drift with the (at times painfully) slow current flowing through the beaver impoundment.  However, that patience was sometimes richly rewarded!

Nice day!

We continued until finally about 3:00, with temperatures hovering in the mid-90's, and having had not food nor water since we started, we began the trudge back to the truck, some three miles distant at this point.  Hot, thirsty, tired, but exceptionally satisfied we trekked back, opened the truck to find our snacks and water.  And more water.  And another bottle of warm water.  We were soon heading home with memories of another wonderful place where we spent some quality time with family and Utah trout.  And Brian should now be ready to face the rigors of another semester.

Rob's best of the day

Mike takes the measure of the monster before releasing

Happy Brian with Mike the Master in the background