A Gift for Grandpa

I stayed in Utah for the week after my mom's 90th birthday bash with nothing on my schedule but fishing. Monday was daddy/daughter day with Jessica and Melinda accompanying me to the upper Logan river in search of the Bear River cutthroat. This week we were hoping to finish the cutthroat slam that Melinda started in 2018, having caught only the Yellowstone cutt.

What a good looking group of fishermen (fishers?)

Another goal of the trip was for the girls to better learn to fish independently as I probably helped them too much when they were younger. They want to be able to do this on their own when I'm not with them, and they quickly showed that we don't have to worry too much about that. We went in at the first pullout above the bridge in Franklin Basin and both girls immediately hooked fish.

Halfway to the slam!

Her first fish got off before the picture, this was a later one

The girls were kind enough to allow me to take an occasional turn.

Fish were somewhat scattered, not as many as we usually find later in the year (being two days after this area opens for the year, it could have been hit pretty hard the previous two days). Girls fished the renegade. I got a couple on the hopper. As is normal for this stream, we spent plenty of time in the streamside brush, which luckily can usually be bent down to where the fly can be reached.

On the way out, stopped at Temple Fork and saw only one fish hiking up a little from the trailhead. Below the parking area, I found several browns and cutts along the road (hopper and renegade) while the girls rested in the car. Then on to Logan for dinner and to Smithfield, where we visited grandpa's (my dad's) grave. Since we had kept a few fish for Jessica to eat, we decided to decorate his grave in a way we knew he would appreciate:

Just following the instructions on the gravestone...family, fishing, and fun

Wonderful day with wonderful girls. And half of Melinda's cutthroat slam complete.

Always kiss the fish and tell them thanks!