Halloween

[Riverdogs]

Got a chance to hit a new section of a small stream in SW Utah. It reminded me of Halloween- Orange and spooky. After less than a mile bushwhacking down to the start of the canyon it was all orange Navaho Sandstone and orange slashed cutthroat trout. I was a little worried whether I’d find any trout as I had bushwhacked in and covered a couple miles of stream 2 years ago only to find frogs everywhere but no trout. Despite starting only a few hundred yards further upstream (had no choice as this seemed to be the only easy entrance to the canyon) I quickly found Bonneville Cutthroat trout. The water was very clear and probably flowing about 15-20 CFS. The trout were extremely spooking but fortunately very plentiful. I fished up for 2-3 hours and spooked a few hundred fish. Some of this was done because I was skipping the skinny water that mostly held smaller fish but much was unintentional. I still managed to land about 3 dozen fish. Over half where in the 10-15 inch range. I only took a pictures of the very first one I caught and I managed to release most without ever touching the fish. All were caught tight line nymphing a tungsten bh size 14 prince nymph. I only saw one pool late into my outing were a steady supply of midges were hatching and about a half dozen trout were feeding constantly. Being new to this section and not sure if I couldn’t get out of the canyon for at least a couple more miles, I was only stopping briefly to fish prime water. I certainly wasn’t interested in tying on a second fly for the day. I did catch one trout in full spawning colors but didn’t get a picture as I didn’t realize it until my forceps released the hook. It swam free never coming out of the water. That particular pool the trout were extremely aggressive. Any ways after a covering a several miles I hit a waterfall with a big pool at it’s base. From the bottom of the pool it was probably 20 feet to get over the edge of the falls and no easy way around. Fortunately I found a very narrow foot trail that I thought would carry me around the falls eventually. After a mile and climbing several hundred feet it was clear it wasn’t going to take me around the falls. Eventually there was a steep route up that almost took me to the road prior to losing the trail. At that point it was just another 100 ft climb up over a couple hundred yards to hit the road. From there just a 25 minute walk downhill to my car. 

Other than the very narrow foot trail at the end, there was zero evidence left behind by humans. My kind of outing! PBH if you read this thank your Dad for helping provide this kind of solitary fishing in SW Utah. I know they sampled the upper stretches of this stream a couple years ago. This red rock walled canyon section clearly is more productive than that upper section relatively easily accessed by vehicles. 

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I thought I’d post another picture of that BCT. Also I’m including a picture of my battle scars from bushwhacking in and along a remote stretch of stream.