Green River Glory Days

Anyone that is a flyfisherman knows about and has probably even fished Utah's famed Green River.  You talk to old timers and they talk in reverent tones of days of yesteryear where the fish were both healthy and plentiful.  It seems these days that you can catch a lot of fish but many were skinny and at some level stunted.  Of course there were the few fish here and there that were true trophies, but the health of the fishery seemed to be on the decline the last decade.

We took a trip out this fall and the fishing was nothing short of epic.  The sheer numbers of fish caught alone would be something to write about, but what was most impressive was the health of virtually every fish that was caught.  We didn't catch any huge fish.  There were some really nice fish along the way, but nothing huge.  But every fish had girth and health that you are not accustomed to these days on the Green River.  The first day was literally one of the 2-3 best days fishing I've ever had in my life. And it certainly was the best day ever on the Green.  I won't comment too much about the details, I'll let this post be very picture heavy.  But it was awesome to be with my brothers, brother-in-law, nephew (first time at the Green...got totally spoiled!), and great friends for what was truly an epic trip.

Rio Verde Rainbows

Paul, Trav and I went on an excursion to chase what we hoped would be larger fish.  The last couple years the health of the fish has seemed to increase over what was the down years of the mid-2000's.  We didn't find any real nice fish like we accustomed to finding.  In fact, we caught almost exclusively rainbows down from the dam.  You always catch a few more bows up there but I didn't catch a single brown below the dam at all.  Most were small rainbows that were beaming with color.

The flows were up from what they normally are at this time of year and it made for some different fishing as well.  The remnants of the insane flows that were reported at 10,000 cfs could be seen as portions of the boardwalk were washed away and you could see the water line on the rocks.  It was a great trip, even if the fishing was a little disappointing.  It is truly one of the prettiest areas around out there.




Evidence that the warning sign wasn't just blowing smoke!

Down South

I have always admired hot rainbows that have a propensity to grow large.  Today we were able to go to such a place.  The fishing was not fast and furious, and we didn't catch any trophy fish this trip, but we did land a handful of fish and they were hot!  One of these smaller fish took everything my 5 wt had to get it up off the bottom when it went on its run to the vegetation on the bottom.  It was a great day to get out.  There was a healthy amount of midges that hatched, a handful of calibaetis, and damsels were everywhere.

Rainbows in the Desert

It has been a very long spring, if that's what we call it.  Rivers are blown out all over the place, but ice has been coming off lakes everywhere.  This one has been ice free for quite some time.  Felt it was finally time to get out there.  The day was uncharacteristically warm in the morning, not even requiring a jacket.  The mornings in the high desert are not like this.  (it proved to be the calm before the storm)  No wind and warm makes for a pleasant day on the water.  But in a lake where the fishing is predicated on insect hatches, it made for some slow fishing early.  Later in the morning some clouds came in and the breeze picked up a little.  The fish started to get a little active as the bugs started to appear.  But it wasn't fast and furious.  We did manage a couple real nice fish before the wind blew us off the water around lunch time.

Desert Gold....or Rainbows

Took a jaunt out into the desert, we didn't find the lost Rhodes Mines, but we did find a lake that had some hefty rainbows that looked like they wanted to play.  The cold front and that strong north wind that wouldn't stop blowing took its toll on our bodies and the fishing was a little slower because of it as well.  But we still caught plenty of fish to keep our attention and they were all of the football variety.  Had a good group and it was a good time becoming reacquainted with this desert gem.  This will be a very picture heavy post, but it's about the fishing anyway, and as the old saying goes....a picture says a thousand words!

First the hero shots, then we can focus just on the fish. 

Now just some feeshes.  

What a great time with a great bunch of guys.  It's not going to be long before we have to return to a place like this.