LOAH
12-14-2008, 06:48 PM
Today got off to a pretty late start. Having stayed up later than I'd planned last night, getting some rest ended up being more important than hitting the water before the sunshine.
Initially, I wanted to get out to either Strawberry or Jordanelle to get a little bit more use out of my float tube. The fresh coat of snow covering everything and my lack of motivation to get going talked me into keeping it somewhat local instead.
The mouth of the canyon has shown me a few nice browns that have evaded me and I thought I'd pay a visit to see if my luck would be any different today. The first hole didn't show any activity and I waded upstream to check on the next good pocket.
Within the first 5 casts, I somehow managed to really mess things up with my fly line. The whole reel seemed to be woven together and fiddling with it while standing in the river didn't help anything. Hunks of moss and stringy weeds would hang up on the line causing it to tangle even further, so I gathered everything up and went back to the open space of the parking lot, which was only a couple of minutes away.
After patiently undoing the mess that was my spool, I had lost a lot of fishing time. The fly rod still beckoned my touch, so I wandered back down to an inviting beaver dam that most likely doesn't get a lot of angling pressure.
Observing the surrounding trees and brush, I said to myself, "This looks like trouble". I was right. The pool was nice and deep, but I couldn't keep my junk out of the snaggy branches everywhere. After losing a favorite bug and rendering the remainder of my leader useless, I gave up and switched to my spinning rod.
I tried several more nearby areas with no hookups, however I spooked a good number of larger fish that were hanging out in the same area. I saw one rise, but they weren't interested in anything I had.
Checking in on one of my usual spots, I noticed two fish that looked pretty unhealthy. One had the fungal splotches all over its sides and the other was staying motionless on the bottom. It made me wonder if it was even alive.
Despite their unappealing look, they were still fish and I hadn't caught any yet. Besides being ugly, the weren't active enough to bite anything either. When I stepped into the water to check if the bottom hugger was alive, it didn't move. With the tip of my rod, I reached down to give it a nudge and finally it shot off leaving a cloud of sediment.
Even though I wasn't getting any fish, it was still nice to be in the area. Memories of spending time there when I was younger tickled my thoughts, plus the natural beauty to be found so close to civilization always puts me in a contemplative state.
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3625.jpg
Having found some peace, I returned to my car with upstream destinations on my mind.
Deer Creek wasn't far ahead and I really wanted to use my tube, but the waves were evidence enough that the notorious wind had taken over for the day. In a way I was glad. Deer Creek just doesn't give me any real joy to fish. Thankfully, the Middle is just around the corner.
There was one vehicle parked near the Charleston Bridge when I arrived and a fly fisherman was wading up the main body of the river, not far from where he apparently started. He can have it. 8)
A bald eagle flew by as I was preparing my things. That's always nice to see.
A black Blue Fox accompanied me up a side stream and after weeding up my hook in the first couple of holes, I found an active group of idiot planters concentrated at a bottleneck.
First fish of the day was a small finless rainbow, but it brought a smile to my face, nonetheless.
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3627.jpg
After releasing the little guy, the smile on my face grew wider as I continued to exploit the willingness of these rookies. I would pull in one, let it go, and within a couple of casts, pull in another that had just watched its fin-mate fall victim to the same poison.
Silly planters. :haha:
Without exaggerating, I caught at least 8 fish out of the same tiny bottleneck. Most were the size of the one pictured, but I caught three that were about 13 inches. The hole wasn't very deep, but it was loaded with these rainbows.
Sure that I had either caught or spooked any fish left in the hole, I waded upstream and saw several more bows and a good brown take off as I chugged forth. Unreal. :ne_nau:
A gorgeous falcon passed right overhead giving me a good look. Who doesn't love the chance to see birds of prey up close?
There were a few more spots ahead calling for me and when I saw a big pile of brush forming a semi-submerged shelf, I knew there would be something waiting for me underneath.
My first toss wasn't right where I wanted it, but it still triggered a decent brown out to check on it. No take, but I'd get closer the next time around.
Another toss came closer, but still not where I needed it and it got the same reaction as the first.
Third cast and it dropped right where it was supposed to, sinking for a moment before I started the slow, deep retrieve. I saw my fish's snout start to emerge from the brush when a much bigger brown exploded out and grabbed it hard. YES!
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3629.jpg
It taped out at just over 17 inches. :mrgreen:
If there were people nearby, they surely heard me. I couldn't help myself. The day got off to a dismal start and took a sharp turn into good fishing. Catching that brown required some real effort and just the right English on my cast. Watching the take only a couple of yards from my feet made my day. I really needed it.
Even though my day had hit its climax, curiosity urged me to try the next pocket upstream. I never expected it to happen on the Provo River, or with 4 lb line, but today I caught the biggest fish of my life...
...Unfortunately it was a biggole carp. :lol8:
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3630.jpg
Good grief!
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3631.jpg
I taped this one at 29 inches. It was pretty lofty, as carp typically are. I really don't know how much it weighed though. It barely offered any resistance when I fought it. I'm sure it could have snapped my line with a good shake of its head, but it was pretty dormant.
It was hooked on the lip, but by the lack of fight, I'm guessing that was a coincidence and I snagged it. I can't imagine it deliberately moving fast enough to actually strike my lure.
It was nice to give our national bird a free lunch, at least. :twisted:
So the day was a lazy flop to start, but it turned out to be a really good time on the river. I hooked a bunch of finless rainbows, stalked and captured a weary brown, caught the biggest fish of my life, possibly fed a symbol of freedom, and was home by 3:00. Day well spent! :2thumbs:
Happy Fishing, Humans.
Initially, I wanted to get out to either Strawberry or Jordanelle to get a little bit more use out of my float tube. The fresh coat of snow covering everything and my lack of motivation to get going talked me into keeping it somewhat local instead.
The mouth of the canyon has shown me a few nice browns that have evaded me and I thought I'd pay a visit to see if my luck would be any different today. The first hole didn't show any activity and I waded upstream to check on the next good pocket.
Within the first 5 casts, I somehow managed to really mess things up with my fly line. The whole reel seemed to be woven together and fiddling with it while standing in the river didn't help anything. Hunks of moss and stringy weeds would hang up on the line causing it to tangle even further, so I gathered everything up and went back to the open space of the parking lot, which was only a couple of minutes away.
After patiently undoing the mess that was my spool, I had lost a lot of fishing time. The fly rod still beckoned my touch, so I wandered back down to an inviting beaver dam that most likely doesn't get a lot of angling pressure.
Observing the surrounding trees and brush, I said to myself, "This looks like trouble". I was right. The pool was nice and deep, but I couldn't keep my junk out of the snaggy branches everywhere. After losing a favorite bug and rendering the remainder of my leader useless, I gave up and switched to my spinning rod.
I tried several more nearby areas with no hookups, however I spooked a good number of larger fish that were hanging out in the same area. I saw one rise, but they weren't interested in anything I had.
Checking in on one of my usual spots, I noticed two fish that looked pretty unhealthy. One had the fungal splotches all over its sides and the other was staying motionless on the bottom. It made me wonder if it was even alive.
Despite their unappealing look, they were still fish and I hadn't caught any yet. Besides being ugly, the weren't active enough to bite anything either. When I stepped into the water to check if the bottom hugger was alive, it didn't move. With the tip of my rod, I reached down to give it a nudge and finally it shot off leaving a cloud of sediment.
Even though I wasn't getting any fish, it was still nice to be in the area. Memories of spending time there when I was younger tickled my thoughts, plus the natural beauty to be found so close to civilization always puts me in a contemplative state.
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3625.jpg
Having found some peace, I returned to my car with upstream destinations on my mind.
Deer Creek wasn't far ahead and I really wanted to use my tube, but the waves were evidence enough that the notorious wind had taken over for the day. In a way I was glad. Deer Creek just doesn't give me any real joy to fish. Thankfully, the Middle is just around the corner.
There was one vehicle parked near the Charleston Bridge when I arrived and a fly fisherman was wading up the main body of the river, not far from where he apparently started. He can have it. 8)
A bald eagle flew by as I was preparing my things. That's always nice to see.
A black Blue Fox accompanied me up a side stream and after weeding up my hook in the first couple of holes, I found an active group of idiot planters concentrated at a bottleneck.
First fish of the day was a small finless rainbow, but it brought a smile to my face, nonetheless.
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3627.jpg
After releasing the little guy, the smile on my face grew wider as I continued to exploit the willingness of these rookies. I would pull in one, let it go, and within a couple of casts, pull in another that had just watched its fin-mate fall victim to the same poison.
Silly planters. :haha:
Without exaggerating, I caught at least 8 fish out of the same tiny bottleneck. Most were the size of the one pictured, but I caught three that were about 13 inches. The hole wasn't very deep, but it was loaded with these rainbows.
Sure that I had either caught or spooked any fish left in the hole, I waded upstream and saw several more bows and a good brown take off as I chugged forth. Unreal. :ne_nau:
A gorgeous falcon passed right overhead giving me a good look. Who doesn't love the chance to see birds of prey up close?
There were a few more spots ahead calling for me and when I saw a big pile of brush forming a semi-submerged shelf, I knew there would be something waiting for me underneath.
My first toss wasn't right where I wanted it, but it still triggered a decent brown out to check on it. No take, but I'd get closer the next time around.
Another toss came closer, but still not where I needed it and it got the same reaction as the first.
Third cast and it dropped right where it was supposed to, sinking for a moment before I started the slow, deep retrieve. I saw my fish's snout start to emerge from the brush when a much bigger brown exploded out and grabbed it hard. YES!
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3629.jpg
It taped out at just over 17 inches. :mrgreen:
If there were people nearby, they surely heard me. I couldn't help myself. The day got off to a dismal start and took a sharp turn into good fishing. Catching that brown required some real effort and just the right English on my cast. Watching the take only a couple of yards from my feet made my day. I really needed it.
Even though my day had hit its climax, curiosity urged me to try the next pocket upstream. I never expected it to happen on the Provo River, or with 4 lb line, but today I caught the biggest fish of my life...
...Unfortunately it was a biggole carp. :lol8:
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3630.jpg
Good grief!
http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/lordofallhumans/IMGP3631.jpg
I taped this one at 29 inches. It was pretty lofty, as carp typically are. I really don't know how much it weighed though. It barely offered any resistance when I fought it. I'm sure it could have snapped my line with a good shake of its head, but it was pretty dormant.
It was hooked on the lip, but by the lack of fight, I'm guessing that was a coincidence and I snagged it. I can't imagine it deliberately moving fast enough to actually strike my lure.
It was nice to give our national bird a free lunch, at least. :twisted:
So the day was a lazy flop to start, but it turned out to be a really good time on the river. I hooked a bunch of finless rainbows, stalked and captured a weary brown, caught the biggest fish of my life, possibly fed a symbol of freedom, and was home by 3:00. Day well spent! :2thumbs:
Happy Fishing, Humans.