Uintas Lately

For the last couple of weeks, the Uintas have been calling and I couldn't resist a couple of day trips.


Last week, my family and I went up to Trial and the Crystal Lake Trail Head to get some fishing and hiking in. Having never bothered to fish Trial in the past, it seemed like a good spot to try.


Rather than fish the dam, we walked around to the far side and fished away from the crowds. The fish were actually pretty finicky, but a few still came in.


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Pretty lake though.


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We mostly caught small tigers, but I had a larger holdover rainbow on for a few seconds. Once we got back toward the spill dam, the fishing picked up for slightly larger tigers.


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That was fun, but we used the rest of the day to get a little more hiking in and catch some brookies in a small pond where I'd found some decent fish in the past.


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The fish were much smaller on average than my last visit, but it was still good to get out. There's a reason so many people visit the Uintas.


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It was nice to get the family up there again.


This week, my buddy J and I thought it would be fun to test our mojo at a hike-in lake that can be pretty technical at times.


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As pretty as it was, the lake wasn't in the mood to give up its treasures. Not for the first couple of hours at least. It wasn't until I had worked my way around to the farthest shore from where we started that I got a bite that I didn't miss.


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Not bad for the Uintas. Worth the wait! It would be my only catch from the lake, despite going all the way around it. The views were nice though.


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The mushrooms were popping up all over the place. Little puffballs were the most common, and then I found these:


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I didn't keep them, but wondered if they were edible.


J ended up scoring a decent brookie and a small cutthroat, but that was it for him.


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We'd spent a good amount of time at the lake and very few fish had been caught thus far. It was time to find other water with faster action and it wasn't long until we were at a shallow marshy pond with better fishing.


J and I worked some tigers and brookies for awhile to make up for lost time. It wasn't heavily populated, but it was pretty productive when the fish could be located.


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J even caught a couple of these little guys:


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We actually weren't planning on staying at the pond for very long, but the fish convinced us to stay, especially when J noticed a different species swimming around that wouldn't take anything we threw with our spinning rods.


We rigged up our fly rods to see if these picky little fish would take some smaller offerings. While I was doing my best to tie a nail knot with my forceps (lost my tool), a little voice in my head whispered a thought to me. I shrugged off the idea while I finished the knot.


While scanning the contents of my fly box for the perfect nymph to use, the little voice came back, only stronger this time. Really? Would this be that day? Well, okay then.


Instead of tying on the beaded prince nymph I was eyeing, I gave into the whim and grabbed a small black ant pattern. That's right, keep it on top. After all, these fish were gently slurping the surface and the periodic breeze could plausibly blow a few ants into the drink...


Well, it took a few tries and some good timing, but soon enough, the perfect cast unfurled and placed the ant right where it needed to be.


After several years, I finally caught a fish on a dry fly! What's more, my first was a grayling.


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Really, I'd caught fish in the past on dries, but only while dragging them behind a bubble on a spinning rig. On an actual fly rod, I had only gotten a few strikes that eventually came unbuttoned before getting anything to hand.


Until this weekend, dry flies were merely indicators for my nymphs. It feels great to finally scratch that one off the list. In all fairness, throwing dries had never really been something I spent a lot of time trying, but now I think I'll dabble a bit more in that!


A few more came in for me and J was getting some across the pond, with a few brookies and tigers in the mix. They kept us busy for a bit longer until we had enough and placed our aim on some moving water to finish off our day.


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The grayling were all over the stream too. J made short work of them.


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I'd have my moment too, but first, a tiny brookie on that prince nymph I thought of earlier.


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Uinta streams are incredible! They can be steep and riddled with dead fall and a slow meander within 100 yards.


This:


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To this:


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What a place! Getting back to the smell of pine needles while traversing the spongy ground was just what I needed. As is usual for our trips, J was excellent company and we spent the day laughing and having a good time in the great outdoors.


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Happy Fishing, Humans.

Your reports are always excellent with great pics and details. Thanks.

Thank YOU for reading!

Oh MAN! You hit the nail right on the head with Uinta streams. I love 'em! I'd love find out more info about where this particular stream and lake are.

I love your posts LOAH, they always inspire me to get out more often!:hail2thechief:

Yep, same trip, same results for me, only with less fish!!!! Was a beautiful past few days up there! I worked that same lake pretty good around the entire thing and nothing but an occasional snag! Bummer, as my wife pulled the biggest Tiger out of there last fall I have ever seen in the Uintas!!!!!

Ran into a guy on the way out putting the hurt on the graying on the stream with a fly.

That's too bad. It's a tough one from shore. Next time, I'm taking dead shiners. Those work there.:nod:

What are the little 2" long fish that are at all the inlets and outlets to that lake? Can those be caught and used as bait? Seems like you can use minnows so long as they are dead.

Yeah, those are mostly mountain suckers and possibly some speckled dace. Totally legal if you kill them first.

We actually caught a couple of suckers and tried, but they were awfully big at over 5 inches. Redsides are perfect and got hit very quickly, the last time I was there, last year.

I caught my first fish on a dry fly at Trial lake. It was an awesome morning. Great pictures of what looks like a great trip!