Piute 2-22

[LOAH]

With the recent news that Piute had a fishable amount of open water, I couldn't resist the long drive to get my tube wet for the first time this year.

Driving in, I was compelled to pull over at a couple of spots on the Sevier River in Marysvale Canyon. A little brown was all I pull in before I forced myself to continue driving.

Eventually, I reached Piute and got my gear ready for the float. While preparing, a couple of guys from another forum (Utah Fishing Talk) rolled up. As I shoved off, they got themselves set up.

There was a fair amount of open water, but the ice still covered most of the lake.





A night crawler bounced along the bottom from my spinning rod while I dragged a black cone headed bugger with a chironomid dropper on my 5wt (sinking line). After quite a bit of kicking, I got the hard hit and brought in a chubby 16 inch rainbow.

The fish fought well and was nice and fat, but the fins were nubby and the tail was a bit scabby. Another fish that looked similar also found my bugger a little while later.

The breeze decided to turn on and it was time to get back to shore. The 2 UFT guys had the same idea. They apparently didn't even get a bite, so I'm glad I got the two that I did, even though they were ugly.

The guys talked me into trying a different spot further south on the lake, where we would keep trying while getting the shore lunch ready. It was there that I was introduced to some "soul food" of the region: dutch oven mutton. Wow, I've missed out! We ate until we couldn't and I somehow got 2 more fish on the lazy rig (worm on the bottom) while jaw jacking with good company.

After all was said and done, I caught my limit, but it was pretty slow going. The other guys never got a bump, but it was good to see them and get in on that shore lunch.



I can't wait until my central areas thaw out! It was nice to get back on the tube.

Happy Fishing, Humans.

[offpiste]

good trip for you. How cold do you get in your tube. Are you tooned? or do you sit in the water?

[LOAH]

I'm in a Uboat brand float tube. I sit on a flap of nylon and usually have water up over my hips.

I actually got pretty cold by the time I got out, but I insulate pretty heavily under my waders. I could've stayed out most of the day had the wind not picked up.

[theking648]

dude you would fish circles around me. i'm going to try to get a float tube this year and might be able to go up there in the summer or fall