One Goal Down

[LOAH]

Earlier this year, several forum topics from around the web focused on 2011 goals and one of mine this year was to beat my personal best tiger trout.

Ah, what a relief it is to finally see some real spring weather! After what seems like eons of foul-weather weekends, my family and I exploited a beautiful Saturday and took a long drive in search of some lunker tiger trout.

We picked up our friend, Holdsworth, some minnows, and hit the road. Along the route, we stopped at a family favorite rest area, where we've always enjoyed stretching our legs and playing with the squirrels.



They'll come right up and take food from an open hand, so the kids really love that.

After our break, we continued our journey and eventually made it to our destination. This lake has historically been a tough one to fish, leaving me skunked and scratching my head more than once. All the same, it has also given up some great fish, so it's worth checking out a couple of times per year.

As is the norm with family trips, we arrived much later than we should have and the notorious canyon bellows were already pumping up a wicked breeze. This particular lake has a narrow window of calm conditions in the early mornings and then it's wind-in-your-face for the rest of the day. It makes casting a weightless minnow very difficult and you can forget even attempting to use a fly rod.

Despite the gusts, we got busy with the usual tiger techniques and it became clear that the fishing was going to be rough. The first hour ticked by without any sign of life, but a well placed shiner eventually found its way into the kype of a thickly-shouldered male of 18 inches.



It was great to break the monotony and it gave the kids something to be excited about. Their patience is typically on the verge of tantrum status when the fishing is slow, so a good catch is a major morale booster.

A short while later, from the same spot, another minnow found a mouth and I handed the rod to my 5 year old son so he could get a feel for a good sized angry tiger. He was very happy to reel in a 17 inch female.



The next fish, again from that magic spot, was a real pig and it gave me a very nice battle, making strong runs and then going vertical with head shaking aerial displays. It was very entertaining to bring in this 22.5" beast.



It weighed 3 lbs, 1 oz.

So in a relatively short amount of time, I'd managed to bring in 3 nice fish (counting the one I hooked for my boy), but nobody else had so much as a bump so far. Sure, I was glad to catch fish, but it was hard to watch my wife and friend get the skunk while I cashed in.

My wife informed me that it was "her turn", so I took a break from fishing, got some lunch ready for the kids, and kept them entertained for about an hour.

After my break, the skunk was still hanging around the rest of my party, so I started casting various lures. Kastmasters were good for cutting through the wind, so I shuffled through several colors of those. In the end, it was my favorite gold that got slammed on a slow retrieve.

Right away, I could tell that this fish was nice. My companions looked on with bitter-sweet enthusiasm as my rod remained doubled over and my reel moaned in protest of the powerful runs the fish was taking at will. Once the valiant battle subsided, I gazed proudly at my new personal best (in terms of length) tiger trout of 25 inches!





That really put the cherry on my sundae and a smile on my face! At 25", it only weighed 4 lbs, 1 oz, but it was still a great catch and very healthy.

So it was a great day for me, but my poor wife and friend got the shaft. They were glad to be out in the nice weather, day-tripping to far away places though.

Happy Fishing, Humans.

[CarpeyBiggs]

dude, very nice! thanks for the photos.

[Deadeye008]

Those are some nice fish!

[JONBOYLEMON]

Cha Ching!!!!! Good on ya. Early in the year to be meeting your goals aint it????

So whats next on the list???

[accadacca]

AWESOME!! Boy is that baby a PIG!

What is the state record for a Tiger?

[LOAH]

10lbs, 12oz is the current record. There are bigger ones out there in several lakes, I believe.

Here's my list of goals for the year:

2lb grayling.

Beating my biggest tiger would be nice, but not necessary.

Golden Trout.

Beat my biggest brookie.

Hike to the places I've put off.

Use my pontoon. (seriously!)

Find the huge cutthroat that I missed on the Manti.

Get the family out a little more and into their biggest fish so far. That might be hard for Sonia @ 22.5".

Get my boy James to cast on his own, retrieve, and cast again. Then I'll buy him a spinning outfit. Maybe try him on a fly rod...

[uintahiker]

10lbs, 12oz is the current record. There are bigger ones out there in several lakes, I believe.

Here's my list of goals for the year:

2lb grayling.

Beating my biggest tiger would be nice, but not necessary.

Golden Trout.

Beat my biggest brookie.

Hike to the places I've put off.

Use my pontoon. (seriously!)

Find the huge cutthroat that I missed on the Manti.

Get the family out a little more and into their biggest fish so far. That might be hard for Sonia @ 22.5".

Get my boy James to cast on his own, retrieve, and cast again. Then I'll buy him a spinning outfit. Maybe try him on a fly rod...

How big of a brookie is that?
You looking for the golden in Utah or out of state?

[JP]

Great catches

[LOAH]

uintahiker - My biggest brookie is only 17" from Thousand Lake Mtn, but my Boulder Mtn days have just begun.

The golden will be caught in Utah...

...On a day trip.


Thanks for the support, y'all!

[uintahiker]

I know of 1, possibly 2 spots in Utah with goldens. The one I know of could easily be done in a day trip. The possible spot would require backpacking.

[nelsonccc]

I know of 1, possibly 2 spots in Utah with goldens. The one I know of could easily be done in a day trip. The possible spot would require backpacking.

There are a few spots that i know of. Both are out of the way, brushy, but can be done as a day hike. I've hear of another spot but it requires an overnight backpack.

We need a bogley fly fishing fest!

[offpiste]