I took a couple of buddies (Drew & Andy) out to the Basin for some Brown Trout fishing as it had been very good the week before. We tried Starvation for a while because the ice was just coming off but we did not have any luck. We packed up and hit a river for a few hours. After arriving at our destination we were greeted by a friendly goat. The friendly goat followed us as we went up the river to the big deep hole. Goat stayed by our sides and went where we went. It stayed on the bank and watched us as we caught a few fish. This was a well behaved goat and it did not splash in the water or scare the fish in any way. Everyone should have the pleasure of fishing with a fishing goat. White fish are fun

Streams in Spring

BWO and Midge Buffet

I was finally able to get out for some fishing last week. In fact I was able to hit 3 separate streams in 3 days, all of which supplied multiple species taking BWO’s on top. 2 streams eventually drain into the Great Salt Lake and the third into the sea of Cortez. I love it when the white fish feed on surface patterns. More to come this week

Day 2 of Powell

Because the fishing at Powell was pretty slow we decided to head east and catch a few Pike. Fishing was not nearly as fast as it was for us in the spring but we did manage a few good fish. Brent took the largest fish of the trip.

Striper (not Stripper) Search

Brent Stout and I spent a southern Utah weekend at Lake Powell in search of Stripers. A Striper is the only Utah game fish that Stout has not caught on a fly and this weekend he was going to accomplish that goal. We thought that the shad would be in the bays with the stripers following. Right at first light we saw quite a few small boils, probably small or largemouth chasing little schools of shad. These small boils were nothing like the large bay filled boils that I have seen in Youtube videos of Stripers feeding on shad. We kicked and rowed our little boats all over in search of boils and big fish. We were able to find a small boil that produced some smallmouth.


Another time I was taking a break high on a rock enjoying the scenery in shell lady bay and I was able to witness many small boils and watch the small mouth attack the bait balls from below. We were not able to catch any stripers, although we did catch many other species.



I am not sure if it was the full moon or the recent cold front that caused our limited success; nevertheless, it was a great time in a magical place. There is nothing quite like kicking a small pontoon next to hundred foot cliffs or having a small bay all to yourself. Next year I am going to try again and hopefully the timing will be better and we can find the stripers.

Confident green sunfish and bluegill

Perfect Lake for a Lunch Break

Every September there are a few local Stillwaters that start to get good, and when I say local I mean 15 minutes from Salt Lake. On one such water I rarely see another Fisherperson. The water is Emerald Green, Crystal clear and full of shore line patrolling aggressive Bonneville Cutthroat. I go to work, hit the lake at lunch for an hour (or two) catch fish, no more stress...

Great North Slope Trip

Brent called me and wanted to catch some Utah Grayling, so off we went to a North Slope Lake. On the way out we saw Pronghorn and this nice big Bull Moose. We hiked our boats into the destination lake and right off the bat we were hooking up with Grayling. These were not wimpy 8” grayling that you see near the Mirror Lake Highway but these were well fed with bulging bellies and big beautiful dorsal fins. We measured a few at 14”. This lake is also famous for large Brooke Trout, we were not able to catch any giants but we did manage some respectable trout. The only downside to the lake is the lack of cutthroat. In the 80’s I used to catch some nice cutts in the lake but they were nowhere to be found on this trip.

On the way out we decided to stop and check out the stream. Brent saw some glimpses of red and down we went for a Coke or two. What a great day to get into the high country.

Grandpa Thomas

A couple of weeks ago I received news that my Grandfather was in poor health and did not have much time left on this earth. My Grandfather was the person that taught me how to fish when I was a young boy, at first with worms and live grasshoppers he showed me how to sink them into the deep holes of the Bear River in Rich County. As I got older I moved on to Daredevils, Panther Martin spinners and eventually flies behind the clear bubble. In my early teens he showed me how to use a fly rod at Little Creek Reservoir just west of his home in Randolph, Utah.

Every year when school got out for the summer I would go spend a couple of weeks in Randolph fishing the many waters and riding the miles of dirt roads in the Fish & Game truck with Grandpa while he checked licenses, busted poachers and completed his general conservation officer tasks.

Grandpa retired in the early 90’s and moved back to his home town of Duchesne, Utah where he was able to purchase 10 beautiful acres right on the Duchesne River. We have had some incredible days on the river, including caddis hatches right at sunset for enormous slurping Brown trout.

I got the call tonight at 7:30pm that my Grandpa passed away peacefully at his home in Duchesne. Thanks Grandpa for all of the lessons and memories.