Ricks Reel Adventures

A Day On The Weber

2012-02-03T17:42:00.005-07:00

The first Weber river trip of 2012! I went back and forth on going ice fishing or hitting the river and the thought of hooking a big brown won out. The morning started out cold and the steam coming off the river made for some interesting casts to say the least since I couldn't see well. The first nice hole I came to produced a 14" brown on the first cast and I thought that was going to be a good sign. As it turned out, that was not the case at all! The bite was really slow and light today compared to previous trips. I lost the only brown I hooked in the 20" class and spooked 2 others that would have stretched the tape. The pictures below tell the story. They're not impressive, but if you're like me, a story is always better with a few pictures. 12-16" browns and cutts were the name of the game. The cold eventually turned into a nice sunny day, and despite the slow fishing, it was relaxing to be out enjoying the river.

Average size browns for this trip

First Time On Frozen Strawberry

2011-12-26T16:46:00.009-07:00

So I finally made it to Strawberry this year! We had a group of five venture out in the wee hours of the morning to see how the bite was through the ice. There's a good 8 inches of ice but when it's see through like it was today, it always gets me to walk differently. You could see through the ice about 10 feet which made for a good show as you reeled up fish. The ice was really making noise today and it shifted and expanded. One such time started with a loud boom and all of us moving about 5 inches to the right which almost made me have to change my shorts! While it about scared the you know what out of me, all the noise and expansion is a good thing as it is a sign of a healthy ice sheet.
The fishing was fast at times and non existent at others. One thing about ice fishing Strawberry that makes it so enjoyable is the constant big cutthroat trout that you get to fight. There is a slot limit in place on the lake were you can't keep any cutts between 15-22". The average catch on this trip was 18-20 inches with 2 going over the 22 inch mark. We fished all morning and into the afternoon before we called it quits. Between the 5 of us we ended up landing 70 fish with Jim at the top with 20 and I brought up the rear with 11. It was a fantastic day to get out and wet a line!

Average catch on this trip.
Nathan with his first catch of the day.

Rob with his double. The only one of the day.

There was quite a crowd in the morning.

Something has to give...

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas to you and yours from Ricks Reel Adventures! Guess what santa does after his long night....

Schooled By An 8 Year Old

2011-12-23T14:53:00.011-07:00

I met back up with rob to see if we could replicate the fast fishing of a week ago. This trip Rob brought his son Matt and I brought a friend that had never been ice fishing before. We arrived at the lake at dark o'clock got set up and as always, Matt had fish on the ice before I could even sit down in my chair! We got a quick picture and then he had a rainbow on the ice before I had my camera put away. Not to long after that my friend Ryan landed his first rainbow through the ice and I later found out that was also his first catch ever which was fun to see. The fishing slowed to a creep after that with fish here and there. It was nothing like the fast action we had last week.
A high note for me on the trip was catching a new personal best for green sunfish that went 8". As I was feeling good about my sunfish, Matt walks over to me with a 15" rainbow he had just landed and says "8 inches huh?" as he looks down at his fish with a smirk. He then walks away with me realizing I just got put in my place by a trash talking 8 year old! I laughed because there wasn't much I could say. He caught more fish than any of us! We also caught some bluegill and a few small perch for a 4 species day on the ice. Although the fishing wasn't as fast as we had hoped, it was a fun getting out on the ice again.

Matt's first fish of many.
Ryan's first ever catch.

Matt and Rob with some keeper bows.

Ryan's first bluegill.

Great shot Ryan took.

My new personal best; 8 inch sunfish

Decent sized bluegill going 9 inches.

Who Says Hard Water Is Bad?

2011-12-17T16:36:00.010-07:00

I got up bright and early this morning to meet up with my friend Rob to hit the hard water for the first time this season! we made it to the lake and we out fishing at around 7 am. I always forget how much I like to ice fish until that first fish hits my bait and the fight is on. We both slayed them today! the first hour and a half I we couldn't get our second poles going because the fish wouldn't stay off long enough to get them set up. We caught lots of rainbow trout and blue gill with a few yellow perch mixed in. The trout went 14-16", Bluegills were 6-8" and the perch we kept went 9". We were using Jammin Jigs tipped with maggots. Pink and white jigs were the ticket. I couldn't think of a better way to start off the ice season. We kept a few to eat but released the majority of them. Guess what I'll be doing next week? until then...

Rob getting set up

We were not alone on this cold but beautiful day.

A few for the frying pan.

A Blast & Cast Day On 11/11/11

2011-11-11T21:11:00.014-07:00

So on to the second day of the Weber. Today I went to a different stretch from the previous post but had the same luck. You know it's going to be a great day when you catch fish on your first two casts and it didn't slow down much the whole time I was there. Today I used the same swim bait the entire day! I didn't see as many beds through this stretch but the few I saw all had fish. Again, I could sit and watch those beds for hours! I again focused on the deeper holes leaving the spawning browns for another day. The biggest brown went 22 inches and thick enough I couldn't get my hand around it. 20 inches was a common theme for the browns and I picked up several cutts and a rainbow to finish out the day. For the fly fisherman, Today would have been dynamite for drys. I don't think I've ever seen as many rises on this river as I did today. Makes me want to change up rods for my next trip.
I ended my trip around 1 pm and headed down to my brothers for some hunting. He and my nephew had drawn out for the swan hunt and I tagged along to pick off any ducks that came around. We headed to our spot at the Bear River Bird Refuge and waited...and waited. Wildlife officials estimate that around 45,000 Swans are the the refuge right now. At the end of this month there should be around 165,000. We had a few groups fly close enough to get us excited but just out or range to shoot. I missed the few ducks that came in. I'm going to blame it on thinking about the great day of fishing I had earlier. We walked back to the truck empty handed other than a few pictures and a good time on the dyke.

22" hog.

Long and skinny.

First rainbow on the river in a long time.

Same deep whole as the rainbow on the very next cast.

Biggest cutt of the day.

Final fish of the day.

We had a great view of some swans but they were in the restricted area.

Where's Waldo?

Until next time.

The Weeb...Oh How I've Missed You.

2011-11-10T15:41:00.007-07:00

Wow, I'm actually writing a post! It seems like forever since I've wet a line. Let me clear off the cob webs and dust and see if I remember how to do this blog thing. The water level is finally where it should be on the Weber and the brown trout spawn is hot and heavy right now. I made it to river early and the temps were in the low teens for the first hour or so which meant I had the joy of breaking ice out of the eyelets every other cast. The fishing (or should I say catching) was fast and furious. Lots of browns came to play with a lone cutthroat.
There are beds everywhere with several browns at each spot trying to stake their claim to a portion. It was so neat to see these fish moving gravel and moving out other fish. Often times there were fish moving around with there backs out of the water at times. I left those on the beds alone and targeted the deeper holes. I used a few different swim baits that always seem to work. I'm going to hit a different stretch tomorrow so until then, enjoy the fish pics...

First fish of the day.

The lone cutt.

21 inch beauty.

Henry's Lake And Henry's Fork

2011-09-05T21:47:00.006-06:00

We made the annual trip up to island park this past Labor Day weekend. I always look forward to this trip not only for the fishing but also the chance to unwind for a few days. My Father-in-law and I headed out early on Friday morning with our float tubes to try out Henry's lake in the hopes of hooking into one of the trophy trout this lake is know for. We had a window of a few hours where there was no wind which made perfect tube conditions. We paddled out a ways and started casting and it wasn't long before I had my first fish on. I could tell by the fight that I had a good one on. After a few minutes I got him to the net and it was a nice male Yellowstone cutt. I put him in my make shift live-well and went back to work. I used a gold Jake's spinner the entire time I fished and had several fish participate in the fun. I caught another nice cutthroat right as the wind started up so I made my way back to shore with my limit. It's nice when 2 trout can feed nine people.
The next day the family went on a float trip down the Henry's fork of the Snake River. The water was ice cold but we had a blast. the trip is very scenic and well worth doing if you are ever in the area. There were so many fish in the river and a lot of them were Kokanee Salmon starting to spawn. It was awesome seeing so many fish darting every direction from the boat. We also saw some really nice Rainbows as well. I absolutely love this part of the country and always have to leave wanting to stay a few more days.

One of the several cutthroat trout that we caught.

My Henry's Lake limit.

Kokanee Salmon from Henry's Fork.

Big Springs; the headwaters of Henry's Fork.

Amethyst Basin In The High Uintas

2011-08-07T10:33:00.034-06:00

It's time for the annual week long summer scout camp! This is my first with this group of boys and we were looking forward to a fun adventure. We hiked into Amethyst basin in the uintas and I think the kids had a good time. It was a 7 mile hike into where we camped and the boys did surpisingly well. We fished Amethyst lake where all the scouts caught small brookies, many of which was there first ever fish. We had success using caddis behind a bubble and several different spinners. We also hit Ostler lake which was my favorote. There are some toads in that lake. We caught mostly cutts with a few brook trout and even a tiger trout that went 18" that was caught by a person outside of our group. Most the fish ranged 14-15 inches and were thick! again, fly and bubble when the wind wasn't blowing and gold jakes after that. Ostler should be on your list of lakes to hit in the Uintas if it isn't already. The mosquito's are really thick and a net is manditory unless you want to end up like most of the boys with over 50 bites each. All-in-all, it was a great trip and a fun memory.

Moose on the side of the road.

A few miles in

Now here is a sight you don't see every day!

Indian paint brush.

One of the many beautiful meadows on the hike.

Make shift raft anyone?

Now that's a mesquito!

On the way to fish Amethist lake.

Amethist Lake

My first fish of the trip.

First ever catch! Great job!

Another first!

Mountain goats walking above camp.

15" Ostler lake brook trout.

Cutthroat trout

Ostler provided lunch for us.

Oslter lake.

Fishing some of the streems. They are surprisingly deep in places.

Just like a mirror.

We all made it back in one piece.

Spirit Lake And Fort Bridger

2011-08-01T19:59:00.023-06:00

This was a whirlwind trip that took me to some places I've never been to before. I picked up my brother and nephew and headed out on the 3 hour drive to Spirit lake in the High Uinta mountain range of Utah. It was a fun drive and we saw lots of Antelope along the way and even a bull moose. We started out fishing the stream below the lake and we couldn't keep the fish off the line. We were flyfishing using elk hair caddis and renegade's. While fishing the small stream we caught rainbows, cutthroat, brook and tiger trout! I even took a swim after a log jam I was standing on gave way. Everyone had a good laugh and the water was actually quite nice!
After an hour on the stream we headed up to the lake to see what we could catch. This time we pulled out our spinning rods and went to work. It was a matter of minutes before Justing had a tiger on his panther martin and giving him a good fight. I put on a jointed rapala and so had one of my own. It was gang busters the rest of the time on the rapapla. My nephew was also able to land one. You know its a great day when you get bored of catching fish. We called it a day and headed back down the mountain.
On the way back we stopped and toook a tour of historic Fort Bridger. What an interesting place. For a history on Fort Bridger, check out http://www.wyomingtourism.org/overview/Fort-Bridger-State-Historic-Site/31823. This fort was instrumental in the successful passage of countless pioneers traveling though out the west as well as my home state. On Labor Day weekend they have a huge mountain man rendezvous. If you're ever in the area, it's definately worth a vistit.

One of the many spectacular views along the way.
Spirit Lake

Cutthroat trout from the stream

Tiger trout from the stream.

Justins first ever tiger trout.

Brookie from the stream.

Spirit lake tiger.

Great catch buddy!

The general store to the right and first school house in Wyoming in the background.

A replica of the original fort.

replica of the original trading post.

Jim Bridger was a black smith and fur trader.

What's left of the orignal Mormon wall.

A few Jim Bridger artifacts.

Once the fort was turned over to the military, there were barracks and quarters all over.

Tiger Hunting At Current Creek

2011-07-25T21:10:00.009-06:00

My father-in-law and I made our way over to Current Creek Reservoir to hunt down some tiger trout. This was the first time this year we fished this reservoir and it was sell worth the trip. The weather was perfect for launching the pontoon and float tube and we were on the water at 7 am. The 67 degree water was like glass and we all but had the place to ourselves. We made our way over to a bay that looked promising and started fishing. We started out throwing a variety of spinners and it wasn't long until we were into fish. My Father-in-law landed the first fish which was also the biggest tiger trout of the day. It was also his first ever tiger trout! I soon had a tiger of my own to battle with and soon had him landed. After he landed a few more fish, my Father-in-law switched over to the fly rod and trolled a woolly bugger. He had take after take and landed several more fish.
I settled in throwing a jointed rapala and continued to have success with the tigers. I regret not bringing my fly rod because the conditions were perfect to pull out the dries. There were fish slurping bugs off the top all around us. We called it a day around noon having had our fill and headed home. I plan to make another trip to Current Creek soon.

First ever tiger trout.

Typical Current Creek tiger.

Beaver lodge.

Now thats a backdrop!

Another nice fish.

Tigers are one of my favorite fish to catch.

A nice view of Current Creek reservoir on the way home.

Pelican Bay At Utah Lake

2011-07-21T15:19:00.005-06:00

I had a few hours to kill so I headed down to Pelican Bay to see if the catfish were biting. As I arrived and got set up, I enjoyed a nice breeze and a fantastic view of some hang gliders that had a motor attached somehow. I was quite surprised at how well they could maneuver through the air. I had two poles set and in no time had hits on both of them. I set the hook and reeled in a white bass on each one. White bass are fun but i really wanted some catfish to eat. I kept them for cut bait but that nice breeze died down and the bugs came out. I could not believe how fast the bugs descended on me and how thick they were. As fast as I could go I packed up and headed for the truck. I got a half hour of fishing in and two white bass to show for it.

Hang gliders

Bait for the next trip to Utah Lake.

Top Five Things To Have While Fishing.

2011-07-20T13:42:00.008-06:00

1. Camera

This is as important as your fishing pole in my opinion and I can sum up why with one Phrase; "If you don't have a picture, it's just another fish story." It's always good to have some proof of the big catch because if you have fishing buddies like mine, they like to harrass you a little if you just tell them about it.

2. Polorized Sunglasses

A good pair of polorized glasses are a must if you're site fishing. Whether your fishing the flats in Florida or the blue ribbon rivers of Utah, having a pair can potentially make or break a fishing trip. They also give you some protection from the lure coming back fast from a snag or when you're fly fishing. I prefer the amber or brown polorized lenses.

3. Your Go-To Lure, Fly Or Bait

I know most fisherman have a lot of tackle in there box but there is always that go-to lure that most fisherman have. The product I've been having lots of success with lately is the Wildeye Curly Tail Minnow from Storm. I first tried these early this year and I have cleaned house with them ever since! It doesn't seem to matter where I fish or what species I'm going after, the fish love them. I've caught 5 different species of trout and largemouth bass this year on this jig. I've fished them in 5 different bodies of water ranging from high alpine lakes, rivers and warm water lakes with all sorts of water temperatures with the same result; Fish On! The 3" minnow is what I like but they make them in a lot of sizes.

4. Current Fishing Proclamation

Its good to know the regulations of the body of water you are fishing. Nothing would ruin a great day on the lake faster than catching a bunch of fish and finding out from a fish and game officer you're over your limit or you fished an illegal method for that lake. Also, most proclamations tell you the state records and catch and release records. I like to know that info because you never know when you'll have that chance at a catch of a lifetime. I'm quite certain I caught the state record Bullhead catfish when I first started fishing and didn't know it till I started doing some research (Hence this and the camera being on my top 5 list).

5. Sun Screen And Bug Spray

I like to be as comfortable as possible while fishing (or doing anything really) and this product helps me accomplish that goal. It's a sun screen/ bug spray all in one. There are a few different brands out there that are good and will do the job you need them to do. I like the one pictured because it's super compact and light weight which makes it good for back packing and it takes up little space in your tackle box.

Well there you have it folks, My top five things to have While Fishing.

Fort Pierce, FL And Some Crazy Looking Fish

2011-06-20T20:19:00.014-06:00

Yet another Florida adventure! This fishing trip is brought to you by Captain Charlie of Fishtales Charters. I've fished with him before and he can get you into just about any species of fish you're after. Check out his site at www.fishtalescharter.com . We started fishing out of Fort Pierce early in the morning on the Indain River. We used pinfish and live shrimp as bait but I had the most fun using artificial baits. The weather was almost perfect and we caught a bunch of fish. We targeted speckled trout and caught several throughout the day. As we fished we saw dolphins swimming and manatees. The best part about this trip is that we caught several new species including two that I had never heard of to this point. The lizardfish and the striped burrfish are some of the most interesting fish I've seen in person. We also caught a stingray and needlefish that were both firsts for me. I'm always amazed at how hard these saltwater fish fight. Some of the smaller fish I landed put up just as much of fight as some of the larger brown trout I've caught. Florida has become my favorite place to fish and I can't wait to get back down there to wet a line.

Sheephead

Mangrove Snapper

My first Lizardfish.

18" speckled trout

My first stingray.

Stay clear of the barb!

Needlefish

And the weirdest fish of the day, a striped burrfish. It is a species of pufferfish.

Just Another Day In Paradise

2011-06-05T17:36:00.028-06:00

What a trip! My wife and I along with my parents took a trip down to south Florida to board a cruise ship set to hit the Bahamas and Key West. We had a few hours before ship left so I had to get some fishing in. While everyone else wanted to sleep, I got up, called my friend Brock and took off. Brock's family was in town and so they came along as well. Brock's Dad had the fist catch of the day within no time. It was a good sized Mayan Cichlid full of color! We also had a few large mouth bass take the bait, but nothing big. We then moved to one of the regular spots we hit when I'm down with the hopes of landing some peacock bass. I found out real quick that the severe cold spell Florida had last year really did some damage to the peacock populations as well as other exotic species. They say that up to 70% of the population was wiped out! it showed as we didn't see any signed of them this day. We did however have our chances with all the gar that were swimming around! we hooked several and would get them all the way to the bank before the would get off and swim away. Brock was finally able to finish the deal by landing one. Talk about a mouth full of teeth! We also caught some Jaguar Garpote but they were did not have the size of what we typically catch in that particular honey hole. We ended up fishing 3 hours and while we caught fish, it was a slow day compared to past trips.

The cruise was a lot of fun. We went to Nassau, Bahamas where we went to the Atlantis Resort and hung out at the water park and the largest salt water aquarium in the world. They had so many cool fish that I had never seen before including a huge saw fish! We also stopped at Coco Cay which is an island owned by the cruse line. There we snorkeled and I walked around and saw some spectacular flats. I would have loved to have a fly rod for the bone fish cruising around! Our last stop was Key West and this was my favorite place of the three. We rented a golf cart and drove around checking out all the sites. One place in particular is the restaurant Blue Heaven http://www.blueheavenkw.com/. They have the best key lime pie on the planet. I also had a lobster omelet that was amazing. If you ever go to Key West, make sure you stop in at Blue Heaven, you'll be glad you did. We also saw the southern post point of the continental USA. We were actually closer to Cuba than we were to Miami. The ship had all sorts of things going on to keep us entertained but one of my favorite events was the belly flop contest. The guy that won did one of the best belly flops I've seen. The splash he made was epic. You can check out the video of it on my video link.

When we arrived back in Miami we took a trip out to the everglades for an air boat ride. It was a lot of fun but south Florida is in a drought right now and the canals were really low. They were not able to really get the air boats up and moving fast because of it. On the plus side, the lack of water has push all the critters into the canals so we saw tons of wildlife including lots of alligators. We even got to see some alligator wrangling! All I can say is those guys are nuts! While we were out there we were able to try out some local table fair. No, not gator but frog legs! With a little hot sauce they were not that bad.

On the last day of the trip it was nothing but fishing! We started off the morning going after a variety of fresh water fish. Unfortunately, it was the slowest fishing day I've ever had down there. I did have an interesting experience though. I was fishing with live bait and we were fishing some canals in the everglades. We didn't have any action and all at once bam! FISH ON or at least that's what I thought. I had a monster of a fight on my hands. I had some furious runs but nothing ever surfaced till I got it to the bank. It was everything I could do to get this thing off the bottom and when I finally did it turned out to be about a 5 foot alligator! I could not believe I had fought a gator on rod and reel! Lucky for me about a second after he surfaced, he gave one giant head shake and broke off. I guess I can chalk that up to another species caught right? We drove back into town and hit a canal we fish when ever I'm down and nothing. It was just as dead here as it was in the glades. What was frustrating is finally seeing some nice sized peacock bass and not getting them to take anything! It was still cool to see them and on one of my last casts with a swim bait I had a huge hit! I knew it was big a big fish and that was affirmed when the monster large mouth came flying out of the water several times. I wished I would have had a video camera because the violent head shakes were awesome to see. I got the fish landed and it measured 22 inches which is the second biggest large mouth I have ever landed. I need to invest in a scale because I'm curious as to how much it would have weighed.

That night we met up with Captain Jeff Maggio www.lunkerdog.com for some inshore fishing. This was my second time fishing with Jeff and he is great! He had us on fish quick but we couldn't keep them on the line. We saw several tarpon rolling and several snook but we couldn't get them to take the bait. The barracuda however were more than happy to play. we had several of them on and landed 2. This was the first time I've ever caught a barracuda and they are an impressive fish. I still can't get over the huge teeth they have. My Dad caught the largest of the night that was around 30 pounds. Fishing the inner coastal is a blast and seeing the mansions and yachts than line the edges is worth the trip by itself. It was a great way to end an incredible trip.

Mayan Cichlid

Jaguar Guapote

Brock's Gar

Smile for the camera...

Bonefish

Up close and personal with a saw fish.

Breath taking flats.

I piece of Blue Heaven's key lime pie. It's the best ever!

Gotta love the everglades!

It's just a quick snack.

Definintion of crazy: See above picture.

Frog legs! When in Rome... I mean Florida.

Gator On!

22" large mouth. Any guesses on the weight?

Now those are some teeth!

My first Baracuda!

My Dad's 30lb Baracuda!

Cooper Tires Discoverer A/T3 Tire Review

2011-05-23T20:38:00.015-06:00

A few weeks back I received an email from Cooper Tires asking me to be a part of the Cooper Tire's Blogger Outreach Program. As part of this program, Cooper Tires hooked me up with a set of their new Discoverer A/T3 all-terrain tires and a Flip-Cam to record my experience and thoughts. In return, They asked me to write a review and send them the video footage of the tires in action. I am really excited to be a part of this project and want to thank Cooper Tires for this opportunity. I'm going to focus mostly on how the tires handled both on and off-road so you can click on the Cooper Tires logo on the right side bar and get all the specs there.
I've had a love-hate relationship with my currant "all-terrain" tires. I think "some-terrain" would have been more honest. They did all right on the pavement but once you went off-road it wasn't if you were going to get a flat, but when. I've had the tires for a year and have had several flats while in the back country. This is one of the big reasons I jumped on this opportunity. I want to see if Cooper Tires actually made an all-terrain tire and could handle the abuse I tend to put my tires through.
I went to a local Cooper Tire dealer to get the tires put on and their customer service as fantastic! If you're in the Salt Lake City area, check them out at http://www.claytonstirepros.com/. My excitement grew as I saw the new tires put on and how much better they made my truck look. They actually gave me an extra inch of clearance compared to what I had before. The Discoverer A/T3 has an aggressive tread for being an all-terrain tire. While I loved the way they looked, I was thinking they were going to make for loud driving on the freeway like the bigger tread tires tend to do. I was surprised however at how quite they were. They had double the tread and were still just as quiet on the road as my other tires! It was a smooth ride and they handled just fine. Utah has had a lot of rain lately and the tires stuck to the road just as they did in dry conditions.
Now lets talk about the fun stuff; Taking them off-road! I was able to put these tires through several different terrains and it handled everything in stride. I took it up and down steep rocky trails no problem. I had the same results going through deep ruts and muddy conditions. I am admittedly not a tire expert by any stretch but these tires are some of the best I've driven on. I am very impressed with how they drive both on and off-road. The Discoverer A/T3 are the first Cooper Tires I have ever owned and if all of their tires perform like these, I plan to put a set of Cooper Tires on every vehicle I own.

The Discover A/T3

Before...

Getting the tires mounted.

Clayton's Tire Pros are outstanding!

Looking Good!

After!

Time to take them off-road.

Lets throw a little mud on the tires.

In The Presence Of Master Fishermen

2011-05-16T18:30:00.013-06:00

I had a spare hour today so I made a quick fishing trip out of it. I headed down to the Lindon Boat Harbor of Utah Lake to try my luck at catching some white bass and crappie. They are on the verge of spawning and I figured I could get into them pretty quick. The fishing was not as fast as I had hoped but I did manage to catch a few white bass on some crappie jigs.

As I was fishing I scanned the area and noticed that I wasn't the only fisherman in the area. In fact, I saw a pair of fishermen that far exceeded my skill set so I packed up my gear and went over for a closer look. The fishermen I'm taking about were a pair of beautiful Osprey! This bird is also known as the fish eagle and is a deadly fisherman. I don't see them very often so I had to take the opportunity to see if I could get a few shots of them. I was able to sneek in really close and just sit and admire these magnificent birds of prey. I still can't get over how big their talons are! I've given my older brother a lot of grief in the past for setting his rod down and going bird watching and I'm almost certain I will get a call from him once he reads this post. Maybe he's been onto something this whole time? Nah, time to get back to catching fish! Enjoy the pictures!

Willard Bay

2011-05-15T12:16:00.007-06:00

I met up with one of my friends to hit Willard Bay for the first time this year. As always, my main goal fishing Willard is to catch a wiper so I can knock it off my fish list. A Wiper is a hybrid bewteen a striped bass and a white bass. We were on the water at about 9:30 and started trolling various cranks and spoons in the hopes of having some fast action. Well, Like the two other times I've fished here, I got a giant goose egg! I swear, Willard Bay is my kryptonite! I have never caught a fish on this body of water and I'm starting to take it personally. I really think the fishing gods just sit back and start laughing when I launch my boat! It was slow fishing the whole time we were there and my friend landed the only fish of the day; a 21" walleye.

At least we had nice weather....Wait, HOLD UP!

The day actually started out great! It was a little overcast with no wind and the water was like glass for the first 3 hours. Then, in a matter of less than 2 minutes, we were in a mini version of deadlest catch! I could not believe how fast the wind and waves came! We were in my 14 foot bass tracker and we had 5-6 foot waves we had to get through. The pucker factor was in full-force the whole way back to the marina. I've never been that nervious in a boat in my life! I had several waves crashing over the bow of the boat and my boat came almost completely out of the water a few times as we crashed over them and into the next wave. By the time we made it back to the marina, my friend and I were drenched and happy to be out of harms way. Once we were in the marina, all I seemed to be able to do was laugh. I hope I never have an experience like that again. You may have beat me this time Willard Bay, but I will return and catch my wiper before the year is over and how sweet that feeling will be! until next time....

A nice 21" male Walleye

Valley of the Goblins

2011-05-07T22:20:00.021-06:00

This is not fishing related, but an adventure none the less. We got to take our Boy Scout troop down to a place I had heard of but had never been to myself. Goblin Valley State Park is in south western Utah and is unlike anything I have ever seen! You can read up on Goblin Valley by going to www.utah.com/stateparks/goblin_valley.htm . There is no camping inside the park so we set up camp a few miles away. The next morning we packed up camp and headed over to take in the views and explore the "Goblins". It is seriously like you're on another planet as you walk through the maze of uniquely shape rock formations.

The boys had a blast climbing around and exploring a few caves that were there. One scout even happened upon something that took us all by surprise. As we were all sitting around inside the cave, one of the boys found a baggy in one of the crevices. I heard one of the younger 12 year old scouts say "Is this Crack"? Well, needless to say that got my attention. They handed me the baggy which turned out to be full of marijuana! I told them to put it back where they found it and went and told the Ranger. They filled out a report and that's all the Scouts could talk about the rest of the day. I told them they all earned their contraband merit badge and a few of them actually believed it was a real badge which still cracks me up. It was a fun weekend trip to a destination I will definately be revistiting in the future.

This formation was close to our camp.

Here's to you Mr. Miyagi.

It's like you're on a different planet!

Hold the mushrooms? Not today!

The cave of surprises.

Cool spider web.

Jordanelle Reservoir Cinco de Mayo Style.

2011-05-05T13:52:00.013-06:00

I'm finally fishing again! I had a month long stretch where I didn't make it out and it is so good to get back to what I love. All the rivers are high and some are flooding (so my favorite spots are out). The weather is starting to warm up and northern Utah is 200% above normal for snowpack. There is so much more water that still needs to make it down the mountains and I hope the state will be able to manage the run-off. This fishing trip had a few firsts for me. I could not find anyone to go with me today so I got the pleasure of launching the boat on my own for the first time. It was tricky launching without getting wet but I managed. It was even more fun getting the boat back on the trailer! This is also the first time I have ever fished Jordanelle Reservoir. I had a few friends tell me they had some success catching some good sized browns and a few smallie's so I had to give it a try.

I was on the water early and fished for a few hours. I had several takes but ended up landing only one fish. That fish was well worth the slow fishing. The 22" brown put up a great fight, eploding out of the water a few times before I got him to the net. I would have had a much more successful day if my boat had an electric trolling motor. I definately need to invest in one. It's a lot of work trying to slowly work the shorline and steer at the same time. All-in-all, it was a fantastic morning and I didn't get skunked so I consider it another successful fishing trip.

22" Jordanelle brown trout.

Heavy Snowpack.

Heading home.

Salmon Fishing In Washington

2011-02-25T18:48:00.021-07:00

This was an awesome trip that my uncles invited me on a few years back. We drove the long distance from Utah to Washington. I don't remember alot of the details of what rivers we fished but I do remember the great time we had hauling in monster Chinook, Coho and Chum salmon. You could only keep two Coho per day if they were from a hatchery. The way you would tell if the fish was wild is that they would cut the small fin off the back of a hatchery fish. Everything else was catch and release. This was the first time my cousin and I had ever fished for salmon and We averaged around five fish a day. My uncles on the other hand landed five for every one that I did. They were fishing machines! They have been fishing these rivers for years and it showed. They taught me a lot about fishing in that week! It took some time getting the feel of the fly bouncing along the river bottom and the take was often very soft. Once you had one on your line, it was game on. It was amazing to me how fast these fish could rip out line as they would make there runs. I would have to rest after some of the battles I had because I could barely feel my arms. This is a treasured fishing memory for me and I look forward to the next time we make the long trip back. If you decide to go after these majestic fish by boat, a great place to get up-to-date information on boating laws and certifications is http://www.boaterexam.com/usa/washington/. Go to their site and they will take care of you.

Mt. Hood in Oregon.

My first and biggest Chum Slamon of the trip.

My first king! My cousin could net those fish like a pro!

My Unkle with a giant king.

My unkle with his first Coho Salmon of the trip.

Now those are some teeth!

School is in session. This is my favorite picture of the trip.

My biggest king of the trip.

My cousin with a nice king.

Chum Salmon

King Salmon

My biggest Coho Salmon of the trip.

To feel that small of a fish on such big tackle is amazing!

How sweet it is!

The Big Horn Craggs

2011-02-23T14:40:00.029-07:00

Here is another blast from the past taking me back to August of 2008. It's hard to find a more remote spot in the lower 48 than the Bighorn Craggs of Idaho. You are 40 miles from the nearest paved road and it's another 7 mile hike from the trail head to get into this beautiful country. This was a 50 mile hike that took us to 28 different lakes along the way. The fish species available to catch were golden trout, westslope cutthroat and rainbow trout. We had a lot of success on almost all the lakes and we landed some really nice fish. The elevation for this hike was between 8,000 and 9,000 feet. We had all sorts of weather conditions during the week and I really thought we were going to be blown off the mountain the first night. You would hear the roar of the wind coming down the mountain and it would get louder and louder until BOOM! The tent would irrupt and shake a good 15 seconds and then it would be calm for about ten minutes before the next wave would hit. My brother and I didn't get much sleep that night but that didn't stop us from getting up early to go catch fish.

We hiked over to the next basin where we fished the day landing golden after golden trout ranging from 8-16 inches long. I put goldens number one on my list of trout to catch. They are usually really hard to catch not only because they are very selective in what they eat, but you have to work your butt off to even get the chance to get to a lake that holds them. When fishing for Goldens, my brother and I have been fortunate to have had as many fast action days as we have when going after them. We caught smaller goldens later in the week in a few other lakes but nothing like we did in that first basin. We also were able to catch some big westslope cutts and rainbows. They put up a really good fight and would leap high out of the water in hopes of shaking loose from the hook. My brother fly fished the whole time and I mostly cast spinners since I'm not great at casting in windy conditions. The flies that worked the best were the Royal Wulff, Hopper, Elk Hair Caddis, Blue Dun, Adams & Pheasant Tail Nymph.

The photos below don't do justice to just how rugged and beautiful the craggs truely are. There were parts that the trail was litterally cut out of the cliff face and there were more switch backs than I care to remember. The mule deer we saw had no fear being around us. I was surprised at how close they would come to us. This hike is more than worth it for just the scenery let alone the great fishing experience. In my opinion, the Bighorn Craggs should be on any alpine fishermans list of destinations if it isn't already.

A view of the Sawtooth range on our way to the Craggs

Harbor and Wilson Lakes.

Fishfin Ridge.

Golden country; Gooseneck, Crater and Big Clear Lake.

Birdbill and Gentian lakes where we camped.

Fish Fin Ridge is in the background.

Big Clear Lake

My biggest golden of the trip.

Gooseneck Lake.

Golden from Gooseneck Lake.

Golden Trout.

Nice Mule deer buck.

Ship Island Lake.

Westslope cutt from Echo Lake.

That was one big tree!

Trail cut out of the mountain.

Check out the Craggs in the background!

Terrace Lakes.

Westslope Cutt from the lower Terrace lake.

Double! Jason's rainbow and my westslope cutt from the lower Terrace lake.

Buck Lake has great rainbow action.

Fish on!!!

Enjoying the spoils of Buck Lake.

Buck lake rainbow.

Deer greeted us in camp at Welcome lake.

The White Clouds Of Idaho

2011-02-17T20:29:00.024-07:00

During the Winter months I dont get to get out as much so I decided to write about the trip that got me addicted to fishing. This takes me back to 2007 and by brother Jason had the crazy idea of starting a tradition of going on a 50 mile hike every year with the brothers. I missed the trip the previous year to the Saw Tooths and I wasn't about to miss any more. We hiked a loop that took us to some breathe taking views of the White Cloud range and to about 30 lakes where I got my first taste of fly fishing. We used nothing but dry's and had a blast catching all the alpine lake species of Idaho; Rainbow, Westslope Cutthroat, Grayling, Brook and Golden trout.
We saw every side of Castle Peak on this trip and even got to see some mountain goats walking its steep walls. We Camped at Quiet lake, Baker lake and Heart lakes. We caught the biggest fish in Heart lake with all the goldens and one grayling from Hope lake which is a steep 400 foot hike from Heart lake. I remember thinking that the white clouds went on forever. You would get to the top of a ridge and there would be 3 more in front of you. Up until this hike, I did a lot of hunting and hardly ever went fishing and I remember the one experience that changed all that. We had fished Hope lake the night before and Jason and I got up early and made the trek back up for a few more goldens and the hopes of a grayling. I got to my spot tied on an Elk hair caddis made a some casts and started slowly stripping it back to me. The water was like glass other than the small ripples my fly made. All at once there was an explosion on the water and Fish on! It made a few good runs and by the time I got it to the bank, Jason had made it over to see how big it was. It measured out to just over a foot long and we were both really excited. At that point it was the biggest golden either of us had seen! It is one of my favorite fishing memories and I'm fortunate I got to share it with my brothers. Jason snapped a few pictures and I decided when I got home I was going to catch every gamefish in Utah and I aim to complete that goal this year!

Ants Basin.

First fish of the trip out of one of the Born lakes. Devils Staircase is in the background.

Pika live at high elevations and have a loud chirp.

Some steep terrain to get to Four Lakes Basin.

Picture of a picture. Serrate ridge is in the background.

Justin's Grayling.

Quiet lake.

Boulder Chain lakes.

Lodgepole Lake.

Castle Peak.

Westslope Cutthroat

Hiking up to Castle Divide.

Westslope Cutthroat

Golden trout on the fly! My life changing fish!

Castle Peak and Chamberlain Basin.

Quick Trip To The Jordan River

2011-02-11T16:49:00.010-07:00

After almost 2 weeks of not fishing, I was finally able to get back out and wet a line. I recently went back to school and that has put a huge damper on the amount of times I'm able to get out. I had a few hours to spare today so I headed to the Jordan River since it's close to my home. I grabbed my ultra light rod and a few Mepps spinners for the white bass. This is the earliest time in the year I have ever fished the Jordan and I had the same results that I do most other times which is lots of white bass. I would say the average size I caught was 7" which is small but still fun on an ultra light.. What I wasn't expecting on this trip was the amount of large mouth bass I caught. I bet 1/4 of the fish I caught today were large mouth's. The largest fish of the day was a 14" large mouth which is on the bigger end for this river. In all I landed 36 fish in about 2 hours of fishing and it's just what I needed! On my way back to the truck I saw a bunch of vans and lots of people gathered together. when I got closer I noticed some handcarts being pulled accross the river which is something I never thought I'd see. It turns out that they were getting ready to film a part of a movie about the pioneers crossing the plains.

Average white bass today.

Aveerage large mouth bass today.

Largest large mouth bass at 14" long.

Handcarts crossing the river.

East Canyon Reservoir

2011-01-04T16:45:00.005-07:00

I met up with Rob for our first East Canyon fishing trip of the year. We arrived to the reservoir at sunrise and had 5 to 6 inches of safe ice. We walked across the reservoir from where we parked and set up in our usual spot. The fishing was slower than it's been here in years past but we still iced 15 rainbows using a variety of jigs. As always, the one I had the most success on was a pink 1/80 oz. round jig head tipped with a wax worm (www.jamminjigs.com). White and Chartreuse worked as well. The coolest part of the day was seeing a bald eagle come down out of the trees and steal one of our trout off the ice. I wish I would have had my camera ready to get pictures. We also saw a group of 5 bald eagles in a tree and some wild turkeys on the way home.

Rob with one of his rainbows.

Pink Jammin Jig tipped with a wax worm.

Just Another Day On The Ice

2011-01-03T15:06:00.012-07:00

I hit Palisade today with a friend visiting from Florida and his cousin. I've fished with him several times down in Florida and he wanted to try out ice fishing. When he takes me in Florida, I get perfect warm weather, nice beaches and more species of fish than I can count. He got -5 degree temperatures, numb hands and the high probability of a cold! I was here just a few days ago and had a lot of success so I was expecting the same today. Turns out the fish didn't want to participate as much as they did before. We still caught some fish and Brock was able to land his first fish through the ice. We caught rainbows and tiger trout using white jigs tipped with mill worms. He even got to have his first experience feeling the ice move and grown as it expands. I've never seen him move so fast toward shore! I was the same way when I first started ice fishing. Even now it can cause me to feel uneasy when it goes across where you're sitting. We called it quits around noon and headed back home. It was a fun trip to start out 2011!

Brock with his first fish through the ice; a fat rainbow!

Waiting for the bite.

Last fish of the day.

Palisade Reservoir

2010-12-31T14:56:00.005-07:00

It's the last day of the year and I had to get one more day of fishing in! I got up early and headed down to Palisade Reservoir In hopes of catching some tigers through the ice. When I arrived, I saw that only about a 1/3 of the reservoir was frozen and that my favorite spots were still open water. The ice looked questionable but I didn't drive 2 hours to not fish. I drilled test holes all the way out to where I wanted to fish and the ice averaged 2 1/2 inches thick which is way lower than I'd like. It's the first time I've ever ice fished with such thin ice beneath me. I ended up staying closer to shore because of it. I fished in 5-7 feet of water and stopped counting after 20 fish. Most were rainbows and I did land 1 tiger. I got 3 other tigers to the hole only to lose them. I fought one of them for quite some time and really got excited when I saw how big he was. This tiger was well over 20 inches and I missed him at the hole 3 times before we finally shook the hook. I'm still upset as I write this article that I didn't land it. It would have been my biggest fish through the ice. I'll get another chance on Monday and hopefully with a few cold days, the good spots will have ice.

The only tiger I landed.

My first double of the season!

Rainbow

Rainbow

First Ice Fishing Trip Of The Season

2010-12-20T16:34:00.007-07:00

Ice fishing is finally here. Usually I would have been out already but business trips and warmer than usual weather has kept me off the hard deck until now. I met up with Rob and we headed to Mantua Reservoir. This was my first visit to this reservoir and I'm glad we hit it. Rob had told me of past adventures and successes he had here which made made me want to try this new body of water all the more! We were on the ice and fishing by 7:30 and the fishing started out kinda slow but picked up as the day went on. We caught lots of small perch and bluegill and landed a few rainbows as well. We were hoping for some of the better sized bluegills Mantua is known for but no such luck on this outing. We caught everything usung pink Jammin Jigs with a pink cutter bug body tipped with a wax worm. I'm still waiting for some of my usual ice fishing spots to freeze up but Mantua was a great start on what I hope will be a fantastic ice fishing season.

All set up and ready for some fish.

My first fish of the ice fishing season.

Rob's first gill of the day.

Small perch.

One of the few rainbows we caught.

2010 Utah Trout Slam

2010-12-08T07:58:00.014-07:00

The 2010 Utah Trout Slam has come to a close. It was a competition that ran from January 31 to Dec 1, 2010. Going after the slam took me to some new waters, going after 7 different species of trout and gave me some memories that will last the rest of my life. I put a lot of miles on the truck and spent hours online researching bodies of water to find out where I could get into the big trout that Utah is known for. I met some new friends along the way and fished with some of my favorite fishing partners; my brothers. When it was all said and done I ended my slam with a total of 159 inches (sum of all 7 fish). The results came out yesterday and out of 180 people that registered for the trout slam, my 159 inches was good enough for a 1st place finish in the first ever held Utah Trout Slam! You can see a list of the top 8 finishers at http://www.utahtroutslam.com/ . This is the first fishing competition I've entered and I'm already addicted to them. I'm hoping I can get to do more of them in 2011. Below are some pictures of the fish that made up my slam. My favorite fish of the slam was the Splake. It is hands down the thickest trout I have ever landed. It was a complete toad! I released all of the fish I caught so hopefully another fisherman can have the chance at feeling them on the end of their line. FISH ON!

18" Brook Trout

20.5" Cutthroat Trout

21" Splake

21.5" Rainbow Trout

22" Tiger Trout

23" Brown Trout

33" Lake Trout

Black Friday? Looked Brown To Me...

2010-11-26T18:30:00.008-07:00

The infamous black Friday is here! I'm not one for big crowds but my wife seems to enjoy the gauntlet. She left the house at 4:30 am with some friends and I got my gear together and set out on another adventure to the Weber. I met up with my friend Joe who taught me how to fish this river last fall. We arrived to the river with perfect fishing conditions. OK, to be honest, there was almost a foot of snow and the temperature was -3 degrees when we started out. There's just something about breaking the ice out of your eyelets after every cast and having your reel freeze up that just adds to the fun, right? Despite the bitter cold we ended up having a pretty good day of fishing. I caught a smaller 14 inch brown on my first cast and then nothing for any of us for the next hour or so. I then hooked the biggest cutthroat I've ever seen on the Weber! It typically would have been easy to land but there was ice I had to steer him around. I got really excited as I worked him around the ice and he was all but landed. I get him within reach and the trout gave me one more hard head shake and off came my jig! AHHHH!!!! I was so close! That was my day in a nutshell. Not only did the cutt get away, but the biggest brown I landed today slipped out of my hands and swam away as I was getting the snow off him before I could get a picture. It had a lot of color and would have made a great picture.
Joe on the other hand started out really slow and ended the day with some real beauties. He landed some of the nicer looking browns I've seen. They ranged from 20-23 inches and were thick! All-in-all, it was another successful trip and I'm happy to say that I finally have all the feeling back in my hands!

Joe's first and biggest catch of the day.

Typical brown trout from the Weber.

Joe lands another brute!

Steelhead On The Fly And Other Firsts

2010-11-19T16:52:00.022-07:00

November has turned out to be a great month of fishing. I've had a lot of great adventures this month but this one tops any of them! I made the trip back to Boise to try and catch my first ever steelhead. My brother told me that Idaho fish and game dump steelhead in the Boise River that they caught in the Hells Canyon area of the Snake River. Steelhead once made their run to the Boise River from the ocean but the many dams along the way had made it impossible for them to continue. My brother had fished for the released steelhead in years past and had good success catching them. He told me before I came up to be prepared for other anglers as well. When we made it to the river it wasn't so bad but by the time they dumped the fish there were people everywhere. It was a different experience to say the least.
On one hand, it made it a lot more difficult to fish but on the other, I got to make some new friends. There were several guys there that fish the steelhead dump every year and it was fun to hear some of there stories from trips past. One guy had brought some smoked steelhead that he had caught the week before and it was some of the best tasting fish I've ever had. Once the truck showed up, it was complete mayhem for the next few hours. There we lots of hang ups with other anglers but everyone seemed to have gone in knowing the battle plan. They dumped a little over 100 steelhead and there were several caught by all. My brother also invited one of his friends to come with us that had never caught a steelhead. We all caught fish using purple egg sucking leeches and I saw others using black wooly buggers. It was so fun catching them on the fly and the steelhead I caught was the biggest fish for me that I've landed on a fly. The fish I saw caught ranged from 23-30 inches.
Earlier in the day my brother had mentioned some bass ponds that Robert took him to wear they had great success catching them on some dry fly patterns. I asked if he had ever gone night fishing and he told me no. I bet you can't guess what we did that night..... We got to the ponds around 10 and started fishing. We were excited to try the mouse pattern that we both had but had never used before. I have heard of angles catching monster brown trout at night using this pattern and figured why not a bass? typically I've found that when the cold weather sets in, the bass stop biting and we weren't sure if we would even have a chance. My brother made several casts using different retrievals without any luck but about 30 minutes into it he figured it out. we couldn't really see the fly when it was out on the water and you would just do short fast strips and pause. After that do a few more and Slam! I couldn't believe the fish were hitting so hard this late in the year. The water would be dead calm and out of no where there would be an explosion on top of the water! My brother landed several and had a bunch get away. It's tough fighting a fish in almost complete darkness. I would shine my head lamp once we had a fish on which made it a little easier. My brother lost a couple that I bet were bigger than the largest one that he landed based on the few times I could get a light on them before they got off. I was also able to land some which was another first for me on this trip. I had never caught a large mouth on the fly and it was an absolute riot! I'm also happy that I can now say I've caught a fish on the mouse pattern. We left around midnight very content with the fishing day we had!
As I made my way back home today, I stopped in Hagerman to check out the fish hatcheries they have there. They had lots of ponds and lakes you can fish during the fishing season but the season ended November 1st. I got to see some sturgeon which was cool and I also got some fishing tips on where and how to catch them from one of the hatchery guys. I plan to make a trip up there next year and try those tips out. I also got to see Thousand Springs. They are springs that look to come straight out of the cliffs and drain into the Snake River. I'm always amazed at the beauty and diversity of this great land! How truly blessed we are to be able to enjoy it!

Can you say combat fishing?

Robert's first steelhead.

Jason's steelhead.

Fish on!

My first ever steelhead.

First largemouth of the night.

My first largemouth caught on the fly... or should I say mouse?

20" Largmouth. This was the biggest one landed.

Stergeon at the state fish hatchery in Hagerman.

Thousand Springs near Hagerman.

Mixed Bag On The Jordan River

2010-11-16T15:36:00.011-07:00

I had a few hours in between running around so I grabbed my ultra-light rod and headed down to the Jordan River. It's a quick 5 minute drive from my house which makes it nice when you only have a little time and have to get rid of that fishing itch. The river is really low this time of year which push most of the remaining fish into pools. By this time most of the better sized fish have been taken by the countless fisherman that hit the river the first second that the water levels drop. I wasn't planning on catching any trophies but even the little guys can be fun on an ultra-light rod. I caught 5 different species of fish in the hour or so I was there. There were a few I caught that were no bigger than the spinner I was using. I used a few different colors of Mepps and Roster tails and they seemed to like them. I think you could throw just about anything in there and catch a fish. Other than the mud, it would be a great place to take the little ones for some catching opportunites. You never know what you might pull out!

Bluegill

Perch

White Bass

Black Crappie

Largemouth Bass

Jarbidge River, ID

2010-11-06T11:00:00.021-06:00

My brother invited me up to fish a river I had never heard of for a species I knew little about. That combo almost always gets me interested and so I was off on another adventure! The Jarbidge River is found in southwest Idaho in the Owyhee Canyonlands Wilderness. The river is more known for its treacherous rapids that rafting enthusiast's test their skills on. For my brother and I however, it meant going to a place that is seldom visited by anglers. We were going to go after the redband trout (a subspecies of the rainbow trout) and bull trout that are said to inhabit this river. You only have a few months in the year when this river is low enough to even fish and we were lucky to be able to get out there this late in the year. This river is literally in the middle of nowhere and you could definitely feel the remoteness of where you were. We were able to see some sage grouse on the way out which was a first for me and also some antelope and big horn sheep.

We made our way down the steep ridge to the canyon floor where we put on our waders and began to fish. My brother was first to hook into a fish and landed it in no time. He was using woolly buggers and the fishing was really fast. I was using a gold spinner that the redbands absolutely loved. We landed well over 100 fish that day that went as big as 13 inches. Redband trout do not grow very big but it was fun to catch a new species none the less. We never did see any sign of bull trout which was a bummer but they are rare for the area. It was a neat experience to fish under sheer cliffs that shot strait up from the hole you were fishing. It was a trip unlike any other I've done and the scenery was just as good as the fishing.

What a view!

We were greeted by desert big horn sheep.

Jason fishing one of the holes.

my biggest redband.

I'm the tiny dot in the lower right.

Jason with a nice redband.

Flyfishing at it's best!

We saw lots of antelope.

Late Season Action.

2010-10-28T16:14:00.019-06:00

Rob and I met up this morning to go try our luck on the Weber River. We drove up the canyon to his property and were greeted by a fantastic sunrise and a 27 degree chill. The brown trout are currently spawning and in my opinion, this is the best time of year to fish this river. Not only does it give you the best chance at landing some of the monster browns that this river holds, The fish are also the most colorful during the spawn which make for some great photo opportunities. The river was high for this time of year and the fishing was slower than we were expecting, maybe due to the recent storms we've had. In years past it's been gang busters during the spawn. We both started out landing a few small cuts. Rob was using flies and I used jigs. We hit hole after hole with minimum success. As the day heated up, so did the fishing. I don't know if that was connected by ether way we liked it. We started getting into the browns at this point and we ended up with a few nice fish going up to 20 inches in length. We saw a few really nice browns on beds which was cool to see. I was hoping for faster action but still had a great time and I will definitely be back on the river shortly to continue my search for that monster brown.

Rob's first brown of the day.

Close up of my fish in the picture below. Great shot Rob!

My biggest of the day. I love the hook jaw!

Robs Biggest of the day.

A red fox soaking up the morning rays.

Indian River Madness

2010-10-11T14:23:00.020-06:00

While on a business trip to Orlando, Rob and I got to go out for a day of fishing on the Indian River. We made the hour and a half drive from Orlando to Ft. Pierce where we met up with Captain Charlie Conner of Fish Tales Charters ( http://www.fishtalescharter.com/ ). We started early and we had fast action for most of the day. We started out fishing a sea wall and Rob hooked up with a ladyfish right away. After spending some time there we moved and fished some docs where we both caught Redfish and Rob all but landed a snook. It got off right at the boat! We then hit the flats where we had success catching spotted sea trout and jack crevalle. I also caught a small flounder. After that we hit a few more docs where we slammed the sheephead and more jacks. Once you catch a sheephead, the name makes total sense. You look at there mouth and its chuck full of teeth that a sheep would have. I've never seen anything like it! We also caught some hard head catfish, gag grouper, mangrove snapper, pufferfish, pinfish and black drum. We had multiple doubles during the day with several species. It was unbelievable! We used live bait at times and also threw some swim baits and jigs. Capt. Charlie knew his stuff and it was one of the fastest fishing days I've ever had! We caught 13 different species of fish in 1 day! We also saw manatee's and dolphins which was a cool experience. If you're ever in the Orlando area and are looking to go fishing, call Capt. Charlie and rest assured, you'll have tight lines all day. Trust me, Disney World has nothing on the kind of day we had out on the water!

Beautiful Sunrise.

Ladyfish

Rob's biggest redfish of the day.

My biggest redfish of the day.

Speckled trout double

Black Drum

Pinfish

Sheephead Double

Mangrove Snapper

Gag Grouper

Jack Crevalle double

My biggest Jack Crevalle of the day.

Hardhead Catfish

Hardhead catfish

The Boulder Mountains...Thats More Like It!

2010-10-05T15:21:00.017-06:00

If you've read my previous post on the Boulder Mountains, then you know it wasn't the best fishing experience of my life. I had such high expectations of landing the big trout that the area is known for and came away a little disappointed. Although I learned better fly fishing skills on that trip, I wasn't able to catch the big one so to speak. Well, I regrouped, decided to take my spinning rod this time and headed back down with my older brother Jason. We arrived late, set up camp and got a few hours of sleep before we headed out. Jason and I had higher expectations on this trip and it just felt like it was going to be a good day of fishing.

The first lake we hit was one that I fished the last time I was down. I knew that it held huge brook trout and it was just a matter of hooking up with one. My brother brought his fly rod and fished the way I was taught on my first trip. He is far superior to me with a fly rod and had a lot more success hooking into fish than I did when I was down a month earlier. He hooked into several brookies in the 16" range. I tried fly fishing the first two hours with a single bite and decided it was time to stop messing around. I went back to shore set up my spinning rod with one of my favorite jigs and within no time had a fish on! It was like that the rest of the day. I landed 12 brook trout with my biggest going 18 inches and just a complete toad. These brookies are footballs in this lake and put up a really good fight. I hooked one 16" fish that had an 11" girth!

The next day we made our way to two other lakes but instead of going after brook trout, we were targeting tiger trout (hybrid between a brook trout and brown trout) and splake (hybrid between a brook trout and lake trout). We first went to a small lake that is known for monster tiger trout that you can sight fish for. Boy did we see some absolute hogs! The only problem was that they didn't want to take anything we were throwing. we fished for the first half of the day with no luck. there were a few other fisherman on the lake that were having the same success we were. I was able to land 2 tigers the last hour we were there and one of them was well worth the wait! It measured out to 22" and is the biggest Tiger I've ever landed. The crazy thing is that there was a tiger in that lake that we saw that made the one I caught look small and I'm not kidding. I believe the Utah state record tiger is swimming in that lake. We had some lunch and headed down to our final lake of the trip. I started fishing an inlet while my brother made his way around the lake. No sooner did he make it over to where he wanted to be that he told me to come over. I made it over and he was laughing to himself just telling me to look into the water. I couldn't believe what I saw! there where fish everywhere! It looked like the bottom of the lake was moving. We quickly cast in and both of us had fish on. It was really fast fishing. There were tigers, spake and colorado cutthroat trout and we caught all three species. It was a really good trip for us. Jason caught three new species that he had never caught before and I caught my personal best for 3 species. The biggest of this lake was a splake that took my jig off the bottom. when I got him in I couldn't believe how fat it was. The fish was wider than my hand from the tip of my fingers to my wrist! The only bad thing about this trip was we were only there for 2 days. Needless to say, we are already planning a longer trip for next year! This trip ranks among the best fishing trips I've ever had.

18" Brook Trout

16" Brook Trout

22" Tiger Trout

Check out the patterns!

Check out the colors!

Spake on the fly...

All day long!

21" Splake. What a hogzilla!

16" Colorado Cutthroat Trout

Labor Day Fun

2010-09-09T17:53:00.011-06:00

For the last couple years I've gone with my in-laws to stay in Island Park. Of course we always go fishing for one of the days and this trip was no different. We started out early and headed down to Ashton to fish the Snake River below the dam. I unwittingly brought wading socks instead of my waders and I found out really quick that that was a mistake. The water was freezing! I fished for a while with no luck so I crossed a bridge to try the other side of the river. I looked off the bridge about half way across and saw about 50 good sized trout. After seeing that I knew what I had to do. Even though my Father-in-law told me I was crazy, I waded out in waste deep water and gave it a go. The only thing that kept my mind off of how cold the water was was the thought of hooking one of those big trout. To bad the fish didn't want to bite. We moved up river closer to the dam to give it one more shot. I started throwing rapalas and finally started having hits and follows. I saw some monsters follow but no commitments. By this time I was a little frustrated and ready to go try a different spot and then finally, FISH ON! This fish made one long hard run for about 10 seconds and snapped my 8 lb test! Between his run and the current, I couldn't keep up with him down the river.

We decided we had had enough of that spot so we headed back to the cabin, ate some lunch and we were off to Henrys lake to try our luck there. The wind was blowing hard and the lake was white capping but we launched my 14 ft tracker anyway. We didn't drive 5 hours to give up easily. Needless to say, I ended up just driving so the others could attempt to fish. The lake beat us and after an hour on the lake, we called it a day. The next day we headed into Yellowstone National Park to check out some of the sites. There we a few that had never seen Mammoth Hot Springs so we headed up the upper loop to see it. We saw a lot of wildlife including a Grizzly bear right off the road. by the time we got to Mammoth Hot Springs, the tempurature had dropped dramatically. We ended up not staying long and headed back. On the way back we noticed in had snowed in the higher elevations and I believe that was the first snow the season. We had a great trip and better than the fishing or the beautiful surroundings was being able to spend time with the family.

One of the many geysers in Yellowstone.

Young Grizzly bear.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Traffic Jam

First snow of the season???

Ashton Dam

The Ranch

2010-08-18T15:22:00.006-06:00

My brother invited me out to the ranch that his friend owns to do some bass fishing for the weekend. We met up with some other friends and had a blast. There are 3 ponds you can fish and I was surprised at the size of the fish we were catching. It was so fun to watch the younger kids going to battle with these fish and loving every minute of it. At night it seemed that the big boys came out a lot more to play and we managed to hook a few of them. The next morning it was more of the same. The kids were catching bass after bass and they even caught a some craw fish which they thought were pretty cool. It was a great weekend and hopefully we'll be able to go out there again before the snow flies.

My nephew with a great catch!

My biggest of the trip.

Not that big but it made a great picture.

Some of the kids "scouting" where the fish were.

The Boulder Mountains of Utah

2010-08-15T14:38:00.014-06:00

I made my first ever trip down to the boulders this past week. What a beautiful area. The boulders are surrounded by Capital Reef National Park and Grand Staircase National Monument Which made for some spectacular views. I fly fished a few lakes and had some success but not what I was hoping for. I'm still learning to fly fish and this was the first trip I went on that I didn't have my spinning rod to back me up. It was really frustrating knowing I could have caught a lot more fish if I had it but it was really good to learn fly fishing skills. By the second day I had it down and could cast good enough to get the fly where I needed it. I saw some really big fish while I was there and hooked a few decent brookies in the 16-17 inch range. I also saw some monster tiger trout but couldn't get them to commit. I am going to head back down in September for another go at it.

A few nice brookies.

Thats one big mushroom.

Hogsback. No gaurdrails and a very long drop if you go over.

More Hogs On The Weber

2010-07-16T17:16:00.011-06:00

I made my first trip to the Weber since the spring run-off to see how the fishing would be. I have never fished the Weber this time of year and didn't really know what to expect. The weather was sunny and really hot. I started out fishing early in the morning and the Weber was good to me today. I landed 15 fish with 5 over 20" including the biggest cutthroat I've ever caught on this river. I landed him and hurried and got the camera ready and was ready for the picture but the fish had other plans. I dipped him in the water right before the picture and the fish wiggled out of my hands and was gone! It measured out at 21 inches and is compareable to the second picture down for body size. It's days like this that keep me addicted to fishing.

22" Brute which was the first and biggest catch on the day.

16" Cut

Utah Suckers soaking up some sun. The one at the top right was huge!

The High Uintas, UT

2010-07-10T11:54:00.027-06:00

Every year I go on a hike with my brothers for a week of Alpine fishing and this year we went to the High Uintas in Utah. We hiked 30 miles in 3 days and the fishing was fast and furious. We had great weather the whole time we were there and these trips are some of my favorites because I get to hang out with my brothers. I must admit though that each year my motivation is getting less and less on the hiking part because of the lack of new species of fish to catch. We all experienced a little altitude sickness this trip as well which surprised all of us. On previous hikes we've been a lot higher and had never had problems. It really zapped my energy and I had to do things at a slower pace until my body acclimated. The pictures never give true justice of just how beautiful it is in the high country. I'm already looking forward to next years trip!

At the trail head about to start the "fun".

Entering Four Lakes Basin

14" Brook Trout; A new personal best for this species.

Dane's Lake

It doesn't get much better than this!

12" Artic Grayling on the fly.

The start of a new family.

I think this is as close as I'll get.

Provo Falls

One more moose for the road.

Bula Fiji

2010-06-07T22:34:00.066-06:00

I started out wanting to go to Fiji to fish but once I got there, that all changed. We arrived after a 10 1/2 hour flight from L.A. at 5 am. My wife wanted to rest so I went exploring. I walked down the beach a ways and saw several schools of bait fish and birds following right behind them. I also walked around the timeshare to see where everything was and check out the pool.

The first of many amazing sunsets we saw.

A portion of the largest swimming pool in the south pacific.

After about 2 hours of wandering, I made my way back to the apartment and made breakfast and grabbed my pole. My wife wanted to go with so we headed out. I had no idea what to use and I saw people feeding fish with bread so I tried that. I wasn't having any luck and a guy from Australia came by and showed me how to catch clams buried on the beach to use for bait. Sure enough, I put one on and immediately a fish was on! I caught several of the one's shown in the picture and none of them were big but it was still fun. We walked further down the beach and ran into a native man with his family fishing with a big net. We talked for a while and I asked if I could help him. He gave me a weird look wondering why I would want to do that but let me none the less. We spent the next few hours fishing in the ocean as well as a small lake that the high tide fills everyday. It was such a great experience. We netted a variety of small fish including some puffer fish. We took a break and his wife cooked up the fish right there on the beach with some tapioca which was a lot like a potato. I ran back to the resort to grab some pineapples and Joesaia climbed a tree and got some coconuts. We had lunch and shared stories while we rested under a tree. The highlight of this trip for me was meeting this family. They had us over to their home later in the week for dinner and when we arrived at the airport to go home, they were there to see us off. I made a great friend and plan on keeping in contact with him. That night we took a catamaran ride to another island, First Landing, for dinner. We were entertained with different dances as well as my favorite, the fire dance.

A great lunch on the beach.

Some new friends.

Riding a catamaran to First Landing for dinner.

Fire Dancing

The next day we went snorkeling at Plantation Island (http://www.sailingadventuresfiji.com/). I met a lot of great people on the boat ride there and even caught a small blue fin tuna trolling on the way. The snorkeling was amazing! There were fish everywhere. We saw Nemo and the gang as well as countless other species. we had lunch on Plantation Island and headed back.

Small Blue Fin Tuna I caught trolling on the way to snorkel.

We got up early the next day for a day of guided fishing. The sunrise was amazing and we soon arrived at our first fishing spot. I really wanted to catch a GT and sadly that didn't happen. We didn't catch anything big. It was my wife's first time ever fishing in the ocean and she caught several. We started bottom fishing to rest from popping and I hooked into something big. It was all I could do to keep my pole from resting on the side of the boat. The fish was ripping out line really fast and I couldn't keep the tip of the pole out of the water! The Fish was running under the boat and I told the guide to turn the boat, but he just stood there and said "Big Fish". After about 20 seconds of ripping line it popped off. I was a little upset that the guide didn't turn the boat and reverse and follow but I didn't say anything. I reeled in the line and my hook was bent straight. We had fun but I regret not going with Fish Whisper guide. I had followed his blog and seen the success he has, but it turned out he was a 3 hour drive from where I was staying. The drive won't matter to me next time.

Mountain Of The Sleeping Giant. The feet are on the left, head on the right.

My wife's first ever catch in the ocean, a Coral Trout! Best of all she hand lined it.

Dolphins swimming by the boat while fishing

I woke up the next morning and headed off to the highland village of Navala while my wife stayed behind for a spa day. We drove through various towns and stopped at some open air markets along the way. There were also people selling things along the road. What I found the most interesting were the fish being sold on the side of the road. I've never seen anything like that. I wonder how many people get sick from eating bad fish? After a few hours we made it to Navala. What a neat village. We couldn't wear hats in the village and we had a Kava ceremony in the chiefs house to get permission to enter the village. The Kava made my mouth numb and it tasted like muddy water. My favorite part of the tour was seeing and talking to the school children. They were so happy and loved getting their picture taken. They were also impressed I was from the U.S. which made me laugh since I was wishing I could live in Fiji. We also saw some of the sights in Nadi including a Hindi temple that you can't really describe. It was built in the 1860's and was quite a sight to take in.

A bail of Kava root at the market.

The Village of Navala

The Chief is on the left.

Perparing the Kava.

Down the hatch!

What a feast! I didn't know what most of it was but it tasted good.

Hindi Temple in Nadi. It was built around 1861.

We next did a whirlwind trip to Suva to see the other side of the island. It was a long 4 hour bus ride but well worth it. We saw the Coral Coast on the way, along with other great sights. Once in Suva we saw the Capital building as well as the president of Fiji's house. We also went through the Fiji Musium and learn some of the history of Fiji which was really interesting. We saw the building where all the chiefs meet as well as the Parliment building. My understanding is that the parliment building hasn't been in use since the coup in 2006. Shopping in downtown Suva was crazy! Everyone tried getting you into their shops and it got to be a little bit much after a while so we headed out a few miles to see the Fijian LDS temple. It was neat to see. After lunch we got back on the bus and headed back to the resort.

Joe's Thumb

Fijian Capital Building

Flowers from lilly pads at the capital

A guard at the entrance of the Presidents home.

The Fijian Presidents home.

Very interesting

A cannibal fork and bowl used to eat Thomas Bakers flesh. Yes, I bought a souvenir fork.

On our last day we went snorkeling again, only this time we went to Savala Island. The snorkeling was great and I got to see a mora eel which was really cool. We snorkeled for a few hours and had a buffet lunch and headed back to the resort to pack. This was without a doubt the best trip I've been on! Fiji was absolutely beautiful but better than the sights were the people. I've never in my life met a group of people so happy and genuine. I truly fell in love with the people and I am definately going back someday.

Savala

Blue Star Fish

Until next time Fiji

Flaming Gorge

2010-05-20T21:17:00.015-06:00

I made my first ever trip to Flaming Gorge to see if I could catch my first Lake Trout. Flaming Gorge is a three hour drive for me so I started out really early to get there by eight. I met up with Captain Steve of Trophy Fishing Guides and we headed out. We started out in some of the worst weather I've ever fished from a boat in. There were high winds and really big waves knocking us around but we managed. The weather eventually calmed some as the day went on and we also found some areas where the mountains blocked some of the wind. Captain Steve had us over fish all day but the bite was really slow. He really knows his stuff and I took a lot of notes and learned a ton about Lake Trout fishing. We ended up boating two Lake Trout and lost a third. They put up a great fight and I think it's about as close to salt water fishing as you can get without actually doing it. The fish would make long runs ripping out line as they went. It was quite a rush. I plan to head back up with my boat to see if I can put what I learned to good use. My Uncle held the state record for Lake Trout until it was broken in 1988 and that record has held ever since. I was also able to do a little fishing from the shore after our trip. The Rainbow's are at the tail end of their spawn and there were quite a few that were still hanging out in the marina. I was able to catch a few but most of them had some kind of disease on there skin so they were not much to look at. I was told that they were safe to eat but needless to say I released everything I caught. On the plus side is that the majority of them were good sized. You could see dozens cruising the shallows. It was fun getting to sight fish and see all the action.

The Utah state record Lake Trout caught at Flaming Gorge.

I was greeted by Antelope as I arrived.

Finding the Mac's

33" Lake Trout

31" Lake Trout

Mule Deer

21 1/2" Rainbow

Checking Out The Berry

2010-05-16T10:16:00.008-06:00

My father-in-law and I went to Strawberry for the first time this year. A lot of the lake is still frozen but most of the bays are open now. We decided to hit Renigade Bay in our float tubes. The water was ice cold. I actually had to get out a few times and let my feet thaw because they would go numb! The fishing was really slow and everyone around us was having the same bad luck. There was a storm the past few days and I wonder if that had anything to do with it since Spring is usually the best time to fish here. We both ended up with one fish each and even though the fishing wasn't what we had hoped for, it was still fun to get out and experience the outdoors.

A Few More River Trips With A Personal Best

2010-04-09T18:32:00.011-06:00

I'm still waiting for ice off so back to the Weber river I go. I fished by myself today and started out fishing a lower section of the river. The run-off was really bad and the water clarity was aweful! It was really muddy and that made for zero hites in 2 hours of fishing. I decided to drive to a different spot hoping to get lucky and find some water that wasn't mucked up with dirt and debris and the drive payed off. I went to a spot I hadn't fished in a while and the water clarity was great for this time of year. I started fishing and it was more of the same that I expirenced earlier in the day. That is, until about a half hour later I came to a nice hole that usually doesn't let me down. And on the forth cast, WHAM! I knew I had a mamoth as the fish hit my lure. The fish repeatedly jumped out of the water tring to get free but to no avail. I landed the fish and knew I had a new personal best. I grabbed the tape and confirmed what I already thought. I beat my old best by 2 whole inches as it measured out at 23 inches, just 1 inch shy of 2 feet long! I really need to get a scale because I would really like to know the weight of this fish. Any Guesses? After a few pictures with the tripod, I watch the monster swim away so that another angler might get a chance at him too. It was more of the same the rest of the day. I landed big browns in most of the holes the rest of the day. I got a lot of video (that I haven't been able to edit and load) so I only took a few pictures. The video editing is a work in progress, I'm still figuring it out.

23" Beast. My new personal best for brown trout.

Long but skinny.

The only Cutthroat Trout of the day.

These are a few pictures from last weeks trip. I went with my friend Joe and we had a hay day catching big fish. Joe landed a 21" fat Rainbow and several 20-21" browns but all of those pictures are on his camera. As soon as I get them I will add them to the post. I landed nothing but browns on this trip. Together I'd say we caught 30-35 fish. It was one of the best days I've had on the Weber as far as numbers caught go.

Epic Day On The Weber

2010-03-06T16:56:00.007-07:00

I'm still waiting for ice-off on the lakes so I hit the Weber again. I post alot about this river so this will be short and sweet. I fished with Rob in the morning and he caught a bunch of nice cuttroat trout in the 16-18 inch range. I will add the pictures as soon as he gets them to me. He had to leave early and I fished on for another couple hours. I landed 7 fish total. All the Browns but one I caught were 18 inches or bigger with the largest just over 20 inches! I also landed a smaller cutt which was nice because I usually don't hook into those. The Weber was indeed good to me today!

Check out that hook jaw!

Back On The River

2010-02-17T18:30:00.015-07:00

The slush monster was out in full force on the lakes so ice fishing has become more work than what it is worth. With that, Rob and I decided to hit the river for the first time this year. There was lite snow falling with next to no wind. Rob used his fly rod and I used a spinning rod to see what was working. We started fishing around 7:30 in the morning and it started out slow and continued to pick up as the day went on. By the end of the day we had landed a bunch of fish with Rob beating me in the number of fish caught. He caught Brown, cutthroat and Rainbow trout with a bunch of mountain white fish all on the fly. I stuck with my spinning rod and while I didn't have the numbers Rob did, the size of the fish I caught made up for it. I caught a fat 21 inch brown that is a new personal best for me for that species. I'm still looking for that 25 inch or bigger brown to hang on my wall. I also got to try out a new toy my wife got me for Christmas. It's a video head-cam in HD. This unit is in my opinion the best thing since the Cowboys won the super bowl! The only bad thing wasI forgot to charge it all the way and it died about 10 minutes before I hooked into the monster brown. As soon as I get good with editing and formating, I'll be able to start posting video as well as pictures of my fishing trips!

15" Brown

Some of Rob's mountain white fish.

My only mountain white fish of the day.

Christmas Vacation, Ice Fishing Style

2010-01-02T09:34:00.005-07:00

I got a week off from work over the Christmas holiday and got to finally go ice fishing. On the first outing, Rob and I met up and headed to East Canyon Res. We started fishing at 7:30 am and caught around 40 rainbows that ranged from 12-16 inches. Pink or White Jammin Jigs tipped with wax worms were the ticket. We found the fish in 10-12 ft.
Rob Couldn't go the next day, so I made a solo run down to Palisade Res. I've had great success here in the past and that was the story again. started fishing around 8 am using pink Jammin Jigs tipped with a mill worm and slammed them. The bite was super lite so a wire bobber is a must. without one, I would have never felt a single bite. I landed 26 rainbows and 1 tiny tiger trout. the rainbows were in the 12-14 inch range. Palisade holds huge tigers but I couldn't find them.
On Wednesday I met back up with Rob and headed to Causey Res. We couldn't seem to really find the fish. We ended up with 20 fish landed, most of which were small tiger trout. The bite was slow the whole day. Our main reason for going there was to try and get into some kokanee salmon. Rob had caught them through the ice before but it wasn't in the cards for us this trip. Overall, the 3 days of fishing were great! It was nice to finally be able to get out on the hard deck and ice some fish.

First bow of the ice season from East Canyon.

Another bow from East Canyon.

A funky colored bow from Palisade.

Small tiger trout from Causey.

Florida Fishing Part 2; Indian River Lagoon

2009-12-15T18:39:00.022-07:00

After Fishing Ft. Lauderdale and getting the fresh water fishing out of our system, it was time for some saltwater action! We met up with Captain Troy nash of Big Red Guide Service and fished the Indian River Lagoon just outside of Titusville, FL. Troy knew the lagoon like the back of his hand and had us on the fish all day long. Fishing the flats and sight fishing was a blast. Troy had heard there were some black drum in the area so we set out to catch some of those first. It didn't take long before Rob and I Were in the fish and our drag's were screaming as the fish were ripping out line. I also learned why they call them drum. They make a really cool low drum sound that sounds alot like the base in your car. After landing several black drum, we headed to a different part of the lagoon to go after the red fish and sea trout. Within five minutes of Troy showing us what to do, I hooked and landed my first red fish and Rob landed his first and biggest sea trout of the day. For the next few hours we landed several red fish and sea trout with a few puffer fish mixed in. Puffer fish are considered trash fish but I still wanted to catch one to add it to my species list. We also saw a Manatee and some Dolphin cruising the lagoon which was cool to see. At the end of the day, Rob and I landed around 25 fish. I would highly recommend Captain Troy nash to anyone if you are looking for fast saltwater action! Check out his website at www.redfishing.com .

Hear are some of the Black Drum Rob Caught.

We couldn't get him to puff up very much, but we tried!

Puffer Fish. Rob and I both caught one.

Here are some of the Black Drum I caught

Biggest red fish of the day.

All day long!

Biggest sea trout of the day!

Check out the single top tooth these trout have.

A tiny sea trout. The biggest one I leadered got away before the picture.

A gator at the Orlando Bass Pro Shops.

Florida Fishing Part 1; Ft. Lauderdale

2009-12-15T17:03:00.024-07:00

I had a business trip to Orlando that lasted a week, so I did what any warm blooded American should do; pack some fishing gear and go down 3 days early to fish! My friend Rob was already there and we met up and made the 3 hour drive down to Ft. Lauderdale. We arrived to wet conditions. It rained off and on all day and the fishing was slower than previous trips I've made. We fished some of the ponds I had fished before around Ft. lauderdale. Even with the conditions we still caught quite a few fish, 5 species total. We even caught a few gar that spit the hook and fell back in the water before we could get pictures pf them. I love the fight that some of the exotic species have in them. They put up a better fight than large mouth bass in my opinion. If you go down, check out Everglades Pro Bass Bait Shop Located at 8246 Griffin Rd in Davie, FL. There phone number is 954-434-4495. Not only do they have everything you would need to catch fish, they can also give you good insight as to wear to go to catch what ever species you're going after. After a good day of fishing, We headed back to Orlando for our next trip. See Florida Fishing Part 2 for some great salt water action!

Large Mouth Bass

My first ever Midas Cichlid.

My biggest Jaguar Garbote of the day.

Rob with a nice Jaguar Garbote.

Another one of Rob's nice Jaguar Garbote's.

We should have taken this exit. Just think of the possibilites!

Mayan Cichlid

This is one of the largest Iguana's I've seen!

Thanksgiving Equals Good Times

2009-12-01T17:14:00.008-07:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! It's always fun to get together with all the family and enjoy their company and eat your own weight in turkey! We had quite a good time the past few days! I went fishing with my Father-in-law and caught some small rainbows in a little stream nearby while my Dad and brother took all the kids to hike sugar loaf volcano while all the wives did the black Friday shopping thing (scary)! After, we met up and went up the canyon to look at deer and show the kids some of the Indian petroglyphs that are in the canyon. The kids had a blast and got to enjoy some awesome country. Of course, Thanksgiving always comes and goes faster than you would like and the only problem with the weekend was that I didn't take enough pictures! I truely am blessed and hope that all of you had as good of Thanksgiving as I did.

My Father-in-laws trout out of Chalk Creek.

A bunch of the kids on Indian Rock up Dry Creek Canyon.

One of the nice bucks we saw while we were out and about.

The kids getting ready for an Adventure

Fire in the sky! A nice sunset from my parents back yard.

Early Morning On The Middle Provo

2009-11-25T13:47:00.004-07:00

I made a quick trip up to fish the Middle Provo River. It was 18 degrees when I started and gradually warmed as the day went on. I was using rapalas and twitching them through the current. It was a typical provo river experience as far as all the fisherman around goes but I did land 3 fish and had a lot of follows. I'm still tring to perfect fishing with rapalas and I feel I'm getting better each time I go out. It seems that the later in the year we go, the less and less the fish want to play. I plan on hitting a little river down south after Thanksgiving, hopefully it's faster fishing down there. It's ok though, I'm starting to see ice fishing reports so my river fishing is almost done until spring.

19" Provo Brown. My biggest so far on this river.

21" White Fish. He had something funky going on with his belly.

Quick Trip to the Provo River

2009-11-22T00:04:00.005-07:00

My father-in-law called me this morning and wanted to hit the lower section of the Provo river. I had a few hours before I needed to leave for the Utes last home game of the season (they won 38-7 against San Diego St) so we went. First off, I've never been a real fan of fishing the Provo river for a few reasons. Despite being a blue ribbon fishery, It's almost always crowded and quite frankly, the river has had my number! I've never been able to catch fish consistently out of the thing! But today I was excited to try out some of the new techniques I learned from fishing the Weber river with Joe the past couple of weeks. We only had an hour and a half to fish and in that time I landed 2 browns and missed a few others. My father-in-law also had a few takes. The first one I caught looked to be a few inches bigger than the one pictured but he decided to unhook himself at my feet before I had a chance to take a picture. It wasn't fast fishing, but I was excited to actually catch more than one fish on the Provo in one trip, which is a first for me. We will definitely have a lot more trips on the Provo, only this time, I have my sights on the middle section.

The Weber River, Take Two

2009-11-20T20:37:00.005-07:00

Joe invited me to hit the Weber with him again and I wasn't about to miss out on the opportunity. We fished a different spot on the river from the first time we went in hopes of hooking up with some more big browns. Well, today the fish didn't want to join the party. The bite was slow all day! We had a couple of really nice browns on for a moment only to have them spit the hook. We didn't see any fish on beds today so I guess the spawn has wrapped up for the year. We ended up with 3 fish landed with the biggest going 19". The other 2 were in the 14-15" range. Even though the fishing wasn't as fast as we would have liked, it was still a great day to be out on the river! It won't be to much longer until we'll be getting out the auger and sled for ice fishing season. I'm definitely looking forward to it!

19" Brown Trout

Brown-Out On The Weber River, November 2009

2009-11-05T20:51:00.021-07:00

I finally met up with a guy I've been wanting to fish with for a long time. I had read a lot of the Weber River reports that he posts on http://www.bigfishtackle.com/ about the monster brown trout that he catches on a regular basis. I frequent a lot of fishing forums and blogs and don't know of anyone in Utah that consistently catches as many big browns as Joe does. I was fortunate enough to be able to go out with him for a day and learn some of his techniques he uses to land these big beautiful fish.

We met up and were on the river by 9 am. About 20 minutes into fishing, it turned into an all out hog fest! In the 7 hours of fishing, we landed around 20 browns that were 17-21" in length and around that same number that went smaller than that. We also hooked some rainbow trout and mountain white fish. Joe and I both hooked into a few monster browns 24-26" range that spit our rapalas and plastics after some acrobatic fights. Some of those fish that got away were without a doubt the biggest brown trout I have seen while fishing! It was frustrating at times because I couldn't keep a fish hooked to save my life! I missed a dozen or so big browns that would throw my hook back at me after a few seconds of fighting. At the end of the day, I can say that this is one trip that I won't soon forget. Thanks again Joe! I look forward to the next adventure with you!

First fish of the day.

Spawned-out female

21" Beast

This one looked like it was part piranha. Check out those chompers!

Check out the hump ...Awesome!

Nice Weber Rainbow

"The Ghost Fish" October 2009

2009-10-26T22:31:00.010-06:00

A friend and I decided to head out fishing after work. He had been telling me about a reservoir that he took his boy to a few days ago where they caught some albino trout. I had seen pictures of them before but had never caught one myself. That one small detail is all it takes for me to get interested in going after it! We arrived and were fishing by around 5 pm. He had told me that the times he had fished this particular reservoir, the fishing had always been fast. Well....not so much this day! There is a big snow storm on it's way in tomorrow and I think the pressure change had alot to do with the slow bite.
The albinos were really easy to spot crusing the surface. We both cast spinners using our ultra-light rods and had alot of follows and slight hits but it was tough to get them to commit. I had 3 albino's that I fought all the way to shore only to have them throw the hook at the last second. I'm not going to lie, I was getting a little bit frustrated! The first fish I ended up landing was a nice 15" fat rainbow. That settled me a little bit but that's not why I was here.
It started getting dark on us and then I hooked my last fish of the evening. It was an albino and I wasn't about to lose it this time. I finally landed my first albino trout! At 12", it wasn't the biggest fish ever, but it was still nice to be able to cross this species off my list. Talk about an interesting looking fish. From it's white body to it's red eye's, I couldn't think of a better fish to catch around Halloween.

My first Albino Trout "The Ghost Fish"

I like how their fins are see through.

Utah DNR Gill Net Study, October 2009

2009-10-12T18:37:00.020-06:00

I volunteered to go help the DNR with their gill net studies at Strawberry Reservoir. What a great experience! I arrived at the strawberry fish trap about 8 am and the boats were on their way back with the netted fish. they set nets in 8 different locations in the lake. Once the nets arrived, we strung them out one location at a time. There were marks along the net for different depths (there were other reasons too, I just don't remember what they were) and we took the fish from the specified spots and measured and weighed them. There were alot of Utah chubs, bear lake cutts and crawdads with a few Utah suckers and rainbows. There was even a single kokanee caught.
The wildlife biologist's did alot of different studies on the rainbows and cutts depending on the location of the lake they were netted in. It was interesting to me to see what the fish had been eating. There sere small chubs, crawdads and even a cigarette butte pulled out of one of them! They took down the age and sex of each fish as well. When they were done with the trout, they filleted them and we got to take some home. Unfortunately, I forgot my share! This is an activity I plan on doing again. All the DNR guys were great to work with and very friendly! I learned alot of things and forgot even more! I need to work on my retention. After we were done, They cooked up the crawdads and we had are fill of them along with some sandwiches.
On the way home I stopped at various spots in Provo Canyon to take some pictures. This canyon is breathe taking in the fall. There are so many great photo opportunities. There is also the Provo River that runs through it as well. This is a blue-ribbon fishery and is known for big browns. I cast a few times and caught a small brown on a spinner. I would have had more success if I would have had my fly rod. All-in-all, it was a fun day and I learned a ton!

This is how they came back from the boat.

Getting the net set out so we can get to the fish.

One of the big cutthroat's pulled from the nets.

Measuring and weighing the fish.

One of the wildlife biologist's doing his thing.

Spawning kokanee salmon in Strawberry River.

Bridal Veil Falls

One of the many great views in Provo Canyon.

Upper Falls

The vibrant colors of Fall.

11" brown trout from the Provo River.

Duck Hunt Opener, UT October 2009

2009-10-04T10:55:00.013-06:00

This is the hunt I wait all year for, especially opening day. My brother got up at 2:45 am and he and a friend went out to save our spot. My brother is by far the most avid duck hunter I know and he has no problem getting up and out in the Bay. I on the other hand wanted a few more hours of sleep so a couple other friends going out with us picked me and another buddy up at 5 am to go out. We arrived at our hunting spot and the few guys that went out earlier already had some decoys set up and ready to go. We all found a spot in the reeds and then it was a waiting game for shooting time at 8 am. As we waited for 8 am to arrive, we could only stand there watching all the ducks flying around. It was quite a sight to behold. I bet we saw between 2-4 thousand birds while in the hour or so we waited which only made the time go by slower. At about 10 minutes to 8, we heard a shot ring out in the cold autum air and well, that was all it took. soon the bay irrupted with gunfire. It sounded like popcorn on steroids! You would have to experience it first hand to truely take in what it's like. That only intensifed our group to want to start shooting as well but my brother was sure to make us wait until 8 to start shooting. The second my watch said 8 o'clock, it was on. We all started downing birds immediately. It was I think the fasted I have ever limited out. The bag limit in Utah is 7 birds and 3 of the 6 of us in our group limited out in under twenty minutes! The others soon followed. There was a group next to us that took some of our birds we downed with them when they gathered theres so we ended up with 35 birds total. We ended up shooting mostly Green Wing Teal with a few Cinnamon Teal and Gadwall mixed in. It was indeed an incredible hunt and one that I will certainly remember.

View I had while filling up the truck on my way to hunt.

Sunrise through the reeds.

A few of the guys with the hunts spoils.

All in a days hunt.

21 of the 35 ducks we bagged.

Just waiting for shooting time.

Early Shooters (cell phone video)

Snap Shot Of The Week Video, UT October 2009

2009-10-03T16:04:00.004-06:00

Here is the clip from when I won the snap shot of the week contest on Utahs Roughin It Outdoors show. Its not the best quality, but its what I have. Also, be sure to turn off the music player before watching so they don't both play at the same time. You have to check out the huge small mouth this guy caught too. It's most likely the heaviest smallie ever caught in the state but since the lake he caught it in has a strict catch and release policy in place, he couldn't keep it for a new state record. Thats to bad for him but is still an impressive catch and he gets much respect from me.

Lunch Break, October 2009

2009-10-01T14:04:00.016-06:00

I found a little community fishing pond a few blocks from where I work and I figured I needed to go try it out. I'm typically not real big on fishing these types of spots but I saw it as a good opportunity to take a break from the office and unwind for a few minutes. I fished for about a half hour and in that time I landed 8 planter rainbows with the biggest going 13" and most going alot smaller than that. I'd guess the average fish I caught was in the 8" range. I used a mepps XD spinner size 1 rainbow pattern and I had hits or a fish on just about every cast. It was actually more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. I went back to work and the day seemed to go better. I think I may hit it more often now. I had my cell phone with me so I took a few pictures.

13" rainbow

Small community pond

This was about average. This bow still had par marks.

American Fork Canyon, UT September 2009

2009-09-29T18:12:00.000-06:00

I headed up AF canyon to take in the fall colors and hook a few fish. I drove up to Silver Lake Flat Res. and from there, made the 1.7 mile hike up to Silver Lake. The lake is the lowest I've ever seen it and I would wait to make the hike until next spring if you're hiking up to fish. I caught a few small brook trout using spinners and after a half hour or so made the hike back down to Silver Lake Flat. I fished there for another half hour and caught some more brook trout and a few rainbows using spinners. This lake is also really low. After that I drove down to Tible Fork Res. Fishing this lake is total combat fishing. You'll have people literally come to within 2 or 3 feet and start casting. It can get a little annoying to put it nicely. I only fished here for about 15 minutes using flies and caught a few rainbows. Blue Duns and Mesquitos did the trick. I ended up with 12 fish, all released to be caught another day.

The main reason I went up the canyon was to see the fall leaves. The scenery definately beat the fishing on this trip. There are alot of great views and I only saw a small part of the canyon. I'm sure driving the Alpine Loop would be breathe taking right now. Fall is without a doubt my favorite time of year.

A very low Silver Lake.

Silver Lake Flat Res.

Electric Lake, UT September 2009

2009-09-26T22:53:00.000-06:00

This was my first time fishing Electric Lake. I invited a few friends to come with me and try out the boat I had just recently bought. What a great maiden voyage! We launched and were on the water around 7 am and the boat ran smoothly. We caught fish while trolling and throwing spinners. Electric Lake holds Yellowstone cutts and Tiger trout. The fish we caught averaged 13-16 inches in length. I have heard that there are some good sized fish in this lake so I'll definately be heading down to try again next year.

Yellowstone Cutthroat

Tiger Trout

The changing leaves make for some great views.

Multi tasking... Having a nap and trolling.

Heading back to the boat launch.

Loading up the boat. What a great first trip!

Strawberry Reservoir, UT September 2009

2009-09-19T13:54:00.000-06:00

This was another great trip on the berry. My Father-in-law and I left at 5:30 am and were on the water by 7. We decided to fish Renegade Bay. The water temp was 61 degrees. We got our float tubes and gear ready and headed out in hopes of hooking some fish. There was alot of fog coming off the lake which made for a beauiful morning. My second cast of the day I hooked a 20" bear lake cutthroat. a short time later I landed a rainbow. My Father-in-law landed a 17" rainbow and had alot of hits using flies. We fished for a few hours and then went to check the fish traps. The Kokanee Salmon are spawning right now and it's really neat to see them in the streams and hatchery. You can't fish the inlets during the spawn, which makes it difficult to catch a salmon when they are red in color. The DWR said they currently have around 5,400 salmon that have made it to the hatchery so far. This is a great way to get to see these amazing fish up close. The males get a big hump on there back when they start to spawn where the females keep their same shape. They also turn from silver to a brilliant red when they start the spawn and die once the spawn is over.

Great foggy morning to be fishing.

20" Bear Lake Cutthroat

Nice 17" Rainbow

Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee Salmon ready for the spawn.

Fish Hatchery at Strawberry Res.

Kokanee Salmon

Great views on the way home.

Blue Grouse Opener, September 2009

2009-09-14T22:03:00.000-06:00

I made a quick trip down south for the opening day of the blue grouse hunt. I picked up one of my cousins and we headed to one of the old spots. I had not hunted grouse in a few years and was hoping that the spot we were going to hunt still held birds. After about 10 minutes, we had our answer. There were birds everywhere. We both got our limit of 4 birds each in about an hour of hunting. I estimate that we saw 75-100 birds in that time. It took us longer to hike back to the truck than it did to get our limits of grouse. I’m definitely heading back down for another go.

First blue grouse of the season.

Tyson with our limits of birds.

A sign of the changing seasons.

Nice views on the way to hunt.

Storm moving in on the way home.

Island Park, ID and Yellowstone, WY September 2009

2009-09-07T22:21:00.000-06:00

My in-laws rented a cabin in Island Park and invited my wife and I to tag along. What a great way to spend Labor Day! We arrived late Friday night and got a few hours of sleep before my Father-in-law and I got up early to hit Henry's Lake. We were on the water and fishing at about 8 am and the bite was slow. Henry's Lake is known for monster Hybrids, Yellowstone Cutts and Brook trout. I was using a gold jakes spinner when smack, Fish on! I got him to the boat and my Father-in-law netted him. He measured 22". We kept him for dinner which fed the whole family. We ended up with 3 fish on the day.

We also hit a few of the sights around Island Park. What a beautiful place! From Mesa Falls and Big Springs, to floating the Henry's Fork of the Snake River and visiting Yellowstone National Park, there is always something you can do. We saw alot of wildlife and stopped at Firehole Falls in Yellowstone to swim some of the rapids there. The water was a little nippy but well worth the experience. Between all that and getting to spend time with family, It's tough to come back home.

This was a great cabin!

22" Yellowstone Cutt from Henry's Lake.

Henry's Lake

Old Faithful

A moose with her calf in Big Springs.

Some big rainbows in Big Springs. Check out the hog at the top. That fish is easily over 30".

Buffalo Crossing the Madison River.

Mesa Falls

Bull Elk

Swimming the rapids of Firehole Falls in Yellowstone.

This is a real water slide!

Bald Eagle in Yellowstone.

Uinta Mountains, UT September 2009

2009-09-02T23:11:00.001-06:00

I made a quick trip up to catch my first ever artic grayling. I had a friend go up the weekend before and said he crushed them so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's a 3 1/2 mile hike starting at the fish lake trailhead up Oakley canyon. There are 3 lakes within a mile of each other which are Round, Sand and Fish lakes. I caught grayling and yellowstone cutts in round and grayling in Sand and Fish lakes. I used a mesquito behind a bubble and I had a fish on almost every cast in all 3 lakes. I also cast some spinners and caught a few. Its a good day-hike for anyone wanting a somewhat short hike to catch some grayling. It is well worth the trip.

Artic Grayling

Artic Grayling with my mesquito in it's mouth.

Artic Grayling

Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout

Fish Lake

Round Lake

Ft. Lauderdale, FL June 2009

2009-08-23T12:36:00.004-06:00

South Florida is a fishermans paradise! From freshwater to saltwater fishing, it is in my opinion the best place in the states to wet a line. You don't even have to leave the city. We fished a few of the canals and ponds around the city and we were landing all kinds of fish. We were using live shinners bought from one of the local bait shops. We even found a good hole for inland tarpon but were unable to land any. After a successful day of freshwater fishing, we hooked up with Captain Jeff Maggio (http://www.lunkerdog.com/) for some tarpon and snook fishing. The first hour was slow and then the bite was on. We ended up boating 7 lunker snook. After the bite died down on the snook, we went after the tarpon.

We hooked into the first two and they threw the hook real quick but the third one was on good. I fought him while watching it fly out of the water. Around 20 minutes later while still giving it my all, another boat drove between me and the fish and cut my line! I was a little bent out of shape to say the least. we ended up not boating any tarpon so my quest is still on for my first. We also hooked a baracuda but were unable to land it. I can't wait for next year's trip!

42" Lunker Snook Brock's Snook Snook 24" 8 pound Large Mouth Bass Butterfly Peacock Bass Orinoco Sailfin Catfish Brock with a Jaguar Garpote

Jaguar Garpote

Mayan Cichlid

Wind Rivers, WY August 2009

2009-08-17T23:31:00.003-06:00

When fisherman think of the Winds, the first thing that comes to mind is gold; and my brother and I struck it rich with just that...well, sort of. The gold the fisherman think about of course are golden trout that inhabit the high alpine lakes here. What a trip it was! We hiked a total of fifty rough miles in four days for the chance to get a hook into some of these beautiful fish and boy did it pay off! The second day in we hit a lake loaded with big goldens and ended up landing ten goldens ranging from sixteen to twenty inches, using spinners. The only thing that matched the beauty of the fish were the glacier covered peaks that surounded the lakes. We also caught small goldens using flies. We had alot of success catching Colorado Cuttroat trout as well. We also caught Rainbows in the fourteen inch range and small Brook Trout. On the way home we hit the Snake River for some snake river cutthroat trout. Here are some pictures of the trip.

20" Golden Trout

20" Golden Trout "The Dalai Lama of Trout"

This is know as "The Water Slide"

Snake River Cutthroat

My brother with a Colorado Cutthroat

Colorado Cutthroat

Mountain Flowers

View of Flat Top from the Green River.