American Fork Canyon, UT September 2009

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

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

Yellowstone Cutthroat

Tiger Trout

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

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

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

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

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