Utah 2014

 
                                               (August)
   

   Each year when my family and I are making our summer plans, us San Diegans make a trip to the Mountains (the real ones) almost mandatory, (yes, it is possible to grow tired of SoCal), and so that usually means a big long drive to the Sierras, or better yet, Utah. Usually we stay in the Provo-Orem area, because we have a lot of relatives there, and it almost seems like a home base for all of our extended family to visit, plus, its a really nice area. Last year, instead of staying at relatives houses on the valley floor, we decided to rent a cabin in the Provo Canyon directly beside the famous Provo River. This canyon has always been one my favorite places in our glorious USA, and since last year worked out amazingly, we decided to do it again this year. The only difference, I was prepared for Mr Trout. 
   
  

                                                            Deer Creek Reservoir
                                         
Below Deer Creek  Reservoir marks the beginning  of the lower section (my favorite part), where the river runs through a gorgeous canyon. Once the river flows out of the canyon, it turns into a suburban creek, with relatively few fish (except for the deep parts) all the way until it reaches the disgusting, carp infested, mosquito attracting creature we call Utah Lake. 

   The cabin we stay at is below DCR, on (literally within jumping distance) the lower Provo. 

The area around the cabin where I would usually fish has a lot of good holes and even an island.  This area has a lot of fish, and is pretty popular among the local guides, so it was not that uncommon for me to walk up to my designated area to find a guide and his clients already hooking up. I was probably the only person on the entire river that even had a spinning rod, and everybody else was fly fishing. 

But first, we took a small trip up the Uintas.

Mirror Lake 
   Mirror lake is a medium sized lake located in the High Uintas in northeastern Utah. Mirror lake is one of the most popular lakes in the Uintas, and thousands of people flock up here to camp, fish, or whatever. The Utah DNR stocks most lakes along the Mirror lake highway with 10-12 inch rainbow and brook trout raised in the Kamas Fish Hatchery. The DNR also stocks albino trout along the highway, although I have never seen one. Most people just chuck some power bait out there, and they are usually successful, however, people with boats, kayaks, and float tubes do much much better than any shore- fisherman.  

   

The pass

                                                        Teapot Lake:

On the way there, we stopped at the amazing Provo Falls, which was very nice. The Provo Falls is a series of must see stair step waterfalls along the north fork of the Provo River in the Uinta Mountains. These falls are directly beside the mirror lake highway, yet the dense pines make it hard to see the actual falls, which is why most people continue to drive on to higher lakes, thinking that they will get the full Uinta experience. This is pretty ironic because it is right here:  

 

This is the final (and only for most people) destination, Mirror Lake (which is definitely not bad)

When we arrived at mirror lake, I began to work the closest shore line with a silver and orange kastmaster. I saw fish surfacing about 60-70 yards out, but other than that, I didn't see a single fish until I came to the inlet directly next to the boat ramp. I switched to a red and gold mini jig, and when I stood up to cast it, I saw a school of 15-20 10 inch brown trout right in front of me. I had no idea that there were brown trout in this lake. I suspect the DNR dropped them off, but they could be residential. I got a couple of them to chase my jig, and some of them hung on for a while before spitting the hook. After messing around with those tiny cookies, I decided to investigate the little inlet, and sure enough, a couple of those cookies had found their way in, although they were not as friendly as the ones by the boat ramp. When the time came to leave, the only regret I had was that I left my camera in the car, so no pics of the lake (sorry). I'm sure I will be back for more in future years (and maybe I can check out teapot lake), but for now, those fish are safe from Hurke van Trout's frying pan.  

                      
        This doe is in the witness protection program, so we had to block her face

                                           
                                          The view looking back at the Uintas.
                                  

Provo River

  

My first fish (a rainbow 8) ) came on a pearl and pink Atomic Teaser mini jig from a good pool next to the island.

   

The next was a brown on a white Lip Ripperz, who was waaaay back in some bushes.

                                       
                                      Check out the spots on him

 
This one came in similar fashion as the brown. (sorry about the bad camera angle, it really does not do justice to her) 

  

   Some more browns on a Glow Mice Tail from the pool at the end of the island.

   
  
  

                               This one had some pretty nice spotting on his back. 

   After that I decided to try out other colors besides white, and a pink power worm caught me this:

   The biggest of the trip on another white Mice Tail, from a pool that gets pounded by guides

    He was actually blind in one eye, but that didn't seem to affect his size! 

   
My next (and last) fish came on (shocker) another Glow Mice Tail, on the other side of the island by an old beaver dam. He wasn't very big at all, but still a nice way to end my 2012-2013 trout season.    

  

This years' trip to Utah saw some pretty good fishing (even though the fish were not that big), and now I am looking forward to Trout season down here in SoCal even more. 

                   

Conclusion: The Provo River is still one of the awesomest places in the USA.






-Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, (and the fishes of the sea) I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; (D&C section 89:12)

-keep sore liping 'em readers 

(BTW, if you know anything about fishing, and you haven't seen Hank Patterson on You Tube, do so. He is HILARIOUS)       






               

Sierras (Gold Lakes Area) 2014

                                     (JUNE) 

   My family and I had plans to visit the Sierras right after school got out, which worked out well for me. Last year we went to Mammoth, so I was excited to check out other areas in the Sierras. The area were we were staying is near the Gold Lakes basin, an area with a TON of lakes, and some decent rivers as well. 

   I am going to be frank here, the Gold Lakes area (unless you had a boat) was TERRIBLE. The reason why is because apparently, these lakes only stock once, and that was a month ago. At the lakes that I went to (Gold lake, Sardine lake, and the Sand pond), I saw a grand total of 5 fish. A tiny little dink at the Sand Pond, and a couple of little dinks in a little creek below a mini dam at Gold lake. I did see one decent sized fish, although he got spooked pretty quickly, and I never saw him again. I also wanted to check out the Feather River, which was by the lodge we were staying at (which had a fun little golf course). Turns out, the drought is not that much worse up north, so the "river" is only about 3 feet deep at most, and anyone could jump across it at most spots. I only saw 2 tiny little bluegill.

      Check out this funny poster we saw in a cafe about the Feather Rivers' number 1 gamefish. 

   Thankfully, the lodge we were staying at had a tiny little pond (about 1/4 of an acre) that had been stocked with a lot of hungry 10-16 inch trout, that provided a lot of fun for both me on my fly rod and my little brothers using power bait. I would have made some pretty cool videos with my camera, but I could not find it, so I assumed I had left it at home.  

The Pond 

                                                                     

The average catch at the pond

                                                           

                                                             

  There is one place worth fishing, and that is the.... 

                                     
                                    YUBA RIVER   

   On the way home to the airport, we decided to stop along the Yuba River along highway 49 in certain spots, both for me to fish, and my parents and siblings to enjoy the gorgeous canyon.  

   

 The first part we stopped at was a section of pocket water with a lot of TINY wild rainbows, that no matter how hard they try, they just cant fit their desperately hungry mouths over my stone fly nymph. We decided to move on.

After a couple of casts in a different section of the river, I decided to take a closer look at one spot I had been working, and right when I peeked over this mini island, a fish much bigger than anything I had seen upstream, spooked downstream, and I was actually quite surprised. 
   The next, and last spot we stopped at had an immensely deep hole, that I estimate to be 20- 30 feet deep, but the most shocking part is that I could see the bottom like it was midday. There were much more fish here, but they were not very big at all. After casting an orange spinner across the pool a couple times, the most love I got was a little bit of a follow from one of the larger ones. 
   The time came to leave, and when we got home, I realized that my camera had been in my bag the entire trip. DOOOOOHH!  

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I will not be as dumb next time.




Conclusion: The Gold lakes basin does not have very good fishing at all unless you have a boat, or you are there right after they stock.






-Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, (and the fishes of the sea) I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; (D&C section 89:12)


-keep sore liping 'em readers 

(BTW, if you know anything about fishing, and you haven't seen Hank Patterson on You Tube, do so. He is HILARIOUS)