Strawberry Cutts '09

So the little feller and I went to Strawberry the other day. We had been doing our homework by checking local forums etc. and had heard that there was a nasty scum covering the lake. NOT TRUE. I really am not a fan of the "eliteist" flyfisherman who tries to hide his spot. Needless to say we sifted through all the bull and made the jont. We started at Bryant's Fork and did okay. I landed two, one nice cutt and a nice bow.

We then decided to make a move to the dam. We haphazardly tied the boats to the roof of Rob's suburban (completely inflated) and drove to the dam. As we walked down to scout the first thing rob saw with his new specs was a monster 22" cutt. We decided to stay. We launched to boats and stayed in close to the bank and did fairly well with just kicking back and forth dragging the buggers in about 5 - 7 feet of water.

Here is a video of one of the fish.

Late sunday night before we left we had a wild hair and decided we would try to catch some crawdads while we fished. So on our way to the lake we stopped at Wal-Mart and bought a few supplies to make a trap. The trap only kindof worked. We ended up catching 14 most of which were cauth from the dock with a chicken wing tied to a rope. I cooked them up that night, they were pretty tasty... I think I have a new hobby while flyfishing.

They were tasty little critters. I will post more "high quality" videos when I have the time.

Eyes > Stomach

So on the cutthroat trip, Chad had some real success using a big nasty Tarantula tied up by a local expert. Even this tiny minnow couldn't resist, despite the fact that the fly was bigger than its head. I say hats off to him for having the guts to try and eat something that probably could have eaten him if it was real.

You've probably determined that the catching of this tiny bait fish presented a real dilemma for me. I never let Chad catch the biggest fish of the trip, so how could I in good conscience let him catch the smallest? It bothered me so much I had to go out the next day and capture this beauty, which is a good 2 mm shorter than Chad's sardine.

I also caught two of the prettiest fish ever, a couple of Uintah cutt-bows. They had the markings of a redband rainbow, but with the glowing copper sheen of a fine-spot cutthroat. Throat slashes to top it off.

Cutthroat Chronicles

There's just something about those cutts that'll make you do crazy things to have a shot at them. Like drive until 2 am and then get up at 6:30 to head up into the wilderness. Maybe it's the crystal clear, freezing cold, pristine waters they love.

Or maybe it's the fact that they love to eat on top, even if it means rushing up from the depths to take a big, hairy Tarantula or a hopper.

Or maybe it's all the spots and the throat jewelry.


Whatever it is, it'll eat at us until we search them out the next time...

Road trippin'

Me and Moose took a little road trip the other day (actually it was mostly in the dead of night). Saw some cool road signs. Not sure what the first one means, but we liked it.

How could you not laugh a little at the second one?

We also stayed in a really posh hotel room, the kind with no free shampoo.

Trading Off

Last time we went to the Provo, Chad slayed 'em and I got skunked for the first time this year. A good hard skunking too, where I fished intensely the whole time and didn't even come close. This trip we traded, which I was more than happy to do. Chad did hook 3 fish, but none came to the new rubber-bagged net. I had probably my best fight this year w/ a monster 'bow that took me a couple hundred yards downstream before another guy kindly helped me net him. Took a couple other big 'bows and a beautiful brown starting to get his hook-jaw. Funny how fortunes change.

Chad's Feud

Chad's been exchanging unpleasantries with a large brown trout as of late. Specifically, the last three outings. Always in the slick behind the big rock that breaks the current. The first time, I heard Chad shout and ran over just in time to see his line rip all the way across the river before the leader parted. The second time Chad had him on for longer, but the result was the same. In that episode, he lost his temper and his beloved Cub's hat. Today I was lucky enough to get the tantrum on camera after the hook popped loose and Chad lost his glasses in the ensuing anger management highlight. This is one reason why flyfishing is so expensive. Chad has lost about $10 in flies, $15 in hats, and $30 in glasses to this one fish! Take a look:

A few pics from the land o' rivers...

You have to love places with so many awesome trout streams that you have a hard time deciding what to hit and what to pass by. The possibilies are endless and there's never enough time to fish it all. Should we do hoppers on the So and So River, stones on Watchamacallit Creek, or caddis on the Pick A Name Fork?