LAST BIT OF SUN

A Taste from a Couple of Years Ago. It's almost Time!

One for dinner.



Bonneville cutthroat--my favorite trout to seek!

Hopper!



Small water--small trout. I love it!

Pocket water on mountain stream.

Plump cutt on a 3-weight rod.

Beautiful work of art.

Very small water.

Very small overgrown creek with small colorful trout. Can you see the water?

Ah, summer!

Thanks for the pleasure!

Rumor of the Blues

I can hardly believe it. Yesterday, I had two different people tell me that they spotted Blue-winged Olive mayflies. It's not unheard of this time of year, but it's been so cold, and there is still snow on the valley floor, so it just seems too early. One report of the "blues" came from a co-worker. He said he spotted one near his house, which is not far from the Weber River. It was probably blown there by the wind. The other report came from farther south by about 70 miles in the Utah County area and the lower Provo River. Both reports have me thinking about spending some lunch hours on the Ogden River. On warm afternoons, it is  fun to stand and observe a BWO hatch. Maybe I'll start throwing the fly rod in my truck and cast to a few risers. I'm thinking it is still a bit early, and try to be patient until a full-blown hatch comes off. No sense getting giddy on a rumor of blues---yet!

The hatching of BWOs is my sign that Spring is here--or just around the corner. It is a time of awakening. A time when the smooth low water on the river starts to swirl with life. When temperatures start to rise into the 40s and 50s consistently, the BWO will start to hatch consistently. One thing I can do in the next couple of weeks is tie up some BWO patterns. I love to fish the adult imitations and my go to pattern is my chain-stitched BWO. I love to watch trout slowly sip that fly off the surface. This year I want to increase my take by fishing an emerger pattern--something that will sit just under the surface. I watched a couple of fly fishers have an excellent day last year by fishing emergers. it looked like a lot of fun.

I'll try to post some pictures of the flies, the trout caught, and the areas that I fish once this hatch comes to fruition. A trip in search of Blue-winged Olives is just what I need after a cold, long winter. There is nothing better to chase away the winter-time blues than to chase after a few rumors of blues.

Homewater, Skittish Trout, Browns and Beetles

The first trout of the day.

Beautiful little brown.

Average Ogden River brown.

A dark brown. Many of the trout will take on a darker tone in the shadowy canyon.

Low flow means pocket water and rock (boulder) hopping.

Nice Fall brown with crimson spots.

Sitting on a boulder and casting to a nice pocket.

Nice male brown trout.

Typical brown looking to make my beetle pattern a meal.

Almost all the trout were caught with a black beetle with an orange top for easier spotting.

Casting from a sitting position.

Casting to seams between the rocks.

Jumping brown trout!

Early Fall Fly Fishing

Bonneville Cutt with nice orange slash under the jaw.

Sitting in one of my favorite places. I'm more comfortable here than in a recliner.

Typical size cutthroat for this stream.

Small brushy creek with beautiful water and small beautiful trout.

Trout like this are such works of art.

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Fiesty Cutt.

If you listen closely, the water will tell you where the trout live.

Little skittish brown. Stealth is key in catching them.

This is a good-sized fish for such small water. I'm satisfied with trout like this.

Just Little Ones

No Stones---Yet.

Using the big rock as cover I was able to catch a few trout from this hole.

The Blacksmith is loaded with stunted brown trout and a few cutthroat.

Small Cutthroat caught on a caddis pattern.

The word was out that large stoneflies were hatching on the Blacksmith Fork in Cache County. I tied up some twisted foam adults and went to check it out. I never saw an adult stonefly anywhere along the river. I decided to fling my foam stone around just in case the trout had seen them and were still willing to rise to one.

I had about five small browns rise to the pattern but turn from it just as quick as they rose. I knew this was a sign that the fly was too big for their liking, and that they had probably not seen a stonefly yet. I went from a size 6 stonefly adult down to a size 14 caddis imitation and was able to hook several fish. All of them small browns and one small cutthroat.

I wasn't too serious today. I just wanted to see if the stoneflies were out. I didn't put on waders, I just walked along the roadside bank and tossed the fly to likely looking spots.

The river is in summer flow conditions. The little snowpack we received this year is definitely gone and I would imagine the river will drop to fairly low flows by fall.

It was a nice feeling to be out. I have an excited feeling about this summer and plan to get out as often as I can.