Winter Fishing - Green River... Day 1

We finally had an opportunity to get Chris out of the house. His Birthday was a few days ago and the leg was healing so I thought I give him a shout and see if he felt up to it, with a broken leg a drift boat would be the best option. He was in…. I think he was in even if the leg wasn't ready. I was snowboarding with my friend Scott on day, we were talking about fishing, he wanted to go and I told him about Chris. I took him all of a split second to go. So, Scott volunteered his services and that was all it took, for the next two days we will be fishing the Green River. Now its not a top choice of rivers but in this particular situation is was better than great.

The drive was hinting at wind, you could tell by the way it blew the car around or you could just look out at the trees bent over to the ground. If that didn't give it away the five foot snow drifts and blowing snow might bring it to attention ; )When we arrived at the shop to get a shuttle it was still blowing a cold fierce wind. It's going to be a cold one was an understatement; its going to be freezing was more like it. Last stop before launch, time to layer up….. Thermal t-shirt, two expeditions weight long-sleeve thermal shirts, fleece, and light down jacket, soft-shell jacket, and shell. Hat, beanie and sunglasses, by now you start to feel like that kid that's all bundled up from the movie "Christmas Story". That was every last stitch of clothing I had, but I feared it wouldn't be enough. By this time Chris is going bonkers, the anxiety of the possibilities were stronger than ever, he was like a kid waiting for Christmas and Santa himself was handing him the presents. He had a remedy for it; he busted out something called "zing-zang" and a Corona. Mixing the two together to creates a fisherman's drink for floating the river. Now this intrigued Scott so he had to have one, I don't drink so I stuck to the old stand-by, a Red Bull.

Camera ...check, life jacket… check, rod glued to hand… check, Zing-zang and smokes in holder…check, wind and cold… check, check and check. We are off; right out of the gate Chris sticks a few Bows on the sticker. This is going to be a good day we all though. Well, we were certainly mistaken. It was a tough, cold day. A day that the river tosses her furry. The wind was not cooperating, Scott did well giving the conditions and the time spent behind the Oars. I am glad I wasn't rowing, not sure if we would have made it back in one piece. We managed to bang a few rocks but nothing to major. A few sippers could be seen; I made a few casts to em', hooked a few but unfortunately never landed a single one of them stupid stunted sippers. But it was fun and Scott killed it getting me in range, I just blew it.

Everyone needed a break, I am sure Scott was tired fighting the gale wind all day. Lunch sounded good. Chris brought Birthday party left avers, BBQ chicken wings, about thirty of them. Nothing could have been better on a cold winter day. We rigged up for the afternoon float; hopefully we figure it out soon.

I put away the dry fly rod, put away the nymphs and indicators and broke out the gun. The first test run for the Echo2 was not an easy task, even for the 9' 6" 5wt. I had my doubts. I add a sink tip and a heavily weighted bugger to the scenario. I went with the old Green river stand by, the "Goldylocks", tied on the largest one I had. Lucky for me it paid off, fish were hitting the thing left and right. My fish count was now tied with Chris and the last inning was turning out to be a rally. Sight fishing buggers is one of the funniest ways to fish. You were pretty much swimming them along the bottom, dropping them off the rocks to get in the cracks and then watching the follow, the flash and feeling the tug is out right amazing. This ended almost as fast as it started and in a blink of an eye it was over. I had a ton of hits, finally landed a few fish and we may have figured it out. A great first day; it was quiet, peaceful and only one other boat on the water. The rod preformed beautifully, powering through the wind like butter. The only thing I wished was that I tried one sooner.

We reached the take out cold and hungry. Lucky for us the grill was still open and there were tables open right in front of the fire. Burgers never tasted so good. The cabin was rather nice, better than I had expected, much better than I had hoped for in a river cabin. There was some cool stuff around, a bug catcher that held skeleton of hundreds of insect's… mayflies, caddis, midges, moths and wasps. We rigged for the next day in the warmth of the cabin. Zing-zang and whiskey were flowing freely and thoughts of tomorrow float were the topic of conversation. Chris was going with the old stand-by, it worked this morning on the Bows that are stacking by the dam. Gold/ginger buggers also produced so rod number two was strung accordingly. I went the same route, dry and bugger. Although, I am going with different flies this time. Can't wait till tomorrow… hope the wind lies down

In Loving Memory of Trent Wade

Been a year old friend, haven't forgot about ya. Think of you often, especially on powder days.


Bob Marley

NATURAL MYSTIC

there's a natural mystic blowing through the air
if you listen carefully now you will hear
this could be the first trumpet, might as well be the last
many more will have to suffer
many more will have to die - don't ask me why

things are not the way they used to be
i won't tell you no lie
one and all have to face reality now
'tho i've tried to find the answer to all the questions they ask
'tho i know it's impossible to go living through the past
don't tell no lie

there's a natural mystic blowing through the air      
can't keep them down
if you listen carefully now you will hear

Winter, Winter, Winter... its still snowing!

Another storm means another few powder days. So far this is the best few months I can remember in a long, long time and even then its right up there. Been messing around with some filters specifically a infrared filter. This is what it looks like.... Now if I can just get another storm to roll in to really put this to the test.

Yes, I am in there somewhere ; ) Gotta love Deep Utah Powder!
Photo by: Ash Christensen

Winter Fishing - The "Ghetto River"

I hadn't hit he water in a week or two, seems like forever. Snowboarding has occupied my time, its been one powder day after another, I can't complain. But I was feeling the itch and the past few weeks had been moderately busy and a bit maddening due to a broken phone…. Ah, a welcomed high pressure was here, normally I wouldn't say that but it gives me an explanation to hit the river.

I had a chance to meet up with Jerry (Nova) in the morning; the plan was to meet Mike and co. at the river and go from there. Upon arrival we discovered that Mike's roomy had a leak in the waders, a big leak. So they packet up and left the river open to Jerry and I.

As the driver he gets the first shot and in no time he had a fish to hand…. then another one. By this time I was re-rigging to the contagious fly, pink worm. My finger tips were freezing and my knot tying abilities were deteriorating miserably. I am not a good nympher, not sure if the continuous rigging or the lack of patients, but between the two it’s a recipe for failure. Once I "thought" I had it and it slipped or brokeà and repeat and repeat. Finally, after 20 minutes I was ready. A few casts here a few casts there, bam I was on, sweet… and just as fast it over, I lost it…. #%@^&!!! What happened? I gathered my line to take a closer look, yep I can clearly see what happened…. bad knot, %@*@$#*! I lost my 20-minute rig in just a few seconds and lost my last pink piggy. All because of one frustrated knot, it was over, lesson learned… again ; ) Jerry stepped back up to bat, while I rigged, and landed a nice sucker fish.

After re-rigging, again, we moved on.

Signs of a midge hatch could be seen on the waters surface, it was really going off.. As we made our way up, I noticed a spot that "looks fishy". Winter fishing is a bit different that the standard summer runs, the fish move around in search for a good winter home. So, this particular spot was 50-50, maybe, maybe not. I heaved my weighted rig anyway. A few casts later I had a nice Rainbow/Cutthroat hybrid on, the colors were brilliant. Made a few more casts with no strikes, one last cast at the head of the run, and a fat little Brown was tugging at the end of the line. That bought back the smiles. We left, pushing on to the next spot.

Jerry was up… a great looking deep hole was ahead. This had to produce. The first strikes were very soft, almost too soft… but not for Jer, he didn't get fooled, he set the hook on this one. At first neither of us cold tell what it was, there wasn't a visual. The rod was bent so White Fish came to mind. Then it jumped, actually skyrocketed out of the water, a fat old Brown! Jerry fought it really well, landed it perfectly. He even shared a snow cone with it : ) And then landed the hippo of the hole, a huge fat sucker! That thing was enormous to say the least and the photos don't do it justice.

I lost another rig, nothing new but I really didn't care. I got a few fish and satisfied tojust enjoying the scenery and the surrounding sounds. The snow was fairly high on the banks, sun was bight and the weather was perfect. Animal tracks could be seen at most any river edge or crossing, birds were flying and trout were feeding, woo-hoo life is good. … But take a step back and you see, trains, planes and automobiles, some trash, some graffiti a few pieces of art and a backdrop that was created by something only nature can provide. Why people litter I have no idea, I don't think they do either. We hit a few more holes, watched the plethora of midges hatching. The snow-covered banks were covered with midges, big ones, small ones and tiny microscopic ones. Only saw one fish on the surface, classic ghetto river style. We made it back to the car, laughed at how pissed Mike was going to be and called it a day…. Good times, great day on the ghetto river.

Winter Midge Fishing - w/ Snowshoes

Today's adventure was a bit of a workout. We had decided to target an area that is covered in snow and has not seen another soul for quite sometime. In order to get there we need to bust out the snowshoes ans walk a few miles. I must say the hike in was very rewarding. Animal activity was high and if you paid attention there was much to see. From a single moose laying in the snow to a herd of deer taking shelter in the lone patch of trees. I can't even remember how many Bald Eagles we encountered, each time was impressive. How many deer do you see?




The highlight of today adventures wasn't the fishing, it actually sucked. I think Nate got one, I think it was on top. I lost interest after the 2,000th cast with nothing. The hatch was obsolete at best. It was the wildlife. The return hike home was had similar results. I was happy to get out of the house and enjoy a stroll in the mountains. But I hate when I get a big fat zero for the day. But it will also be a memorable one.

I think I am going to do it again, hopefully I can bring one to hand this time.


Fisher: Nate Miller enjoying a bit of solitude

Location: Wherever the snowshoes take you

Still Hungry - Utah Pow

Hard to believe there is this much snow. High pressure will soon be settling in, gotta get it while you can! Another all time deep day.

Ash Christensen snapped this shot... thanks!

Another Serving - I'm Not Full

Woke early this morning, a little jaunt was ahead of us. Lucky for me the boot pack was set the day before by captain insane-o. He put it in alone yesterday (in a blizzard and in the heart of avalanche terrain) so that today the hike would be a tad easier. I am glad he risked it, definitely worth it ; ) Well, the blur effect didn't work on this shot but who cares, it was DEEP! Each day is somehow better than the last. Some creative, original stuff went down today, not that I am surprised though, Ash is always way ahead of the pack.... wish I could post those photos!! Stay tuned, they'll show up here sooner or later.