Sunday, July 27, 2008

Snow Fields, Rain, And Trout

The high country has its grasp on me and I cannot seem to think about venturing anywhere else in the heat of summer. A much longer back country hike awaited Eric and I on a day that tested our ability to stay dry. The majority of the afternoon rained steadily with sporadic lightning that sent us scrambling for the small amount of cover available. None of this seemed to bother the trout at all and they willingly pounded leech imitations all day. After the rain cleared, we were treated to an evening rise of bear river cutthroats, some a decent size for being above 10,000 feet.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Back Country Is Open

The first real hike in high country trip of the year was a beautiful day spent amongst the high peaks outside of town. Ice still held firm and in drifting floes on many of the lakes. Plenty of open water was available and we were able to fish four major lakes and some other side stream connected minor water. We found trout willing to entertain our offerings in almost all the water we spent time on... however some were surprisingly picky fish. Cutthroat, brook, and rainbow trout were all found scattered across the various waters making for a terrific time traveling between lakes to see what the next one held in store for us.

Back Country Is Open

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Canyon Darkness

The rivers have dropped and seem to be fishing well with buggers. Eric and I managed an evening trip to the canyon to test our luck on the browns there. I realized my camera was sitting at home charging about halfway there so no images from the canyon this evening. It was beautiful and we fished into darkness navigating out with headlamps and the nearly full moon. The fish gave me plenty of opportunities but I couldn't seem to bring one to hand tonight. Violent strikes were coming on a regular basis however, and in the darkness they can be quite startling and fun.