The Big One

The trip was a bit of a last minute thing. Randy had called and said his buddies were going to do a hike in trip. With the restaurant and all it was a bit up in the air as to weather or not i was going to make it. At the last minute my sister Shari offered to work so that i could go fishing. I had stayed up late the few night before the trip tying up some buggers i new the fish would love. I had called Paul at William Joseph and ordered a 4500 badlands pack to use on the trip. It arrived 45 min before i was to depart to meet the guys. On the way my bronco broke down so my sister had to rescue me again and get me to Green River to rendezvous with the rest of the group. Yep, i will give you that, we were in Wyoming. After all the turmoil i was on my way. The hike in was brutal with the 50 extra pounds in the pack. But what a comfy pack it was. If you need one look no further than the 4500 from badlands. Got up the next morning and hit a lake to catch brookies for lunch. After lunch the decision was made to follow a river that connected to 4 different lakes. It rained on use for a while, but as the sun broke we where all having a great time catching 8-12 inch brookies and cutts as we worked our way from lake to lake. Most were fishing dries but i stuck to my buggers. I was out ahead and approaching a lake. there was a transition area with a nice set of cliffs that looked very fishy. I worked along the wall and then with a bounce off the rock and a quick tug, all my fishing dreams were about to come true. The water erupted. I really thought that i had hit a beaver in the head. A fish cant move that much water. Then my line went tight and up the river comes the biggest fish Ive ever seen in a wild setting. It was half out of the water as i screamed for my friends for help.. There was no way to land this by myself. Was it the refraction in the water or was this fish that big. it was that big. Shane got to me first. I played it gently not to get the fish to wound up. A after a few minutes and a few runs Shane was able to basically tackle the fish.. Before i even got a good look i ran to get my brother. I was screaming that i had caught a 28 inch cutt which i thought was a bit of a stretch. we later taped it at exactly 28 inches. The fish of a lifetime. Thanks to Randy, Shane, Scott, Brent, Jerom, Andrew. Without them its just another fish story, Thanks guys. Enjoy the pics. Ps The fish was proudly released to enjoy another day..

Sweet CRCs

The selection and the reward.

Walking is better.

Been throwning dries on the nicer days. The river really looked like spring the other day. Cant wait for the first major hatches. Being in such a place all by yourself is crazy. You dont often get to experience these great rivers without another soul around. If you only fish when its warm your missing the point.

A Solid Week.

It was a great week. Paul Swint of Willy Joe and Gary Winterton with Hooked on Utah made it up here to my backyard. I was able to spend a beautiful day on the water with them. Fish hit everything from streamers to size 10 PMX,s, you read it right. Thanks for letting me tag along fellas. All three days this week were amazing. Winter is truely a most excellent time to fish..

The rusty old streamer in the back of the truck...

I was able to hit the river this past week with a buddy and as we are getting all set to go, he sees this old rusty streamers in the back of my truck. It was a pattern given to me last summer on the tail end of a three day float. Colin over at finpusher.com had been kind enough to let me use it after i had run through all my patterns that trip. It turned out to be the best fly for that trip and the next few i took down the river. So last week my buddy sees it in the bed of the truck all rusty and covered with grease, really, grease. So i tell him how great a pattern it had been back in its hayday. So i throw it in my box, for who knows what reason. So we are floating that day and getting it handed to us. So about 2 miles of river left, and after throwning everthing else, i tie it on. Its missing half its maraboo. The hook has rust all over it and there is the grease. In she goes, strip strip, was that a bump. Second cast, strip, whack, fish on. This fly proceeds to land like ten fish and a thousand chasers, no kidding. So on those days when your convinced that the fish are not hitting, they are, you just havnt found the right fly yet.. Thanks for the fly Finpusher, a gettin after it production..

Burbot Bash Jan 22-29 2011

Presented by the Chambers of Commerce of Flaming Gorge, Green River and Rock Springs. They are getting serious about the Bash this year with over $10,000 in cash prizes. The basic layout, teams of 2-4 people, tagged fish in the lake ( everyone who catches a tagged fish will have their name put in the pot, one is drawn for $5,000 at sat closing ceremony), lots of giveaways at opening and closing from William Joseph, Sportsmans Warehouse, and Cabelas. Cash prizes for biggest fish ($1,500), most fish ($600), kids big fish, kids small fish ($100).

We have plenty of rooms available here at the Flaming Gorge inn ($40 per night 435-784-3088). We also have the restaurant open serving up the good grub. I also may have a little bit of inside info on where the fish are. The Forest Service will be giving out maps of where the fish were tagged.

Burbot are primarily fished at night for the best bite. They tend to be very abundant on the north end of the lake down to about Horseshoe. The north end of the lake should be all iced over however it is possible that it may be open water toward Horseshoe. They are expecting a lot of people so it should be pretty fun. Heck its the middle of winter, you need something to do.