Fishies and Freshies

My wife and I had been put in charge of a youth conference and the spot that had been chosen was the good 'ol Green. We wanted to scope out the group spots beforehand so that we had an idea of the lay of the land while planning things out. That meant a quick over-nighter at the Green.


Now, some may know me as an idiot. This was a time that I proved my slowness. I don't really like camping and established "campsites" but it seems it's pretty restricted in the areas surrounding the Green. In looking at some of the places to camp I came across some info on spots on the B-Section. I figured that they were like most designated camp areas - drive up and setup camp. I chose our spot and it was only upon arriving that I realized that these spots required a hike in. Shiz. This wouldn't have been a problem, in fact, both my wife and I love backpacking...only we hadn't planned for that so we weren't exactly packed in a way that was conducive to backpacking. I'll let the pictures do the talking.













After a sweaty, uncomfortable hike we got to our spot and it was a cozy little spot right next to the river. We enjoyed to solitude. We setup camp and I used the remaining light to toss a line before we prepared our dinner. I wasn't expecting much out of this trip, but hoped that I'd be able to get my first Green River Rainbow. It wasn't long before I felt the wiggle at the end of my rod, and I was stoked to see that this first fish was in fact a gorgeous little bow. Check! Snapped a couple and went to make some food.

I have no pictures to show for the next bit of excitement as it was a mix of good and bad luck. After debating whether to hit the sack and go toss a few in the dark, my lady agreed to come with me to go toss some bugs in the dark. I started with a streamer. After a few minutes and no luck I decided to try my friend Mickey Mouse. I was posted up above a slow eddied-out pool. I cast down and across into the current and let my furry friend carry over into the slower water. I was caught by total suprise when a fish slammed my fly on this the first cast. I blew the hookset. My wife was so excited after hearing my stories of mouse fishing. She had heard the splash. A couple casts later my stripping was interrupted by more bumps. The second was solid and I had fish on. Only moments later he came unbuttoned. After all the excitement I had four sets of hits, one fish on, and none to hand. I was stoked nonetheless.

The next morning the lady slept in and I went in pursuit of feesh. After spending too much time on spooky fish, I found some good water. Candice found me just as I was landing my third fish. Good timing. I continued casting to no avail and she got behind the lens. It seems she finally got a decent grasp on how to work my camera as she got some pretty good shots.

Our day continued with some scouting, a little more fishing, with nothing too eventful going on. The rain on our way home brought a double rainbow that included the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen. They both extended all the way to the ground. I didn't really capture it (out my car window) as well as I had hoped and there were no signs of gold or leprechauns in the shots so we continued home. After a fiery sunset we capped off the trip with a burger from my favorite spot in Duchesne.
They taste better and better every time.

So I've naturally wanted to get my lady hooked on flyfishing. She'd had very little exposure to it but I was convinced that she'd get a kick out summertime hopper fishing. We approached the first run. This was the picture perfect spot to catch her first trout on the fly. A shallow undercut bank underneath some long grass hanging into the water. I get jonesin' just thinking about it. We had practiced casting in the yard a few times but she made a few warm up casts into the shallows upstream. Once she felt confident with it she plopped the hopper right up in the money zone. BAM! We had a riser and she set the hook so perfectly I couldn't believe it. "I got one!" she screamed out repeatedly. She was so giddy as I coached her bringing it in. I got it in the net and we celebrated her catch. She was so stoked. Another standard yet great fish for a stream of this size.
















This process repeated itself over the next couple hours. More great casts with perfect hooksets on EVERY fish. Simply put: the woman has hookset skills. I didn't have to tell her to set once, and this was only the third time fishing on the fly. I was impressed and stoked to say the least. The funniest part of it all is that each hookset was paired with the exact same, "I've got one! I got one! I got one!" as the first fish. I cracked up cause each time she screamed it as if I wasn't standing right next to her seeing it all happen. She was soo stoked with each fish.

The next highlight came as we approached a hole I knew all too well. There is certain 16" brownie that I'd been snubbed by twice already. The first day I came across him he swung out to inspect my bug at the end of a drift. It had already begun to drag so he denied it. I was stoked cause he was the biggest fish I'd seen in this stream thus far. I recast and he swung out and slowly chomped in a way reminiscent of videos I'd seen of huge NZ brownies. I set and he ran into the pool below and came unbuttoned. The second time the lady was will me as I showed her brother the stream for the first time. My attempt at redemption ended up in a missed hookset. Man, I suck. So this third time I wanted her to stick the local piggy. I told her where he'd be hanging out. She was nervous. We got ready and she made the cast. He appeared and as he was rising she pulled the fly out too early in anticipation. NO! Her first folly of the day. He didn't seem to spook so we waited a moment for the fish to settle and gave it a few more casts. On the last one it drifted in some shallow water around a rock and the beast emerged from the darker water. He hesitated for a moment before chomping the hopper down. True to form she set the hook and landed the beast like a champ. We discovered that that the trouble hooking up was due to the fact that half of the fishes bottom jaw was missing. In addition, the top half of the tail was also missing. I found it so odd to find two such major injuries on one fish. Other than that it was a gorgeous specimen. She couldn't believe it.























For me it doesn't get any better than this day. Spending time on a beautiful stream with my lady catching some gorgeous fish on hoppers. Sounds about right to me.