# Who was the first person to ever fly fish in Utah?



## RYsenTrout (Jun 6, 2012)

Chances are pretty good it was Wilford Woodruff.

This article is a great read:

http://theuplandequation.blogspot.com/2012/05/historians-corner-wilford-woodruff.html

Woodruff's account of fly fishing on the Black Fork of the Green in Wyoming is the first known account of fly fishing west of the Mississippi.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

His fly rod is on display in the Church's history museum downtown SLC. 

Probably more accurate to say that he was the first European, or American to fly fish in Utah. Who knows what the natives did. But research shows fly fishing techniques going back centuries in most societies.


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## martymcfly73 (Sep 17, 2007)

He tied flies coming across the plains. He also was a believer in public water rights according to his journal. He got caught trespassing on his mission in England fly fishing a wealthy landowners stream. That's when he became an advocate for public water rights.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Wonder how big the CO cutts were. That's back when all was nature. Any details? Seems like I've read that stuff somewhere.


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## RYsenTrout (Jun 6, 2012)

brookieguy1 said:


> Wonder how big the CO cutts were. That's back when all was nature. Any details? Seems like I've read that stuff somewhere.


Here is the only account I can find where sizes are mentioned. This is an actual letter Woodruff wrote which was published in the "Forest and Stream" magazine which I understand was similar to "Field and Stream" today.

Enjoy:

EDITOR FOREST AND STREAM:

I persue "Forest and Stream" with much interest: it[cer[sic] contains a great amount of valuable information.

I was born on the 1st day of March 1807, at Avon, Hartford County, Conn., on the banks of a trout brook which had turned the wheels of a flour mill and a saw mill owned by my grandfather and father, for many years. As soon as I was old enough to carry a fish-rod I commenced catching trout, which I have continued to do, from time to time, for nearly 80 years.

Several years of my life were spent in Ashland, Oswego Co., New York, on the east border of Lake Ontario. While there I assisted, one morning in catching 500 salmon, very few of which were under 20 pounds, whole a few weighed 40 pounds. fn My first experience in fishing with a fly for trout and salmon was in England and Scotland in 1845; but I met with little success there. fn

At the time of the early settlement of Utah Territory, the mountains and canyons were thickly inhabited with the elk, deer, antelope, panther, mountain lion, wild cat, and grizzly, cinnamon and brown bear; some of which were of immense size. fn These animals are still found in our mountains, and are frequently killed. I never shot a bear, although I have seen quite a number of grizzly and cinnamon bears after they were killed. In one instance a very large grizzly, with two large cubs, passed within 30 yards of me while I was concealed in the brush. I was, at the time, holding in my hands, a muzzle-loading gun, and the manner she treated her cubs, while apparently trying to wean them, plainly indicated the wisdom of my letting her pass unmolested, and assured me if I should fail to kill her the first shot, she would attack and kill me. Hardly half a mile after passing she came upon a camp, some of the men fired at her several times but she got away, with her cubs. I have killed deer and antelope but never elk although upon one occasion a band of more than 200 came within 300 yards of me, and were headed towards me, but were frightened off in another direction by a man without a gun who came running to see me shoot an elk a companion hunter, however, shot and killed one of them. We think deer are increasing in our region. fn A good many elk and sheep are still in our mountains, but difficult to get at. Deer, antelope, and elk are quite plentiful north of us, in the Snake River country, now Idaho, and moose are taken occasionally. Some six years ago I met a young man up there who shot 16 elk and 2 moose out of one band, and he said he might have killed more, but to do so would only have been to waste them.

Now concerning the trout of Utah, I will say that Utah, Bear, Pangtuich and Fish Lakes, as well as other lakes, rivers and streams abound with the largest and finest trout when we first reached the Territory, but as the country has become settled they have steadily decreased; still our waters supply quite an amount of trout at the present time. Some years ago, one warm day in June, I helped to make a haul at the mouth of Provo River, the trout fn having gathered about the river mouth for cooled water, the fishermen had made several hauls during the day, out in the lake, and took some 500 pounds of fish and when the net was drawn, the draft was judged to be about 4000 pounds. A great number of the trout weighed 40 pounds each, on the scales. As it was night, and having a great amount of dead fish on hand to be saved, after taking out several hundred pounds of the largest fish, the rest were turned into the lake alive. I saw one trout caught in Utah Lake, by net, which weighed 18 pounds. fn

Trout and salmon have been successfully hatched here, under the supervision of Hon. A. P. Rockwood, who is now dead; the eggs having been supplied by the late Fish Commissioner, Seth Green. The fry were put into Utah Lake and the tributaries of Bear Lake. Mr. A. M. Musser, our local Fish Commissioner, about three years ago, put into Utah Lake, 1,000,000 shad fry, and I am happy to say that this effort to stock Utah Lake with shad bids fair to be a success. fn Although this fish are as yet protected by law, some of them, on one occasion, found their way to the market and wieghed two and a half pounds. I assisted Mr. Rockwood, several years before, to put in our River Jordan 4000 shad fry, but the venture was not a success.

About 12 years ago I visited Bear River valley and fished 4 hours in a creek leading into Bear River, with a rod and reel, and caught 20 trout, four of them weighed a little over 4 pounds each. Upon this occasion I hooked and brought to sight, one trout, I think, of 10 pounds weight; but on account of the perpendicular height of the bank I could not land him.

Concerning wild fowl: for years our lakes, ponds and streams were alive with pelican, geese and ducks; and chickens fn and sage hens were numerous in the hills; but as the country is being settled, our feathered game, too, correspondingly diminishes. Chickens are now mostly confined to the distant hills and canyons. During the last few days we have killed 30 chickens near our camp. One of our company started a flock and shot 9 times on the wing, dropping 9 birds, and the 10th shot brought down 2, the balance of the charge striking the side of a rock, glance and hit a young man as he was mounting into the saddle. Seven shot lodged in the man and eleven in the horse the man was hit in the throat, sholder, back of head, and right knee. Nothing serious, however, resulted from the accident. fn

Respectfully, Wilford Woodruff [signed]

P. O. Box B, Salt Lake City Utah.

(The Historians Corner Edited by James B. Allen, BYU Studies, vol. 15 (1974-1975), Number 1 - Autumn 1974 117.)


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

RYsenTrout said:


> Here is the only account I can find where sizes are mentioned. This is an actual letter Woodruff wrote which was published in the "Forest and Stream" magazine which I understand was similar to "Field and Stream" today.
> 
> Enjoy:
> 
> ...


I like Wilford.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

RE"Here is the only account I can find where sizes are mentioned. This is an actual letter Woodruff wrote which was published in the "Forest and Stream" magazine which I understand was similar to "Field and Stream" today."

If I'm not mistaken, 'Forest and Stream" is the previous name of what is now called "Field and Stream". They just changed the name many years ago.

This was my favorite Wilford Woodruff story. (This is from the blog linked to above but it was also previously posted here during the stream access/HB141 battles)

_"And as Franklin recieved great Joy when he saw electricity or lightning descend on his kite string in like manner was I highly gratifyed when I saw the nimble trout dart my fly hook himself & run away with the line but I soon worried him out & drew him to shore & I fished two or three hours including morning & evening & I cought twelve in all And About one half of them would weigh abought 3/4 of a pound each while All the rest of the camp did not ketch during the day 3 lbs of trout in all which was proof positive to me that the Artificial fly is far the best thing now known to fish trout with."

_Pres. Woodruff not only had good skill to catch a lot of fish, but he appreciated the aesthetics of it *and *he already had a well developed flyfishers elitist attitude, not to mention he knew how to trash talk his bait chucking brethren.;-) He was the perfect modern fly angler 100 years before his time. ;-)8)

Pres. Woodruff was cool. :grin:


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Catherder said:


> RE"Here is the only account I can find where sizes are mentioned. This is an actual letter Woodruff wrote which was published in the "Forest and Stream" magazine which I understand was similar to "Field and Stream" today."
> 
> If I'm not mistaken, 'Forest and Stream" is the previous name of what is now called "Field and Stream". They just changed the name many years ago.
> 
> ...


Yup. Mormon snobbery at it's finest....JUST KIDDING! I feel this Wilford guy was a true steward....and stud! Of coarse, he hadn't seen Utah brook trout and the maribou jig yet, but I'm confident he would have embraced both!


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

brookieguy1 said:


> Yup. Mormon snobbery at it's finest....JUST KIDDING! I feel this Wilford guy was a true steward....and stud! Of coarse, he hadn't seen Utah brook trout and the maribou jig yet, but I'm confident he would have embraced both!


LMAO, so the only thing more elitist than a fly angler is a Mormon fly angler elitist? -Ov-;-)

What about a Mormon,flyfishing,brookie only,elitist? Any of those guys around?


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

To a true fly fishing elitist, brookies are trash fish. Might as well be fishing for carp with bait. The true elitist fly fisher will only fish for native trout, in free flowing streams, with dry flies, cast with split cane rods.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

GaryFish said:


> To a true fly fishing elitist, brookies are trash fish. Might as well be fishing for carp with bait. The true elitist fly fisher will only fish for native trout, in free flowing streams, with dry flies, cast with split cane rods.


Well then, fly fishing elitists suck! Only jig fishing elitists that fish for brook trout with spinning gear deserve any true respect.
:grin: Split cane rods. Please! That's like using chopsticks now that we've invented the fork.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

brookieguy1 said:


> Split cane rods. Please! That's like using chopsticks now that we've invented the fork.


More like knowing that while we have invented protein powder, :O>>:you still enjoy a steak on the grill. :EAT:

:fish2:-|\\O-


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

brookieguy1 said:


> Only* jig* fishing elitists that fish for brook trout with spinning gear deserve any true respect.


Is it possible for jig fishermen to be elitist? Just the term "Jig fishing" oozes ******* bass fishing with "Deliverance" banjos and IMO invalidates any possibility of any elitist status whatsoever.

(Which is why I never have to worry about being considered elitist, even though I've done about as much fly flinging this summer as bassin. ;-) I sometimes use pistol petes too, but that is another story on why I'm hopelessly not elitist material.:der


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## HighmtnFish (Jun 3, 2010)

Catherder said:


> Is it possible for jig fishermen to be elitist? Just the term "Jig fishing" oozes ******* bass fishing with "Deliverance" banjos and IMO invalidates any possibility of any elitist status whatsoever.
> material.:der


I is O fended bi that thar comment. I almost exclusively fish jigs and I believe it takes more skill to catch fish with a jig than it does with a fly. All a fly fisherman has to do is match the hatch, get the fly out there without tangling the line, and let it sit there like a piece of bait until a fish eat it.
With a jig, you have to do something to entice the fish to take it, banjo music or not.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

HighmtnFish said:


> I is O fended bi that thar comment. I almost exclusively fish jigs and I believe it takes more skill to catch fish with a jig than it does with a fly. All a fly fisherman has to do is match the hatch, get the fly out there without tangling the line, and let it sit there like a piece of bait until a fish eat it.
> With a jig, you have to do something to entice the fish to take it, banjo music or not.


We play that thar same banjo Highmtnfish. We play it real mean and purty-like.;-)


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I know we are off topic but what the heck. One thing I REALLY like about fishing is how many ways there are to make it interesting. Growing up, we spin fished. Growing up on the Salmon River, our favorite fishing was floating the river in a raft, and fishing meant throwing in-line spinners to riffles, rocks, the shore, under overhanging willows, all the wonderful places trout love to hide. We got very, very, VERY good at it. We quit buying all the mepps, panther martins, and rooster tails and started making our own, with supplies we ordered from places like Tacklecraft. We developed spinner patterns like a fly tier does with flies. We specialized our rods - best was a 7 1/2 foot medium action, and we teamed it with a Mitchell 300 reel. 

Fishing with my Grandpa was different. He was a expert bait fisherman. And he loved bait fishing small streams. He did it with his "stream rod," which was an 8 1/2 foot fly rod with one of those wind up reels. He'd use it to flip worms, live grass hoppers, or other kinds of bait. He was VERY good at it. He taught me that if you run out of worms, you can use livers or eyes from the fish you already caught, as effective bait. He was an exceptional bait fisherman.

Once out on my own, I got turned on to fly fishing. I'd toyed with tying my own flies back in my spinner days, as we made our own rooster tail style spinners. I got a second hand fly rod and slowly built a tying kit over time. In the last 25 years, I've added more and more rods, including a split cane rod, and I've worked on my tying skills. It is now my preferred method of fishing. And elitist or not, there really is something special about fishing for native trout on a free flowing river with a split cane rod casting a royal wulff. If for no other reason than it is just cool. I could see the same kind of connection with jig fishing for brookies, or chucking hardware for bass, or making those 10,000 casts to get a musky.

A couple years ago a good buddy took me catfishin' down at Utah Lake. I'd never caught a catfish in my life. My buddy is to catfishin' what I am to fly fishing. He is VERY good at it. We had what he called a slow day, "only" boating 40 fish in the few short hours on the water. I have to admit, it is something I could easily get in to. 

I still spin fish. I still bait fish. And I've even bait fished with my fly rod, for carp no less! Its all good. For me, fly fishing is still my favorite. But fishing of any kind is good. And that is what makes it all so beautiful. At least wise to me.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

HighmtnFish said:


> I is O fended bi that thar comment. I almost exclusively fish jigs and I believe it takes more skill to catch fish with a jig than it does with a fly.


Ya'll don't need ta be offindud, (going serious) elitism does not equal skill. All of the specializations many of us like to do would be tough for the average Joe to pull off. If you hand someone used to plunking powerbait a black marabou jig and plop him in front of one of your premier brookie lakes, I'd bet he'd struggle. Heck, most of the state still thinks that Jordanelle sucks for bass right now, but it sure has been treating us nicely this year, between thunderstorms.-BaHa!- And if it isn't obvious, the elitist stuff is all tongue in cheek. I have the highest respect for most of the fly anglers I have ever fished or rubbed shoulders with.

Gary, good post. What is interesting is my dad used to also stream fish bait with a fly rod and an old automatic reel. He was quite adept, but I never could work those dumb automatics like a spinning rod. For whatever reasons, some of those ways of fishing are becoming scarce to extinct. Another example, Back in the day, dad and I used to river fish with bait. We'd adjust weight to get a dead drift and we'd set the hook at the first strike. We'd catch fish hand over fist but almost all of them would be hooked in the jaw and could be released safely and ethically. We might keep one or two for dinner at times if one lunched it. You hardly see that anymore. You either see fly anglers on the stream, a few with spinners and hardware, or folks that chuck a big worm or glob of bait in a deep hole and prop their rod on a stick like they are at the lake.


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## smoothie (Nov 21, 2011)

GaryFish said:


> I know we are off topic but what the heck. One thing I REALLY like about fishing is how many ways there are to make it interesting. Growing up, we spin fished. Growing up on the Salmon River, our favorite fishing was floating the river in a raft, and fishing meant throwing in-line spinners to riffles, rocks, the shore, under overhanging willows, all the wonderful places trout love to hide. We got very, very, VERY good at it. We quit buying all the mepps, panther martins, and rooster tails and started making our own, with supplies we ordered from places like Tacklecraft. We developed spinner patterns like a fly tier does with flies. We specialized our rods - best was a 7 1/2 foot medium action, and we teamed it with a Mitchell 300 reel.
> 
> Fishing with my Grandpa was different. He was a expert bait fisherman. And he loved bait fishing small streams. He did it with his "stream rod," which was an 8 1/2 foot fly rod with one of those wind up reels. He'd use it to flip worms, live grass hoppers, or other kinds of bait. He was VERY good at it. He taught me that if you run out of worms, you can use livers or eyes from the fish you already caught, as effective bait. He was an exceptional bait fisherman.
> 
> ...


Gary...I appreciate your comments on this topic (even if it is off topic). There are so many ways to catch a fish. As long as one is doing it legally and following all the rules, then I see no reason to be critical of other's preferred methods to catch a fish. It's interesting to hear the process that many people experience as they come to a place where they prefer to catch fish using a fly rod.

I also prefer to catch fish using a fly rod, but the bottom line is that I really just love catching fish...regardless of the means to that blissful end. I recently caught my first striper at Lake Powell using a lure on a spinning rod. I was just as excited about landing that nice striper as I will be in two weeks when I catch a native Yellowstone Cuttie on the Lamar River on a dry fly.


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