# Uintas Lately



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

For the last couple of weeks, the Uintas have been calling and I couldn't resist a couple of day trips.

Last week, my family and I went up to Trial and the Crystal Lake Trail Head to get some fishing and hiking in. Having never bothered to fish Trial in the past, it seemed like a good spot to try.

Rather than fish the dam, we walked around to the far side and fished away from the crowds. The fish were actually pretty finicky, but a few still came in.



Pretty lake though.



We mostly caught small tigers, but I had a larger holdover rainbow on for a few seconds. Once we got back toward the spill dam, the fishing picked up for slightly larger tigers.



That was fun, but we used the rest of the day to get a little more hiking in and catch some brookies in a small pond where I'd found some decent fish in the past.



The fish were much smaller on average than my last visit, but it was still good to get out. There's a reason so many people visit the Uintas.





It was nice to get the family up there again.

This week, my buddy J and I thought it would be fun to test our mojo at a hike-in lake that can be pretty technical at times.





As pretty as it was, the lake wasn't in the mood to give up its treasures. Not for the first couple of hours at least. It wasn't until I had worked my way around to the farthest shore from where we started that I got a bite that I didn't miss.



Not bad for the Uintas. Worth the wait! It would be my only catch from the lake, despite going all the way around it. The views were nice though.







The mushrooms were popping up all over the place. Little puffballs were the most common, and then I found these:



I didn't keep them, but wondered if they were edible.

J ended up scoring a decent brookie and a small cutthroat, but that was it for him.



We'd spent a good amount of time at the lake and very few fish had been caught thus far. It was time to find other water with faster action and it wasn't long until we were at a shallow marshy pond with better fishing.

J and I worked some tigers and brookies for awhile to make up for lost time. It wasn't heavily populated, but it was pretty productive when the fish could be located.





J even caught a couple of these little guys:



We actually weren't planning on staying at the pond for very long, but the fish convinced us to stay, especially when J noticed a different species swimming around that wouldn't take anything we threw with our spinning rods.

We rigged up our fly rods to see if these picky little fish would take some smaller offerings. While I was doing my best to tie a nail knot with my forceps (lost my tool), a little voice in my head whispered a thought to me. I shrugged off the idea while I finished the knot.

While scanning the contents of my fly box for the perfect nymph to use, the little voice came back, only stronger this time. Really? Would this be that day? Well, okay then.

Instead of tying on the beaded prince nymph I was eyeing, I gave into the whim and grabbed a small black ant pattern. That's right, keep it on top. After all, these fish were gently slurping the surface and the periodic breeze could plausibly blow a few ants into the drink...

Well, it took a few tries and some good timing, but soon enough, the perfect cast unfurled and placed the ant right where it needed to be.

After several years, I finally caught a fish on a dry fly! What's more, my first was a grayling.





Really, I'd caught fish in the past on dries, but only while dragging them behind a bubble on a spinning rig. On an actual fly rod, I had only gotten a few strikes that eventually came unbuttoned before getting anything to hand.

Until this weekend, dry flies were merely indicators for my nymphs. It feels great to finally scratch that one off the list. In all fairness, throwing dries had never really been something I spent a lot of time trying, but now I think I'll dabble a bit more in that!

A few more came in for me and J was getting some across the pond, with a few brookies and tigers in the mix. They kept us busy for a bit longer until we had enough and placed our aim on some moving water to finish off our day.



The grayling were all over the stream too. J made short work of them.



I'd have my moment too, but first, a tiny brookie on that prince nymph I thought of earlier.



Uinta streams are incredible! They can be steep and riddled with dead fall and a slow meander within 100 yards.

This:



To this:



What a place! Getting back to the smell of pine needles while traversing the spongy ground was just what I needed. As is usual for our trips, J was excellent company and we spent the day laughing and having a good time in the great outdoors.



Happy Fishing, Humans.


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## twinkielk15 (Jan 17, 2011)

What a trip! You make me want to quit my day job or, at the very least, find one that let's me fish more...


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## HopperLover (Jul 7, 2008)

I am sure you were glad to see a fish come up for the dry fly. You know the saying "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Well, catching a fish on a dry fly is like that: "A fish caught on a dry fly is worth two caught underneath." 

I am a dry fly addict. Especially in a drought year like this one where the water is lower - fish on some rivers are often more willing to come up and take a dry fly when the water is lower. I've had some amazing fly fishing with dry flies lately. Addicting!

Nice report!


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## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

Great report! I am headed up to that area in two weeks for an overnighter with my son for his birthday. I am hoping we can get into some grayling, neither of us have ever caught one before.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

on the mushrooms - that one is a LBM. that is to say a 'little brown mushroom'. there are about 20 good mushrooms that are both edible and palatable. there are about 20 that are deadly killers. know these and all others fit in the LBM category, likely wont kill you but are not necessarily palatable either. in the uintahs you can find chantrelles, morels and various species of boletus - all edible and highly palatable. you will also find the amenitas, particularly amenita virosa, the angel of death. all white, with white gills and a skirt. just the spores of this little deadly shroom can cause illness while a bite or two will cause complete liver failure and death.

memorize the edibles. enjoy. photograph all others.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

by the way, puff balls, caught early are edible and delicious. however, you have to know the difference between a puffball and amenita virosa. puffballs have no gills, early stage amenitas look like puffballs but if you slice them vertically you will see gill formation, discard and wash your hands. ya gotta be so very careful. also in the uintahs you will find agaricus campestris, the meadow mushroom, outstanding eater and lawyers wig/shaggy mane. a tall white mushroom most noted for its characteristic of autodigesting itself, gets black, oozy, dripping black crap and spores, if you get it before this, also a great eater.


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## jer (Jan 16, 2012)

Some purty fish rite thure!! Cool to find the grayling  they're all over our streams here in CO too :mrgreen:


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## poiboy (Nov 18, 2010)

Loved the report. I just hate reading them at work, it makes me want to clock out and head for some water.


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## Jed (Feb 25, 2009)

Nice. >>O


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## dartangion (Jul 2, 2008)

Dude congrats on getting one on a dry, that's my favorite!


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## smoothie (Nov 21, 2011)

Glad to hear you finally got a fish on a dry fly. After reading so many of your posts over the years I was pretty surprised that it was your first. It's so fun to see the fish come up and hit the fly. It's even better when you are sight casting to a rising trout and it happens. Congrats!


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## tallbuck (Apr 30, 2009)

What a perfect trip, looks like a ton of fun! Congrats on the grayling too!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Great post!

Uh...do not eat little brown mushrooms with pointy tops.


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## troutfisher (Jul 3, 2013)

Those are the day's that dreams are made of.


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## grousehunter (Sep 11, 2007)

Wait until you try sight fishing brookies with a dry fly, you may never leave the lake.


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