Desert Duo

This post may pale in comparison to the Gov'nas, but such is our luck. The Mule and I are destined to explore and detail new water, going without sleep, driving long distances all in the name of trout exploration. So our story is not one of flashy finned fish, nor lurking lengthy leviathans, but of non genetically disfigured trout in wily western waters.

Our Tale begins....

The most eventful part of our drive was chasing a jackrabbit down a dirt road for a mile. Poor rabbit couldn't turn left nor right for fear of falling off the precipice on which we drove. Sheer exhaustion drove him to lay down as near to the edge of the cliff, and let us pass on the right. The whole while we laughed saying, "we should be videoing this". We arrived stream side at 2 am.

A few hours later brought daylight and the first post moonlight inspection of the water to which we would spend the day fishing. The stream looked high, and the water was off color.

It took a bit of time to actually "find" the trout in this new water, as I was having visions of "Linville Gorge" syndrome (ask the Gov about that sterile stream), I came upon this pool, and quickly spied a trout that I soon caught. Several others followed before the Mule hooked a mini, and left the ranks of the "skunked". For a few hours we fished upstream, taking many small, but beautiful Bonneville Cutthroat trout. Combat fishing at it's hardest. The trout were unwise to the willy ways of the wayward piscator, thus enabling us to almost stand directly on top of the fish, while catching them just off of our rod tips.

Around Noon, we headed back to the area in which we began, took a small break and planned the afternoon attack. We decided to head downstream, into what we called the Gorge section of the stream. This area of the stream was confined within pale Sandstone and red Kayenta cliffs, very narrow. We bushwhacked through prickly pear cactus, and thorn bushes that threatened to make our waders even more breathable.

Till 5 pm or so, we fought our way upstream. Fishing some pocket water and many pools. The trout were fairly eager, and even a small hatch of midges and mayflies came off. I will say that we caught many fish, the largest being 12", none so big as to warrant a gloating southern accent back into the camera. End tally, many fish caught, two dog tired anglers happy to explore new water and would be willing to return some day, just not as the main destination. I will state though, that fishing for wild cutthroat trout in this lovely desert setting was odd, yet quite inspirational. And anytime one has a chance to wash off the dust of daily trials in cool trout infested waters, is fine day indeed.