Fall Browns

I have been out on the SF, then the Provo and the SF again since my last post. All in the hopes of finding lots of Brown Trout. The first two trips, while not utter skunks (I caught a couple each trip) were slow. As one of my goals for blogging is to take better pictures I am now carrying the camera more often, but I suffer from a malady. When I am into the fish I don't like to stop and take pictures. That and I keep proving to myself just how bad I am at framing up a photo.

Yesterday on the SF was pretty good. The first fish I caught I would have sworn was a brown. I saw flashes of a deep copper belly a few times before I brought him to hand, only to find the deep orange red slashes of a cutthroat. Deceptive fish. The colors on the fish (both the Cutts and the Browns) right now are amazing, but my only picture from the trip failed to capture the deep purple that was around the gill plates of the fish.

Glo Bug and Glue Bug, combo of the day.

After hunting around a bit (my favorite hole for this time of year was a no go as the water about 300 cfs lower this year than it was this time last year, or the bottom has moved, or both) I finally found a nice deep slow hole with lots of fish hiding in it (I had chased them out of skinny water and here they settled). I am learning that nothing is constant on the SF. After high water your favorite spot may be completely re-arranged as the water relocates the river bottom. The South Channel boat ramp at Twin Bridge is completely dewatered, and my early winter honeyhole from last year has less than 1/2 the water down it. The area for me that seems to experience the least change from year to year is right above Fall Creek, but even this area changes.

My catch ratio of trout to whitefish was about 3:1. The Browns weren't as big as I had hoped, but there were a couple in the 18 inch range and a few that fought quite hard. I need to find a new primo water for the next two weeks before the fish respond to the colder water temps and hunker down at the bottom of the deep slow holes.

I am considering making a trip to chase steelhead the 20th-21st of December, but as I have never chased steelheads before I am unsure if that is too late, and where to go. I finally have all the components of an 8 wt setup, and the water levels on the Salmon above Salmon are low. Guess I need to do some research.

My Christmas tree excursion this year was very successful, and some perusing of some other local's blogs has convinced me that I need to hike, snowshoe and ski more with my little ones so expect to see more family related content here. It will be outdoorsy but not necessarily only fishing related. That or I need to start a new blog for my other adventures. Hmmmmm.....