Dec 28, 2010

Fish Can Be Caught in the Winter

Went fishing today and had a pretty good day for it being the middle of winter. Caught quite a few browns and actually more bows than anything. My hands were frozen but it was worth it.



Catching a little brown. The fishing action isn't great but I just like to listen to the water in this video. This sound is why I love going fishing.



This is the first fish I caught. Most of the fish were around 9-10 inches. They were starting to loose their color. One brown I caught was very dull all the way till the last 2 inches of his tail which were still a bright vibrant color.

An example of one of the bows I caught. Not many big fish but plenty of fish this size. And who can argue when it is freezing outside and there is snow on the ground. I was glad to land any fish today.

The water slashes up and freezes on over hanging grass and trees causing these beautiful upside down ice sickles.

The water from my line froze to my snake guides. I had to have de-icing breaks every now and then. Did I mention it was cold outside?


Snow bank. Didn't catch any fish here and actually not so many in the usual spots. The sun being out was a nice touch on such a cold day up the canyon.

Took this on my walk back to the car. This is from the road looking down on the creek. This canyon is so close to the house and I am glad to have so many beautiful things so close to home.



On a closing note I thought everyone would enjoy seeing me do what I do best. First cast snag. Second cast stuck. You can hear my exhale of annoyance as I walk back to turn the camera off. Luckily I saved both nymphs. The only difference between fishing now and when I was younger is how many flies I go home with. Flies lost this trip...zero. I am either much better at retrieving my flies from the trees or more aware of how much it will cost me ($) if I leave it behind. Until next time.

Dec 17, 2010

Fishing Hobble Creek

These pictures are from a while ago. Hobble creek is one of my favorite places to fish in Utah. Small water, lots of overhang (this keeps the poser fly-fisherman out), and some nice sized fish. I went fishing by myself this trip which I tend to do often. I enjoy the quiet and taking my time switching flies until I find one that works. This video is from my phone. There are a few holes I know I am going to pull at least a few fish out of so I held the video camera and cast with my right hand so I could still set the hook and land this fish with my left. Not the best video but you do get to see how catching a fish on a nymph looks. At the very beginning of the video you can see the line move, that is me setting the hook. A second or so later you see the fish as I pull him up to the surface. These are strong fish and you can see at the end of the video as I try to land him in my net he takes off and you can here the drag on my reel letting out line. I had to put the camera down after this because he took off into some tree roots and I wanted this fish in my hands. Like I said, small water but good sized fish. The picture following the video is the fish that I have on the line in the video.





This is a beautiful fish. I can't wait to fish this water with my new rod I am building.



A little rainbow but the picture came out so nice from my phone I threw it in here. A 12 inch bow feels like a 16 inch of any other fish. I love the fight.



This is one of the bigger bows I caught that day.



I love the color on this fish. This fish and the next three pictures all came from the same hole. It really is just three fish but there are two pictures of one of them. I could see all three of these fish in a little riffle about 15 feet in front of me. They were all within about 12 inches of each other and side by side. I cast in front and let my nymph bobble past on the rocks under them and sure enough one move a fraction over and inhaled it. I quickly landed him hoping not to spook the other fish but seeing as the water was only about 6 inches deep assumed when I looked up that they would be long gone...but there they were. Two nice sized browns sitting and waiting. I repeated and caught the second and was just as shocked to see the third right where I had left him.



This is just a picture of the same fish that is below on my arm. I thought I would throw this is to prove that these are good sized fish between 15 and 17 inches. You can see on my net that this fish passes the 11 inch mark on one side and is almost to the 5 inch mark on the other. That puts him somewhere between 16 and 17 inches. They are all nice and plump too.





Well anyway, if you are ever out in Utah and would like to try some fly fishing come on out to hobble creek with me. Don't be afraid, you'll probably spend most of the time in the trees but I have got quite a skill at untying knots. I am very patient as my Grandpa was with me so I'll just give you my rod to fish as I work out the mess. I can almost guarantee you will land a fish so call me up. I look for any excuse to get out on the water.

Dec 3, 2010

I Know You Missed Me

Well I am back with a picture post. I have not blogged for one year. I am a loser. Apologies. But I am back now and will try to do better. This is a very random post but the captions for each photo should explain well. Some of my readers might not get the posts. To you, I feel sorry, because I am funny. If you didn't know ask my sister. She will tell you. So enjoy these great pictures.



"Daniel Fail" This is what I saw when I went out to my car after working today. Yep, I parked smack dab in middle of the motorcycle parking, didn't even know. I did wonder why such a good spot was open. I am so cool.



This shot was from my window on my flight back from Houston. That is a rock climbing bolt in the wing. I though, man, that is some extreme rock climbing.



This one you might not get unless you know the Murses. There is nothing I really need to say except BEST LEADER EVER. If you don't get it, you don't want the explanation.