The Rocky Road Adventure

There are times that I like to venture out to new water...ok, most of the time!  And I had heard several people talk about a particular river high up in the Uinta mountains of Utah that was pretty awesome.  So, I thought that I would journey up to the South Slope and see what it was all about.  But, let's back up a bit...shall we?  Because this adventure actually started oh, maybe a month or two before, unknown to me.  You see, I was fishing one day on my usual "quick fix" for fishing...the Provo River.  As I worked upstream, I came across a gal who was looking a little bit perplexed preoccupied with her fly box.  I would occasionally glance over and she was still looking it over.  So, I made the quick walk down the bank to where she was.  I asked her how she was doing and she said something like, "I have thrown everything in the box and don't know what to try next!"  I gave her a couple of suggestions and talked a bit.  Yeah, I think that I even brought up this blog.  (How does that get into every discussion?)  And maybe gave her my real name too... I can't remember.  Do I have one???  Lol.



I guess that I passed the name tag table!

Then, Troutrageous Mike came out to fish and I went along to see what the Tenkara Summit was all about.  Well, there was Jeri... I was surprised!  She said that she had read about the Summit on my blog in a post (didn't think that she would actually read it)...and signed up.  From there, we all went to the clinics and  stream presentations (which is a totally another post!)  and we talked about fishing later in the day, but I wasn't feeling too well, and went home.  But, she emailed me later and we set up this trip to the Uinta's.  I did a lot of homework on this one.  But,  what I thought that was a a 2 1/2 hr one way trip, turned out to be actually a 3 1/2...ugh. 

The reason... The Rocky Road.  

(And these are the smoother rocks... after I found my teeth on the floormat from the previous stretch!)

But, going 15 mi/hr for 40 errr 30 ...ok, 20 miles with my all-wheel Nissan finally ended.  And there was beautiful countryside to be seen!

And the river was spectacular...I guess that you could call it a small freestone river.

Why are there always animals roaming everywhere I fish?  Well, as long as it isn't bears...

Jeri and I all geared up...and with bear spray.  There were enough posters up to convince me!

I found a nice stretch of water that looked pretty fishy... I told Jeri that this is what we were looking for!

And Jeri caught her first ever Brook Trout!  That was fun to watch a somewhat "newbie's" excitement...

And more brookies and cutties to the net...of the smaller variety!
After several taking the nymph dropper, I finally had one take the Royal Wulff...victory!
This nymphing River Damsel is going to get this dry fly presentation down if it takes all summer...

After we caught our load of fishies...we decided to hit one more access point on the way back home.

I don't know how I missed this on the way up (maybe because I was watching for large rocks in front of my tires), but I was stoked to find a dam/spillway section that would bring us some even bigger fish.

RD's "Midweek Tippet"... Always NET your fish and keep in the water while fidgeting with your camera.  As I set my feet right under the spillway section, my olive Crystal Dip nymph caught the most beautiful brookie that I have ever caught.  (Yes, Jeri is a witness)  It was a "first cast" catch too, which is always fun.  Bam!!!  Kept him under water with one hand and well...by the time I was ready to "click" ...you can guess the end of the story...

So, here is what he looked like...via Mr. Fontinalis Rising. 

So, our adventure was near the end... We had caught fish and tangled a few lines.  Yeah, that backcast got out of control...  I think that was when my arm was tired!  Wooosh! 

Jeri got to nod her head in disbelief  approval each time I thought of some new "tippet" to help her learning curve... (I honestly think that she is doing quite well without my help!)   But, she was a great fishing buddy to have along and we had an awesome time.  And we had our lunch and snacks very well coordinated.  Pastrami and swiss on sourdough (well, of course), along with grapes, carrots, a couple bags of chips and hummus spicy mexican dip. (Not too bad, actually!)



A smile like this in the middle of nowhere is what it's all about...

At the end of the day, we passed Strawberry Reservoir.  What a gorgeous site to behold!  A long day that started at 6:30 am and finished at 10:00 pm was now just a memory...and a good one.

I have journeyed over many rocks in my adventures.  I know that is part of finding new water to cast in... 

But, on the next journey out, the only "Rocky Road" that I want to see, is this one!  Just sayin'!

 Heehee.

Mmmmmm...