To start, we got up at 5:30 and made the trek to Scofield, where an 18 pound tiger trout had been caught about a week and a half ago. I failed to bring any bait, though, and it was a whopping 18 degrees when we got there. Seriously cold morning, but a beautiful lake.
Even though Preston and I were freezing to death up there, I was determined to lure a wary tiger trout from the shallows to bite my Gulp! minnow. But I think the fish were as averse to the cold as we were, because I didn't get a single bite the entire time we were at Scofield. A few people up the bank from us were using chub meat, and having about as much success as me. So after the line froze in my pole for the umpteenth time, Preston and I decided to head to Price for some food and plan our next move for fish.
It really was cold up there, I promise! The water droplets on my line would freeze on the guides on my rod, and a few times, my line froze solid! A few more pics of Scofield:
So after we'd stuffed our faces with some Subway at 10 in the morning (we'd both been up for five hours, so it really felt like lunchtime anyways) I made the call to head to Joe's Valley. After my success there a few weeks ago, and the fact that we desperately needed fish for our video, I thought Joe's sounded like a great destination.
Well, as we were driving to Orangeville, I noticed that an enormous white bank of clouds was just sitting on the Manti-Lasalle mountain range, more than likely dumping serious snow. I was worried that Joe's might have finally iced up - but we got lucky! After a drive through Straight Canyon in a blizzard, we arrived back at the aquamarine waters of the secluded and beautiful Joe's Valley.
Preston took that shot with his camera he was filming with. That black dot in the middle? A duck that was just cruising around Joe's like it owned the place.
Well, after a few minutes at Joe's, I was rewarded with the most gorgeous Cutthroat trout of my life. Unfortunately, because we were filming and trying to get multiple shots of the Cutt, I wasn't able to get a picture of the Cutt. This still from the video is all I have to remember this beautiful fish by!
At first glance in the water I thought that guy was a rainbow, but as soon as I got a good look at him, I saw the beautiful slashes under his jaw and the spotting pattern that definitively marked him as a Cutthroat.
We spent a few more minutes on the reservoir before we decided to try Straight Canyon Creek. We were on a time restraint, so fishing had to be hurried. After a few more fish that weren't notable, we hiked back to my truck. The snow covered boulders made for dramatic landscape, and Preston was being very careful not to get his camera wet.
We got down onto the creek, and I was blown away by how gorgeous it looked, all covered in snow. What an amazing place to fish! I'm lucky beyond words to live in such a gorgeous state.
I had a few browns out of this creek, but this guy fought the hardest by far and was probably the prettiest fish I've caught out of this creek. He swallowed my entire Gulp! minnow too!
All in all, it was an epic day. Even though the fishing was slow, being able to chase trout in the beautiful country was awesome. Also, it's been a while since I've fished in a blizzard, and the snow was actually a welcome addition to the day.
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