Gorgeous Backcountry and Pretty Fish

This week was an interesting one. I started a new job on Monday, working in Salt Lake. I live in Santaquin, so that's a bit of a commute. I've been up at 5:30 every day, home at around 6:30, with almost no time to fish. But Saturday rolled around and I knew I had to get out.

A buddy of mine, Bill, wanted to go as well, so we set out on an hour-long hike in the middle of the day up some gorgeous country.

Spring is the best, especially in Utah! Our hike took us up a long ridge, overlooking a beautifully scenic valley. Our destination, a small out-of-the-way trickle of water, lay at the bottom of a valley. 

We topped out on the ridge and couldn't resist a quick selfie in the backcountry. 

After we stopped at the top of the ridge for a quick snack and some water, we clambered down the backside and started doing what we do best - looking for fish. 

Talk about some gorgeous country to fish in! 

Bill got the first of the day, a solid brown. 

For a river brown, that's pretty chunky. We were using some fake worms on the end of a 1/8th ounce jig head, and the fish seemed to love them. Bill caught two more before I wrangled anything in.

Quick note - all these fish, seeing as they're wild and gorgeous, were tossed back unharmed. Even this guy, who swallowed the plastic worm a ways, only had the hook in the roof of his mouth, thank goodness. We got him and all the other fish back into the water after a quick photo op. 

Bill gettin' funky with another nice brown. 

Bill pulled those three in pretty quickly, but I was still fishless. This all made me come to a conclusion - fish karma is a real thing. Last week, with my buddy Dallin, I caught a very nice brookie, and Dallin only got a few small cutts to hand. This week, Bill managed to land almost all the fish, and certainly all the big ones, while I was stuck missing fish or getting snagged on the bottom.

Eventually, I pulled this gorgeous cutthroat out from behind a boulder before letting him swim back off.

After that, Bill got yet another fish on a spinner.

I tied on a spinner shortly thereafter, and I had a really nice sized brown roll on the lure, only to miss it as the spoon tumbled through the fast water. I couldn't coax anything else to bite on the lure. 

With dark about an hour off, and Bill needing to get home before it got too late, we decided to hike back out. 

The river looks so small from up here! 

It's incredible how pristine this country is. Just awe-inspiring and beautiful. Being able to romp around out here with a day pack and fishing rod is a great blessing. 

That nice rainstorm Saturday night was creeping in right as we were hiking back to the car. As soon as we popped the trunk and loaded our gear, the rain started coming down. We left at just the right time! 

It was a great trip, and a fun first one for Bill and I to get into fish on. Backcountry fishing, where I don't even see signs of other people, is great. This river is a true gem and I'm glad I got to spend some time there on Saturday.