Tigers and Cutts Galore!

I took a trip last Saturday to an awesome lake in the back of beyond that's chock full of cutthroat and tiger trout. We're talking decent sized fish, too. Most of what I caught was in the 17-22 inch range. I'm not going to mention the name of the lake I was on out of respect for my buddy that told me about it (you can read his excellent fishing blog here). This is also why I'm not posting any pictures of the lake that I took, either. And, I like to keep my lakes with really big fish in em a bit of a secret.

Moving on - I got up at 4:30 Saturday morning and made the 2 hour drive with my buddy Trevor. We stocked up on coffee and sausage McMuffins and had a blast driving through scenic Utah in the predawn hours. After a long drive, we jumped out of my truck into the chilly 30-degree weather, got our poles ready, and immediately set to fishing.

I started fishing on the western end of this particular lake, pulling a Jake's lure through some deeper water. A trick I've found with the Jake's, by the way - if you vary your reel speed, depth of retrieval, and jig it a bit when you're pulling it in, that'll help the more wary fish (i.e., big ones) bite it. I fished for probably about a half hour with no bites, and by then the sun was starting to peek over the mountains. So I moved to the other side of the lake where the sun was hitting the water, hoping I'd have some luck over there.

Along the way, Trevor pulled in this nice 17 inch Colorado River Cutthroat from the stream that feeds this lake.

After that fish was caught, the action started to pick up. I pulled in this little guy for my first fish of the day. I caught it on a J-7 Rapala. Trust me, I was as surprised as you are! 

I was switching between some Jake's lures (different colors, than the standard red and gold) and some Rapalas. I tried out a new brook trout-patterned coundtown Rapala, and wasn't too impressed. The J-7, however, was definitely worth the money. I was also using Berkley's Fireline for the first time, and I loved it. Smoothest casting I've ever found on 10lb. line. 

Anyways, the next couple of hours saw fish like this pretty frequently: 

That last picture did horrible justice to that Cutt (not to mention my stupid finger getting in the way of the lens). That Cutt was by far the prettiest Cutt I caught all day.

Well, I'd come to the lake for a big fish, Cutt or Tiger, and I was frustrated that I was only pulling in 17-22 inch fish. Immediately after this fish, though, I got my shot at a big one.

I was pulling a Jake's in at a moderate clip when I felt that unmistakable bite. I set the hook, and felt the satisfying head shake of a fish that's securely hooked. Then, my drag started screaming; literally, I've never had my drag pulled out this fast in my life. Assuming I'd hooked into another 22 inch Cutt, I tightened the drag a bit and just the fish play around on the end of my line for a bit, waiting for my chance to fight it into shore. 

Well, despite tightening the drag, it kept screaming. I tightened it again, and finally was able to gain some ground on the fish. It was then that I realized I had a true monster on the end of my line. For another five minutes, it was back and forth, between me pulling the fish in a bit, and him taking my line back out into the lake. Finally, I had him about 20 feet offshore, and his head broke the surface for the first time. 

As soon as I saw it's head crest the water, my heart stopped. That was by far the biggest trout I'd ever seen on the end of my line. Trying to calm myself down, I kept fighting the big boy in. He got within 10 feet of shore and started making a lot of noise, splashing water everywhere. I finally got a glimpse of the whole fish - a HUGE tiger trout! Considering that I had 10lb. line on, and my pole was bent nearly in half, I'm assuming this particular guy was a pretty beefy fish. 

But, as I got this fish into the shallows, he quit fighting. He just sat there, floating in about 3 inches of water, only his belly covered in water. The fish was easily anywhere from 25-32 inches, and I'd guess anywhere between 6-12 pounds, based on how hard he fought me and how fat he was. 

As I was trying to think through how exactly I was going to get this hog out of the water and onto land for measuring and pictures, he gave one last shake of his head, tossed my hook, and swam off into the depths. I sat there on the side of that lake, just absolutely shattered. That tiger was by far the largest fish I've ever hooked into, and I don't even have pictures of him! 

After I got myself back together composure-wise, I tied on some yellow marabou jigs and started playing around in the weeds about 10 feet offshore. A few nice tigers came to hand. 

After that last tiger, the action slowed down, and we decided to call it a day. I'm heading back to that lake tomorrow though, to chase that big one! Hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon. 

Thousand Lake Mountain Trip

I'd needed to get away badly these last few weeks, and I was searching for a place to fish that was remote but not under a lot of snow. Luckily, after talking with a good friend of mine, I settled on fishing what's accessible on Thousand Lake Mountain right now.

So Friday afternoon, I loaded up my gear and made the 3.5 hour drive into this beautiful country.

I was lucky to get in with good weather. I pitched my tent, gathered some firewood, cooked dinner, then immediately began fishing. After messing around with some Marabou jigs and different baits, I tied on the ever-trusty Jake's lure. Sure enough, my first cast resulted in a fish!

Not exactly the size of fish I was after, but a fish is a fish nonetheless, and I was happy to hook this one. Even though he was small, I got a lot of fight out of him. In fact, every fish I pulled in Friday night fought like a trophy sized trout! 

I kept catching these beefy rainbow trout all night long. Every Cutt I pulled in was proportioned just about what you'd expect for 8-11 inch trout. However, these Bows all had huge bulging bellies! This is a good sign, as it means  this lake is full of food and supports a good stable population of trout through the winter months. 

A lot of the Bows I pulled in were just beautifully colored. 

As the night progressed, I kept catching fish all in this same range. I knew that some bigger ones existed, it was only a matter of finding out exactly where. 

After I caught 20 fish, I lost count for the night. Right as the sun dipped below the mountains to the west, I managed to wrangle in this beauty of a Cutthroat. 

Absolutely gorgeous coloration! The odd thing about this catch, though, was how it took it. I was pulling the Jake's in along the shoreline, no more than 10 feet out. My lure can't have been more than 7 feet from shore when I saw a big dark shape following it. I slowed up for a second, gave my Jake's a little action, and the Cutt nailed it! Immediately, my drag started whining and this guy took off into deeper water. After a few minutes, I tuckered him out and landed him. I had to take multiple pictures, because I couldn't believe how pretty he was!

After that catch, I fished for a little while longer until dark, only catching smaller fish as before. The next morning, I made a short hike into another lake near where I was camped. 

On my first cast, I pulled in this nice Tiger. 

Easily, the best fishing of the trip! I fished that lake for another hour without a single bite, then decided it was time to get heading home. I took a few shots of the breathtaking views on my way out.

All in all, this trip was great, and exactly what I needed to get ready for fishing Boulder as soon as the roads are open!