This years Frenzy was one to remember, the fishing was a little up and down, but that only makes up a fraction of the reason why 10 friends from ID and UT meet together each year. The true reason for the Frenzy runs deep inside all those that participate. I can’t really explain it, but some words that drive home are; tradition, friendship, being a kid again, new experiences, the unknown and being truly happy.  Unlike last years theme of “Big Fish“, this year the theme would have to be “Roughing It”.  The Frenzy started off weeks before our official kick off on July 14th. In anticipation of this years 6 day trip countless emails were sent,  trash talk was given and received, and plans were set and reset as water and hatch conditions changed. The big day finally came and like a kid on Christmas eve, the UT boys met early to take advantage of all the time we had. The plan was to leave at 3 am, so that we would get to our first destination just in time to meet the sun and hopefully some old streamer eating Snake River Cutthroats. 

 (Note: Out of respect of the water and local fishermen. I will not give the names of the waters fished online, but if you are interested email me at tgillespie8@hotmail.com) 

As the four of us (Hancey, Hoss, Mikey, Dr) split up some fished the big deep holes and others decided to try and bring up some of the piggies with over-sized terrestrials and a dropper. Neither worked very well as the smaller fish attacked our flies and ruined the water before a larger fish could slam it. As the day and water heated up, so did the emergence of smaller PMDs. In minutes a run went from a few smaller rising fish to hundreds of smaller to medium fish focused on PMDs, making them easy targets to a well (or poor in my case) presented fly. Its was amazing to see the life cycle of the hatch as well as bug crazed trout.  The larger fish never showed, but that was ok , because the beauty of the meadow stream and the unknown filled our morning. Afternoon found us on the road heading north to meet up with the ID boys. The plan was to float some of the locals favorite water that is known to have monster browns that lurk its undercut banks. With three boats and 10 guys we had a mini cirrcus floating down the river. The fishing started out hot as browns and cutts slammed our PMDs in the riffles. Our luck was short lived as the hatch died off and the trout refocused to sub-surface. Searching for bigger fish found the group hucking meat and getting down deep with big nymphs. In all our 4 mile float (You mean 8 Chubbs) produced lots of nice trout and some great dry fly fishing with the now famous SOS fly. Day 1 was topped off with a kick off dinner at Craigos – All You Can Eat Pizza and Pasta. It was much needed. The group kicked it in Chubbs’s sweet shag carpet basement for the night.

Day 2. Was by far the toughest day of the trip. Half of the group tied up there hiking boots and tackled a be-otch of a hike down a 1000 ft canyon to a crystal clear stream full of native cutthroat. The group had a great morning fishing top water and were rewarded nicely by a handful of healthy cutthroats. The group almost died as they scrambled their way back up and out. Hoss, Hancey and I decided to try some of most technical fly fishing in the world. This section of river is known to have big picky fish. We were all excited for the challenge and hoped to just get at least one chance at a hook up. The morning was surreal as thick fog engulfed the stream making it impossible to see the water or any of its weary fish. The first catch of the day was a fly rod left by a sorry angler the night before. We met up with him and put the rod in its rightful place as well as hopefully gaining a little karma. The morning fishing started off slow as a few smaller fish keyed on the caddis that were sprinkling the water. As the cold morning air made way for the the afternoon heat the PMD hatch we had been waiting for got underway.  It started as a monster 20+ bow swam with in feet of the bank I was standing and sipped two PMDs. I woke right up, tried not to move as I stung up my rod and tied on a dun. The fished moved around the hole munching every pmd it could see as well as a few of its buddies. I finally calmed down enough to cast, spotted the fish and guessed on the line it was going to take. With the dun floating past the fishes head I thought crap, it not the right size or color. Then like a dream the fish doubled back and engulfed my dun. It all happened so fast that I waited to set the hook. (Which was a good thing) As the monster felt the steel, it instantly leaped out of the water and spit my hook, like an old tobacco spitting farmer. Wow! That was a rush. Now with shaky hands, I continue to spot and fish for these over-sized trout. After three more strikes outs. I turned the hole over to Hoss, but it was too late the wind had picked up and put down the bugs and the fish. As we stocked the banks we noticed more big rise forms in the distance. Hoss and I split up as we both had our sites on a target. Luckily after a 20 min stock threw the sage brush, my fish was still in the same spot and eating. I continued to crawl to the edge of the river got on my knees and made a perfect cast. Instantly the fish sipped in my emerger, hook set and the battle begun! It tried to rub me off on the moss, then run across the river, but I was on my A game since these fish had made a fool out of me already. Thinking that the fish had given up, I was getting ready to net the 20+ bow when it took off on a reel screaming run down river then leaping out of the water as it broke my line and heart. You Win, I though as I sat on the bank with a fly-less line. The rest of the afternoon, we blind casted with a couple explosions, but no hook-ups. After meeting up with the rest of the group, we decided to set up camp at Riverside and then try our luck on those over-sized bows. The evening fishing was slow as the fish waited until dark to feed. The group landed a handful of smaller fish, but the larger fish eluded us once again, just proving that they are indeed the worlds hardest fish to catch.  Looking back this was my favorite day of the trip. I felt the same feelings of excitement, stress, and sadness that I did as a kid trying to learn how to fish on the Provo. Its good to be a kid again.

Day 3. With the report of great fishing up north. We packed up camp and headed into Grizzly country. The word around the Slide Inn was that a local 14 yr old boy caught a 28 inch brown on a Salmon fly, just 4 days earlier. With that in mind we geared up and hit the river. The morning was full of nice bows and browns munching on the big salmon fly nymphs. Around noon Hancey, Hoss and I met up to set a game plan. Just as I said I was think of throwing on a big salmon fly, I looked up at Hoss and saw a giant salmon fly crawling up his shirt. Done! We all tied on big flies and started working the fast water. Within his first 10 casts Hoss hooked up with a beautiful 19 inch brown on the far bank. I shortly fallowed up with a 18 inch bow. It was pretty amazing to see as the hatch set fish, birds, and fishermen in a craze. We worked our way up the runs catching fish constantly on salmon flies until all the water had either been covered or beat to death by another fishermen. It was a great and exciting afternoon of fishing. The rest of the gang went to the old go to spot and had a great day on dries and nymphs. After a lunch break at the Bear Claw BBQ in West Yellowstone the group (I stayed and fished Salmon Flies) tied on their favorite caddis flies and waited out the the hatch. Hancey and I fished together hoping to hookup with some pigs at the lake inlet. The hatch didn’t disappoint, the fish were keyed on the emerging caddis. We had a fun night hooking up with lots of nice football bows. We even saw a Grizzly Bear, right Hancey?

Day 4. Started a lot like day three, with a few nice fish eating big rubberlegged stones. We decided to leave the inlet area and move up to a nice rifle that always holds lots of dry fly eating fish. But the wind was terrible and kept the bugs down in the main riffle. I managed to get a couple good eats on PMD emergers, but I really had to work for everything I got. On the other hand Hancey and Hoss had a great time working up the banks spotting and stocking shallow bows. As the morning bite came to a close. We packed up camp, said good bye to our loud hungover friends and headed southeast to the Victor cabin and some native cutthroats. We had a slight pit stop for some greasy burgers and shakes at at the Frost Top in Ashton than stopped by Premier Fly Fishing to get some local info. Lucky for us Scott was getting off and wanted to show us a river that he had been having great success on the past 3 nights. So we were off to float an awesome piece of mountain water that held a great population of PMD eating cutthroats. The float started off on the wrong foot with one  of Jakes pontoons not holding air. It was histarical to watch as he would run and then swim with his boat to try and catch up. After letting him get a good workout we finally decided it was enough fun and let him get in the boat before he passed out. The next problem was the mock 30 wind that plagued our trip and made it hard as heck to get down into the choice water. Once we got to the spot, the wind started to die and the fish started to rise all over the river. Hancey caught the fish of the float with a nice cutty that wrapped him around Jakes line and his pontoon. But being an All-American B-Ball Star Hancey jumped out of the boat and landed the fish. The real catch of the float was the jaw dropping sun set that filled the whole sky bright reddish orange. I didn’t matter who was fishing cause we all just hung out and enjoyed the masters creation. That was a great float and one I will be back to soon. Coming back to a nice soft bed and the first warm shower in 4 days was much needed.  

Day 5. With the plan set up to do a two day float and camp trip at 10 am. I was dead set on visiting my favorite pond earlier that morning. Since everyone else was enjoying there good nights sleep, I snuck away early and hit it. I was sure glad I did since the cutthroats are now 20-22 inches and were keyed in on the Damsel flies that were flying around. Since I didn’t have my Damsel dries with me I used some damsel emergers and just slayed it. I was hooking up with an over-sized cutty almost every cast for 2 hours. Its a pretty good deal since its right outside the cabin. After a fun morning full of over sized cutts, we packed up the boats and started our float. In the Lime we had Hancey, Mikey, Yetter and myself and in the Roe was Chubbs, Hoss and Joker.  Report was PMDs and Yellow Sallies all day in the riffles. So we stopped at the first riffle and nailed 4 Cutts in the 17-19″ range. Moving down we caught a few more in the riffles and then we stopped by a small side stream and a nice long riffle. The long riffle didn’t produce, but Hancey was knocking them dead on dries on the side stream, so we all took turns catching fish after fish on PMDs. After everything was done we had managed to catch over 25+ fish out of the same riffle. It was the best fishing I have ever seen on that river and one riffle with dry flies. Plus the fish were all big and fought hard. The rest of the day we spent catching up with the other boat, while nailing a fish here and there on big golden stones and sallies. After passing up all the places to camp, we pulled over just before dark at the boat ramp and called it a night. All I have to say about the day is that the is “The fish are in the riffles, baby!”

Day 6: After a polish dog hangover and a wet nights sleep under the stars. We woke up to another beautiful clear day. Hoss, Chubbs and Joker pounded the banks with streamers all day bringing out some larger fish and getting to the boat dock 3 hours before our meet time. The rest of us took our time again and waited for the hatch to bring the fish into the riffles. Just like clock work around 1pm the PMDs showed and brought 100s of fish to the surface. It was like no hatch that I have every seen. The fish were everywhere across a big flat. The frustrating thing was that the fish became very selective to the right size and color of PMDs. (And mostly only focused on emergers) Once we dialed that in we connected on several large cutts. My favorite thing to do was head hunt for the largest fish I could see. I picked out a biggy and after 4 missed opportunities as I chased it up the bank, it fell victim to a little emerger. It was a 20 inch cutty and the fish that I had wanted to land all trip. Not knowing exactly how far we still had to meet up with the other boat, we decided around 3pm that we better keep moving on. (Even thought the hatch was still unbelievable) The rest of the way we pounded the banks picking up fish consistently with big Golden’s and Sallies. It was an awesome float and a great way to end this years Frenzy. When the boats were out of the water and every thing was packed. It was a bitter sweet feeling. On one hand its nice to take a break from the constant madness of fishing every second of the day, but its that madness that we all live for and love so much. So, as we drove down the dirt road out of Byington, we all just sat back and dreamed about the memories we made and the stories we now will tell. All the “huge fish” that got away and the ones that didn’t, the places we should have gone and went, and the people that we met along the way. For the past week, we were fishing bums. Its time for a soak.

Another great product from Cincopa Send Large Files. Also will help with your nocturnal panic attacks.

So this years ice off came at the worst possible time. By the time the lakes started to unveil themselves I was already well under the grasp of religiously fishing some local BWO hatches. When Strawberry was just getting good, I drove right past it and to the Green River for the week, missing out on some of my favorite fishing of the year. But it wasn’t a complete bust this year. Jord and I were able to sneak away chase some big kitties as they patrolled the ice free shallows. The day started off slow as we got to the lake to find that the ice that was open the day before re-froze, leaving us sitting around from 7am to noon waiting on the ice to peel back. Since we had some free time we managed to clean up the garbage around the lake and Jord was able to catch a little cutty as it moved into the shallows of the spring. Once the ice softened up we fished hard for the few fish that were active enough to want to eat in the freezing water. Even though the catch rate wasn’t a typical ice-off experience, it was still nice to be there and have the chance. My favorite fish of the day was a big momma tiger that I spotted just feet from the shore, when I casted over her. I told Jord that she wouldn’t eat, but as my fly floated over her face she opened her mouth and sucked it in. I was so surprised that I didn’t even set the hook, giving her all kinds of time to spit it out. As luck was on my side the hook stuck and I found I had a tight line and a big grin.

So  this past May the weather had a great time toying with us, some days were warm other were as cold as February. With this in mind and a close watch on the weather, I decided to head out to the lake in hopes of a summer like day and a little wakeboarding action. The water was glass, but was still wetsuit weather. (Which we didn’t have)  After a couple of runs we were froze, and just hung out wishing it was the August and 85 degree water. Sometimes its not about the action, but about the experience.  I bought a wetsuit today.

First Trip:

Second Trip:

Third Trip

Rips beaten, but better half

On my very next cast I got a strike, but the fish seemed to fight differently than a normal trout. It wasn’t very fast and it would only try and dive.  As I got it to the shore, I saw the markings of a perch and thought how in the world did a perch get that streamer in it mouth? But as got a better look, I noticed it was a feisty little Walleye. WOW! That was a surprise. Its not everyday that you get the chance for a Walleye to bite a fly on a Walleye lake let alone on the Lower Provo River. I was pretty excited for the rest of the morning.  I landed a few other trout, but nothing could top the surprise of the day.

The trip started off early Friday morning, as Mallary and I made our way the over the Mtns, throught the desert and back up to the Green River. As we reached the summit of our journey we were greeted with a heavy snow storm that slowed our pace to walking speeds. After what seemed like days, we reached the Flaming Gorge Lodge. We met Jordan and Sarah found out where their new home would be on guide row and helped them quickly un pack, so we could get on the river. We finally loaded the boat at about 1 pm in hopes of hitting the BWOs just right. Things didn’t go exactly as planned with the BWOs, but the nice thing about the green is that if one thing isn’t working, something else usally does.  We found success site fishing for big bows as well as midge eating browns. The float was a huge success as everyone in the group caught multipal fish as well as Sarahs first fish on the green. One of the highlights of the float had to be the late day streamer action that we had in the lower sections of the A section. Black buggers were the go to fly and the fish were chasing them almost every cast. The day was topped off with a warm home cooked meal at the Lodge and then back to the trailer to recount the days experiences as well as refill our fly boxes. The next morning we awoke to blue skys and a crisp morning breeze. With a tip from a neibor we decided to try an out of the way desination that is said to have some nice fish. This little creek didn’t disappoint and was a great place to spend a morning. The rest of the day was set up to float the green again. The difference was this time we knew what to use and where to focas on. With the snow and wind giving us a break we had an awesome float. (You know those days you dream about) The highlight for me was that for the first time I was able to fish from my drift boat while floating the green. It was great change, even though I really do enjoy rowing.  As sun began to set I knew our time on this speacial river was about over, but the memories gained by all will hold us through until our next visit. Even thought I am not on a river, it is alway with me.  

 The Green River member outing was a huge success in both a good time and great fishing. In all we had 11 members of UFFC join us as well as a few that converted to the maddness while on the river. The weather wasn’t exactly perfect and I can’t recall if the sun ever came out, but those that came couldn’t care less about getting a tan. The wet overcast weekend was something we hoped for and it didn’t let us down. In all it was a great weekend filled with many memories and adventures shared by all that participated. So those of you that came thank you for the experiences and many life lesson learned. For those that couldn’t  make it, we hope that you can join us on our next member outing.

Over the past winter through spring and now into early summer, I have battled an addiction. That addiction was that I was spending countless hours working on and making changes to my motor boat and drift boat. (Known as my twin kids) I am a very hands on/active person so, hanging out in the garage doing little projects on my kids is something that is just as fun as actually using them.  But trust me, I will get them out now that they are starting to be where I want them. So here are a few of the improvements(I hope) I have made to the kids over the past few months.

Corna-(Drift Boat)

1. Raptor Lined the Inside Hull: The reason I decided to raptor line the inside of my boat was simple. I was sick of redoing it yearly, so I decided to choose something that was durable and can be easley cleaned by spraying it out. Plus it is waterproof and will help prolong the life of the boat.  To give it some more character(Like it needed it, with the lime green paint) I added black liner to the top sides and faded it into the white. Making it look tougher or something???

Before

After

2. Repainted the trailer: Having a nice boat, but a rusty trailer is not acceptable in my eyes. So I sanded it down, primed then spayed the whole thing with Rustolem Brand Truck Bed Liner Spray. Found it at Auto Zone for $8 buck a can. It seems to work a lot better then your typical spray paints. I have driven it to the Green a few times and it has held up great.

3. Repainted and varnished: Having a wood drift boat can be a lot of work if you make it. I decided to invest in nicer paint and varnish in hopes that it will last me longer than the cheaper stuff I have been using. It looks great and has been worth the extra cash so far.

Motor Boat

The motor boat has been a huge undertaking. I basically remodel the whole inside as well as added lots of cool little extras to make being out on the lake more enjoyable. 

1. Inside Seating/Upholstery: Out with the old and in with the new roomy wrap around seating.

Before

After

Added Bow Middle Cushion

Wrap Around Seating & Subs

Adjustable Swivel Captions Chair

2. Sound System: Whats better than chillin on a boat with your friends listing to good music? NOTHING. With this in mind I added a few more speakers(4) as well as a couple subs and tweets. 

3. Tower Lights and Speakers

4. Battery Switch: It allows me to change from battery 1, 2, both or off. This is great to charge both batteries at the same time as well as turning it off in-case you leave something on like the radio. Full batteries is the key.

5. Extended Swim Deck-Plywood coated in Raptor Truck Bed Liner

6. Repainted trailer: Same undertaking as the drift boat.

www.surveymonkey.com/s/greenriver