After a great start we had a nice consistent day of catching and missed hook-ups. One of the high lights of the trip was Dave’s monster bow he caught after fishing for it for over 30 mins. It was amazing to see him focus on this larger fish, until it finally fell to a #22 midge. Hooking it was only haft the battle. This fish fought hard! It tarpon leaped at least 5 times giving him a truly trophy of a fish. It was his largest trout ever and by the shaking of his hands, it won’t be one he forgets.

As we moved down river we started noticing heads poping all over the edges of the river and in slow back eddies. I’d been so excited about our large bows (Jeffs and Prestons hogs-too bad Preston) that I hadn’t even noticed the heavy midge hatch that was all around us.  There were hundreds of rise forms all over the river. It was a site to see  and frustrating at the same time, as the fish had so much food that it was hard to get our offering noticed.  Since we only had gone 2 miles and it was already 4:45pm we packed up and speed fished the remainder 5 miles before it got dark. The speed fishing was great with over-sized streamers and deep nymphs.

As we reached little hole the wind picked up while the temps dropped. We were frozen and couldn’t wait for a nice warm meal at the lodge. If you haven’t eaten at the the Flaming Gorge Lodge you need to. It is all part of the culture of the area, plus the food is tasty and there is plenty of it. The next morning we were graced with 50 mph winds and at least 12 inches of fresh snow. I wished I was on a snowboarding trip, but it was April and it was supposed to be nice fly fishing weather, but thats spring in Utah.

At breakfast we weighed our odds, but when Plan A fails its time to go to Plan B. This was to drive right at the storm and hopefully past it by the time we reached the Middle Provo.  Our plan worked and the fishing didn’t disappoint. We had semi blue sky’s with a little wind and 45 degree temps. Just perfect for another late spring midge hatch.

In all the whole trip was an adventure and hopefully one that will be embedded in the hearts of the two newbies and a father and son enjoying a special day together. But for me the odd man out, I had a trip of a life time. I had the opportunity to watch first hand as father and sons, friends and family enjoy time spent together. Because in life this is the way I imagened God meant it to be.

PS. Jeff, I still have your PONCHO in my truck…I’ll make sure you get that for our next trip

Picture Of The Week

Looking back at the Green River Canyon, Dr G. captures the magic of the Green River in black & white…and winning the picture of the week. Great Shot!