Toponce Creek July 22, 2008

I guess Tyler was hot!The creek is really looking in good shape. The big hole
DT's first Cutt on a fly rod

Took Tyler and DT fishin' on Toponce creek. We had a ball until the sun went down. Then the fish went down too. Drove by the Portneuf and it is running high but pretty clear. There should be fish feeding. We had a great time tonight, the only casualty was Tyler's new Cars watch that he bought with his own money today. He forgot to take it off before falling in the creek.

Oregon Pictures

July 21, 2008

I haven't fished much this summer at all and I am about to go crazy. On the 5th of July I took my brother Todd and Les to Toponce creek and we just had a ball. We hiked up the south fork above the beaver ponds where we got into loads of cutthroat. We then fished the main stem for a few hours the fishing was pretty spectacular. Les didn't even hook himself in the nose this year, but that was the joke of the day. On the 4th Todd and I fished Blacksmith fork and I have to say that was one of the worst experiences of my life. Besides only catching 4 fish I think that every person in Utah owns 4 ATV's and they were all in Blacksmith fork canyon. Note to self avoid anywhere that people know about on holidays. Other than that, I was at scout camp this past week near Palisades dam and took off for a few hours to fish Bear Creek on the west side of Palisades reservior. I caught a mess of fish, most in the 6-10 inch range but there are some hogs in there. I had one surprise me in a muddy looking slow channel that was about 18 in. One of the most beautiful cutts I have ever seen. I hope this week to be back on the river and after more fish. It's dry fly season and everything is looking up. Head to the small creeks for a great time and you might even get surprised in the process.

June 28, 2008

Finally it is great to be home and check up on some of my local favorites. The water all over the west is running high, and I have seen alot of it in the last three weeks travelling through Oregon, Washington and Idaho. I found a little creek that feeds the Moyie River near Bonners Ferry that I had never fished before and my two brothers and I had a wonderful time catching little native westslope cutthroat. It was particularly special to me because most of the streams that far north have become so overrun with brook trout that it is a special occasion to find a creek with almost nothing but cutts. I went out to check on the Portneuf and Toponce creek last night. The Portneuf was high and muddy, when farmers want water they get water. Toponce Creek was high but actually fished pretty well. I talked with another fly angler that was doing well on a wooly bugger. I had a hard time passing up the rising fish so I threw a parachute adams which always seems to be the go to on this creek. I expect the water to be very clear maybe even within a week or so and for appetites to be voracious. Sometimes mother nature surprises us with water and we have to wait until that magical day when the runoff has finally finished. Thanks for the good winter. I think that I might have to push south of the border for a few days in the coming weeks and test out some of the water in the Logan area.

June 7, 2008

The Deschutes river in Central Oregon is a beautiful, powerful river that runs through a deep canyon in the area below the town of Maupin. The river also holds one of the most powerful trout that I have had the privelege to hook up with. The fish were few and far between, I only hooked maybe a dozen or so all day but wow! when you hook up you hook up. These redside trout are some of the toughest hombres around. I was lucky enough to be able to go with John, and Nate who fish the Deschutes often and they were great. The salmonflies and big golden stones were moving into the shallows by afternoon but the fish were still not keyed in on them. I had such a wonderful time, pictures are coming soon of our trip. Thanks, guys for letting me come along. I wonder what the rivers at home are doing. I will not be back til the end of the month but can't wait to get to the Blackfoot for the opener.

Vacationing at the beach,
Coach

May 28, 2008

I have been around and checked a few places out but have not spent much time anywhere. Last week I spent about an hour at 24 Mile reservoir and had no trouble finding fish. I was having trouble hooking up however. I was getting consistent strikes fishing a little caddis emerger. I was fishing without an indicator and strikes were really hard to detect. There was a lot of "swirling" going on from 7:00 on. I also drove up to Toponce Creek the other day and the gate was still closed. I talked to one guy who said that they were supposed to open the gate yesterday but I have not been back to check it out because the water was raging. Pebble Creek road was open but the creek was blown out by runoff. I did fish the Portneuf below the Pebble Creek bridge yesterday about 11:00. There were a few mayflies coming off but not enough to get the fish looking up. I picked up a few chunky rainbows but only had about half an hour so I didn't get a real good idea of what's going on.

May 10, 2008

Portneuf at Pebble Bridge

I got to go to one of my favorite local creeks this last weekend. Tobee and I went to Birch Creek and fished it a few miles north of Lone Pine. We had a great time throwing small dries to brookies and rainbows. I fished backwards, trying to find a pattern that wouldn't work and after many attempts on only didn't catch fish on a yellow sally. We fished for about 5 hours and landed over 150 fish. Somebody out there tell me if I'm wrong but there were redds all over the upper reaches of the creek. Must have been spawning rainbows, even though I thought all the rainbows in the creek were triploid fish. Good reports from 24 mile and Chesterfield from boats trolling hardware, bank fishermen and float tubers. No motors on 24 Mile. Streamers, chironomids and nymphs fished under indicators have all been producing. I personally can't wait for the opener on the Portneuf. There has been more water this year than last and we should see pretty consistant flows and the water is getting clearer everyday. Toponce and Pebble should even be ready for the opener with the cold temperatures keeping the runoff pretty moderate.



Good Luck,

Coach