TIME TO GET TYING

These are some of the flies I've tied in the last couple days of tying. Most of them are small midge patterns for Lees Ferry. If you want to get together and tie, or if you would like to learn to tie, let me know. The winter time is a great time to stock up your fly boxes. I have a few extra vices and most of the tools, so if you want ill borrow you the goods to get started.

Whale of a time!!!

Finally, a successful fishing trip. This is one of the first overnight fishing trips with more than 2 persons in a long time. Tuesday night Ty, Kyle Lallis, and I headed to Cliff dwellers Lodge in Marble Canyon. We had a great dinner at the restaurant and talked with a few of the locals about the fishing. We then got our fishing gear ready in the room, and later I taught Ty and Kyle how to play poker.

That morning we got out of fly shop with our licenses and lunches around 7:15. We got on the water I imagine around 8. We drove the boat through the canyon slowly at first unaware of the underwater boulders or logs. We luckily didn't see any and a couple miles in got the idea of how to drive the boat like a pro.

We fished first at duck island. We had no luck, but saw fish rising in unreachable water by wading. In the winter and summer the dam releases more water in a given time due to the high demands, so in the morning the water was rising very quickly until about 11. Therefore, the fishing was best to drifting boats in deep currents. Being beginners with the boat in the river we were unsuccessful with the drifting. We did waste some time trying though.

At 11:30 we got to a little bank near the dam and ate our lunches. By now the water was down and the fish were coming to shallower waters again. My first 5 casts in the water here i had fish on and landed 2 very quickly. The fish were a healthy 15-16". I landed another in the same spot. Ty had a couple fish in the area too. Kyle had one on that got off. We posed for a couple quick pictures in front of the dam. Ty caught a picture of me just in time while landing a 16" in a deep run by our lunch spot. We were catching the fish on San-Juan worms, zebra midges and a special worm pattern i tied before the trip. We then headed down river and fished couple different gravel bars. Ty was very successful at one of the riffles and landed a couple more. I had a few bites, but didn't land any.

We tried drifting down and throwing dries and nymphs, but didn't have any luck. We got back to the boat dock just at dark. We had great time fishing and feel like we learned a lot of how to fish the river for future trips. LANDED Kyle Ballard=5, Ty Bringhurst=4, Kyle(ZBAMFZ)=0.

We hope to be going again near the week of Christmas. Possibly the Saturday before.

Random PIcs from Last Year

Skunked...... Mammoth, Asay/Bass Pond

Fishing trip with Kyle Lallis. No fish, didn't even see a fish. Cold line and eyelets froze.

Kyle & Kyle Blue Springs

Pictures coming

This trip was quite a let down compared to the week before. We woke up early and got in the lake. The lake had a thin layer of ice I broke through with my pontoon boat. I caught a few fish that day on dark zonkers, but not many. I can't remember how Kyle did. I know he had some fish chasing some spinners why he let his waders dry out from his float tube. Oh, he did land one on a spinner now i think about it. I invited Leo Fehrenbacker and he brought a buddy and a car full of kids. I told him the secret spot, and they caught fish pretty consistently. They took home a stringer of about 6 fish probably averaging 3lbs each.

Kolob/Blue Springs

Pictures Coming

I started fishing in my pontoon today at Kolob Reservoir around 7:30. There were only 3 other fishermen at the reservoir all of them were from Nevada. They were very talkative and helpful. We all talked about our day and shared patterns we were having luck with. I was fishing with olive and brown zonkers. I had landed a 4 there that morning, but missed a couple nice fish.

I decided around 12 to go to blue springs, so after eating my lunch i got on the water around 1. I didn't stop catching fish from the time my fin hit the water. I started fishing with an olive zonker and probably landed 12-14 fish. These weren't just any fish. They were all above 3lbs, and that's being very conservative. Every fish I caught was longer than 19, I had trouble releasing one of the first fish, and had to keep it. I thought it was going to be one of the smaller fish and that 19" was the smallest fish I caught all day. I measured every fish and the biggest was 21 1/2" and the rest were between 19" - 21 1/2".

Matt and showed up around 4 to fish for himself. He caught a few in about an hour and a half's time. I ended up fishing from 7:3o and got home around 7. It was a great day and had such a good time. Even though i was by myself i was laughing and having such a good time catching all those fish i couldn't keep it in. I listened to my ipod most of the day and noticed that i was much more patient and relaxed with my fishing. There aren't many days like this and i definitely wont forgot it.

Hatch with Ty

more coming

Asay with Matt

more coming

Green River Trip

What a trip.....more coming

New Law Helps Anglers...HOORAY!!!

Every fishermen or hiker should be happy to see this. Go to the link and read. Print off a copy and put it in your fishing vest and head out to that private place you've always wanted to fish. Make sure you access it on public land and stay in the stream bed.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data/ut/cases/supopin/conatser071808.pdf.

Asay Again

Today Matt and I took off early for a little fishing trip. I was getting my truck repaired, and he was out early for SEOP's. We decided to go to Asay. We left around 12 and got there around 2. We started fishing the mammoth river down where the big cottonwoods are right before the Asay flows into it. We had all right luck i caught a 10-11" right off the get go, on a bh prince nymph dropped behind a stimulator. We then drove back to where Ty and I fished the week before. We worked are way up the river heading south from the town of Hatch. Matt caught one as soon as we got there on a dry. I stared fishing up stream and had minor success' with dry's and nymphs. Caught a few smaller fish, and missed many on the dry. Matt and i started working are way up river and both catching and missing fish fairly often. On our way up river i caught another 10". It put up a great fight and on the strike nailed a black zebra midge as soon as it touched the water. While walking up the river I spooked a fish out of a pool into the open. It was at least a 17" brown. It was seriously huge. I couldn't believe that size of fish would be in these waters. We both kept getting hits and for the most part missing them, but still having fun. When we were just about done, we saw another huge fish swimming through the river. I couldn't believe the size of these fish. I'm excited to give the Asay another shot and possibly snag a couple of those big browns. The fish were bigger this trip, but not as constant. The weather was off and on. It was raining when we got there and quickly after the sun shone through and burned off the clouds. We also saw a coyote by the river and on the way home saw a gray fox in Zion.

Beaver Round 2

I decided to go to beaver a week after my last trip. This time alone. I went up around 2 and started fishing higher up the river than the last time. I pulled off the road that had a pull off with a pretty large area free of debris. I'm sure its a popular spot for fishermen, but decided to fish it anyways. I started of with a stimulator and got some hits and landed a few, but i wanted to practice my nymphing skills. I started with a flashback nymph probably a size 16. I got a lot of action off that. It was great fishing and caught a handful of fish. The fish were bigger this go around. I caught one around 10" nothing to amazing, but not fishing rivers and streams a lot i was excited. I fished for around 3 hours and then drove to cedar and went up the back way to kolob to stay with ty and april. I was so gitty due to the fishing i could barely talk without laughing. I found a new place that is so much fun and not to far of a drive.

Asay and a little Mammoth

Another day for the books. Ty and I decided to go again, so we decided to head toward Hatch, UT. We left today around 2 and got there around 4. Longer than I expected, we had to wait at the tunnel. We started fishing off the road that follows Asay Creek, before the Asay Mammoth confluence. We were having great luck, well Ty was. I caught a few, but Ty was unstoppable. He was catching them left and right. We fished dry's and nymphs. We moved around alot, but ended up at the culvert where mammoth flows into the Asay. Ty went through first and caught a very good sized rainbow, around 12-13"? It was a great fish. We caught alot of fish today, and had a great time. I think next time we'll have to fish sevier, who knows. It was a little scary driving home almost hit several deer, but made it home safely. I guess you never know who is going to be your next fishing partner. I never would have expected me and Ty to go fishing 2 in a week. It is good i hope he can keep going.

Beaver River

Today I heard from a customer of mine that beaver creek had some great fish and they were biting. So.. it being Friday i thought well i better check it out. I called Ty and he was down, so we took off around 2. We got there and fished right around Doyal Smiths lot by the river and caught some small little browns, and then i hooked onto a monster brown right by the bridge. I landed it and it was around 14-15," what i thought to be pretty big for the size of the stream. We both were catching fish off and on, all of them smaller, but still fun to catch on dries. We were using stimulaters, elk hair caddis', anything that floated well. We then went into the main canyon and fished behind and around the first water station, we didn't do to well, so we drove down river and fished in a different area and both caught fish there. Ty had a few really good hits, one that we think was a lunker, but who knows. After fishing we went to dinner with the Smiths at Marias. It was good food, but great fishing. It was good to go fishing again with Ty. It had been awhile, but we picked up right where we left off. It was great.

Trout with Poppers

Matt and I took a little fishing trip Tuesday morning to Blue Springs. We left around 6:30, which is something we haven't done in at least a couple years. I caught a fish right from the beginning and it was a 20." I didn't get anything for a bit, but the fish were rising pretty steadily. I changed over to dry flies and was fishing the reeds with a 16 parachute adams. I had a few fish rise at it and landed a couple. I was kicking in my pontoon and was letting my fly just drag along and I had a fish completely smash my fly. I decided if the fish weren't very picky of the fly or presentation i would get creative. I tied on a huge stimulator and started pulling it through the water like it was a bass popper and before i could say largemouth bass I had a trout come out of the water with the hardest hit I have ever encountered with a trout. I kept stripping my fly as fast and hard as I could and the fish kept crashing harder and harder at my flies. I had a fish come sideways out of the water and rip my fly off without even a fight. After that i tied on a bass popper and had the same luck. I kept this up for awhile it was the most fun i have ever had with my fly rod. I then decided to check out the mossiest shallow part of the lake and saw the fish there rising as well. I threw a lot of different flies at these rising trout and finally got the right one. It was a damsel nymph and the fish went absolutely crazy. While this was happening Matt was slaying the trout out in the deep with woolly buggers. We quit fishing around noon and both had landed probably 4 or 5, but we both had lots of action and lots of hits. It was a great day at Blue Springs. Oh before i forget the trout were hitting so hard because the damsel flies were mating and would link together and hit into the water, so the trout were trying to hit the damsels as hard as they could. It was great.

Work, Work, Work,

Today was quite a crazy fishing trip. It started off great, It was Matt, Kyle(XBAMFX), and myself. I invited Lyf Erickson and his family, and also one of my customers Wade Milne. He was going to bring up his boys and go shoot rock chucks. We got up around 4 and all had some action, but not a lot. Kyle got a couple, I don't remember what Matt did, I got one that was a 19," that was quite a fight, and quite heavy. Lyf and Bryn were spinner fishing around the spring side of the lake. They weren't having any luck though. Wade showed up, so I kicked back to shore to tell him where to go, but he was all alone and hinted that he wanted me to show him where to go, so I did. By this time it was about 7:30, so I had some good time in the water already, so i figured what the hell. I hadn't got to spend anytime with Wade outside his shop, so i figured it would be a good opportunity. I showed him some places and he shot some rock chucks. We got to talk and get to know each other a little better which was great. He seemed like he really enjoyed it as well. Lyf caught up with us and Bryn got to watch Wade shoot a couple rock chucks. She seemed to enjoy it, its a darn shame. We had walked around until about dusk, so i got back in the water in time to get another hit, but missed another one. I had about 3 hits landed one. It has been very slow fishing lately, but when you get one its always a special treat. They are harder fighting and a lot bigger than the last few years, but not the volume, catch 22. On the way home we sure had a good time listening to Kyle tell us about WOW, what a game. Even though I had to do what i hate the most, watching people shoot live animals with guns, it turned out to be an all right trip.

Think we would have known

Kyle Lallis and myself took off for Blue springs around 3:30. We got up there and started fishing on what seemed to be a perfect day. There was a nice breeze on the water and the air was cooler than Hurricane by around 25 degrees. We both started fishing woolly bugger down deep. We both weren't catching anything for sometime, then Kyle got a couple fish. We both fished long and hard, I was changing flies like a fat women trying on pants that make her look skinny. Ha ha. It was very slow, Kyle and I started talking about why it might be slow, and we realized that it was a fool moon night and the moon has been out and bright for many nights now. We both started fishing are way back and both caught a fish. I got a few more bites and ended up landing one fish, and Kyle got 3. It was Kyle's first time in a float tube with a fly rod, but not his first by any means with a fly rod. (I'm sure you got a kick out of that Steve.) It was also Kyle's first time at Blue Springs. I think he enjoyed the scenery it looks a lot better than most bass ponds. I've said it once, I've said it a 100 times, "trout do not live in ugly places". We talked about going up to Blue Springs again this weekend, and also about a trip to corn creek, and the Santa Clara river.

Sevier River June 14 2008

I went up to Circleville with Emily's family to see her Dad for Fathers day, so I slipped out when no one was looking and went fishing. I started fishing around 4 at one of the first spots in the river up Kingston canyon that had a blue ribbon fishery access area. Most of the river up Kingston canyon is private, so these signs are helpful. The river is still high and murky. I not knowing how to fish the sevier real well started fishing up stream with woolly bugger. It was so fast that I started fishing downstream and stripping upriver. I actually caught a fish with this method fairly quickly. Not sure if luck or pure genius. It was around 13," but put up a great fight. I walked up the river trying to get to know the area better and look for pools or slower water with fish I could sight fish. I fished until the light in the canyon disappeared and started to get dark. I only got the one fish, but came away ready to read up on techniques used to fish this river.

Flannelmouth Sucker

Today Matt and I headed up to the Virgin to try again. We started off by going up the narrows path to find out the water was still to murky, so we headed back down to the big bend lookout spot. I started off fishing with sinking line and a woolly bugger. Matt started off fishing with floating line and a woolly bugger. We fished for a fair amount of time and I finally got something on. This was it, I have finally caught a huge trout of the Virgin in the Main Canyon. Oh Contrary my friends it was not a trout. When I saw this thing I walked to the shore line and dragged it in to take a closer look. It was about 16" and yellowish in color. It had the nastiest mouth I have ever seen in all my day of fishing. I cut the line and wasn't going to touch it, but decided to quit being such a pussy and picked it up and examined it a little closer. It was uglier than I could have imagined. We didn't' have a camera, but I found some pictures of this sucker fish. Although ugly, it sure did put up a good fight. That was all we caught and headed home with our heads hung a little higher.

Another Windy One

Emily and I went to Kolob to stay with my Mom's entertainment, so I invited Tim Herrera to come up for a quick trip. I met Tim and his brother at the lake around 7pm. The winds were in the 20mph constantly they're might have been gusts in the 30's. It was miserable weather, but I didn't want Tim to drive up for nothing. We fished for a couple hours. I caught one out in my tube on a pheasant tail. It was terribly windy and I could barely move around in the water. Tim and his brother were throwing spinners from the shore. They didn't get anything, but with the weather we weren't expecting much. We did talk about planning a Boulder Mountain trip, so that excited me. I will be fishing up in Circleville this weekend at Paiute and the Sevier river.

Not even a wound finned minnow!

June 2 2008 Zion - Virgin River
I have grown up around the Virgin my whole life and you don't often think of the Virgin simultaneously with trout, but there are, we just need to find them. My Dad grew up fishing below the bridge in Zion with his Grandfather. The trout were stocked then and they caught them on worms, but regardless thats trout in the Virgin. I have walked up the narrows walk path several times and have seen large trout in the river on a few different occasions. I have also heard about big trout being taken, I have just never tried. I decided today was the day. I took off up the canyon around 3. I took my backpack and rode the shuttle up the narrows stop and walked up the path watching the river very closely. It was quite murky, but some areas with visibility. I walked to where I have seen the trout before, and came up with no visible fish, so I headed back down. I rode the shuttle back the weeping rock stop and took off up the river from there. This was my backdrop, it was something else. I started up river and finally saw some life. They were small fish, but looked like trout. They were mostly around 6", but saw one that was maybe 8" in the same pool. That gave me hope, so I got the rod ready and started off with a stimulator pattern, because there were grasshoppers all over. However, no bites. I was shocked. I took off to find more pools. I kept seeing small fish on my way up river. I then walked up a pool and saw a fish that had to be at least 16." I had no luck, but was given great hope. On my way back I watched some fish in a pool from above and couldn't tell if they were trout or chubs. I need to do some research. I will try again in a week or so when the water is more clear.

It's Heating Up...

May 30-Steve and I got to Blue Springs fishing around 2. We started off pretty slow catching a couple. It was great weather probably around 70-75' and the water was up to 64'. We kept fishing through the afternoon, and I'm glad we did. It heated up quick, the fishing that is. Every time Steve hooked on I hooked on to a fish. It was awesome I think we had 3 double headers. Steve was having a blast, and I was too. I think we both ended up with 5 or 6. I can say that I have never had fish fight the way these fish are fighting this year. We would have caught more fish that night, but we were too busy fighting the fish we had. I think every fish took about 10-15 minutes to get released. All the fish varied from 17"-20," but all weighed a great deal. I caught one 20" that probably weighed 4-5lbs. We fished until around 8, Steve kept one trout to cook.

May 31-We took the girls down to the bottom of Lava Point to go hike West Rim Trail. Then the we (Brian, Steve, Me) got to fishing. Steve got Brian set up on shore bait fishing, and then came out on his tube. I caught a quick 3 on the spring side of the lake. I then went back to see if I could get Brian some fish. The fish weren't biting like the night before, but we gave it a shot. Brian was fishing bait of the bottom with weights. While he did that I was taking advantage of the fish swarming the shallows by the boat dock. I was catching frisky trout on dry flies off and on. I ended up taking a nap in the back of Steve's truck for about and hour. We then went back to the cabin for lunch after a pretty unproductive day for the Bacciocco's. We had a quick sandwich and were back at it. I snagged a couple of my Grandma's bubbles out of her fishing box, and showed them how I used to set up for bait fishing. Within 3o seconds, no joke, he had a fish. Steve was quick to follow. They ended up catching 4-5, and keeping a couple for my Grandma. I kept fishing from the shore catching fish on dries, I didn't count, but it was quite constant for sometime. It was windy to begin the day, but to end was quite nice, we fished from 9 -2. Again the fish are fighting uncontrollably. Its great.

Collins Yearly Ass Kickin

May 23-Well Collin did it again. He came down without fishing since our last years fishing trip, and showed me how it was done. We started the day off the day by riding the mountain biking trail JEM trail. It was great, besides having to walk half of the trail due to a flat tire. We then headed up to Blue Springs for the night. We woke up and fished that morning. We froze, I don't think it was above 40' the entire day. The water was 52-54'. Collin caught 7 hence the picture, and I believe I caught 1 maybe 2.
May 25- We decided to go up again the next night after we all went and hiked the eagle crags in Rockville. We fished the morning, cold again. I think Collin got 4-5, and i had 2-3. Water was still cold. The entire weekend was cold, rainy and snowy. Although, terrible weather we sure had a good time. We usually fish together and shoot the breeze the majority of our time. I fished again alone that night and caught a couple but still slower than normal. This year with increased snow pack and irregularly cool season the fishing has been slow starting, but read on it gets better.

Spawn is on......

Today I was suffering from extreme allergies from the wonderful valley that I live in, so I headed to Kolob for a couple of hours of relief. I got to kolob Reservoir around 3pm. It was around 75 degrees and a slight breeze, PERFECT, I thought. By the time I was cutting the excess line of the fly the wind started blowing violently. It didn’t stop for the two hours I was there.

There was a cool middle aged guy fishing in the same area I was and we talked briefly about the fishing and weather. He was getting bites on random things nothing specific. I started with a #14 bh prince nymph trailed by a small yellow egg pattern with a small weight in the middle. I got a couple fish right of the get go. The one fish was a really dark spawning male probably 17”, but probably weighed a good 3lbs.

The trout were in full spawn they were cruising the shore and chasing each other. When the fish are in full spawn like this, they are not as prone to eat out of hunger, but spite. The man I talked to earlier passed me by on my out and showed me that a fish had broken his Sage rod. We talked about what was going on and both hoped to be able to be back up when the fish are really feeding. I give it another 5-7 days before it gets really good. Who knows with the weather fluctuating like it is.

Steve's Deflowering

Today was Steve's first time fishing the right way. He was introduced to fly fishing still waters. It was 52-57 degrees with off and on winds of 15-20mph. We started fishing around 1 and stopped around 5. It wasn't the most ideal situation for Steve's first time on the water. He did hook onto a couple, but unfortunately he did not land them; however, he did catch one from the shore with a rooster tail. I had 4 or 5 bites, but only landed 1. It was probably 17"-18" with a slender body, but gave up a great fight. The spillway was running very strong, but had no fish I could see. I think the water is still cold enough that the fish are not quite feeding. I hope this weekend warms up and the fish will get more active with the heat.

ICE is OFF

It is official, the ice is off at blue springs. My uncle told me today that is all the way off, and ready for me to start throwing my line. Saturday i will be going to fish in the afternoon until dark, but might go Friday. Anyone willing, let me know. Tight Lines

SCHOOLS OUT!!!!

I have one final left on Tuesday, but after that its fishing season my babies. Kolob is now accessible by vehicles, so anybody ready to get out there and catch some fish let me know.

Bass Pond Hurricane Fields April 18, 2008

April 18, 2008 Apple Fields Pond.

Kyle Lallis and I have been talking about fishing together since high school it seems like, but this week we finally went. I only had a couple hours on Friday, so Kyle told me about a little pond in the fields that you wouldn't believe had bass. We started fishing around 5p.m. it was a little breezy and probably around 76-78 degrees, Lallis thought the water was around 50 degrees.

When we arrived to the pond I couldn't believe that the pond we were parked at had fish. Myself being very persistent with only using my fly rod, I thought I might have some challenges. Lallis being a master bass fishermen started catching fish right of the get go. I had what I though were a few bites, and Lallis gave me some tips on the way bass take bait. After that I started to feel the subtle takes, and started catching fish. We fished for a couple hours, I caught 5, and Lallis probably had 10, but he had 2 that were at least 3lb's. I couldn't believe there were that big of fish in this little muddy pond.

Lallis and I got to now each other a bit, and have had some of the same experiences in life through fishing. We both are always looking for someone to fish with, and many times we fish alone. Hopefully this summer we can catch some trout together, but a few bass wouldn't be so bad as long as there on my fly rod.

Mammoth Creek April 4, 2008

Ole Magneto and I took a little sick day Friday and did a little fishing. We went up 89 searching for some good clear water that had fish. We ended up doing a little driving around looking for the best water. We ended up fishing the lower half of mammoth creek. We spotted a fish on first arrival, so we knew there were fish. We both fished different styles of the streams. Matt fished the slow winding stream in the fields, and i fished the narrow faster part of the stream. We both had no luck, but i stalked a couple of probably 17-18" nice browns. I had no luck; although i threw everything at them i could think of. We stopped and had an excellent burger in Hatch, and called it a day. I think we both got a better understanding of the area, and will be fishing it much more this upcoming season. I think i am going to try to fish Miners ville this weekend. I hear it is really hot right now.

Get it while its hot...

I am going to be making a fishing order through a wholesale distributor i have through work. Let me know if you need anything: flies, pontoon boats, line, etc. Its a good deal let me know.

Lost Virginity

This was Matt's first trip fly fishing, and the first trip to the glorious Blue Springs. I think he caught about 22 fish in 2 days back to back. He was sold on the idea of fly fishing, but he met a lady that is now his wife. I do not need to say more. Maybe he will choose to pick up the rod again this upcoming season. He was a natural.

Fishing Blues

I think I can speak for all fishermen when i say that I've got the fishing blues. It is that time of the year when we pull out the fly-tying gear if we haven't already. Its that time of the year we starting planning our fishing trips, and forget about all of the things that our girlfriends or wife's will be wanting to do. It's the time of the year when all of the true trout fishermen even start thinking about throwing a plug or jig at a bass. If anyone's got a good idea about puttin a fish on the end of a line give me a shout.