Lower Fish Creek (Price) 06/27/08

[Suker_4_Fish]

Take this report with a grain of salt, given that I'm a novice in fly fishing. [blush] So we headed up to Scofield and fished night and morning. There were three of us. We were fishing about 2 miles down from the dam.

During the evening, one guy in our group caught 4 browns (12-15") all on a royal coachman. The other guy caught a 17"er on a small PMD just as the last rays of light allowed fishing. All released. I'll post a pic of the 17"er later. I went without a decent bite all night, but then again, I'm not used to fly-fishing rivers with multiple currents yet, so I had lots of drag. Some other guys on the river claimed "limited success" using hare's ears and caddis emergers.

Next morning we were on the river by 6:30, also 2 miles down from the dam. Guy #2 caught an 8"er in heavy rapis behind a rock. I went down further and fished a pool for a half hour. Casting was great, but nothing was taking my royal wulff. Just as I was about to give up and move on, a small school of whitefish moved in at my feet. I dropped a small bead head hare's ear about 1.5 feet below the wulff, and placed it just up current from them. It would drop down in front of their noses, and they'd nip at it. It wasn't dropping quickly enough, so I added a #16 bead head pheasant tail 2 feet below that. It dropped much more quickly (yeah, I know... three flies. I hear that's "hardcore"). Over the next 20 minutes, I had about 10 bites, but I only landed 4 whities. [cool] Twice, a big brown would move in (about 20") and scare them away for a minute, but I couldn't get him to take anything I had in the water. I can't believe how much fun it is to see the fish, drop a nymph right if front of his nose, watch him take it, then hook and land him. None of the whities were that big (12"), but it was such a blast. All were released. Meanwhile, guy #1 caught an 18" brown on another attractor pattern dry fly, though I don't remember which one, and he took his catch home.

We noticed about 10 whitefish baking in the sun on the train bridge on the way back. Why would someone do that? [:/] Aren't the whitefish native to the river (the only native thing left in there other than sculpin)? Did he/she think they were carp or chub or something and want to help by killing them?

All in all, a fantastic trip. Fishing could have been better, but as I improve the fishing should improve also. []

-Brian
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[MI_Steelheader]

It sounds like you had a great time up there. That is one of my favorite places to sight fish. If you are having trouble with drag, I would recommend shortening up your cast. I have had day's on that river where I never had more than 15 feet of fly line out the end of my rod (often much less). It requires a bit stealthier approach, but tends to fix the problems with drag.

How were the flows up there? Was the water fairly clear or did it have some color? I'm planning to head there next week if I can make it. Thanks for the report.
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[Suker_4_Fish]

Yeah, getting really close and casting short distances was how I finally started catching the whitefish. I just need more practice. The water was crystal clear: no color that I noticed. I don't know if it was higher or lower than usual, given that this was my first trip there. It was much safer to wade across than the Provo right now. I know that. []
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[NHAST]

In regards to the left whitefish... I know a couple of people that treat them like carp. They think that they are trash fish and there are too many of them. The only think the like to catcfh is the holy trout.
Yes, they are native. I think they fight well and are still fun to catch. Whitefish is better than no fish.
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[HopperLover]

I was just wondering - did you walk down from the parking lot just below the dam? If so, was the rancher there? I fished it last year, and the guy who owns the property a few hundred feet below the bridge down from the dam was there, and he was not nice - although he did let me pass through to fish on his property, which was nice. But he complained about it. Anyway, just curious.
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[Suker_4_Fish]

Yeah, we parked below the dam and hiked down the path, then continued on the train tracks the rest of the way. As there were a few other people both at night and in the morning, I assume that's how most people get down there. I don't know how else to access that part of the stream.

About the little corral there, we saw it, but no one was there with it. My buddy who took us said he met the rancher last time he went, and he was pretty nice at the time. At times I think the guys should chill when people are passing through to fish, but then again, I'm careful to leave no evidence I was ever there. If I owned land and people trashed it often, I would probably have a pretty bad attitude about people trespassing.

But man, what a pretty area!
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[HopperLover]

I also forgot to ask you if there were cattle there. When the rancher was there last year, he had his cows everywhere. There were so many that I had to make detours to avoid them - you know, when some nasty mean-looking huge bull with big horns stares you down it is best to get out of his way. Were there lots of cows around when you went?
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[Suker_4_Fish]

Nope. No cows. Lots of cow pies, however. My friend said last time he was there, the cows were grazing everywhere. Yeah, I guess a large bull would not be too intimidated by a fly rod or two.
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[katghoti]

Great report. Many times I have had a bad day fishing saved by whitefish. People who treat them like trash are breaking the law. These are not trash fish, they are in fact a distant cousin to the trout and one of the few natives left. You can gage the health of a stream by the whitefish populations.

One last thing, it is illegal to fish with three flies in utah. Only two hooks may be used. It is not hard-core, it is illegal. My cousin was busted by DWR for fishing three flies. Stiff penalty.

katghoti
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[Suker_4_Fish]

I did not know that. I just looked in the proclamation and found where it says that. Won't happen again.
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[MI_Steelheader]

The last time I fished Lower Fish Creek, we did not see cows or ranchers, but did have a very close encounter with a mother black bear and her cub. Keep a close eye out when you are down there. I have spoken with others that have had similar encounters there.
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[SBW]

I have encountered just about everything on that creek from bears to cougars and even an beaver that would swim almost under your feet, come up and slap its tail at you when you were least expecting it.
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