On the drive up to the Green from Montrose, we enjoyed seeing some new scenery but seriously wondered what was going on with the roads in Utah. Driving along seemingly any road in the northeast part of the state is like riding a roller coaster. Up and down we went with plenty of big bumps to keep us entertained. They would normally sneak up on me as the driver and my car would bounce hard leaving us both wincing. Every time it happened I was amazed that the car did not just rattle apart. My theory on the roads is that the composition of the underlying soil causes the highways to buckle. There is not a good solid bedrock anywhere near the surface, only the soft soils of the high desert.
Finally we made it to Vernal where we were going to stock up on groceries and hopefully buy our fishing licenses. Because we still had a bit of a drive to get to the Green, we weren't real hopeful about finding a fly shop in town. Our luck held though and we discovered the Big Foot Fly Shop. I can't say enough good things about this little shop. The people running it are very friendly and full of advice. If you are in the area you should definitely check it out. They were having a huge store-wide sale on just about everything and we were able to get some killer deals. We finally got out but not before spending way too much money...it is hard to pass up a good deal!
After renewing our supply of food, we hit the road again heading up highway 191 towards Flaming Gorge Dam. This highway is the same that runs through West Yellowstone and I started dreaming a bit about the possibilities on the way north. When we finally got near the reservoir, we went through our normal routine of looking for a campsite. Several campgrounds later we finally had one we liked with hot showers just down the road. We set up camp and then went straight to the showers. What an experience! I'll tell you more about them later but they were definitely worth it...
The next day we finally got on the Green for the first time ever. Neither my buddy Trevor or me had ever been there and we were as excited as can be. The night before we decided on fishing at Little Hole down into what is known as the "B" Section. Supposedly there might be some bigger fish available. I had tied up some hoppers and cicadas just for this river and was looking forward to using them. A hopper/dropper combo seemed like a good idea and I tied on one of my Ultra Wire softhackles below the hopper.
We walked downstream a little ways but finally could not wait any longer and got in the river. We slowly started fishing downstream towards a good looking riffle that glided into a deeper pool. Normally I'll ignore the really shallow riffle water and start fishing it where it looks deep enough to protect the fish. This is NOT necessarily a good idea so I made a token cast to the top of the riffle in some really skinny water. Something big blew up on my fly and I stopped and started carefully probing the water. Whatever it was would not bite again so I resumed my slow movement downstream into the heart of the riffle. Again I saw something come up but this time the fish refused. I decided that this fish would eat if I gave it a good presentation so I started working the fish. Many drifts later it finally came up and ate the hopper without any hesitation.
The fight was a bit tense because I didn't want to lose that first Green River trout. Finally I brought to hand a beautiful brown trout. Definitely not a big monster but a nice solid fish. The next few days were definitely looking good...
Hey David. They say you can't have too much fun, but I think you're pushing the envelope. Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteShoreman