2017 Recap

[LOAH]

2017 has come and gone, leaving me to reflect on its highlights. A full "Year In Review" has been posted on Utah Water Log with a ton of images, but I thought I'd share some of the notable highlights from the year.

The ice season from '16-17 was pretty awful and my buddy and I ended up salvaging a few lake trips on moving water. It's always disappointing to have a slow or skunky day on the hard deck, but when you can still fill your hand with nice river browns, it helps lift one's spirits.



By February, I was sick of watching ice holes and needed some action. Aaron and I took our first trip to Blue Lake and it was really cool to have my first float of the year, catching largemouth in a hoodie.



Another day on open water worked out for Aaron at Minersville Reservoir:



March held some nice days and a sunny afternoon was spent on Dry Creek, where I'm always happy to visit.



A family camping trip to Goblin Valley and the surrounding area was a nice break from the cold.





It wasn't long before I was able to float some mid elevation lakes and the first brookies of the year were more than welcome.



Some other mid elevation southern lakes were visited soon after and the results were pretty nice:







We had planned to explore a lot of new places in '17 and some of those plans actually panned out!



During runoff, I was lucky to catch anything at all on a local trip to a small murky pond that nobody fishes.



A 22" cutthroat was warmly accepted. I couldn't even catch anything from a nearby stream that day.

Another trip to the south provided slow fishing for some stout brookies, but not quite the size I was hoping for.



Slow fishing continued to prevail, but a solid tiger trout at Currant Creek Reservoir was worth the wait.



One of my preferred waters was visited and gave up some quality fish:



Another trip south was made and I was able to fish with my cousin from Phoenix and Holdsworth as well. We took a 2 mile hike on a hunch of mine that ended up being a small shallow pond full of small brookies.

Our only consolation was to try for some mid-sized brookies at the closest water to salvage the trip.



"The Aarons" had already had their fun though, having camped at a good tiger trout lake. Holdsworth did especially well with this one, weighing almost 8lbs:



Monster!

As more high country opened up, we were happy to make our rounds and pull in some good fish.





A family camp out to Pete's Hole went well and I ended up with a surprisingly nice tiger trout from Academy Mill Reservoir.



My only grayling of 2017 came from a trip to the Boulder Top, where the sunset was the highlight of that trip.





Another exploration trip introduced me to the worst road I've ever met and a lot of mosquitoes. Some decent fish were caught though.











Some chubby tiger trout came to play at a fun lake I visit a couple of times a year, at least.



A long drive into the Uintas led us to a beautiful place in hopes of finding some big grayling, but unfortunately, we didn't find any life in the target lake.



The next week, we set off on a similar mission for big grayling at Cirque Lake in the Whiterocks drainage.

Cirque Falls:



Cirque Lake:



Evil hailstorm that chased us out prematurely:





We didn't catch any fish from Cirque Lake, nor did we see any signs of life.

Another new water treated us a bit better, giving up some good sized tiger trout on a mountain we'd never visited.





Then we had another family/friend camping trip to a group of mid elevation lakes and Aaron did really well. Most of us caught fish and had a good time, but Aaron stole the show.





Aaron and I floated one of our favorites and did okay for some cutts and brookies. Nothing too big, but one really pretty cutthroat gave me a freak net shot that I'm glad I was ready for.



I fell in love with how that one turned out. A talented artist friend named Travis Sylvester selected it for a reproduction in colored pencil and he's been working on that for awhile. I can't wait to see the magic he works with it, once he finishes. His trout art is top shelf. Visit www.travzart.com for more of his stuff.

After that, we enjoyed one of the better fishing trips either of us have had. We each caught quite a few fish between 3-4lbs and at least three fish over the 5lb mark, not to mention Aaron, who caught the prettiest tiger trout I've ever seen.







And the gorgeous monster:



After that, it was time for some early ice. Walking on it was pretty sketchy, but it held. The fact that we were able to even access the place was miraculous enough, let alone staying dry.



Only 1 fish all day was willing to bite, but it was a pretty good one.



Then we had another ice trip, where we both caught fish, but Aaron got the pretty one.





By the time my birthday rolled around (Dec. 23), I was hopeful to get right back up there for my own beauty brook, but the road conditions had changed dramatically in that week's time.

We turned around and had to improvise a plan B. Nothing else was "close", but we ended up at Koosharem Reservoir, where in 10+ years of periodic visits, I had never caught a single fish.

That's right, never so much as a bite. My first time there, I caught a darn clam on a Blue Fox but no fish.

The fishing gods must have had some sympathy for the birthday boy because I had a healthy rainbow within 5 minutes of my first drop!



I ended up with 4 on the day and so did Aaron.


We only fished once more for the year and that was at Electric Lake, where neither of us had ever ice fished. The ice wasn't in the best shape, but suitable in most spots.

It was dreadfully slow though and I only caught 2 fish all day.

So 2017 was a fun one and I had a great time watching my buddy Aaron catch all the best fish, haha. But really, congrats to him on his conquests and I can't think of a better guy to go fishing with.

Here's to a productive 2018!



Happy Fishing, Humans.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Man you're my hero, love your posts and top notch fish porn for sure... You really nail some beauties over the year.... Fun to see great fish and beautiful country... Thanks J
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[lovetofish]

Looks like 2017 was a good year for you and your friend. I wish I could say the same. I didn't get out very much but plan to change that in 2018.

Did you ever get a chance to try out the files I sent you.
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[fishjon]

Thanks for sharing
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[LOAH]

Sadly, I'm not a very good fly fisherman, so most of the flies people have sent me are either in a tree somewhere or in orbit.

[laugh]

But I have caught quite a few fish with them as well. Thanks!
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