Bonneville, population 24

I love fishing our home waters for Cutthroats.  Bonneville Cutthroats are the native fish to the Bear River drainage and our backyard.  Well, technically, the Rocky Mountain Whitefish is the true native, but no one really wants to admit it.  The Bonneville Cutthroat has been adopted by Wasatch Fronters as the offical State Fish of Utah.  I think they were trying to make up for naming the seagull as the state bird.... Anyway, our rivers have finally hit what we consider a fishable flow and clarity.  Anglers have been having luck all summer long, but The Hatch doesn't consider the river fishable until we can stand in the middle of the river and not end up at 3rd dam, being hooked by a bank fisherman throwing hamburger on treble hooks.  Ironically, the first time we are able to fish the river, we are already into hopper season.

Even the Deke'r got out

"Hey, you new 'round here?"

Saltwater and a Few Odd Catches

When in Rome.... We found ourselves visiting family in the Puget Sound.  No trouts, but we did find a few catches.  Crabs and pink salmon (yes, there is still love for pinks) made for some very tasty meals.

Go to Seattle, get the crabs...

So I head out in the boat, Rooster stays ashore.  I get skunked, Rooster catches this guy from the shore.  Yes, we bonked them.  No catch and release when there's salmon on your line and the barby is just feet from the beach.

A different kind of catch...

And yet another kind of catch.  Pike Street Fish Market.  The whole fish toss thing was a little anti climatic.

The view from Sweets' brothers beach house.  How would you like to wake to this every morning?  Yes, that is Mt. Rainier through the window

 Aaaaah, guess what Deke is getting ready for?  6 weeks away, time for daily workouts.

Friday Popcorn Reel 8/19

Will Benson set out to catch a Salt Slam in one day, by himself.... no, I mean really by himself.  He did all of the guiding, filming, and editing by himself.  Not bad.  So, 4 cameras, 3 fish, 1 angler, and one day later, here you go....

(Will, if this isn't supposed to be out until after the Drake awards, sorry)


Mission... from william benson on Vimeo.

Winds

The Wind River Range of Wyoming as it is officially tagged, is the start of day dreams for backpackers, fly fisherman, adventurers.... and apparently hang gliders?  But everyone who has experienced its immense granite boulders and massive vistas, all call it by the its nickname, the Winds.  Sweets and I will find ourselves in the dead of winter looking over the map and deciding where we want go that summer.  For a fly fisherman, the first thing coming to mind when "Winds" is mentioned, is "Goldens!".  The lakes holding these beautiful fish are a closely guarded secret, making their pursuit most of the fun.  We didn't strike gold on this trip, time was limited.  We did however, find some pretty hungry Cutts and eager Brookies. 

So this winter, we'll be thinking of days like these....

 The new king of the world? Rooster.  Any questions?

 Rooster seeking Brookies...

 He found 'em.

 Ricardo searching for cutts...

 He found 'em.  I'm not sure if it was the harsh winter or this lake is getting over populated, but some of the fish were definitely stunted.  Some looked fat and healthy, others were on the biggest loser diet.  Eat more fish...

 Standing out in a crowd

 My favorite from the trip

 Really?  Hang gliders?  Was there a problem with this?