Community Pond

Fly fishing is oftentimes associated with getting away from the sprawl and up to some mountain stream or creek to find solitude. However there are opportunities to catch some fish in the heart of the city. Definitely one of the more interesting places I have fly fished was a community pond over the weekend located in the center of the Salt Lake Valley. An interesting note was that a conservation officer checked our licenses which has only happened to me a couple times ever. I guess they want to make sure the people using the pond (the majority of which tend to take home everything they catch) have paid their dues by buying a license and being legit. Anyway, David and I did a simple nymph rig with a chironomid or two and indicator fished the pond. David quickly hooked up with a little rainbow that was missing its fins. The suspicions of frankenfish were confirmed when I pulled out a lake trout of all things that looked like he could have seen better days if he had not been selected for broodstock in the hatchery.

We did manage to catch some decent looking planter bows which were fun. Besides the lake trout another highlight was when David caught an albino trout. I regret not running over and snapping a pic or two but I managed to sneak into a pretty good area after someone left that I didn't want to give up quite yet. I was rewarded with a nice little chunky rainbow for staying put. Overall, it was a fun and interesting day at the community pond.

Spring Fishing

Spring is a time of Baetis (or Blue Wing Olives) and midge hatches coming off of western rivers. Usually I anticipate a lot of dry fly action in the spring, especially when the baetis are hatching. A friend and I headed out on a local river recently and besides a very few midges the river seemed very quiet. The catching matched the activity of the bugs for several hours which was a little frustrating since I nailed them the time before. The water was clear but a little higher which moved the fish out from a familiar run. We could not find the fish. Luckily we headed back to a spot we started out fishing early in the day and lo and behold the fish were all stacked up for the feast which had just gotten underway. It was windy and some blue wing olives were definitely hatching but the wind seemed to blow them across the surface as soon as they emerged. The fish did not key in on the adults but were taking nymphs in the mid to upper water column. There was some midges mixed into the bunch and we caught fish on mayfly nymph patterns (small pheasant tails) and midge pupa. It was not lights out catching but good nevertheless, and a great day to be on the water.