Summer on Snake Creek

After the fun weekend in Colorado it was time to head to Utah for some work. We made the trip on Monday and even though we stayed in the Salt Lake Valley we did make a trip to Sportsmans Warehouse after supper. On Tuesday, after fulfilling my office duties, Tracy and I headed to the Heber Valley for a quick supper at the Spin Cafe and a trip to Snake Creek.

The food was good but there were not as many low fat choices as we had hoped. I had the smoked trout spinach salad which got my "fishy side" in motion.

For the regular readers of this blog, a post about Snake Creek should generate some anticipation. I have posted many fine trips to this little spot and it is one of my all-time favorite fishing spots.

This is a familiar shot taken from the big swirly pool looking downstream towards the trestle.

I started fishing with the fly rod. The 4wt rod was a joy to handle but I couldn't seem to find a hungry trout. I tried dries, nymphs, wets, and streamers but nothing seemed to be the ticket.


Tracy decided not to fish so she became my documentarian. Thanks to her I got these action shots.

I fished down stream all the way to the lower end without a hookup. I finally switched to the Ultralight and the WRT and it was "game on" in short order.

The first few fish were small browns. They were feisty fighters and put on the typical Snake Creek aerobatic display. Brown trout are not generally known to be big jumpers - that designation is more familiar with rainbows - but somebody forgot to tell the Snake Creek browns.

As the daylight began to fade the bigger fish came out to feed.

I caught a few more 12-14" fish before I finally say a big fish chase the WRT and refuse it at the last minute. I repeated my cast and swing retrieve in a big riffle and saw another quality fish come after the lure and he did a "Flipper" move jumping over the lure instead of striking it.

My heart rate was increasing with each cast until I finally moved above the riffle and made a long cast up under the trestle and worked the spinner down through the grassy channels. I had a big fish grab the lure and swim downstream directly at me and by the time I took up the slack he turned loose!

The next cast was again under the trestle and this time I got a solid hookset on a big heavy fish. Tracy was quick with the camera and got these action shots as I raced up and down stream trying to keep the fish from burying itself in the underwater vegetation.

I finally steered him to the near bank and slid him up on dry land.

What a fish! This reminded me of the first big browns Paul caught in the pool.

The color on this fish, the fight, and getting to share the experience with my new fishing partner made this one I will always remember. After the photo shoot I made sure Mr. Brown was fully revived before I made a few more casts and we headed for the hotel.

I wonder how well I will sleep?