Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Bouldermania

There are strange things done in the Boulder sun
By the fools who moil for trout;
The mountain trails have their fishing tales
That would drive a man to scout;
The Utah nights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of a lake not large
I caught a hundred brookies.


I have long been a fan of Robert Service and since he was born in Lancashire, England at the head of the Ribble River I don’t think he would mind that I’ve adapted his words to fly fishing.

Boulder Mountain in Southern Utah is home to many species of fish, but the brook trout is perhaps its most sought after denizen. Dark green backs flecked with jewel-like spots are set on fire by brilliant red fins that cut through the water on ivory edges. Few things in life are as magical as a brookie in crystal clear alpine waters.

As callibaetis hatched this weekend in prolific numbers at 10,000 feet and eager trout demolished our imitations, life became a series of simple connections.

Hand to Rod

Rod to Line

Line to Fly

Fly to fish

My Grandfather fished Boulder Mountain in the early 1900s on foot and horseback. Almost a century after his first Boulder Mountain casts, at one of his favorite lakes, it seemed fitting to land a fish for every year that has passed since then. Thanks for blazing the trail, Grandpa.

Thanks to writer and photographer JayMorr for the good company on this trip. I'm sure some of his images from the weekend will be coming to a fly fishing rag near you. Don't miss out on his shots at Fly Fisherman Forum.

6 comments:

  1. I thought those looked like boulder mountain trout. Great pics

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome Brett!! Sounds like an awesome trip. Im way jealous :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It was hard to put words to this past weekends adventure, but after coming here and reading your post...

    Epic

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great shootin and some seriously nice fish!

    ReplyDelete