Trail 121 and Fly Fishing

A couple weeks ago I decided to break out the fly rod and do a trail ride in an area I hadn't been to in a long time. The trail is in the Wasatch back and not too far from home. I took the Mule on this trip to give it a well-needed workout on the trail. I didn't get an early start and really didn't know how the trail or the stream was going to be. The last time I was up there it was washed out from winter run-off. I headed up the canyon and was on the trail by 10:00am.

At the trailhead the road was smooth but as I progressed up the canyon it got more rocky. This trail is in the easy category and most vehicles can navigate it without a problem. Good driving and choice of lines missing the larger of the rocks a car can make it. There are a few stream crossings but nothing too deep.

I arrived at the spot I was looking for and parked. It was a widened area of the road and there are beaver ponds next to it. I set up camp and had lunch, it was about 11:30. It took a little time to get to the spot, with filming and taking pictures along the way. Had lunch in the quiet canyon and listening to nature. After lunch, I got my 3 wt. fly rod set up and put on my hip waders.

The beaver ponds were very murky and filled in quite a bit from the last time I was there. I couldn't see any fish and moved around quickly trying to get better angles and more line out. It has been a couple seasons since I cast flies and it showed. The backcast and the forward cast was ugly, to say the least. My fly was slamming into the water, if there were fish in the ponds I know I spooked them quickly. Knowing this though I was watching intently and didn't see anything move. I kept moving downstream and found some moving, cleaner water, but still no fish. I fished for about an hour and decided to call it a day.

No fish were caught, but it had been a great trail ride and a good place to have lunch. The fly rod will be used more often, I forgot how much fun it really is to cast. Hopefully, catch a few fish as well.