Trailride Forest Road 150 North Skyline to 0008

Sally and I took a ride on the Outlander a couple weeks ago. We were in search of fall colors. We missed this area by a couple weeks. We rode this trail in early spring and thought that the colors would be spectacular in the fall. Large Aspen groves and mixed scrub oaks would be a great sight. The scrub oaks were still showing some of their colors but for the most part, the aspens were leafless.

We started out at the trailhead in Spanish Fork Canyon and took FR150 up to the ridge and then turned off onto FR 0008 which takes you down to Scofield Reservoir. Along the way we encountered a few other people on the trail but not like Diamond Fork. We stopped and took in the vistas of many offshoot trails. As we turned off onto FR 0008 we traveled down the trail for a bit and encountered a fallen tree and some guy in a Ford Focus turning around. Yep, that gives you an idea of how tamed this road is.

We let him get turned around and then maneuvered our way around the tree and continued on down the trail. Glad we did too. We saw some great country on this road. Also, a few campsites that looked very enticing for a return trip and stargazing parties. We turned off the main trail onto a side trail and found ourselves on top of a ridge that overlooked the entire area and down into the Scofield basin. This was a great vantage point for viewing the area.
Trail 150-0008 Video

We hung out there for a while, had some snacks and drinks. We turned around and headed back to the main road. We turned south on the main road and traveled for a few more miles before turning around. Again we found many campsites that we will return to. We made our way back to the truck and loaded up. It was a nice fall ride but we missed the colors on this trail. Oh well just gives us reason to return next fall.

Fishing Strawberry Cutthroats on Crankbaits and Tube Jigs

Shifty and I made our annual trip to Strawberry for the fall bite of the big Cutthroats and some rainbows. In the fall the bigs move up to the shallows and they are fun to catch on crankbaits and tube jigs. Not to say you can't catch them on cranks and tubes any other time of the year but it gets good in the fall. Shifty and I made it an early departure and stopped at One Stop to get our breakfast. After a quick bite and short visit with the folks at One Stop, we were off. Up the canyon we noticed the temperature....27 degrees was the lowest it got to. When we launched at sunrise it was 37 at the ramp.
Video Here

After launching the Fish Steeler we moved out to 30 feet of depth and started trolling our way to the meadows. The troll did not produce anything and after about a half-hour we stopped and rigged up for casting. We got our poles rigged up and started casting. We landed a couple of fish and the vultures moved in on top of us and literally parked within casting distance of us. We moved on and kept catching fish.

Shifty of course had the hot lure. It was a Berkley Gilly and it was on fire! He landed 7 nice Cutts real fast. I got a couple in the meantime. We kept to the weed line and cast to it and away from it. Each catching fish on our choice of lures. I got hot for a few minutes on a Bandit Orange Crush.

Shifty catches a Walter! He was working a bait nice slow back to the boat when he got smashed! I could see it was a big boy and quickly got on the net. We landed the Walter of the day. It was an exciting couple of minutes.

After the sun got higher in the sky the bite slowed down and we switched over to tubes. Shifty and I neither one are good at tube jigs. I did figure out that you had to reel extremely slow and the bite was very light and patience was key. I finally got the hang of it but it was extremely slow. I ended up with a few on the tube. Being too slow I switched back to cranks and Shifty went to spoons and caught a few more. I ended up with a couple more also.

We finished the morning off with over 40 fish and called it a good time. We headed to Heber and Chick's best country fried steak anywhere! Till next time, get outside.

Trail Ride - FR132 Lefthand Fork Diamond Fork Canyon

We have been getting out on the weekends and taking rides on the Outlander. On this trip, we decided to stay a little closer to home. A decision we questioned as we were on the trail. The trail was quite a bit busier than we care. We made our way to Diamond Fork and went up to the parking area for the Left Fork. This should have clued us in when there was a camp trailer parked in the staging area.

Fishing Deer Creek - Day of The Bat

Thursdays are fishing days with Shifty and a couple Thursdays ago we both got spanked on the troll for trout. Not one bite in a couple hours of trolling. The day didn't improve for me. I practiced my casting technique in hopes of finding at least one that wanted to join me on the boat. We Trolled in our usual lanes and used our usual gear and changed it often trying to find the ticket for the trout but no luck.

Trail Ride - Lake Fork

We decided to hit the trail over the weekend. We loaded up the Outlander and headed to the canyon. We ended up in a canyon that I enjoy fishing on the fly called Lake Fork. It's an easy trail and one I know well. We unloaded and started up the trail looking for fall colors. The road is well maintained and nothing to hard. It runs from Thistle Canyon around the backside to a fork that will take you back into Indianola or left to Dansies Canyon. We started off and ran into a few other folks at the start but they thinned out quickly.

Evening Fish at Deer Creek with Jimmy and the Boys

      

Nothing makes me happier than spending time with my family! A couple weeks ago Jimmy my oldest called and asked if I wanted to go fish Deer Creek with him and my grandsons. I said yes of course and met him at his place. He has a beautiful Targa so I loaded my tackle and poles in and we departed for Deer Creek. We launched around 5pm and made the run-up lake to the cliffs, that are now 30 feet out of the water. Deer Creek is extremely low and getting lower. We stopped and rigged up for the evening bite.