A Backhoe in the Middle of the River

I climbed down from the snow covered trail to find the water nice and clear and not too low. Checking the temperature of the water it was a chilly 38 degrees. I was hoping the water would be warmer closer to the dam. The air temperature was a balmy 46 degrees, quite a bit warmer than it was in Salt Lake. I strung on a small, yellow Thingamabobber and placed a BB size removable split shot above the double, overhand knot at the end of the leader. I started my first cast and noticed the water turning cloudy. It was nice and clear near the shore. I could hear construction work in the background and figured the construction must have disturbed the water a little. I headed downstream towards a promising hole in the bend of the river. The water continued to get cloudier. Despite the murky water I caught one brown trout and then headed to the trail to go investigate the disturbance. I couldn’t believe it. There was a backhoe moving downstream in the middle of the river. Talk about a major frustration. Well what could I do? I hiked back to the truck and headed upstream above the backhoe.

I parked near the I-80 overpass and took a picture of the beautiful fly fishing mural. This was the perfect mural to have right next to a blue ribbon river. I enjoyed noticing the details like the net and the fly. I put my cap back on, slung on my vest, grabbed my rod and hiked down the rocky incline to the river. Once again, I notice the water is crystal clear. Yea! I cast in the middle of the water chute between two rocks that was causing bubbling in the water, nothing. Then I cast a little further out to the far side of the chute next to the slack water. The indicator hesitated and I lifted the rod. This was a solid hookup and I quickly scurried down the rocky shore and found a place between a couple of large rocks without much current where I could gently grab the fish. It was a 15 inch brown. I shot a quick picture of it and let it go back into the quiet water. It had taken the scud imitation. The brown I caught earlier had taken a Rainbow Warrior. Its throat content showed that it was actually eating scuds.

I worked my way further downstream. This was a new section of river for me and I was excited to see if it held any good fishing water. I could already see a few large rocks downstream breaking up the otherwise featureless run. There were a few cows laying under a tree near the water on the way to this next hole so I stayed in the water, not wanting to disturb them. They kept their eye on me. The water was deeper on the downstream side of the rocks so I added one more split shot to make sure my fly would go deep enough. On my third cast I hooked a brown that commenced to jump a couple of times. This is one of the most exciting times fly fishing, having a newly hooked trout show off its acrobatics.