New Blog: Gil Fly Fishing

I have moved my blog to http://gilflyfishing.com/blog/ . This is my new website that has more content and excitement.

Check out my latest fly fishing adventure there. Thanks!

The Provo River and My Television Debut

A few months ago Justin and I had the opportunity of guiding Hooked on Utah on the Middle Provo. It was a cool experience, and I think we all had a real good time. There are four segment to watch from our trip (all below). Check them all out, and enjoy!

Salmon River Steelhead, Idaho 2011

Check out these sweet pics from the Salmon River in Idaho. My dad and I made it up there for a few days and despite the crazy WIND we had a great time.

Fly Fishing Film Tour in Logan

The Fly Fishing Film Tour came to Logan this year, and it was a blast! They are showing some very sweet footage this year. If you get a chance to attend I highly recommend it. I even took my wife who doesn't fish and she loved it. Good times for sure. See what cities they are passing through at http://www.flyfishingfilmtour.com/

Fishing the Oneida Narrows

For those who are not familiar with the Oneida Narrows, it is a put and take fishery located on the Bear River in the Southeast corner of Idaho. I have fished it a dozen times or so, and it is usually just that, a put and take fishery managed by the state of Idaho that gets stocked regularly with catchable size rainbows. There are some nice browns and white fish there, but mostly it is full of small sized rainbows.

This past Thursday I fished it for the first time this year. It started out like a typical day, pulling out rainbows from 8-10 inches from all the typical water you would expect to catch fish in during the winter. I was enjoying myself and trying to focus on my nymphing technique, to clean up a few of my bad habits. Its in these moments after falling into a routine of pulling in small fish when you are the most susceptible to surprise. That's exactly what happened when the rainbow pictured above slammed my flies. It oppened my eyes right up the way a splash of cold water to the face in the middle of winter would have. Its not the biggest rainbow in the world, or probably even the biggest in the Narrows, but coinciding with the warm winter day, it was simply a beautiful fish on a beautiful day that is now lodged into my memory for good. I love how fly fishing has the ability to shape unforgettable memories out of a typical moment, on a typical river, with an untypical fish (for the Narrows anyway). What a great moment!

Note: Flies of the day were once again the Bloody Prince (Size 14), and the Rainbow Warrior (Size 16).

Winter Fly Fishing Tip

If you love fly fishing in solitude winter is your time to fish! Fish continue to feed year round, so opportunities to catch fish still exist. There is a new winter fly fishing tip from flytying123.com that gives good insight on what flies to fish during winter. Check it out, dress warm, and get out on your favorite river!

Winter Fly Fishing on the Blacksmith Fork

Last tuesday it started snowing... it continued for two and a half days and dropped over two feet along the banks of one of my favorite rivers. Regardless of the weather I made plans to fish on the second of the two snow filled days. However, it quickly became evident to me that I would be wasting my time when I noticed the temperature outside was a dismal six degrees and there were large ice chunks constantly coming down the river (reported to me by someone who had driven past the river at midday). I saved myself the misery and tortured myself another way, by waiting until to today to fish.Today's temps were quite a bit warmer than last week, in fact while I fished today it was actually around 12 degrees outside! Stunning I know, how could I sit inside on a sunny paradisiacal day like today? It actually was a wonderful day on the river, besides it being a little chilly. I fished a couple of hours and caught a half dozen fish, none exceeding 12 inches, but beautiful trout nonetheless.

Strawberry 2010

Hopefully more pics to come before the ice hits!

Fall Brookies

I love the fall, and the changes that occur to brook and brown trout. Their colors deepen, their jaws often become hooked, and their aggression triples! My dad and I had the chance this week to fish a lake that I grew up fishing. The lake is small, and the fish are too, but they make up for size by their colorful appearance.
Earlier in the morning we fished a lake located 12 miles east of the lake with the brightly colored fish. The lower lake is larger, but much less fertile. Consequently, the fish caught there always appear to have just hit the water from the hatchery truck. Most, if not all, are stocked rainbows, but many have been there for years. I failed to mention that the upper lake with the pretty brookies also has rainbows that are stocked regularly. Due to the abundance and quality of food, these rainbows quickly become deep in color and outshine the fish in the lower lake. It makes me want to stay far away from McDonalds, Taco Bell, and all other fast foods. And maybe, just maybe, my mom was right about fruits, veggies, and so called "healthy" foods. Surely the quality of food really does make a difference in us too.

Fly Fishing Entomology

On our fly tying blog flytying123.com I have began an entomology page that has some basic info on aquatic inverts that trout eat. It is still in the making, but there is already some valuable info there. Check out our fly fishing entomology page and let us know what you think!

Jethro the Fisherman

My friend Jethro is a fishaholic. Until now there was only one problem with his obsession, he had never been fly fishing. We couldn't have that now, so we got together last week and fished the Middle Provo one evening. He landed some nice fish including a nice rainbow for his first fish (pictured above). He had some dry fly action on top, and except for the 30 minute hike back to the car (bushwhacking through the pitch black night) everything went really well. Jethro now has a new hobby, and unfortunately for his wife he is on the path to becoming a Trout Bum which will undoubtedly waste more time than all of his previous hobbies combined. Sorry Tracy but he is a goner for sure!

Surveyor Nymph on Middle Provo

Kohler and I had an awesome day on the middle Provo today. We caught a lot of nice fish, and I landed my biggest middle Provo brownie yet! Fly of choice: Two-toned Surveyor.
One of the few hog-whitties of the day.
We landed a handful of nice fish like these, but our catch was dominated by 7-10'' trout, which isn't uncommon for the middle. Luckily for all of us there are always some nice fish mixed in the bunch. For that reason it is a fantastic river that I love to fish!

Idaho Cutthroats

This last weekend I went to Idaho for a family reunion and snuck in a little fishing while I was there. I met up with my friend Devin and together we fished a small trib to one of the many large lakes in Idaho. We had a blast and we landed some fantastic fish! Next time I make it back to Idaho won't be soon enough!

Middle Provo Green Drakes and Rainbowzilla!

As everyone now knows, judging by all the people on the river, the green drake hatch is hot on the middle Provo. Phil came to town this morning and we met up to fish together. Phil was fishing by eight a.m., but I didn't meet up with him until about ten, and needless to say the parking lots were full! Luckily for us there was so much food in the water that the fish were low on fear and willing to eat every life stage of a green drake.

Phil did really well on top with a Green Drake Epoxyback Emerger from Rainey's, and an extended body adult tied by his friend Joe. At one point I found Phil on the ground grasping his head in unbelief after watching a giant brown slam his dry and then proceed to snap his 5X with with an explosive leap from the water. Phil landed a double, and I caught my largest fish yet on the middle. I caught most of my fish on a Green Chunk (Green Drake Nymph that I tie), and a large Two-toned Surveyor. As the pics show we had a great day, and I can't wait to get out and hit the middle again.

Green Drakes on Middle Provo

It has begun! Once again trout are looking up, and this time its green drake adults that are causing the commotion. Fly fishing on the middle Provo is really getting hot, and for the next few weeks the drake fishing is going to be fantastic, much like it was today. I caught a lot of fish on a drake nymph dropper, and I will hopefully be posting a tutorial or video on flytying123.com soon to show the nymph of my choice and how to tie it.

See you on the river!

Underwater Brown Trout

I finally got an underwater picture of a fish that I think is just awesome! This brownie was caught by my client Nick last Thursday. He was played to exhaustion before landing and after a quick waterless picture, we released him where he briefly caught his breath in the shallows and allowed me to capture this picture.

Utah Small Streams are Amazing!

I had almost forgot how fun it is to fish small streams. I am still on a high after last Saturday's adventure that Kohler and I had. I'm sure my euphoria will continue still for a while.

If it looks like Kohler ended up with all the huge fish it's really because I am the one with the camera that snaps most the pics, while he constantly refuses to take pictures of me with giant fish... at least that is the lie I tell myself when the luck rolls his way and he turns over more hogs than I do. Good job Kohler. Next time the luck is mine!

Watch out for these guys! You never know when you are going to walk within three feet of one and not know it, right Kohler?

Provo River Tributary: The Burk

Suckers have moved into tributaries of the middle Provo. I think they are spawning, but I am not a sucker expert by any means. This giant ate a hot head wooly bugger as it bounced along the bottom. Kohler and I were actually fishing for a few renegade browns that were in the mix, but we only pulled out suckers of which this was the largest. Crazy huh!?

Weber River Caddis Hatch

Carpet caddis hatches are going on right now on the Weber! I guided some clients up there last Saturday and the caddis were so thick we couldn't keep them off us.

Elk Hair Caddis patterns will work on top, Sparkle Pupa, Graphic Caddis and probably any other caddis pupa pattern will catch fish. We also had success on cased caddis patterns. Anything caddis seems to be working on the Weber right now! Check out flytying123.com for all your tying needs.

Success on the Lower Provo

On Saturday I took James (above) and Steven (below) fishing on the Lower Provo. They are both new to fly fishing, but after just a few minutes both of them had the hang of casting and mending. The river was fishing a little slower than I had expected, but after just a little while both of them started hooking into fish.

I am very excited for James and Steven since they both have intentions of continuing their fly fishing experience. They have all their own gear and, in my opinion, they were wise to book a guided trip as they are learning how to fly fish. This can shave off months and months of trying to figure things out for themselves. I was able to pass along some basic tips and techniques, and at Utah Pro Fly Fishing, who I guide for, we guarantee that people will catch fish or they don't pay a dime. Wise decision by James and Steven, and I'm sure they are now ready to catch fish on their own, no problem.