A Journey North of Salt Lake City

Mark came in for his annual visit to Utah and the Western States to slay trout. I sadly missed his trip last year and would not make the same mistake again this year.

I fortunately got the time of from work and hit the road with:

Grizz
Chilli
B.G.
Mark
me (photo by Mark)

We headed North of Salt Lake City in search of monster trout in the remoteness of a grand mountainous forest.

All stacked up, like being on the Provo.
Still not sure if this net was truly big enough.

Once there it took no time to realize I was slightly over my head. The three in the group are all excellent sticks, and I found myself intimidated by them, their skill and prowess. Nothing they did intentionally intimidated me, it is just the difference between fishing their whole lives and me just a few years into a lifelong game... I was the top seeded amateur amongst the pros. :)

Mark navigating the holding monsters.

I know I am solid in my method of fishing, but my method did not meet the standard necessary to hook and land these behemoths. I did catch some nice cutthroats off the Raggedy Andy and some dry flies, and any other day in which you catch an 18" cutty is good, wait no... it's great. Yet, on this trip they did not measure up. The satisfaction sought by all was much bigger than a few little cutties.

Wild berries for natural energy boost.

I have never truly fished in the way we did, nor have I ever made a journey just to target a specific species. I now know that has changed. I really enjoyed the challenge of targeting just one species and the absurd lack of satisfaction in catching fish that you were not actually after. Usually any fish caught is a good thing, just not this go round.

Native window art.

The other aspect of true satisfaction, and possibly a test in my theory of fishing and adventure was the self realization that I needed to improve a very big portion of my game. There are aspects and styles that I want to improve and this trip shed a bright light on those aspects.

The test in theory was that of not catching fish but still being happy where you're at. I was exceptionally satisfied with the location, geology, forest, water, landscape, remoteness, friends, fish, and the time spent in the car driving.

I can honestly say this was a trip where I did not land a lot of fish but was more than plainly content, I was ecstatic to see my friends doing well and to acknowledge my own limitations and be completely satisfied with taking a back to seat to those guys and watch and learn. I felt like a drugged up child with severe A.D.D. I loved staring off into the mountains, clouds, trees and water basking in their greatness, with full appreciation of the surroundings.

So, my theory of catching fish being icing on the cake holds true, as I am so looking forward to returning to this spot in the future, with a bag of new found tricks and skills and testing the waters with said skills and slaying it!

Gourmet food on the fire, so good! Thanks everyone for taking their turn on the fire and food.B.G. through the trees.
Mark dresses for success and the ladies everywhere he goes.