Fly-Fishing in the Clouds

The fly-fishing in Southern Utah is really starting to heat up and we are finally starting to have warmer days and decent hatches.

We were lucky to have family come and visit for Memorial Day.

My Dad (Darwin) is about as die-hard of a fly-fisherman as I have ever seen. He and I fished only minutes after his arrival (actually we missed dinner with the rest of the family!)

Here are a couple of shots from the few hours that we fished Friday afternoon:

The next morning we decided that even with the threat of rain we would fish Thousand Lake Mountain. I mentioned above that my Dad is a die-hard fly-fisherman here's proof:

Yep, that's him fishing literally in a cloud. It may be hard to see him. I was only about 30 yards away and I could barely see him but, he was catching another beautiful Cutthroat. The cloud did move through the valley and with that movement the rain came in waves. During the weather's attempt at drowning us I hooked into this sweet Rainbow:

Following the excitement on the water we decided that it would be a better idea to get off the mountain before the mud got too deep and we couldn't get off. As we drove off the mountain it was pretty slick and there were a couple of spots that the ol' Explorer threw a few fish-tails and flipped mud everywhere. Over all the day was well worth the caked on mud and some great fish. We were able to catch some very healthy Cuts and Bows. And it is still early in the season!

As I reflected on the day I had a thought. I decided that even though the trip back was slick and minimally risky it was worth the effort because, honestly, I gained more in my relationship with my Dad than I most likely would have if we had not have braved the storm.

Sometimes it takes stepping out of the comforts of a dry vehicle or perfect weather to catch the most important things. There is truth to this in both fly-fishing and in relationships.