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Show ;" . ' V w 4 m tifWfMi mill ;U iJcCiM?K- J vl 1 i if ':l'H4y:i I J 1! Mm I .f-Kv .i If IV II if i s 1 i t. C X TV'k t- : Z3$r !" t - I 1 -S4 iLi:: ?S-3T-xii (A ". riHnM,,,l,,M,BBHBKHBH",,a,,l,lal,aal HIGH LAKES Angler Deral Barton battles stubborn trout in Uinta Lake. The high country fishing is good at such times-right now suspend your offering just below be-low the surface where it can be readily seen by prowling fish, remove a drop or two of water from the bubble so it will not sink. ALSO, equip yourself with Wasatch and Ashley Forest Service map showing where the Uintas' approximately 1,500 lakes are found. You'll have challenge and fun locating locat-ing them below cliff in ledges, wet meadows, glacial pockets. It is all ready for you right now! Be sure to take a warm coat, as snow can fall anytime in these mountains, and of course, your mosquito repellent. repel-lent. If you're ready, so is Utah's high country. not ice-free as they have been for more than a week, until at least July 4. Lakes such as Hoover and Shepard are often not defrosted until mid-July, so things are early this year in spite of new snow which mantled man-tled the Uintas just last week. Traditionally, best fishing can be found on these high lakes, including those in the Wasatch like Big and Little Cottonwood's glacial waters, several days after ice-out. Trout stomachs have a chance to warm and again feel hunger with the stepped-up metabolism metabol-ism of these cold-blooded creatures. cre-atures. BAIT OR a "slow" spinner are often met with enthusiasm by the finny feeders, whereas later in the summer they could become more selective. Now is an excellent time to get away from the Uinta roads and explore ex-plore for waters recently defrosted. de-frosted. Right now anglers are enticing entic-ing albino rainbows from Trial Lake, with some brook trout takers at Teapot. Most are under a foot long, but if you can locate a seldom-fished water wa-ter you might score on larger ones than that. With a growing season of only about three . months, June to early September, Septem-ber, some of the eight-inch fish are already mature, carrying eggs or milt, and perhaps as old as 6-8 years. With the cold water, wa-ter, they are also usually scrappy, scrap-py, and you might be surprised at the fight you get out of light tackle on these pansizers. IT IS important to be outfitted outfit-ted correctly, of course. Take a reel full of 4-6 lbs. mono, because be-cause it will handle anything you'll hook, plus allows longer casting distance than heavy line. If you cast with the water-filled water-filled bubble, (a good idea in that it makes for easy casting plus helps keep bait or lure out of bottom moss) you want at least 6 lbs. test line to avoid breaking it with weight of the bubble. Incidentally, if you want to By HARTT WIXOM If you wait eagerly each year for a chance to enjoy the high country, that time has arrived. THE OLD charismatic charm is there in the upper Uinta Mountains, as well as the Wasatch. Ice had departed Trial and Mirror Lakes on the Utah 150 Kamas-to-Mirror Lake road, and camp sites are snow free below 9,000 feet. Hiking trails such as Highline to Naturalist Basin, Four Lakes Basin and Rocky Sea Pass are negotiable, although the latter would not yet permit horses. Serious backpackers could, however, get into the head of Rock Creek. The countryside is verdantly verdant-ly green from the upper Engle-mann Engle-mann spruce and lodgepole pine forests around Pass and Butterfly lakes down the Bear River into Wyoming. The Bear River itself, a north slope drainage with more snow remaining re-maining than remainder of the alpine terrain, is booming with mud. However, the upper Provo Pro-vo River is dropping rapidly and clearing. The Weber is not far behind. Duchesne River isn't at its best yet, but should be soon for bait and spin anglers. BUT, ALREADY the smell of smoke and sound of children gathering firewood resounds over Trial Lake, a mite earlier than most years. Many seasons, sea-sons, too, Mirror and Pass are |