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Show pjnosaurland Outdoors By Hartt Wlxom Vernal Express Outdoors Writer Si jr J High Uintas is some of best fishing in world often been asked, "where is a ! place" to go fishing or hunting. It : 'happens now, as people make ! for the following year, partly par-tly back packing, horse trips or 'jjsenices. It is wise to plan six i fjuj ahead if the services of others 1 A required. l U try to answer some of those ! .xiions. Knowing I can't answer : iall, I refer you to the ' 'Fishing and s i'.jug' Guide to Utah" for sale in j ah Basin sporting goods stores. J ij 1 wrote that one, primarily to s the question, "Where is a good s j to fish and hunt." !; one thing, many sportsmen ,jiool( the Uintas. They are as wild '4 rj rugged as any wilderness area in United States. I've been in the t 'artooths, the two Absarokas, H stone, Wind Rivers, San Juans, i j others no more beautiful or i: Really challenging. I am in fact, in i: s midst of a quest to explore and fish i; themajor drainages of the Uintas, ;iatew like Crow Canyon and Swift Skto go. line of my favorites is none other 2i upper Uinta River, although the jstview of Painter Basin on the same liinage came from climbing Kings lak via Henrys Fork and Gunsight sss.You don't find the same lunkers li once cruised Rainbow Lake, but f! off the trail and you would be qrised how untrammeled the upper yiayetis. For example, skip Fox, the Eineys, Atwood, and try Verlie, jiiien, Roberts. ' Onthis region, it might also be fitting 11 b ask the state's water users 5 association (now that minimum stream : bs have been worked out for south dope streams) if the time has arrived lowithdraw their objection for Area D, i! upper Uinta, for inclusion in the High a Tula Primitive Area. It had been stated that the main objection to the primitive area , (or . a,-long-delayed 3 uiderness designation) i would be j Mimed when a dam was approved on :i It lower Uinta River. Fortunately, Ashley forest officials Managing the Uinta drainage as de facto wilderness, yet if any part of the Uintas deserves primitive-wilderness status, certainly the Kings Peak-Painter Peak-Painter Basin country does. But, back to the fishing question. This area and the upper Whiterocks are good ones for south slope waters accessible ac-cessible on a limited budget. If you have more time and money, pack into the top of Lake Fork, Yellowstone, or Rock Creek. Of course, you can hike over to the north slope, but there are ample scenic basins and hot fishing holes on the south side. Perhaps the biggest trout in the Uintas are taken from the upper Yellowstone. But, some of those off the trail on the Whiterocks skip popular Queant, Ogden, Cleveland are worth the extra trouble. I like to check the map for unnamed or numbered lakes, then after reaching them, fish the most difficult-access shoreline. Often this is rock slide ledges, away from outlet meadows. While you can likely catch a larger trout in less time at Strawberry or Starvation, it's more challenging to locate new waters with fish to match the aesthetics. However, for variety you might want to try one of the other wilderness areas such as Wind Rivers or Beartooths. But, be prepared to pay heavily for it. Last summer the going price averaged about $100 per day for horse, guide, grub in Wyoming's Wind Rivers. You can go on a shoe string in the Uintas. True, there are few horse rentals, one being out of Moon Lake. Yet, even here if you head for Aspen, Picture or Crater you can find much better fishing, usually, than the standard stan-dard destinations of Brown Duck, Kidney, Clements, Atwine. If you do fish the latter, try to lag where others have not languished. I've walked trout waters in Europe, Northwest Territories, Canada, U.S., but never had more fun than fly fishing for eager trout at Aspen, Picture and Crater. But, I would try to fish where others haven't troubleshoot the hard-to-reach spots. You might want to get a Uinta map now, and look for such places. |