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Show Wednesday, July 3, 1374 MfK CITY1 FISHING a Personal and High Lakes, Fire, Experience by Dave Mueller that the weather has held dry and fair for several weeks, it is to time think of those backpacking and fishing trips to the high Uinta Lakes. As of last Thursday, the snow on the North Slope was mostly melted off, except in the highest elevations. Things are still real wet, though, so be prepared to swamp through a few soggy meadows on your way to the fishing hotspots. Fishing in the lakes is especially rewarding to dedicated hikers who brave the wetness early in the year. Holdover trout are extremely hungry at this time and can be seen cruising close to shore around submerged logs. Be prepared to lose a few lures and flies casting to these fish, as they patrol right along the branches and tree sides and casts have to be made to these points to assure success. This is an opportunity for the angler to snare some of the big trout in each lake before they move to deeper water as things warm up, so a loss of a lure or two is well worth it. South Slope rivers are clearing now, the branches of the Duchesne, Lake Fork, Yellowstone Creek, and the Uinta River all starting to run low and clear. Strawberry River also opens below Soldier Creek Dam July first and should be a good bet for hot stream fishing. This is a restricted section and regulations should be checked before you start fishing. The big problem over on the South Slope right now is the fire, and fire danger as the result of continuous early summer dryness. Be extremely careful with fire - sounds trite - but the heartbreak of losing all that forest up Rock Creek is worth being trite about. BE CAREFUL of on the South Slope. fire. Things are tinder-dr- y The U.S. Forest Service is discouraging use of the Rock Creek drainage for the next several days, even once the fire is brought under control. As of Thursday, an area of 5 miles by 1 Vz miles had already been consumed by the blaze. Low nighttime humidities coupled with strong afternoon winds have combined to make this fire difficult to snuff out. As the flames run up to timberline, high winds are blowing into the headwall cliffs and sparks are dropping back into the burned area, restarting fires within the burned perimeter. Thus, the fire is contained, but not controlled. And as long as this situation prevails, the extreme danger exists that fire can explode out of the area and expand further up the Rock Creek basin. For the reason of the fire danger, my personal trip this week was to the North Slope, into Blacksfork River drainage. The main river was still high from runoff (difference between north and south slope runoff is one month), but several lower lakes were open and the fish were ravenous. Evening fishing was amazing as hungry trout sought to stave off winter-lon- g hunger pains. The water boiled with feeding trout Now I rs; DINE in theat . for two hours when the winds calmed, and a midge hatch started. Fishing at this time was tricky, as the fish were feeding on the small insects vigorously, but very selectively, A number 24 pattern would have killed the fish, but I was caught with number 18 patterns as my smallest flies. Quite damaging to the nerves to see fish rising to every side of your fly without striking home to the old iron. Enough foolish brookies made the wrong move to salvage some trout for the pan, however. The next morning the trout were once again leaping and tearing the surface of the lake apart in a feeding frenzy. Five casts told me that my patterns and percentages would again be off as they were the night before. In desperation, I moved down into a beaver flowage at the end of the lake. The pond was stump-fille12 inches of the deepest and Good mosquito hatchery, I thought, as I glumly surveyed the water for any kind of a lone straggler trout which might have washed over the beaver dam from the lake. This is solid ice 8 months out of the year, I was certain. But alas, from the center of the pond came a convincing slurp of a large feeding trout. As I scanned the shore, 2 more trout quietly broke the surface in calm, rises that are so contrary to the feeding of fish. smaller There he was, 30 feet out in water that barely splash covered the dorsal fin, Mr. Brookie, d d and and looking shoreward for a morsel to gobble. I obliged with a cast that hit him on the nose and was on to the first of several fish that morning. All were native brook trout, thick and deep, a rare fish indeed in the high Uinta country where the growing season is so short. It was fishing in a fishbowl, every trout spotted before the cast was made. The difficult part being not spotted on my own part by the fish. They were wild and wary and in the shallow water used a calm, unalarmed form of retreat which contrasted markedly to the spooked fish on a stream. The fish, when put down, would just sink down into the moss and ignore the fly, not darting or swimming away in panic. I leamedio recognize this and look for another fish when the first offering was rejected. It was fine, exciting fishing for big, native fish. Closer observation of the dead pond revealed its secret - a bottom permeated with springholes which kept winterkill down. Autopsy on the one fish I kept showed the trout gorged with freshwater shrimp, a food form which remains active year-lon- g and accounts for the fatness of the trout in the pond. one This episode is why crazy fishermen throw lines into the strangest places , get cars stuck in muck up to the hubs, an d come back from brushbucking with scars that look like a meeting with a puma took place. Fun, though. long-hook- ed d, moss-botto- m big-tro- ut red-finne- green-backe- ww SUNSHINE MAIN STREET -- - 649-928- ww & Available Mon. Cutting & Tues. D'AKT Now Specializing in Womens ' Blow Hair Cutting Fri. & Sat. KANDCRA- semi-prec.io- us Sundays 2 p.m.-l- O QElTCBiLL CCSTTHilCTCI? For All Your Construction Needs Call p.m, Your hosts: Ali and Jennifer Manteghi CX.JLI1-- E CT. W t L riLZtZC CXTV. TJTJLXr G4CGC J bH ' .vO .vi stovs ON MAIN STREET Open Every Day m. i - NEW LOCATION 3DEJL2ST X3. LIQUOR & WINE STORE ON IREMIS BANQUET AND RECEPTION FAC1LITI - gold. 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