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Show THE MRK COALITION Wednesday, August 20, 1974 CITY S FISHING Page 11 Put Those Skiis Back Where They Belong by Dave Mueller The summer gloom ers, warm-da- y doomers are out and about en force once again. Winters here, they cry when the evening temperatures dip into the twenties and thirties. Fishing seasons over, they exclaim when holding a handful of frostbitten flies. You can spot them on front porches sharpening and waxing skis in full view of the world and, I guess, the weatherman whom they expect to comply with their demented wishes. But the fact remains that the fishing for this year is far from over. These cold evenings and cooler days bring a surge of activity from the trout that have been sulking through the hot months of the summer. Spunk can be seen in some of the grandes of the trout race. The crowds are gone. The pesky biting insects have died off. Aquatic hatches occur during middle afternoon when the water is the correct temperature and the trout are hungry, knowing they have to feed then or go hungry for a day. The fish know winter is on its way and become ravenous in their attempt to bulk up a little before the waters make their annual plunge into iciness. But the fishing holds good through September and well into October. Hard core anglers have been known to brave colder temperatures well into November before packing the tackle away for the winter. That leaves us three months, winter lovers, and the way I look at it, the season is about half over. An important factor which contributes to the excellence of our autumn fishing is that much of the irrigation in the agricultural districts has ended for the summer. Water is not put through the fields, bringing sediments with it once it is rediverted into the main river channels, and the trout streams running through this country become clearer and more stable at this time of the year. The clarity of the water ensures that the trout can see to feed once the important afternoon hatch comes on. The same water earlier in the season is muddied almost daily by irrigation activity. One fine local trout stream which benefits from the conclusion of irrigation is Beaver Creek, which drains the heart of Kamas Valley between Kamas and Peoa. Beaver Creek is a wide, meandering meadow stream which remains slightly cloudy throughout most of the summer. At this time of the year, the water clears significantly and the fishing improves as well. As with most streams which harbor a great population of whitefish and other rough fish, Beaver Creek has come under disfavor the past several years. The fact remains that there are still many good trout, both rainbows and browns in the reaches of this water. The trick for the angler is to find the trout and avoid the whitefish.. .no easy task when g faced with great numbers of whitefish which inhabit this water. One good way to avoid whitefish rises is to use a fly which is too large for the fish to accept in its small mouth. Grasshopper patterns are a good bet in midday, all the way through the month of September before the heavy frosts and early snows finally do them under for the year. Later in the day, some good fish can be had with the larger weighted nymph patterns (sizes six, eight and ten) and big, weighted streamers. Streamers can really produce on a stream inhabited by larger numbers of rough fish, because in all likelihood, minnow forms are the staple food item of the larger trout. If you maintain that a streamer is just a springtime fly, when the water is roily, you are missing a good bet for some hot fishing in the autumn for some of the largest fish you will tangle with in the course of a fishing season. During the bright hours, you can miss out on the whitefish by remembering that trout will seldom feed at midday in the open reaches of the stream, even though water temperatures are cooler. Trout will still hold to the narrow belt of shadow that develops dose to the west bank of the pools in the afternoon. Whitefish seem not to demand the cover of shade for their feeding activities. You can observe them rising and splashing madly in the brightest of the pools. But if you observe a rise within the corridor of shadows under a cutbank, be fairly certain that a trout was responsible, and get to work trying to put the fly into the darkness. Sometimes that trick is easily accomplished, especially when fishing a wide-opestream with low banks and little overhanging vegetation. Beaver Creek is wide open, but presents a special challenge to the flycaster in most spots. Many of its banks are high, and extend two to four feet above the water. They slope off directly, or are the variety, and oftentimes your fly will catch high on the bank on its downward arc to the water. An attempt to jiggle the fly from this high perch results in the fly tumbling just a little too far out into the current, out of the shadow belt where the fish are feeding. What I try to do is cast sidearm, swinging the fly in a lower arc which will not catch the upper vegetation on the high banks. Sometimes the fly will bounce off the face of the bank, halfway down, and accomplish the same thing : land in the water within reach of the rising trout in the shadows. But Beaver Creek is only one stream in our area which benefits from autumn weather and commercial conditions. Look to have some fine fishing in all streams and even the Uinta Lakes where the water is drawn down and the fish are concentrated and hungry. Fishings just begun. Put those skis back where they belong. free-risin- n cut-und- er MILIIN PROSPECTOR LODGE. TOP OF MAIN STREET IN THE. ALPINE Remember the Come In and Rope a Sirloin or a Rack of Lamb and let our Outlaw Cooks Do the Rest PRIME RIB NEW YORK SIRLOIN TERIYAKI . RACK OF LAMB HALIBUT FRIED CHICKEN PRAWNS STEAK-SHRIM- P COMBO SANDWICHES COLD BEER POOL Opan 7 days a weak 'til closed MAIN in or the finest f Steak, LobsteR CRab Legs. . . And an end less Salad BaRweekends Dinner served THT 6-- 1 0 pm !!!'! 6-- .1 1 pm 'I STREET THURS.-SUIS- just rings HLASONABi v PHKTD HANUCHAKILU RINGS gold, silver, nnd semi-preciou- s stones NEW LOCATION ON MAIN STREET 5.50 5.50 4.50 4.25 5.95 6.95 HOURS FOR FINE JEWELRY I S6.95 6.95 5.25 L 6Dm-11p- m ; Cl Heart... Help your Helo uour Heart Fun |
