Around the fly fishing community, Autumn is peak time to hit some of the best, most controversial fishing across Utah. Water levels are lower, fish are fattening up, and many have started the spawn. With productive fishing everywhere, Rico and Bow wanted to hit somewhere with larger fish. With the desire to avoid crowds, they headed out in search of Tigers. This subspecies of trout/char is known to become extremely aggressive, brightly-colored, and kype-jawed during the spawn. This, coupled with faster growth rates and sterility creates the perfect scenario to hunt Fall fish without coming under scrutiny of other anglers.
4am came quickly after three hours of sleep, but no coffee was needed. Bow packed his gear and headed to pick up Rico. The sun was far from up, but Rico's smile could be seen from his driveway. Rico decided to bring his float tube this time, anticipating the trout to be deep most of the day. They headed on their way, discussing what they heard from fellow anglers, and speculating where the Tigers would be feeding.
A few long hours and dirt roads came and went before they finally pulled up to the lake. The sun was barely creeping over the mountain top when Bow and Rico were able to make first cast. Throwing big streamers, Rico and Bow imitated the smaller trout present in the lake. Within the first ten minutes Bow hooked into a Cutt, and shortly thereafter heard an odd noise followed by Rico's laughter. Focused on his own fishing, Bow headed down the bank looking for a rise. Nothing seemed to be active, so Bow headed to the inlet to meet up with Rico. Upon asking about the laughter, Rico pulled out his phone to show a fiery, long-jawed tiger he hooked on a brown bugger. This was Rico's first big Tig, and Bow was happy to see the excitement he felt when he landed his in May.
The two headed down the bank, seeing subsurface swirls. There were also a pair of tubers cruising along the shoreline. Upon seeing Rico and Bow, they paddled quickly to hit the spot first. Not liking this, Bow prepared to cast at the tubers, indicating space was needed. Rico instead started conversation with the two, getting info, and telling them we would wait for them to fish through. Bow was not happy about this, but kept his mouth shut as he walked down the shore from where they were fishing. The tubers pulled out two smaller Cutts as they passed by, further increasing Bows blood pressure. When all was finally clear, Bow cast a Platte River Spider, imitating a small cutthroat. Retrieving his fly in short strips, he paused, hearing the whoops of the tubers pulling in more Cutts. He began again with an especially hard jerk, only to have the fly hit something solid and unmoving. With an aggravated sigh, Bow tried to free his fly, until the snag started pulling line from Bows hand and breached the surface. Hearing the loud splash as the trout landed, all eyes went to Bows bent-in-half seven weight. Hoping a good hookset was made, Bow fought anxiously as Rico scrambled over. Seeing the fish's size first, Rico told Bow he would jump in at the word. Several agonizing minutes passed until the trout finally rolled over and came in. A long, lightning-sided Tiger greeted Bow, with the biggest teeth he had seen on a trout. The Tiger looked exhausted, so Bow took ten to make sure the fish would swim away under its own power. Reeling up to check his fly, Bow saw the hook bent, sticking out from the feathered body. Retiring the fly, Bow re-tied and continued to fish the rest of the weekend.
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Bow was entirely shocked he hooked and landed this trout. Once the excitement wore off, he realized this trout may not have come to be had Rico not been there to stop him fishing in front of the other people. Maybe good Karma, or just a little bit of luck, Bow holds this trout as testament to polite and respectful actions towards other fishermen, regardless of circumstance.
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