A blog about fishing in Utah. » Uintas

Mirror Lake 8/21/09

incaseyouhaventheard — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:14:51 +0000

My fishing days this summer have been cut back quite a bit as a result of a move I’m in the middle of. After missing 3 weeks in a row, I knew I needed to have a phenomenal day on the water, so Mirror Lake was the destination. We arrived around 9am. I could see fish jumping all over the lake and started feeling optimistic. My Dad and I each caught a couple fish within a few minutes of launching our tubes, but then things started to slow down. After cycling through a few flies I settled on a green mini leech and things picked up almost immediately.

I caught fish all over the lake that day, but I seemed to do slightly better out in deeper water. Halfway through the day my Dad decided to switch to a floating line (I typically use a #3 sinking line) because there were so many fish rising. There were a lot of gnats on the water and the fish were definitely keying in on them.

Things for my Dad had slowed down quite a bit since he put his floating line on, We decided to switch rods for awhile because I wanted to use a few dry flies, Unfortunately I left my dry flies in the car, I just had a few that were mixed in with my nymphs from previous fishing trips. It didn’t seem to matter too much. My experience from fishing the Uintas so often is that the trout aren’t really that picky.

I started casting the fly into some shallow water, the brook trout didn’t pass up a chance to nail it. This was my first time this season tying a dry fly on. I forgot how often fish will rise for a fly and just completely miss it. There were at least 20+ times a fish would come out of the water for my fly and completely miss, however one of the little brook trout I caught came about 2 feet out of the water with my fly planted firmly in his lip.

On our way in my Dad caught the largest brook trout either of us has seen in years. This fish was definitely getting ready to spawn and was extremely colorful. Overall it was an extremely successful day, Mirror Lake rarely disappoints, if you get the chance, be sure to get up there as soon as possible!

Marjorie Lake

incaseyouhaventheard — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:55:56 +0000

A few years ago my Dad told me about a lake in the Uintas that had grayling. One of my goals this year was to catch some new species of fish and fish some new lakes. Marjorie Lake fit the bill perfectly. To get to Marjorie Lake you park at the Crystal Lake trail head. It’s about a 3 mile hike, Mostly flat, a few small hills but there isn’t much vertical change over the whole trail. There are lots of mosquitos out, I highly recommend some insect repellent. It took us just over an hour and a half to complete the hike in. It’s a beautiful little mountain lake.

Marjorie Lake from the trail.

After only a few casts I hooked into my first fish, luck would have it that a grayling was hungry for my fly. I managed to catch 6 total, 2 on a fly rod, 4 using spinning gear with a fly behind a bubble. One of the unique features about grayling is their very large sail fin. I was trying to get a good picture of this, but fish are rarely cooperative when they want to swim away.

The final grayling of the day.

My dad caught a chubby little brookie, My camera is terrible, but this fish was extremely colorful.

Trial Lake 6/20/09

incaseyouhaventheard — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:34:52 +0000

I went up to the Uintas for the first time this year yesterday upon reading the news that the Mirror Lake Highway was now open. Trial Lake was the destination, it is one of the easiest lakes to get to while the snow is still melting. I did have to carry my tube over a patch of snow that hasn’t yet melted, but it was well worth it, The Unitas rarely disappoint.

I forgot my camera, so my blackberry had to be used as a substitute. The final count of the day was 38, fish ranged from 6 inchers fresh from the hatchery truck to a few that were 14 inches long. The fishing was fast, everyone on the lake seemed to be catching fish, including people from shore. Just about anything will work up there, I used a several different leech patterns of all different colors.

Mirror Lake 9/29/08 and 10/2/08

incaseyouhaventheard — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:44:36 +0000

The Uintas have been the place to be for me this fall. A few posts earlier I talked about Mirror Lake and Moosehorn. I have been back to Mirror Lake twice since. While neither day was quite as good, I still managed to catch around 80 fish spread between the two days, often on consecutive casts. I caught fish on every fly I put in the water. I used various crystal killers and leaches. I had success on green, black, orange, brown, white, red, and purple patterns, all beadheads. I was fishing my flies very close to the surface. I did see a few anglers floating bugs on top but they weren’t catching as many fish as I was.

One of the bigger fish I caught from Mirror Lake, around 15 inches.

It definitely pays to be out in the middle of the lake, people from shore were catching fish, however it was much slower for them. I was catching fish everywhere, but found it to be the most productive out in deeper water with a faster then average retrieve. It was not unusual to get a strike on almost every cast.

My dad showing off one of his nice rainbows.

It rained all day yesterday in Salt Lake, which means snow in the moutains. The Mirror Lake Highway may be closed by now, however if you can still get up there I’m sure it will be worth the trip. Be sure to dress extra warm if you are going to be sitting in that water all day.

A nice colorful Brookie from Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake and Moosehorn 8/15

incaseyouhaventheard — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:00:15 +0000

I hadn’t been fishing in a couple weeks and was definitely in need of some quality time on the water. My favorite place to spend the hot summer months is in the Uintas fishing at all the lakes along the Mirror Lake Highway. I always catch fish when I go, even a slow day in the Uintas is at least 10 fish. Other days I can catch fish all day long, On August 15th for example, I caught a total of 55. It was the most successful day I have ever had up there. My dad also did extremely well catching 30 for himself.

Here is the first fish of the day, I caught it after only being on the water about 5 minutes.

I know generally people who fish claim its one of the most relaxing things they do. I tend to agree most of the time, however on days like today I was really enjoying catching fish cast after cast after cast (7 casts in a row) while a few people fishing from shore with powerbait watched in disgust. One guy even started asking me if he could have a few of the fish I was catching. I believe very strongly in catch and release fly fishing so I had to decline.

A lot of fly fishermen from Utah spend a lot of time chasing Cutthroat Trout. There are several species of Cuts native to Utah. My favorite kind of trout to catch however, is definitely the Brook Trout. I think they are they best looking fish out there, They aren’t nearly as big as most of the other fish I catch but that doesn’t make them any less fun. I caught several nice little Brookies from Mirror Lake. Here a few pictures.

Here are some of the Rainbows.

Even though I managed to catch a ridiculous amount of fish, The largest fish of the day went to my dad. I think this Rainbow was most likely one of the spawners that the hatchery was finished with. He caught it in Moosehorn. It was around 17 Inches long and had a lot of girth. We didn’t weigh it be it was probably 3 to 4 pounds.

Dont get cocky!

incaseyouhaventheard — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:25:48 +0000

Last summer I was fishing at Mirror Lake in the Uintas in my tube. The wind came up and was blowing in away that didn’t agree the the direction I wanted my fly line to go. I was certain I could handle it. WRONG! I tried to get this out on my own for about 20 minutes before deciding that maybe I should start using barbless flies.

If the picture doesn’t explain it well enough it may help to click on it for a larger view.

Uintas 7/04/2008

incaseyouhaventheard — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:10:33 +0000

Summers in Utah are often in the triple digits. The best way to escape the heat is to head up to the Uintas which have an elevation of around 10,000 ft. There are many lakes easily accessible from the Mirror Lake Highway. I dragged myself out of bed at 4:45 today and was fishing by 7:30. Last summer I had some of my most successful (in terms of quantity) days up there. Today was a bit slower then what I expected, but the fact that the temps were in the 70s made it worth it. The water up there right now is also very cold. If anyone plans on going I would definitely recommend some extra insulation.

Moose Horn is one of my favorite lakes to fish. It tends to have around 11 inch rainbows. They stock it with lots of albinos which you can see and are pretty easy to catch. Albino trout don’t have very good eyesight so I have found a flashy crystal killer or leech patten will work best.

I caught this guy on my second cast of the day on a black mini leech.

Another albino just about to be released.

Here is my dad landing a trout.

I caught a few little Brook Trout. They have always been my favorite. This little guy actually hit my fly so hard he pulled my fly line out of my hands as i was retrieving it.

If you show up right after they stock the lake (before any holiday weekend) you will find lots of these little planters.