Moose can be dang scary. I’ve had several run ins with them, but thankfully they have never shown aggression towards me. Not yet anyway.
Moose are what I carry bear spray for when I am fishing. I have had several close calls.
Sorry, I won’t give any more specifics on Diamond Fork or other area streams. Not only are there mountain lions down in that area, but I had a close call with a skunk while hiking in during the spring, not to mention all the rattlesnakes in the summer. And the black bears are getting more numerous as well.
Please, don’t stop helping people new to stream fishing, like me and my daughter. I’m not new to fishing. My grandpa taught me to fish when I was a little kid. We fished for trout in the reservoirs though, not the streams. I grew up, got married, got busy, and got away from the habit. (Other Half doesn’t like to fish much.) Grandpa passed away 2 years ago this past August. As a tribute to his legacy, I promised myself that year that I would teach my kids to fish.
One of them takes after her dad–she doesn’t much like to fish. Our 17 year old daughter, on the other hand, loves to fish as much as I do. She is learning rapidly, but because I am very new to stream fishing I can’t help her as much as I’d like.
What’s been helping us learn is the awesome Utah anglers that we run into here and there, who give us tips and thoughts on where and how.
I’d never ask anyone to give away their best honey hole spots, but tips and techniques that I could pass on to my kid are very much appreciated.
Utah anglers are the best. I have caught my first walleye, my first bass, and my first panfish in the past couple of years, mostly because of the kindness of people that are willing to share.
Again I’m grateful for all of your tips, and so is my daughter.
Liz
and don’t forget to watch out for the lions and tigers too. Oh MY!
Liz - I applaud you taking up fishing in remembrance of granda, and for your kids benefit. They will remember those times all their life. Best advice (which I wish I followed better myself!) is make it about them. I get too caught up in the catching myself (or the trying too anyway).
Check on Loah, Gstott’s posts - lots of good river action, though they won’t ‘reveal all’ in their posts, I’m sure a PM will get you some info. Been lots of Weber browns of late too. Good fall action for some big fish!
Rivers can be a tough sell - depending on the size, volume of water moving - etc. Location is key - finding the seams, log jams, rock piles, bends, deep pockets, undercuts. Then managing to sneak up w/o spooking the fish.
Now if you’re pitching spinners or jigs - my general tendency is to cast downstream, but if the flow allows - pitching upstream, or across the current can get some good looks on the retrieve. Can’t think of the name of it, but one lure I like on the river - had a flat plate in front of a minnow - instead of a spinner blade. Chatterbait I think it is - gets a real good vibration - especially with all the current flow.
Good luck, and good getting out there! I envy you your Walleye! That’s an empty slot on my bucket list still!
Good for you on getting out with your daughter.
As it gets colder the fish slow down and sit deeper in the pools. I don’t know what you are using, but your fly, bait, or lure needs to get into the deep part of the pool and if possible stay there in front of their noses before they will take it. Think low, slow, and small nymphs.
Some warmer afternoons they may come up and sip very very small midges and Blue Winged Olives off of the water, but mostly from now to spring it is small nymphs fished slow.
Unless you find spawning browns that are aggressive toward any minnows or streamers in their area. Then the fight is on!
I don’t really care that much about people helping people out with fishing. That whole drainage is my favorite place to fish in Utah and I’ve put in hundreds of hours hiking and exploring to learn every inch of it. I’ve learned where and when the big fish go throughout the whole drainage.Truth is it’s a lot of work to fish some of it, especially Springtime. I don’t think most people are going to put in the effort so crowds will never be an issue. Do some exploring. Diamond Fork can be pretty good fishing but it’s far from the best fishing in the vicinity.
I will definitely still give out techniques and such, but I probably should be more careful not to hotspot specific areas. When I first moved to Utah I mostly used spinning gear and did pretty well too. Besides the usual Panther Martins, Mepps and Rooster Tails, I used dark colored marabou jigs, rabbit strip jigs, 1/32-1/16 oz jigs with 2" curly tails and small jerk baits. I pretty much always work upstream on small streams. The fish face into the current, so if you come downstream, they’re going to spook. I break the run into sections. I start at the tail (which if fish are there, they’re usually actively feeding), and then when that is exhausted, I move up toward mid run, and finish with the head of the run. Look for rocks, logs, anything that offers a current break and fish behind and in front of that. Foam on the surface is a good indication of a spot you should throw to as there should be food collected there too. Look for seams where fast water and slow water meet. These are one of the best areas you can fish. Also look for shelves where a faster riffle plunges into a deeper, slower run.
As cpierce said, during this colder weather, fish slower, deeper water and keep things near the bottom. Nymphs and egg imitations are good bets this time of year for this. In addition to the smaller mayfly and caddis nymphs, Diamond Fork has a very healthy population of stoneflies and free living caddis (I believe people also refer to them as rockrollers). If you want to give nymphing a try, but don’t want to invest in fly gear just yet, I would suggest fishing them on a spinning rod with enough split shot a foot or two above them to keep them down. Just let them bump along the bottom with the current and pay attention for any abnormal little thumps or ticks. It takes a little getting used to, but pretty soon you’ll be scoring plenty of fish.
Sorry, I won’t give any more specifics on Diamond Fork or other area streams. Not only are there mountain lions down in that area, but I had a close call with a skunk while hiking in during the spring, not to mention all the rattlesnakes in the summer. And the black bears are getting more numerous as well.
I think you forgot to mention that Bigfoot also frequents some of those canyons[;)].
But I think you covered the common animals except moose mentioned elsewhere that frequent the area.
I totally agree with your other post on how to fish these small streams effectively without spooking most of the fish.
Those streams do have large year round stonefly and salmonfly nymphs (2-3 year life cycle). I think that’s why a size 10 prince nymph will produce all year in there.
LurkinLizard fly fishing isn’t as hard as it looks. It only takes about a half hour to get the basics down and start catching fish. So don’t be intimidated if you ever want to take it up.
I think you forgot to mention that Bigfoot also frequents some of those canyons[;)].
But I think you covered the common animals except moose mentioned elsewhere that frequent the area.
I totally agree with your other post on how to fish these small streams effectively without spooking most of the fish.
Those streams do have large year round stonefly and salmonfly nymphs (2-3 year life cycle). I think that’s why a size 10 prince nymph will produce all year in there.
LurkinLizard fly fishing isn’t as hard as it looks. It only takes about a half hour to get the basics down and start catching fish. So don’t be intimidated if you ever want to take it up.
Thanks Riverdog. I’d like to try fly fishing sometime but it’s a pretty big expense to get fly gear, and we just don’t have the money right now. We have a kid heading for college next year. But that’s alright, We’ll just stick with our spinning gear and lures for right now. 
Plus I’m a klutz and I’d probably spend most of my time untangling my line from around trees and bushes…
I will definitely still give out techniques and such, but I probably should be more careful not to hotspot specific areas. When I first moved to Utah I mostly used spinning gear and did pretty well too. Besides the usual Panther Martins, Mepps and Rooster Tails, I used dark colored marabou jigs, rabbit strip jigs, 1/32-1/16 oz jigs with 2" curly tails and small jerk baits. I pretty much always work upstream on small streams. The fish face into the current, so if you come downstream, they’re going to spook. I break the run into sections. I start at the tail (which if fish are there, they’re usually actively feeding), and then when that is exhausted, I move up toward mid run, and finish with the head of the run. Look for rocks, logs, anything that offers a current break and fish behind and in front of that. Foam on the surface is a good indication of a spot you should throw to as there should be food collected there too. Look for seams where fast water and slow water meet. These are one of the best areas you can fish. Also look for shelves where a faster riffle plunges into a deeper, slower run.
As cpierce said, during this colder weather, fish slower, deeper water and keep things near the bottom. Nymphs and egg imitations are good bets this time of year for this. In addition to the smaller mayfly and caddis nymphs, Diamond Fork has a very healthy population of stoneflies and free living caddis (I believe people also refer to them as rockrollers). If you want to give nymphing a try, but don’t want to invest in fly gear just yet, I would suggest fishing them on a spinning rod with enough split shot a foot or two above them to keep them down. Just let them bump along the bottom with the current and pay attention for any abnormal little thumps or ticks. It takes a little getting used to, but pretty soon you’ll be scoring plenty of fish.
Dang gstott that is some awesome information, thank you! I’ll be printing that out and adding it to my fishing stuff. You’re terrific, thanks!!
and don’t forget to watch out for the lions and tigers too. Oh MY!
Liz - I applaud you taking up fishing in remembrance of granda, and for your kids benefit. They will remember those times all their life. Best advice (which I wish I followed better myself!) is make it about them. I get too caught up in the catching myself (or the trying too anyway).
Check on Loah, Gstott’s posts - lots of good river action, though they won’t ‘reveal all’ in their posts, I’m sure a PM will get you some info. Been lots of Weber browns of late too. Good fall action for some big fish!
Rivers can be a tough sell - depending on the size, volume of water moving - etc. Location is key - finding the seams, log jams, rock piles, bends, deep pockets, undercuts. Then managing to sneak up w/o spooking the fish.
Now if you’re pitching spinners or jigs - my general tendency is to cast downstream, but if the flow allows - pitching upstream, or across the current can get some good looks on the retrieve. Can’t think of the name of it, but one lure I like on the river - had a flat plate in front of a minnow - instead of a spinner blade. Chatterbait I think it is - gets a real good vibration - especially with all the current flow.
Good luck, and good getting out there! I envy you your Walleye! That’s an empty slot on my bucket list still!
Thanks, Coyote! I’ll be printing out your post too. I’m sure I’ll be spooking fish a lot until I get some smooth techniques down. Stream fishin’ is sure a lot different than the reservoirs. Thanks again!
Good for you on getting out with your daughter.
As it gets colder the fish slow down and sit deeper in the pools. I don’t know what you are using, but your fly, bait, or lure needs to get into the deep part of the pool and if possible stay there in front of their noses before they will take it. Think low, slow, and small nymphs.
Some warmer afternoons they may come up and sip very very small midges and Blue Winged Olives off of the water, but mostly from now to spring it is small nymphs fished slow.
Unless you find spawning browns that are aggressive toward any minnows or streamers in their area. Then the fight is on!
I’m a bit embarassed to admit it but I have no idea what a midge or a blue winged olive is. 
I think I have heard somewhere that nymphs are wet flies, that go underneath, but that’s all I know. Thanks for the good advice, I will definitely be trying to keep my stuff low and slow. Thanks!
No worries on not knowing what a midge and Blue Winged Olive are. They are just very small flies that hatch on the warmer day through most of the winter
I just mentioned it because there might be days that the fish are close to the surface where those bugs are collecting. You can still probably catch fish then with a spinner up higher in the water column.
If you can, go back through some of the stream posts this fall from LOAH, gstott, and riverdog. There is lots of good information in them on fishing the small streams.
You’re welcome, glad I could help you out. One other thing I forgot to mention is to get polarized glasses if you don’t have them already. Not only do they help you spot individual fish, but they can help you find drop offs and such.
You’re welcome, glad I could help you out. One other thing I forgot to mention is to get polarized glasses if you don’t have them already. Not only do they help you spot individual fish, but they can help you find drop offs and such.
I do have polarized shades 
Wish they came in non-shaded polarized, so I could still see both on top and under the water when the sun starts to go down, or before it’s up. Thanks again for the thoughts, I’m so excited to try these new hints that you guys have given me.
I’ll report back–hope to be able to hit some streams in UT county this Saturday!
Thanks you guys!!