We are new fishers to the Uintahs and are looking for some good fly fishing this weekend. Any suggestions of good fly fishing lakes in the Uintahs - that are good for shore fishing (we do not have float tubes)? Also, what flies would you recommend. THANK YOU! we appreciate all help!
I would like to welcome you to BFT and look forward to your post. In case you did not know we have a Utah fly fishing board that could be of some help to you also, here is a link to it:
http://www.bigfishtackle.com/forum/Utah_Fishing_Forum_C55/gforum.cgi?forum=140
I can’t recommend any flies but I can tell you there are a lot of lakes you can either drive to or hike to by driving the Mirror lake highway. Hopefully a few of the fly fishing guys will chime in and give you some better info. Good luck, I hope you find what your looking for and have some good luck while your there. WH2
If you hike in to any remote lakes, it usually won’t matter what fly you use. They hit almost anything. When backpacking a few years ago, some guys with us were using bright pink or bright blue size 10 or 12 dry flies and catching the cutthroats like mad!
Thanks. That’s good to know. We’re headed up this weekend 9/13/08. Figuring it’ll be pretty cold but awesome.
Many times pretty much any fly will work. However here is a list of pretty good flies for the Uintas. If I could only take one fly into the Uintas it would be a gray hackle peacock (size 16 or 14). It is my old stand by. The rest of the list would be a renegade (pretty close to the gray hackle), a black gnat, elk hair caddis in brown or yellow, adams (all in size 16 or 14), and a purple or brown leach. That should give you a good start.
I was in the Grandaddy Basin over Labor Day with my brother. I tied a couple gray hackles the night before and gave them to him intending to tie a few more - I didn’t get it done and got there with out any. I used a renegade and everything else - he out fished me 3 to 1 all day long - and that never happens. Good luck.
I agree. Grey hackle peacock or mosquito patterns (which are nearly identical except for the body), adams, renegades, black gnats and black ants are usually top performers as far as dry flies go.
For nymphs, zug bugs work great or elk hair caddis. And then, sometimes the mickey mouse fly beats them all. [sly]
Washington Lake was good last weekend for tiger trout taking flies. You can drive to this lake.
I like to tie my own with a dull orange body and brown hackle on a #16 hook. However, wooley buggers were working well for the tubers.
Anyone know of a map for the High Uinta lakes? I want to schedule a trip there for next August. I am really looking for several lakes that were within a mile of each other after about 10-20 mile hike in that I once fished as a scout.
Wish I knew how to fly fish, a real nice guy on Friday was slamming Vernon Reservoir for all that it was worth, meanwhile I was left with a meager catch and so was much of everyone else.
Well, the weekend warrior trip turned out to be a success. We tried a couple different things at Shepard and Butterfly lakes. Ended up having the most success on an orange body and a grey hackle peacock. Thanks for the advice! FYI- Most of the campgrounds are closed this time of year. You have to camp at lower elevations unless you go primitive.
pjs
DWR Bookstore on North Temple has all kinds of maps and books.