Silver Flat Reservoir

If you are looking for a place to get away from the crowds and enjoy some good fishing with your family, look no further than Silver Flat Reservoir! This lake is tucked in the mountains above Tibble Fork in American Fork Canyon. The water was low, but there were plenty of fish still in the lake. 

Fish were jumping out of the water all over the lake so I decided to use my fly rod. It didn't take long before I caught a couple brook trout.

 

The first fly I caught fish on was a parachute adams, or at least I think it was! I don't know all the names!

 

Here is a close up of the fly so you can see what it looks like.

I tried some other flies to see what works and caught some more on this fly. The colors are somewhat similar to that of the parachute adams, but the fly looks different. I'm not sure what this fly is called.

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

If you can, bring a variety of fishing gear so you can adapt to the specific place you are fishing. Sometimes you will get to a lake and discover a spinning rod with a lure is going to be your best bet to catch fish. Other times, you will see fish jumping like crazy so a fly rod or a fly rig on a spinning rod would be best! The more variety of baits and gear you have can greatly increase your chances to catch fish!

Trial Lake

To start off my fish count, I decided to fish at Trial Lake in the High Uintas. I grew up fishing here as a kid and it is where I learned the basics about fishing. If you are looking for a place to take your kids, or a guaranteed fish catching experience, Trial Lake and the rest of the High Uinta lakes are where you need to go. Typically the fish will bite on almost anything you put on the end of your line. A simple hook with a worm, a sinker about a foot from the hook, then a bobber another foot or two and you are set. Lures, power bait, and flies all work here as well! I started out using a "Joe's fly super striker" on my spinning rod. You can find them at various stores. I discovered them at Smith's grocery store. The one I used was a black fly with a red tail. The spinner helps attract the fish as you real it in. The package lists several different kinds of fish it can catch, and I have found that to be quite accurate in the past. I caught a nice tiger trout on my second cast. I caught one more with the same fly-spinner and then switched. I tried several lures but nothing else was working. I finally caught a small brook trout followed by a small rainbow trout with a worm and bobber. I noticed the fish kept taking flies on the surface so I pulled out my fly rod and tried about 7 different flies until I found one that worked! I caught 8 more tiger trout and had several more on the line but couldn't land them! The fish seemed to like it best when I moved the fly slowly on the surface. This is one of the tiger trout I caught!

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

Fishing takes patience. 

Sometimes you have to try an assortment of baits to see what is working. What bait is working changes day to day. It can also depend on what time of the day you fish. If you aren't catching fish, try something different. You could be one "fly" away from several fish!