Utah Big Game Odds: The single most helpful collection of information available on Utah draws.: Preparing for September

Jun 23, 2020

Preparing for September - Taking a Break

I decided to take a break this week in my preparations for my limited entry elk hunt and take my oldest three boys on a fishing trip. My dad was furloughed for the week so we planned a three day/two night camping trip in the South Slope of the Uintas to do some fishing, sit by the campfire, and just have an adventure for a couple of days. We arrived at the campsite at about 2pm and quickly unloaded the gear.

My dad could tell the boys were excited to start fishing so he told me he would take care of getting camp set up if I would get the boys in the river and fishing... he probably realized that he could be more productive getting camp together without them in camp.

So I helped each of the boys get their waders on and we were off with the fly rods to find some water to fish. The main channel of the creek was still running pretty wild but fortunately the creek splits and braids a lot so we were able to get into some of the little side channels and find some really good water to fish. Each of the boys picked up a handful of fish on the fly rod and we ended up running out of fishable water near camp in about an hour and a half.

Once grandpa got camp all set up he came and joined us and gave my second oldest a little one on one lesson.

Once we got done with that it was time to set up the hammocks and lounge around until my brother got there with his two boys. With 5 boys in camp between 8 and 13 there was no shortage of inappropriate behavior and jokes that should never be told in mixed company... especially in front of their mothers.

Friday morning we decided to hike up to a lake not far from the trailhead and try our luck there. Even though the hike was short, it was NASTY. It's a steep hike on a rocky trail with lots of loose stuff on the trail. At times it felt like it was one step forward & slide three steps back, but we eventually made it and the boys handled it quite well. We fished there for a couple hours and caught a couple nice brook trout.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent fishing the lake near camp and the boys did very well and we ended up with a full stringer of planter rainbows to bring home and throw on the smoker. My 11 year old nephew and my 10 year old son both got to clean fish for the first time... "wait... you really have to put the knife up their butt holes?!?"