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Fishing the Beaver Mountains |
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By Sam Webb
Each year about the time school gets out my kids start asking questions like, "When are we going back to the Beaver Mountains?" and, "Do we get to stay in those condo's near Elk Meadows again?" It is becoming a family tradition to spend three or four days in that area during the first couple weeks in June. There are several reasons the kids like the Beaver Mountains and Elk Meadows so much. The most important reason is that my two boys like to fly fish. Now, they are only 11 and 9 years old so they haven't developed too much finesse with the fly rod yet. As a matter of fact, they spend a considerable amount of time either thrashing the water into a foam or retrieving leader and flies from bushes, trees and occasionally a sweater or coat. In spite of their rather unorthodox methods they still manage to catch a lot of fish from the lakes and streams in the Beaver Mountains. The second reason is that when they are thoroughly exhausted from a days fishing they can go back to the condo and watch their favorite programs on the Disney Channel. When you think about it, isn't that just about every kid's dream — to fish all day and then come home and watch TV. What a life! Another reason they like the Beaver Mountains is because of all the wildlife. Each year they keep count to see how many deer they can spot. This year they counted over 23 head standing by the road before they lost track. Several were big bucks, still in the velvet. They love to see the pine squirrels and the chipmunks mid the noisey jays. But mostly, they like to fish and fish and fish! One reservoir is just a mile or two below Elk Meadows resort. It is called Three Creeks because three small creeks converge right where the dam has been constructed. It is a beautiful area and in the past has been one of our favorite places to fish and canoe. The reservoir is just the right size to paddle around in and to troll a spoon or a fly. Unfortunately as we drove up to the reservoir this year we found it to be dry completely drained. Of course we were disappointed but we decided to drive around the reservoir and do a little exploring. We drove off the back side of the dam and dropped down into a little canyon. One good look and we knew we were going to like what we had found. A small stream meandered down the canyon and every few hundred yards it was dammed by some hard working beaver. The result was a whole series of small ponds and the ponds were teeming with fish. It took the boys about 30 seconds to rig up their fly rods and they were off. The only thing I heard from them for the next three or four hours was, "got one" and "Dad can I borrow another fly?" The fishing was incredible. They each caught 15 or 20 fish, which they carefully released. Most were fat little rainbows in the 10 to 12 inch class but occasionally they would pick up a nice brown. The larger fish were 14 to 15 inches long. I rigged up a bubble and a fly for Chelsy, my six year old. I helped her cast it into the middle of one of the ponds and then she settled down to wait. Not two minutes passed and her bubble completely disappeared. She set the hook and reeled in the very first fish she had caught all by herself. Boy was she proud. What a fish! And, what an afternoon! The day was beautiful, the fish were biting and the scenery was spectacular. We couldn't have had a better trip. About 25 flies and four hours later we said good by to our 'private fishing stream' and headed back to the condo for an early supper. The only way I could get the boys to leave was to promise to take them down to the Merchant Valley Dam (on the Beaver River) that evening. We fished in a large pool right under the dam until about dark. Fish were rising everywhere. It was fun to cast to the head of the pool and then slowly work my fly out across the clear water. It was impossible to get the fly completely across the pool without at least one fish rising to take it. Soon several people gathered up on the dam and watched us catch the little rainbows. The boys thought they had gone to heaven. The next morning we drove up to Kent's lake for a look-see. I was surprized at the number of people fishing near the dam. There must have been about twenty or so, mostly families, hoping to catch a trout or two for supper. There wasn't a single boat on the lake and after watching the fishermen for a while, I decided that the best way, by far, to fish Kent's Lake would be from a canoe or other small fishing boat. Getting out into the lake, away from the shore can really make a difference in the number of fish you catch, especially if there are some nice cutthroat or brown trout in the lake. Cutthroat and browns seem to be more aggressive than rainbow and they are easier to catch by casting or trolling a spinner or streamer or some other minnow imitating lure. You can catch a few of them on worms and cheese but to really get into some fast fishing your bait needs to show some action. And, that's when a canoe really comes in handy. The simplest thing to do is let the wind drift you along and cast toward the shore. You will need to vary the speed of your retrieve and the depth you allow the lure to sink until you figure out where the fish are. Once you do, the action will be fantastic. Another method we like to use is to actually troll. This usually takes two people but you can do it by yourself if you really watch your rod. One person paddles while the other one sits in the back of the canoe and fishes. Let out enough line to get the lure away from the canoe and down to where the fish are. Paddle the canoe parallel to the shore. Again you will have to experiment with how far away from shore to be, how deep the lure should be fished and the speed of the canoe. I have even seen people that have hooked electric trolling motors, fish finders and even down-riggers to their canoes. Some people really get serious about fishing from their canoe. We just have fun in ours. Many of the high mountain lakes contain some really nice fish but they generally are not caught by people throwing salmon eggs and worms out into the water from the bank. Once you get the hang of fishing from your canoe you will begin to catch a lot more and a lot bigger fish than you ever thought you would. Common lures used to troll (or cast) from your canoe include Mepp spinners, Panther Martins, needle fish, streamers, woolly worms or woolly buggers, spoons and even small pop gear and a worm or streamer. I also like to troll flies right on top. Don't use the spinners I just mentioned to troll with unless you have a mighty good swivel system or you will wind your line up into one great big knot. When we went up to Puffer Lake there were two small fishing boats trolling the water. We only fished the lake for a few minutes but did catch several 10 to 12 inch rainbows using Mepp spinners. If we would have had time to get out in the canoe we could have really knocked them dead. This trip we never made it up to Anderson Meadow or LaBaron Lakes so I can't report on how good the fishing was there. I do know that just about everyone we talked to at all the other lakes had caught or was in the process of catching some nice fish. No doubt about it, the fishing had to be described as excellent. Saturday afternoon, just before we left for home, we stopped and fished the Beaver River just below the Ponderosa Picnic Area. The boys had lost almost all my flies and so there wasn't much left to fish with. The only flies they hadn't lost were some big ones that I had never fished with and didn't have a clue as to what they were named or what they were supposed to represent. I trimmed one of them up a little and decided to go ahead and give it a try. I quickly found that if I let it dead drift I didn't get a single strike. However, if I made the fly dance on top of the water and actually skated it upstream I immediately began to attract the attention of fish. There were a few big moths fluttering around and I decided that was what the fish thought my oversized fly represented. Fishing couldn't be called fast, but I did catch several nice rainbows — and then it was time to head for home. I am still amazed at the number of Californians and Nevadans that have discovered the Beaver Mountains and how few Utahns take advantage of the scenery or the fishing. This is the perfect place to take the kids to teach them to fish or to just relax and enjoy the scenic beauty. There are plenty of campgrounds perfectly suited for an RV or trailer (I have yet to see the campgrounds full). And, those who like to set up their tent and cook over an open campfire will have no trouble finding a nice site. |
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