A Boat Without Wheels

The afternoon was a beautiful today, sunny and warm, and I really wanted to spend a few hours fishing from my boat.

As I was prepping it I noticed one of the trailer's tires was crooked - angled in when it should have been straight up and down. I looked closer and discovered the bearings were gone.

I'm glad I found the problem while the boat was still in my driveway, instead of halfway up Soldier Summit.

By the time I stopped messing with it the afternoon was far gone and I didn't have time to go anywhere.

Lousy way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

It looks like we'll get a storm tomorrow and Monday, then it will clear up and be nice for a few more days. I'll probably sneak away from work early toward the middle of the week and get my fishing fix.

One of my goals is to include a decent photo every time I blog. The photo with this post shows the Heritage Bridge over the Middle Provo, between Midway and Heber City. I took it yesterday as I shop photos for utah.com, so we can improve our Heber area content.

So I was right there, walking above the fabled Provo River. I could hear the fish calling. I had my fly rod in my truck. But I ran out of daylight and did not have time to fish. I would have found a way, had I known my boat trailer was out of commission.

I have a great trip planned for next Saturday, if the weather cooperates. I hope to hike Notch Peak, in Utah's west desert. It is about 10 miles round trip, fairly steep, to one of the most spectacular vistas in the region. Should be fun. I'm still trying to line up a crew to go with me. Let me know if you are interested.

Fishing the Price River

See more of my photos from this trip.

I took the opportunity to fish the Price River for an hour or so on Saturday and was somewhat disappointing.

I've heard many good reports about that river over the years, but nothing at all about it this year. I drive past it many times a year but until Saturday I had never taken the time to stop. Since I was in the area and had a little time to spare, I decided to check it out for myself, hoping to find good fishing for nice browns.

I was there during the final hour before dark - usually a prime time when you are after trout - and I caught two browns, one about 12 inches and the other about 13. Two fish in an hour - that's not terrible, but these were skinny fish.

In the fall most streams run low and clear. This one was low but the water was a little cloudy. I only had time to try a few holes, so I can't really pass judgment on the stream. Nevertheless, I came away disappointed.

I'm interested to hear about other people's experience there.

The Price River drains a widely diverse area. Most of the water comes out of Scofield Reservoir. Above the reservoir the stream is called Upper Fish Creek and it is quality cutthroat water. I've fished there several times and always enjoyed it. Below Scofield it is called Lower Fish Creek, down to the Hwy 6 area. I have never fished there but I understand it is good brown trout water.

The White River flows alongside Hwy 6 on top of the mountain east of Soldier Summit. The White River has water quality problems and is not considered much of a fishery there along the road.

Downstream from the confluence of the White River and Fish Creek, the stream is called the Price River. It flows for several miles through a deep gorge along the highway and the railroad tracks. It is a pretty stream, with plenty of deep holes.

Maybe I'll get back there some day and give it another try. But it isn't at the top of my priority list.

I had hoped to spend several hours fishing Scofield from my boat on Saturday but my morning projects spilled over into the afternoon and I ran out of time. I needed to go to Scofield to take some photos for a client, and that also took longer than expected. With the afternoon fading fast I didn't even try to put my boat into the water.

As a general rule, I catch more fish per hour when I fish streams, but bigger fish when I fish reservoirs. With just an hour before dark, I figured my best chance to catch a few would come down on the stream. It was a nice diversion - fishing is great at any time and in any place. But this experience did not provide the break I needed.

After a long, hard week this wasn't a particularly relaxing Saturday. Maybe I'll be able to sneak away from work a few hours early and hit another stream during the next day or two. The rhythmic motion of casting gives my body something to do while freeing my brain to process. Hiking works just as well. If I don’t get in enough of that kind of thing, I start to go stir crazy...