Blue Line Story
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Editors note: This article was published to Tenkara Angler on 3/22/24
The day I learned how to blue line is the same day tenkara became my “bread and butter” style of fishing. I had discovered tenkara fishing in 2022 and had a few DRAGONtail rods such as the Mizuchi and Nirvana and a handful of Wasatch Tenkara Rods. I would often bring tenkara rods on my day trips but ultimately my comfort for the spinning rod would take over.
There is a special lake in the Manti-La-Sal National Forest in Utah that is known for big tiger trout. I would take my kayak there and troll back and forth along the banks with a spinning rod attached to rod holders. The fishing was so productive that I would boast about it to my brother in law. He grew eager for his opportunity to hit this lake with me and we finally got the time to meet up and take my inflatable drift boat to support both of us.
We arrived at the water promptly at 8:00 AM with textbook glass water. Immediately our excitement got the best of us and we started throwing everything we could into the water. The only problem is… we didn’t catch any fish! After all of the hype I put into the trip everything was perfect except the lack of production. Frustrated, we trolled around the lake for a bit and I thought to myself, “I am pretty sure, there is a creek that feeds into this lake.” We slowly approached the inlet where the creek met the lake to immediately see hundreds of thousands of juvenile tiger trout balled up in self defense to the possible 18” cruiser that might want to make a meal of them.
We pulled my boat up onto the shore and we watched these little trout swimming around waiting for the chance to sight fish something larger. With no luck and the sense of getting skunked on the line, I pulled out from my boat’s saddle bag a Wasatch Tenkara Rods Akai Samurai. I packed this rod by choice as it had the backbone for some big fish and a 396cm (13’) length, which I found ideal for still water. Rather than target these tiny fish, we decided to see if any larger sized fish had migrated upstream. So we hiked into the mosquito infested grass that covered the sides of this spring fed creek and stumbled upon more pools of juvenile tiger trout.
Eager to beat the skunk, I threw a Blue-winged olive (BWO) into a pool with the immediate take of a 4” trout. I was so thrilled to finally catch a fish after four hours of vigorous searching that I passed the Samurai to my brother in law who immediately caught one as well. We danced back and forth in the same pool which had an estimate of 200 fish jumping over each other to take on any food that landed in their path. Sadly our trip ended with an incoming summer storm and we left.
Fascinated by the number of fish pooled up, I studied the creek from Google Earth with the intention of going back the very next week to hike up higher to see what could come from it. The day started with another rod from Wasatch but this time, the Middle Fork. I started at the same pocket which to no surprise had hundreds of tiny juvenile fish and this time, it took me mere minutes to beat the skunk. I hiked up further in pursuit of anything else I could find and my life changed forever.
Pocket after pocket had pools of 8-10” tiger trout that clearly had minimal predators eating them thanks to the natural safety and barriers that the tall grass would help conceal. This creek in its majority was less than two feet wide. These trout were the apex predators of their environment. In my own fascinated mind, I told myself “I don’t think I can possibly use the wrong fly here”. I was so spoiled by this creek, I could use any dry fly I wanted, any nymph I wanted, and any terrestrial no doubt. These fish were competing with each other for food. Their only enemies were the trout of similar size.
I snapped a few pictures of the best fish of the day and to this day I have no doubt in my mind, I discovered the best tiger trout creek in the state of Utah. With a generous hour and a half drive, I paid at least five more visits that summer with no less than 50 fish each attempt in the 8” or larger size. It gave me new light and perspective that one of the many ways to blue line in any state is to start with a body of still water and see what feeds into it. Many trout are instinctively adfluvial. I don’t think our DWR expected them to swim upstream but it was clear that the fish would find any moving body of water to grow older before moving back into the lake for their infamous sizes. Two years later, I timed my visits a few weeks after stocking events to make sure some of them had the chance to swim up.
My most recent attempt to visit this creek came after Utah experienced one of its largest winters to scale. I paid a visit to the creek only to discover some new beaver dams which changed and altered some of the course of the creek. This time; armed with the DRAGONtail Mizuchi and its newer, soft blanks, I decided to make my way as far up the creek as I could, which I would estimate to be a mile and a half or so. As I arrived at the final pool which I dubbed “the end of the line” from previous visits there was a spring fed waterfall that drops off a 10’ cliff which made me believe that no trout could jump that high up. This time though, the pool under the waterfall was so high from runoff, it seemed entirely possible that fish could have made their way up even higher.
I found myself lost in a whole new world. It felt like I had this creek completely figured out, but each pocket being newer and newer kept me pushing and trekking up the mountain side. I came around a pair of trees to discover the largest pool I have yet to see (in exception to the beaver dam). I carefully assessed if there were fish in it before I made my approach and ultimately decided there may be little to no fish. Because these tiger trout were so dark in color, it made them easy to see from a distance in some cases. I casually bow and arrow casted my size 18 purple haze into this pool to have a translucent figure move right under it and sip the fly. Caught off guard, I jumped down the ledge giving me the advantage to the pool and as I scoop the fish into my net, I quickly realized I had landed a very rare and native Bonneville cutthroat trout. Icing on the cake!
I carefully released the majestic fish back into its pool, bamboozled that such a fish could co-exist with so many others. To this day, I have used high mountain lakes as one of my stepping stones to discover blue lines. It may not be the only way, but it sure works for Skiddy! Follow the creeks…
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