Piute ATV Adventures

Every year we spend and extended weekend down at the piute atv trail.  This year we went a little later in the year due to the fact we had so much snow there would have been no where to ride had we went at our usual time.  It turns out one of the trials was just opened 4 days before our arrival.  We got out a little later than expected on Thursday night so we had just enough time to get set up and get to bed.  I was given Friday as the day I could take off and fish, my buddy that was going to join me for the adventure ran into a snag at the last minute and couldn't come so I was off solo in the dark.  Not smart to ride solo on an ATV in a place you have never been before but you only live once and I would take it slow so at 5:30 am I was loaded and starting up the trail.  There was two lakes that I had researched and over the years of coming here I had not had the opportunity to fish.  One I was more excited about was Barney lake:

They had been putting tigers and cuts in this lake for about a 1/2 dozen years I was hoping they would have some size on them.  Since tiger trout are one of my favorites species I was hoping to get one over 20".  I was the only one at the lake amazing for a holiday weekend but if you get up early and travel a bit I tend to find solitude when I fish.  This was another gorgeous alpine lake I like to fish in the summer at around 10,000 feet.

I stared my kick around the lake.  I found more than my share of SNITS.  For those of you that don't know what a SNIT is here is a photo of a few:

I am not fond of SNITS in any form.  These were of the cut variety and hatchery fresh with worn down fins and everything.  I was really hoping to find a tiger in this lake, still hoping to find a fish over 9 inches as well.

I finally found a couple of tigers they ranged from 13 - 17 inches not the monsters that I was hoping for but a welcomed change from the snits.  I made one pass around the lake and figured I wanted to try plan B while there was still a couple of hours of good morning fishing available to me.  I really did not want to pack down the tube and re-inflate at the next lake.  It was only 1/2 mile away and my redneck engineering degree came in handy. 

I was surprised on a holiday weekend to find this lake on a major trial with zero people fishing it as well.  I was either really lucky of this fishing was really going to suck here.  It had a nice look to it so I wanted to give it a try.

I have to admit I have always been hard on cutthroat trout because as I say the save the fighting for the net.  I have to say these fish were the exception to that rule.  Not only did they put up a good fight but they were solid fish in all respects.  They ranged from 15-19 inches and healthy colorful fish.  I did not break the 20" mark I was shooting for but I did find a lake I would return to again for a re-match.

The hit hard and would put a bend in your rod.  Fishing solo it was hard to take the "bendo" pics but I did manage to get one.

This was about the best of the day:

We had a pretty good group on our ride the following day.  I also had a chance to take a long awaited drive in a RZR 4.  We had a blast and fell in love with the RZR 4!

We enjoyed an evening by the fire and everyone had a good laugh at my expense when I could not figure out the "going to Alaska" game.  The next day we wanted to explore some trial we had not seen before so we used the atv trailer and drove to Circleville to try our hand at some new trial.  This trip was also to include a trip to a lake Anderson Meadow that was supposed to hold brook trout.  Needless to say with an unexpected bonus day of fishing I was excited.  The trial turned out to be a steep and rock mess much more difficult that we should have taken our 1 year old son on.  The 25 miles of trail felt harder on us than the 90 we had ridden the day before.  We did manage to make it up to the lake along with 40 of our new closest friends fishing from shore.

I gave it a few casts but seeing SNITS being reeled in around us my hopes for a pristine alpine brook trout lake were pretty much out the door.  While Bill and my wife watched me and Bella attempted to give the hatchery pets a workout. 

After the rough ride home we decided to not cook the chicken we had brought for dinner and splurged on a pizza instead.  We headed home after another family adventure.