A two hour drive to Onemile Creek in Utah and I was ready to crawl on my belly to catch a Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. I arrived fresh around 3:00, ready to catch a fish and move on. I have to thank the people at roamandreel.com for having a blog post on fishing here, giving me excellent information to complete this quest. However, my insistence on finding what is in my mind’s eye caused much frustration and time, as always.
After entering the National Forest I didn’t see the large sign above, that I expected. A Large Sign! So, I kept following the road, for 10 miles, to the summit of Forest Road 50. No creek in sight for the last five miles. As there was no sign, or wifi signal, I backtracked until I had one bar on my phone. I thought that maybe I was in the wrong place. After driving leaving the National Forest back into the roads leading to the creek, driving in squared circles, 1-3 miles per side, I found a little triangle of roads with the not very helpful sign below.
I spent two hours driving to the summit and then driving in circles on roads in Utah and Idaho, eventually deciding that I must have missed the sign and I was on the right path as I entered the National Forest. I entered the National Forest and pulled to the left into a shaded area, and then I saw it.
The Sign was off on the left, way left, and in the upper left corner of the billboard. Maybe that is why I “left” and got lost? (rapier-like wit that was used in the classroom for 31 years LOL). I read the sign, got on my minimal gear, crossed a barbed wire fence and trotted off to fish.
To say the creek was small, yes it was. To say it was accessible, not so much. Overgrown trees and bushes, with dead branches and branchlets smacking you in the face and arms, I made it only about 50 feet upriver to an obvious creek crossing and a little, 1-1.5 foot wide, 1 foot deep pocket of water on the near bank. Add that I had only had a large cup of mocha in the morning and hadn’t eaten all day, there was no way I had the energy to hike up the creek.
I sat at the edge of the crossing, just on the bank of the creek, and realized that I was not going to catch a Yellowstone Cutthroat and that I would not complete the Utah Cutthroat Slam. Okay, I will get a medallion from the Wyoming Cutt-Slam and hopefully one from the WNTC. As I was having trouble standing up, I decided to rest a while and plop the line in the water just for kicks, and to say I did fish, a little.
A beautiful little Yellowstone Cutthroat attacked the fly from the bottom of the “pool”. I hope Utah will accept this photo, but they state they want Clear Photos. Aarrgghh. I was now way too excited and exhausted to take good photos, or even photos of the creek and the foliage. Not my best day, but, what the hell? It still was fun, lucky, and a good day. I may not get a medallion because of this photo, but I’ll have the memory, and back aches, from this experience.
As one famous guest from the Maury Show stated about possibly being the father of a baby: “It’s All Graveeeey, Babeeeeeey”.
Tight Lines!