"Suck, I Missed The Big One!!"

Ever time I am out fishing I hear the same fishing lingo. "Are they rising?", "What fly did you get him on?", "What a sweet take", etc... However there is one phrase that never gets left out of a day on the water. "Suck, I just missed the big one!!!" is a staple for all fly fishermen in the world, its meaning can make some mad, happy and others heart broken. But in some complex way it must feel good to say it, because we say it a lot. To admit to others that you had the chance to catch a big fish and you blew it. I guess we do it because in fly fishing half the battle is getting a fish to take and in this case a wise old fish. So when we shout out "Suck, I just missed the big one!!" we are really saying "That was awesome, I just tricked a big smart trout into finally eating my fly!" So today we had one of those days on the Provo where the famous phrase was very prevalent. Hancy and I met up to fish the Midge Hatch that we knew would be coming off at a certain location between 12-3 pm. Just like clock work the big pool turned from a fish rising here and there to a boiling pot of water. Right off the bat we were hooking into fish on small midge adults. The fish were a little picker today then last weeks, (maybe the bright clear day) but we both seemed to be content with the days results.

The fun thing about today's fishing was the way I would hunt/target a certain fish until it would fall victim to my fly or be put down. I would spot a large fish and key in on his feeding lane. I didn't want to waste any time with the smaller fishing rising all around. This technique proved true as I spotted a large brown trout sipping midges in the slow seem. After changing to smaller midges #26. I was able to hook and land the beautiful big spotted 19 inch brown.

On the other hand Hancy and I both shouted "Suck, I just missed the big one" about ever 10 mins, but none of them were worst then the hog brown that taught me a great lesson. I spotted the brown as its big dark back came out of the water to eat a cluster full of midges. I though that has to be over 20 for sure. After 30 or so casts to this over sized fish I decided to give it a break and try for some easier fish. After a nice 15 incher I was ready for another try at the brown that haunted me. As the flies landed I thought "NO, I casted to far", but to my surprise I saw a little halo in the water right where my emerger had landed, I jerked my rod back in hope of resistance...and like a lightening bolt of energy running through my body, I was in a fight up with my target. Right off the bat he took me deep and up stream to the safety of the big boulder. The fight only lasted for only 20 seconds leaving me on the bank flyless, shouting "Suck, I just missed the big one!!!"

HB 187--Bye BYE!!!

I personally want to thank Bryan, Lonnie, Cor and every other supporter of
Utah Water Rights...Thank you so much for all your hard work and dermination in this noble cause...It is people like you that make me proud to be a fishermen in the great state of Utah.
_______________________________
HB 187 ....DEFEATED TODAY....FINALLY!

After (3) substitutes Bills, (20) amendments, the Bill failed in the House, a 43-31vote today, March 9, 2009.

The public did the unthinkable, again. Not only did they sink the Bill the first go around, but they did it again for the second time today, 3/9/09. A great deal of determination, spirit and integrity stood up and brought down HB 187 AGAIN!!!!
HB 187 has been defeated once and for all!A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who wrote their Representatives, called, lobbied, informed, spoke out, went with out sleep, work, food and fishing to fight for something we believe in…time and time again. Even though we encountered a few bumps in the road, we all stood together to see it through till the bitter end. Today our elected Representatives spoke on behalf of the people and once again, today, the people were heard! Everyone played a big roll in this victory, congratulations and bravo for sticking it out.The next phase will be working to get a respectable Bill passed that meets on common ground, one that is reasonable to the Utah Supreme Court Ruling, and fair to all citizens. We must remain motivated and watchful in our attempt to protect our waters. Value our freedom and civil rights by taking care of our resource for generations to come.We have (2) more request.

1. Please write your Representative(s) and thank them!!. We sent thousands of emails and they answered hundreds of our calls, we need to extend our hand and say thank you! They worked hard for us; let them know you appreciate it.

2. Please use our precious resource with respect, humility and pride. Pick up that trash, repair that broken fence, mend the relationships with landowners and respect private property. We will be looked at very closely this year, let make sure we show them we are Guardians of the water and Stewards of the land. This year it’s extremely important to abide by the law and make the effort to lend a hand to landowners. This is just as important as eliminating the Bill.

Thanks again everyone, it wasn’t easy and we appreciate your honest efforts. My hat is of to you all!!!! We all came together with a unified voice…. residents and non-residents alike, extraordinary work everyone!

Well done!

See you on the water!

Bryan
www.utahwaterguardians.org

"EPIC DAY"

So I've been doing some thinking about what makes an "EPIC DAY" on the water. Is it the beautiful scenery one witnesses, the time away from real life, the fish caught or is it simply the friendships we gain and share? I guess it really just comes down to who you talk to and how they see their life. To me an "Epic Day" is something personal that I keep deep inside my soul, it is the one thing that I can have that no one else can take away or share. Its very personal.

So on that note, today was what some might call an "Epic Day". With the OK from the wife and a few texts later, I had a crew of four die hard fishermen and fisherwomen, excited to hit the Middle Provo in the morning. We arrived at our destination at 8:45 am to the surprise of complete solitude. (Weird for the provo on a Sat.) Isn't it funny how a little cold weather forecast will scare off most anglers. As we approached the river we instantly saw little rings of joy that would make any anglers heart start beating a little faster. After tying on some little Midges (#20-22) with 7X tippet, Mallary struck first with two quick hook ups. After that was the highlight of the outing for me. I casted my flies up the shallow riffle and WHAM! on the first cast I was hooked into a fat leaping brown on 7X tippet. It tried everything possible to rub or throw the hook, but after the air show was finished the big fish came into the net. It measured a true 21 inches with a great healthy girth. I was stoked! I could have ended my day right then and been completely content.

For the next hour we had a little calm before the storm, the hatch hadn't really started yet, but there were just enough little Midges flying around to keep the fish looking up. We each landed a couple on dries, then just like clock work the weather warmed a little and the main event begun!!! Within a matter of 30 mins there were hundreds of fish on the surface sipping the abundance of clustered midges that layered the waters surface. It was an amazing site and the dry fly fishing for the next 3 hours was just plain old silly. With a good presentation, the right size of fly (Griffin Gnat #22!!!) no hungry brown could stand a chance.

The key was in the presentation!!! Accurate, soft casting was crucial to get the tiny flies to a trouts feeding lane without spooking them.

With the late addition of Big Hoss to our team. Hoss, Wayne, Mallary and myself had a blast catching feisty 14-17 inch browns until our arms were sore and our confidence was through the roof. But just as we knew it, great days must come to an end and the hatch was over and the fish went back to their beds. All we could say was "that was an amazing hatch". So what makes an "Epic Day"? Well it's all in the eyes of the beholder...

Fishing Summary:

Fished: 9 am-4 pm

Midge Hatch 9 am-3 pm (best time 1-3)

Flies: Orange Asher #16, Grif Gnat #20, Zebra #22, WD-40 #22, Single Midge #24, Midge Emerger #24-26.

Tippet: 6X-7X

Midge Hatch Anyone?

What's tiny, black and very hard to imitate? You guest it, a late season Midge Hatch on the Middle Provo. I had the whole Sat. to myself. The only thing I had planned was to plan something to do. As I drifted off to sleep Friday night I had two ideas, one was to wake up early and drive out to the Green solo and the other was to venture to unfished sections of the upper Provo that had been locked up to private landowners for yrs, but now are open to their natural state. As planned I woke up at 4am, still undecided on what road to take, I fought over the pros and cons until my mind was set. The unknown wins again!!! Plus the extra 3 hours of sleep was nice. At 7am I rolled out of bed and packed the Jeep. When I arrived to the river access. I was greeted with something one would see on an Alaskan cruise. The river was lined with ice and flowing slush and ice chunks were the norm. Right off the bat I found a nice deep run with some very promising water. I hooked up with two fatties and that was it. The ice and the freezing water was enough to prompt me to head down river in search for some warmer water and a late morning midge hatch. (tailwater below dam) I got to my spot to see three trucks already there, dang I though, but when I pulled up everyone was just getting set up, so I pulled over and grabbed my rod and was the first to hit the river. As I approached the river I could see rings of midge eating trout.

My heart started pounding. I got set up with an outfit of #24 single midge with a orange asher. Within my first ten casts I managed to miss at least 3 fish and land 2 nice little browns.

That is about how the rest of the afternoon went for me. I would miss about ten fish for ever one that I landed. The biggest problem that I had was my over excited hook sets on 7X. I must had broken off at least 20 flies in fishes mouths. (Slurp, That was my fly!, hard hook set, feel the fishes weight, snap, SH!! SUCK!!!) Oh well, I was a little rusty on fishing dries. As the hatch started dying down around 3pm, I decided to switch locations again to see if I could catch some of the action on big browns that my little sis had a few weeks back. Our secret spot didn't disappoint. I hooked and landed 5 nice browns and a few feisty little bows and one huge whittie within an hour.

In all it was a great day to be out fishing. The weather was perfect for a Feb day. Sunny and about 30-40 degrees average.

I left the house at 7am and returned back home at around 7pm...Next time I will remember to bring my wallet or some kind of food to hold me over on a long day on the river...I returned home bet, tired, and starving, but totally fulfilled and content. Weird how that works

!!!Committee Meeting Tomorrow!!!

ALERT Committee Tomorrow!!!!

HB187 is up for committee consideration tomorrow: 2/20/09

Our Representatives will vote on whether this bill moves on. We need a strong showing of support. EVERYONE needs to be there.

This is more important than the rally!!!!

WHEN: Friday 2/20/09 @ 2:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Building - Room 445

Link-- http://le.utah.gov/asp/interim/Commit.asp?Year=2009&Com=HSTNAE

Keep fighting,
Bryan Gregson

***RALLY @ THE CAPITOL BUILDING!!!!***

Hey All, The rally is a go. Please support this and encourage others to join. This will affect all recreational water use! Now is the time to act! Forward this off to everyone you know. Time is short and we all need to act!Also, Please keep in mind that the committee hearing is going to be at the last minute notice. It could be as early as 8am Tuesday February 17. WE NEED TO PACK THAT MEETING! Standing room only and fill that room to over flow capacity!
We have attached a flier for you to download in your efforts to help spread the word. Paste it, stick it, plaster it, pin it, tape it everywhere, make this public! (Universities, hotels, workplace, forums, websites, etc)

Keep fighting,
Bryan
------------------------
ATTN: ALL WATER USERS
***RALLY @ THE CAPITOL BUILDING!!!!***
When: Thursday February 19 @ 10:00 am
· Meet on the East steps. Use East parking lot. As a group we will move inside the capitol building to the Rotunda area where we will hold a press conference at 10:30am.
· Specific meeting/parking/driving directions at he bottom of the page

WHY: ALL RECREATIONAL WATER RIGHTS ARE AT RISK!
House Bill 187
Use of Public Waters
CREATES CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES FOR THE LEGAL ACTIVITIES YOU ENJOY ON PUBLIC WATERS
TAKES AWAY WATERS YOU'VE ALWAYS HAD ACCESS TO
ALLOWS PRIVATE LANDOWNERS TO KEEP YOU OUT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY
SEVERELY DAMAGES THE ECONOMY OF UTAH'S OUTDOOR INDUSTRY
PUTS PRIVATE INTERESTS OVER THE INTERESTS OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC
WASTES DOLLARS AND EFFORTS ALREADY SPENT ON IMPROVING FISHERIES AND HABITAT
CREATES CONFUSING AND CONFLICTING RULES THAT COULD RESULT IN YOU GETTING CITED FOR PARTICIPATING IN A LEGAL ACTIVITY
CREATES A COMMITTEE THAT CAN FURTHER REMOVE WATERS FROM PUBLIC ACCESS

Users of this resource have not had the opportunity to contribute or exchange ideas on this issue. Any proposed legislation should have the backing of an intensive planning committee, within the parameters outlined by the Utah Supreme Court's ruling, with representation of all interested parties.

BOTTOM LINE -->This issue is too important--to landowners and sportsmen alike--to rush it through the session.
----------------------------------------------
DIRECTIONS
PARKING/DIRECTIONS - http://www.utahstatecapitol.utah.gov/visitors/parking.html
ROTUNDA DIRECTIONS - http://utahstatecapitol.utah.gov/visitors/virtualtours/index.html

!!!Stream Access Threatened!!!

Taken from Bryan at http://www.utahcutthroat.blogspot.com/

Hey all,
Some recent news has been brought to my attention. I got word that there is at least (1) bill being pushed through to take away Utah's public right to use all Utah water.We will need to defeat any attempt to remove the existing law. This will need to be done at the grassroots level by calling, emailing or writing legislators in every district in order for them to be aware of the pending assault on the stream rights ruling. This can only be achieved by contacting all of our friends and asking if they will make the small effort it takes to email their legislator. It's going to be an uphill battle but with a joint effort we can make this happen.So to curb any thoughts and to hit this head on before it gains momentum we need to contact our representatives and let them know we support The Utah Supreme Courts ruling, our right to access public water and will not accept anything less.EVERYONE needs to get involved. The more letters the legislators get from more sources, the better. All you need to do is identify where you live, who your area representative is and contact them its easy! It takes less than 5 minutes. Our small voices can and will be heard! Please call everyone you know and ask them to send an email or letter to their representative asking them to protect our right to use public water and wildlife on public waters."Utah Water Guardians" have provide simple steps with easy to follow information that will allow your voice to be heard.
Check it out --->http://utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com/action/
Follow the quick easy steps to locate your representatives and make your voice be heard.Get on it, the time is now!

Keep fighting,

Bryan Gregson
utahcutthroat.blog@gmail.com
http://www.utahcutthroat.com/
____________________________________________________________________
More Info Posted Tues 2/2

Hey all,
UPDATE>>>>
We have created a flier for you to download in your efforts to help spread the word. Paste it, stick it, plaster it, pin it, tape it everywhere, make this public! (Universities, hotels, workplace, forums, websites, etc)
This will help encourage others to exercise the right to speak out against issues that effect s us. Only together we may be able to accomplish this task at hand. Time is short, ACT NOW!
Free download --> http://utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com/download/utahwaterguardians/
Please let us know if you have heard back from your representatives. These are not to paste publicly but to catalog our charts so we know who needs to hear from us and who we don't need to overwhelm.
Key points -- The Utah Supreme Court ruling for the conatser bill only uses the word "access" (1) time. This is about "right, use, utilize and upon the water".
Great job everyone, lets keep this going!

Thank you for all your efforts!!
Bryan
____________________________________________________________________
UPDATE:
February 7, 2009
THE BILL HAS BEEN TITLED AND NUMBERED
Bill Introduced -> "H.B 187 Recreational Use of Public Waters" (Ferry, B.).
Bill Numbered by Title without any Substance, PDF -> H.B 187
Some refer to this as a "Boxcar Bill": Often members of both parties' leadership introduce what's called "boxcar" bills-bills with general titles, like "tax changes"-that contain no text. They are introduced just in case, at the end of a session, the bill file is needed for last-minute action.
WEB WATCH!
Web Watch!! Subscribe to each of the 3 subscription process separately to be notified of changes in each update. Bill –>http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2009/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0187.htm
Notice that Bill 187 is called "Recreational USE of Public Waters". Each word is important to understand so that, when you comment to your legislator or other advocates for your rights' interests, you will be talking about the subject at issue.
Here is the Conclusion of the July 18, 2008 Conatser vs. Johnson Utah Supreme Court ruling:
"29 The district court incorrectly interpreted the scope of the public's easement in state waters so as to limit the Conatsers' rights to being upon the water and to touching the privately owned bed of the Weber River only in ways incidental to the right of floatation.""30 We hold that the scope of the easement provides the public the right to float, hunt, fish and participate in all lawful activities that utilize the water. We further hold that the public has the right to touch privately owned beds of state waters in ways incidental to all recreational rights provided for in the easement, so long as they do so reasonably and cause no unnecessary injury to the landowner."
If you have not taken the time to contact your Representative (s) please do it now! Time is ticking!!
Take action, contact your Representative –>http://utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com/action/
If any of you have received any feedback from your Representatives please let me know
Thanks,Bryan
____________________________________________________________________
OK everyone... It crunch time. The Bill should be out very soon!!

For those of you that have just been added to this list please take a moment to read the attached previous emails below and visit -->http://utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com/action/Those of you that have already contacted your Representative(s), please direct your attention to the Governor's office.For those of you that have not contacted your Representative please do so, even if its only to ask questions to get informed or to let them know that this "backdoor" stuff is concerning you or that you are apprehensive about trusting anything at this point. Its easy,and it takes less than (5) minutes!
Person(s) of Interest
· The Governor's office
Ø Amanda Smith - Legislative Affairs Advisor - amandasmith@utah.gov
Ø Michael Mower - State Planning Coordinator -mikemower@utah.gov

KEY POINTS
o Let them know that Ferry's bill, HB 187, does not speak for your (public's) interest.

o Any effort to diminish, limit, or reverse the public's right to an easement on public water is a direct assault on our rights as defined by the Utah Supreme Court.

o You believe in respecting private property, and that water is a public resource--it benefits everyone and is "owned" by us all. The legislature's obligation is to defend the public's rights to use that resource while continuing to protect the rights of private property owners

o You do not support legislation that attempts to list specific "allowed" and "un-allowed" streams.

o Users of this resource have not had the opportunity to contribute or exchange ideas on this issue. Any proposed legislation should have the backing of an intensive planning committee, within the parameters outlined by the Utah Supreme Court's ruling, with representation of all interested parties.

o In 2006, 1.1 million residents and non-residents participated in some form of fish and wildlife –related recreation in Utah. These anglers, hunters and wildlife viewers spent $1.24 billion in retail sales creating $651.9 million in salaries and wages, and supporting more than 24,000 jobs. The total economic effect (multiplier effect) from fish and wildlife-related recreation was estimated at $2.3 billion.
http://utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com/ Thanks Bryan Gregson801-633-5399www.utahcutthroat.com
PS - If anyone has received any contact from their legislatures, please contact me asap!!
____________________________________________________________________
FEB. 12th
ACTION ALERT! - Bill HB 187
http://le.utah.gov/~2009/htmdoc/hbillhtm/hb0187.htm

We now ask you to start calling and visiting your Representatives!
As all of you know HB 187 was released to the public. This Bill is a direct attack on water users. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the citizens of Utah. No longer will we sit and watch as our leaders overlook the masses for a select few. Right now we are faced with a powerful bill that threatens our way of life, our water and our greatest valuable resource. There are those that would like nothing else but to put shackles and chains on our beloved rivers and steams. Together we must rise to the occasion and face this drastic act of injustice. We must all fight for our waters freedom.

Please be advised that the following events will be subject to LAST MINUTE NOTICE. We are giving you a heads-up to what lies ahead, so be prepared to act.
P Committee Hearing s V we need to pack the house with bodies, standing room only. Our goal is 200 people! Please come and bring a friend. We need your participation. You need to be here!

P Press Conference - At the Capitol. Tues or Wed @8am.Bring your family, friends, children, waders, boats, kayaks and soul. After, we are moving inside for a face to face and will be sending notes into our legislators.


P Phone Bank V The first wave was a success. We were heard loud and clear. Although we still can send in emails, we are not moving into the next phase. We now ask that you to pick up the phone and CALL your Representatives! We will be coordinating the calls with all active groups. A "point of interest" sheet will be provided to all for reference.

Keep our waters free!
Bryan
www.utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com