Antelope Hunt Turned Fishing Trip

Fishing Time: Friday through Sunday
Weather: Perfect, clear and sunny
Moon Phase: 81% Moon
Location: Deep Creek, Fremont River, and Forsyth Reservoir
Bait: Jigs, Spinners, and Worms

Who Went: Mike, Kelly, Casey and Cy Hansen, My Dad, Me

Hunting season is here and my dad drew out for an antelope tag down on the Parker Mountain, near Loa, Utah. He invited me to go and I told him yes, but only because I knew the antelope hunt really meant a fishing trip on the Boulder Mountain. We got down to Torrey, Thursday night and after sitting around the fire talking about what great athletes we all were, we went to bed preparing to go fishing the next day. It was bright and early on Friday at about 1:00 p.m. when we finally left camp to go fish! My dad and his buddies are not the fastest moving bunch, and we debated on where to go forever, but with the recent struggles with my dad's health we knew we couldn’t go anywhere that involved hiking, and if you’ve ever fished on the Boulder Mountain you know that there are only a select few amount of lakes that you can drive to. The decision was finally made and we made the trek over to Deep Creek Lake on Thousand Lake Mountain. The fall colors were absolutely gorgeous and I snapped photos all the way up the mountain.Once we got to Deep Creek I loaded up my float tube with all my gear and made the short 100 yard walk to the lake. The lake is just as I remembered it and looked so cool with the quakies in full fall colors!I launched the tube and began casting and jigging an olive marabou jig working the shorelines and the middle of the lake. Soon after launching my tube, my dad made his way up the mountain and hiked to the far end of the lake where he slowly rigged up his famous worm and power nugget combo and casted only ten feet from the opposite shoreline. I continued to fish almost every inch of the lake without a bite and then looked over to see my dad reeling in a nice 15-16 inch Brook Trout with beautiful pre-spawn colors. We took a picture, sent him on his way, and went back to fishing. My old man still has the Brook Trout touch, but unfortunately it ended up being the only fish caught all day. Deep Creek holds some nice Brook Trout, but has never been known for giving away many fish. Saturday we woke up early and went looking for some antelope on the Parker Mountain. We were shocked and disappointed in how many hunters we saw and how few antelope were on the mountain. The DNR has removed a lot of antelope from the Parker to repopulate other areas of the state and it looks as if they may have taken a few too many. With a tough winter last year and the relocation program that’s taken place by the Division of Wildlife Resources, the antelope heards look like they have been obliterated. It didn’t help that they also combined what is usually an early hunt and a late hunt into one big hunt giving out over 300 tags, which made the mountain look like Disneyland with people everywhere! We were so discouraged that we didn’t even go back to hunt that evening, but went fishing instead. We ran over to the Fremont River to a spot where my dad loves to fish. I put my waders on and headed down river with thoughts of my last trip walking this same stretch of river and catching brown trout one after another. Unfortunately this trip was not a repeat and I only managed one bite and no fish! I couldn’t believe it, I've never been skunked on the Fremont River. The next day my dad and I stopped at Forsyth Reservoir for a quick cast or two before heading home. We both had bites and I had two tiger trout hooked that decided to spit my spinner back in my face. The fish were following my lure all the way to the shoreline, but I never could quite land one. Most people would think it’s a bummer of a fishing trip to not catch anything, and I would usually agree with them, but I don’t get out much with my old man anymore and especially to a place that is so beautiful it leaves you stunned at times. A good fishing trip that I won’t soon forget! Oh and Dad... I'm back as a Yankee fan!