Flaming Gorge, Utah

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Well we have been here before and loved it so we decided to come back again for fishing on our way up north to Alaska. The first day we rode the rapids of the Green River on our float pontoons. We fished for trout and caught only one. The fishing is not good now due to all the rain this area has received this spring along with the runoff from the snow. The float was fun but Patti had a little mishap that pretty much ruined her day. About an hour out on our float, her reel from her fly rod came loose and fell into the rapids. Yuk, how to retrieve it? Well, she began pulling on the fly line and of course the whole darn thing unwound in her lap. What a mess, but she saved the reel ! The line was stripped right down to the backing and about 50 yards of that was also in her lap. She switched to her ultra lite rod and caught one fish, other than that it was a dry day for fishing. Showing up on shore at the end of the day with one saddle bag stuffed with about 200 yards of fly line and backing and two exhausted fishermen who had had the course for the day ! Oh well, it was a beautiful day, we are both still breathing, and the scenery was spectacular !

Next day we decided to float the reservoir. We arrived at the boat ramp and the weather clouded up, sky turned black and wind came up pretty strong. We put the boats together and decided to wait an hour or so before going out onto the reservoir. We had our saddle bags packed with a pump for safety, tools for emergencies, food for hunger, and plenty of water.

The weather cleared and off we went to what we thought would be a good fishing spot over by some of the cliffs that surround the reservoir. Almost to our destination we noticed that Bill's boat was sinking, the water was freezing, the battery and engine were almost underwater. Our only hope was to try to make it to shore but shore safety was quite a distance away. We looked up and the sky was getting black, the rain started pooring down, the wind was fierce and the white caps were after us big time.
We noticed a spot at the bottom of the cliff that was flat and stacked with large pieces of rock so we attempted to go there and try to repair the boat.

After dragging both boats up onto the rocks and tying them up, we began working to repair the problem. The problem was not with the boat, we had simply failed to get a bolt in the correct slot and the pontoon was slowly coming apart. Since each boat only holds one person and has one seat, we had to fix the other boat to get safely back to shore. In the meantime, the whitecaps are becoming waves and trying to wash us and our boats off the rocks and into the cold freezing water. The rain was pelting our faces but we were smart and brought our heavy rain gear from our fishing packets. Hooded and zipped into these heavy coats , we certainly did not want to end up in the lake. This situation was becoming quite humorous...............after all............it doesns't help to panic............keep your head about you when all others are losing theirs...........that's what my daddy would say!

Bill, being the wonderful very SLOW but methodical worker that he is, repaired the boat. We placed our fishing hats under the boat so that we would not drop any of the bolts or nuts into the water . Heaven forbid ! Boats repaired, waves calming down, we placed the boats back into the water. We were there maybe two hours in the wind and rain trying to accomplish this task. As we pulled into shore on our return trip, exhausted, no fish at all, feeling very defeated, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day ! We were too pooped to pop and loaded the car and headed for the motorhome! No pictures, no fish, but now dry and happy ! Some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you ! NORTH TO ALASKA !

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