Welcome to High Country Fly Fishers

Annual HCFF Christmas Party

Toast the holidays at the High Country Fly Fishers Christmas Party.

It’s a potluck, so please bring a main dish, side dish, appetizer, salad, or dessert to share with your fellow revelers. You should bring your own adult beverage. HCFF will have water for you.

The highlight of the evening is the White Elephant Gift Exchange, so bring a wrapped gift with a suggested value of around $15 to $20 if you would like to participate. If there is more than one member of your party who would like to participate, bring a gift from each. Both gag and traditional gifts are appropriate. You never know what you will go home with. It can be your own gag gift.

Gift ideas to help your imagination - a bottle of whisky, a bottle of premium red wine, fly fishing tools, artwork, an insulated water bottle, fishing supplies, fishing gloves, classic coffee mugs, a rechargeable flashlight, ice cleats for the snow, a snow shovel, etc.

To ensure a well-rounded meal, we recommend the following schedule for food contributions; however, you’re welcome to bring any special dish you’d like.

The last name starts with:
A-F: Main Dish
G-M: Dessert
N-S: Appetizer
T-Z: Salad or Side Dish

Please sign up on our Activity Sign Up page.

If you have any questions, call Todd or Jen at 801-319-2769 or email him at johnsonflyfishing@gmail.com

What is a CRT?

As summer temperatures climb, it becomes increasingly important to handle trout with care—minimizing stress and ensuring a swift, gentle release to give the fish the best chance of survival.

The photo shows a CRT - Catch and Release Tool. It was developed by John Schultz after seeing someone at Crittenden Lake in Nevada release fish rapidly using something similar. He came home and made a few prototypes for his fishing friends. After "beta testing" this design on a few of us, we declared it a success. We then made over 500 of them and would give them to anyone we met fishing.

Using this tool, you can fish all day and never touch a fish. No net is needed. Works in stillwater and for stream fishing. There is a two-minute CRT Video on the HCFF website.

Anyone can make this tool! Simple instructions are on the website. You can buy the materials at ACE or any Hardware Store. You may even have the materials in your home shop. The wooden piece can be a 5/8 dowel or a similarly sized piece of wood. It has a cup hook on one end and an eye hook on the other (optional).

This releases handling time to a few seconds, less than five. It is great in the summer for the fish and great for the fisher when the weather and the water get cold, as you don't get your gloves wet.

 

 

Conservation Update

Trout Unlimited Embrace-a-Stream Opportunity

HCFF has submitted an Embrace a Stream (EaS) grant to rehab Soapstone Creek, which is tributary of Upper Provo, after 2024 Yellow Lake Wildfire in Heber-Kamas Ranger District.

Free Trout Unlimited Membership

Click one of the links below to get a first-time free one-year membership, or if you’re already a member, renew your membership to Trout Unlimited. With this membership you receive a subscription to Trout magazine, discounts on travel and fishing gear, and much more.

The week of October 27 brought another successful electroshocking survey on the Lower Provo River, led by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). The team, headed by Michael Slater, Central Region Sportfish Project Leader, sampled four key locations: the Tunnels, Trestles, Deer Creek Reservoir, and Canyon View Park.

The week started out cold and blustery, but that didn’t stop 23 hardy volunteers from showing up to help Michael and his crew from Springville. From High Country Fly Fishers, Jack Campbell, Steve Caldwell, Bert Ley, and Bruce Pope joined in to lend a hand.

Volunteer turnout varied from day to day, with Tuesday and Wednesday seeing the largest groups—around 30 to 35 participants each day. Monday ended up being the longest day on the river, wrapping up around 5:30 p.m., but it also produced the highest number of fish caught in the Tunnels section.

Overall, the survey went smoothly, and the DWR team collected plenty of data to review over the coming months. Their findings will appear in the upcoming State of the Fishery report—something many of us are eager to see.

A huge thanks goes out to
Michael Slater and his dedicated team for their continued work supporting Utah’s angling community. Our ability to enjoy such outstanding fishing opportunities depends on their efforts every day.

For those who volunteered, it was a unique and fascinating experience—a rare chance to see firsthand the diversity and health of the fishery, to learn from DWR biologists, and to play a small part in protecting the river we all love. It was hard work at times, but immensely rewarding and well worth the effort.