I decided to leave work early today and do some fall trout fishing. I love to fish in the fall. The air is crisp and cool and the leaves are gold, red, green and yellow. Not only is it a beautiful time of year but it is also one of the best times to go fishing. The fish are in a feeding frenzy as the days get shorter and winter approaches.

I headed up to Silver Lake Flat Reservoir and arrived around 3:30 pm. This is a very beautiful lake which is located only 30 minutes from my house. The lake is located in the Wasatch Mountains up American Fork Canyon. The lake is surrounded by 10,000 foot peaks that are awash in reds and yellows as the alpine brush and aspens just below the tree line are at their peak of changing. I was the only one fishing the lake and the solitude coupled with the natural beauty was awesome! I was even lucky enough to hear a dominate herd bull elk bugling for his harem a canyon away. I am always amazed at how wild a place the Wasatch Mountains are even though they are located just minutes from a major metropolitan area.

When I arrived at the lake the water was boiling with rising trout. The water still has a lot of algae and fishing with bait and a sinker was out of the question. The wind was also blowing fairly hard and fly fishing would have been difficult at best. Due to the conditions, I decided to use lures and jigs to see if I could catch any of these trout. The first cast was smacked hard by a feisty rainbow. The fish fought especially hard for his small size. I landed him and removed the hook and set him free to fight another day. The success of the first cast set the tone for the rest of my time at the lake. I had a very successful outing catching over 20 pan size fish which were all rainbow trout. I released everyone to fight another day except I kept my limit of four medium size fish. I like to eat the medium size fish because I think they taste better then the bigger and older ones.

I left the lake just before sundown and headed home with my fresh catch of trout. I cleaned the fish, vacuum packed them and put them in the freezer to eat in the near future. I will fry them up the way by grandfather use to eat the trout we caught. It is not a fancy recipe and only includes a few ingredients – flour, salt and pepper, but this is a simple and delicious way to eat these pan size rainbows. After removing the bones, you bread the fish in the flour mixture and fry the fish in a cast iron skillet in a little oil and butter until the fish are golden brown. Serve the fish with a lemon wedge and some parsley as a garnish.

It was a great day to be on the water and I look forward to many more fishing trips before winter finally settles in.