Friday, May 30, 2003 | 10:40 a.m.
Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.
Last weekend, my husband and I headed to Southern Utah to fly fish from float tubes on Kolob Reservoir.
From Virgin, Utah, we traveled along a narrow, winding paved road for about 25 miles. We enjoyed breathtaking scenery, blooming cacti and the spectacular rock formations of Zion National Park.
A few snakes slithered along the red-colored pavement, and a few deer sightings made our trip memorable.
The reservoir sits at 8,000 feet and the 250 acres provides a popular destination for fly-fishing from a float tube.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources manages the fish population in Kolob Reservoir.
"Kolob is so popular with float tube anglers because the lake is small enough that you can access the entire lake from your tube." said Conservation Outreach Manager Lynn Chamberlain. "Wind conditions are generally favorable for float tubes also. The wind will blow at times but not generally."
The limit and possession on these waters are one fish that measures 22 inches or larger.
"Kolob Reservoir has been designated as a trophy fishery," Chamberlain said. "It is our intent to leave fish in the reservoir until they become large, trophy class fish.
"In addition, to the rainbow planted in Kolob, there is also a large, self-sustaining population of cutthroat trout. They also fall under the same size and possession restrictions as the rainbow. Kolob is a popular reservoir for both residents and nonresidents alike. Without these restrictions, those large fish would not be available for the public to enjoy."
Anglers use only artificial flies and lures to facilitate catch and release efforts.
Alongside his brother-in-law, Chamberlain said they fished for about three hours using a floating line tipped with a Grifith's Gnat. Between the two, they caught and released 25 fish The majority of fish were rainbow, with three or four nice cutthroat.
Chamberlain shared this tip, "Watch for the hatch of local insects and try to mimic whatever the fish seem to be taking. Fishing deep with a leach pattern in brown or green will also produce."
While fly fishing the reservoir, I met Mike Siedleck, who is a local pipefitter from Las Vegas.
"When the fishing is on at Kolob, it's incredible," Siedlecki said. "But the whole trick is to catch it when it's on."
Siedlecki said he'd been fly fishing and fly tying since age 13, and has fly fished from a tube at Kolob and other western waters since 1994. Last weekend, he fished with normal woolly bugger patterns, normal nymph patterns and the electric caddis in sizes 14 to18, with size 18 bringing him the best luck.
He eagerly shared one of his electric caddis flies with me. I tied it on, as my feet paddled me away on my float tube, to give it a try.
For information and fishing regulations for Kolob Reservoir contact the Southern Region, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, at (435) 865-6100.
As for my husband and I, we caught and released a few fish and already have plans to fly fish from a float tube on these waters again.
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