A bit of reflection.

[Mike]

I grew up fishing for koke's at the Gorge in the late 80's and early 90's with my dad. He was notorious for being one of the most competent koke guy's out there. Together we won dozens of tournements including his company sponsored tournemnets as well as the Buckboard classic. Looking back at how little the lake was fished at the time for koke's and how large the emphasis was on lake trout. It's truely amazing to me how popular the Gorge has come to be for this unique fishery. I think the extra attention has attributade to the conservation of the species and in the long run will benefit everyone. I'm thankful to have such a wonderful fishery in my own backyard and, myself have missed the state record by ounces. I hope this post doesn't come across as self absorbed, rather more of my reflection of my fond memories and enthusiasm for the sport. It's nice to see the tourism that this amazing fishery brings to the state of WY & UT and for that I tip my cap.

Tight Lines
Mike

[SuperD]

Mike, FG reminds me of the potato chip slogan, "You can't only eat just one." I can't imagine someone experiencing that special place just once and not returning every chance they got.

[Mike]

Great analogy... my sentaments exactly


Mike

[Targa165]

Thanks for sharing your memories. I really enjoyed reading your post. It's refreshing to read a post where a local enjoys seeing the tourism and sharing the resource with others. We are all here for a very short time and need to remember that we did not inherit the resources from our parents but rather we are borrowing them from our children. Once again, thanks for sharing your memories and I really enjoyed reading it.

[jacksonlaker]

I know what you mean about the Gorge. I told my wife it's my cycle, every month I need to fish the Gorge ! We have some incredible mountain lakes and streams here in NW Wyoming, and I would rather drive 4 hours to fish a huge, windy lake in the middle of a desert. The problem with a good thing is that the word gets out, and the result is a lot more people on the water. I hope to get there this weekend, but the wind forecast doesn't look promising.

[mytmouse]

Thanks for sharing...Having a good friend who was from rock springs....and loved to fish out there on his boat as well. Everytime I think of the Gorge I can't think of anything but Dan and his brother Kelly (montana). Hope the fishing is good up there Dan!

[Bduck]

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies on how we advertise such fine fisheries. Its in our good nature wanting to share those good memories and hope to see someone else build their own. But we all can't take the blame for its only a matter of time before the word gets out with the growth of population. Flaming Gorge has a lot to offer other than fishing such as touring the dam, historical ranches in the area, the beauti of the Gorge itself. I enjoy going to the Gorge even though it attracks a lot. Its what you make of it that counts.