Submitted by Brett.Prettyman on Thu, 2015-09-03 11:13 Conservation High Desert Anglers - 620 Wyoming Flycasters - 605 Weber Basin Anglers - 681 Stonefly Society - 048 Wyoming At-Large - 748 Seedskadee - 533 Utah At-Large - 753 Nevada - 9NV Wyoming - 9WY Greater Yellowstone Area The Front Porch Trout Magazine Utah - 9UT Wyoming Range Outdoor Communicators Vote Up Down +6 + DSC_0194.jpg The Utah Single Fly Tournament allows participants just one fly during a full day of fishing. By Brett Prettyman As the fish threw the hook and returned casually to its holding spot I mentally erased the 18 points it briefly represented on the score sheet. For the second time in as many casts a 17-inch rainbow trout spit out my choice for the Utah Single Fly tournament. At least I didn’t lose the fly. I still had to face my teammate and guide, who had watched from the dory and witnessed my self-insulting tirade. They were laughing when I stepped back in the dory. We were there, after all, there to have fun. DSC_0204.jpg Cameron Garcia of Twin Territory and the Old Man team explains why they deserved the "Bird Dog" award for fly retrieval during the Utah Single Fly. The annual Utah Single Fly tournament on the Green River was underway and I had joined some of my best fishing buddies for a day of competition. I’m not a big fan of fly fishing contests, but this one is a fund-raiser for Trout Unlimited conservation projects and I’ve supported the event with my “Three Rods and Hooker” team several times over the years. The tournament is simple. Fishers are allowed to use one fly - yes, one fly, not one fly pattern - to fish with from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. You lose it and you are out, unless you happened to purchase a “mulligan”. One unlucky angler last week snapped off his single fly by 8:45 a.m. and lost his mulligan before 11 a.m. Teams of four anglers are divided and paired with a guide. Specific guides can be “purchased” if a team elects, otherwise, a drawing is held to determine guide/participant pairings. One team floats the A section of the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam and the other floats the B section. DSC_0107.jpg Anglers competing in the Utah Single Fly float the A section of the Green River. Teams get points for each inch of fish they measure (two each) and a point for every fish they land. Bonus points are awarded for fish longer than 20 inches. My team is led by the fearless couple of Nick and Stefanie Jones, who, for some reason, rarely fish together in the tournament. In addition to having an excuse to head to my favorite place on the planet to fish in the Single Fly, I’ve learned – or relearned is this case – some useful things. When every back cast, every wind knot and every line rub on the boat can mean you lose your chance to stay in the competition it makes anglers pay the kind of attention they always should to details. Reminders of these fly fishing basics might mean when I finally do hook a 26-inch brown on the Green that I could have a chance of actually landing the beast. Fishing was tough for the 2015 Utah Single Fly. We knew it going in and measured our first fish – a whopping 11-inch brown - just to get some points on the board. Several dories finished without measuring the allowed four fish. Nick made up for my less-than-impressive first fish by landing a 20-inch brown and scoring us five bonus points. DSC_0112.jpg Rainbow trout and brown trout are the dominate species on the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. We felt pretty good about our score when the day officially ended. We felt even better when we heard via text that our teammates on the B section had a super strong showing. Colby Crossland, who guides on the Green but took time off to fish with us, managed to land 18 fish on, including another bonus fish over 20 inches. Before the awards dinner everybody was trying to do the math and our score of 174 points seemed to ending up on top, but it was close. Three Rods and Hooker, which had improved its standing each time the team competed in the Single Fly, had won the 2015 tournament. And there was much rejoicing. Our big prize was a plaque. DSC_0236.jpg The Three Rods and Hooker team celebrate winning the 2015 Utah Single Fly tournament. The real winner of the Single Fly is Trout Unlimited. This was the first year of a local chapter had organized the event. The High Desert Anglers Chapter of TU has decided to use the roughly $15,000 generated at the Single Fly on two projects on the Green River. Part of the money will be used on new signs explaining special regulations on the fishery. Another portion of the proceeds will be used to build and install auto-filling boot washing stations to help prevent the spread of invasive species on the Green River. High Desert Anglers also elected to allocate money to help with a conservation project on a local water that will turn Brush Creek back into a native Colorado River cutthroat fishery. The best thing about winning an event is the expectation that you will have to defend your position. I’m sure going to hate having to fish and helping TU raise money for conservation at the 2016 Single Fly. Results of the Utah Single Fly: Three Rods and a Hooker, 174 points; OMC 170; Edge Homes 161; Midgley-Huber 161; Jones & Waldo 125; Ten Inch Combo 112; Cache Anglers 102; Magnificent Two 77; M&M Welding 60; Twin Territory and the Old Man 59. WadefishingGreenRiver.JPG The A Section of the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam. Brett Prettyman is TU's Intermountain Region (Wyoming, Utah, Nevada) communications director. He works from Salt Lake City.