"Native Cutthroat"

Ginny and Butch had pulled their RV and boat up Daniel’s Canyon to the Strawberry Marina so they could go boating and camping. They rented a slip for their boat and had been fishing each day and caught a few fish each time they went out into the lake. On a couple of these boating trips they took their two Dachshunds “Gracie” and “Roxie.” The dogs hated to get wet and didn’t like to take baths nor get close to the family swimming pool. On Saturday morning Butch went outside to take the dogs for a walk and the entire lake area was covered in the legendary morning mist that is often found at the eight thousand foot level. It had been raining for several days and Butch thought it might be another stormy day. However, as he made his way with the dogs along the low rolling hills he looked up and could see patches of blue sky which was a good indication that the mist would soon be burning off. The excessive rain that had blessed the Wasatch Mountains had made the Strawberry Valley come alive with Wild Flower blossoms more than ever before. There were Blue Bells, Indian Paint Brush, and entire mountain sides filled with yellow Daisies. The plant life was lush and resembled the type of conditions found at lakes and valleys at the ten thousand foot level. “Gracie” and “Roxie” were in “Dog Heaven” as they were surrounded by burrows of “Pot-guts” and “Marmots.” They would run into the brush to hunt and would not come back for hours. Every time they heard chirping sounds it made them go wild and their digging into varmint tunnels never ceased. The thin air was invigorating and Ginny road her mountain bike about eight miles to the “Renegade” marina. Butch had the dogs and was following her in his truck. They went back to their RV and Ginny fixed them a lunch to eat on the boat and they took the dogs and went fishing. Butch’s boat was a twenty two foot “Open Bow” craft and the dogs liked to sit up front and let the wind blow by their ears. Since it was their last day they decided to fish over to “Bryant’s Fork” where Ginny’s dad, Kenner, loved to fish. Butch had cleaned up and refurbished an old fishing pole of Kenner’s as well as his “Mitchell” 300 reel. So it was fitting to go back to his favorite spot even though the aged “Beaver Lodge” had been covered by the increased level of water created by the new “Soldier Creek” dam. Kenner had taught Butch and Ginny how to catch the beautiful “Brook Trout” which made their home near the lodge. By this time the sun was high in the brilliant blue sky which was highlighted by white puffy clouds. Fishing was slow and the dogs got bored and were sunning themselves on the back part of the boat deck which was near to the water. Suddenly there was a loud slap as Butch’s pole hit the back of the boat. Instinctively Butch grabbed the pole and gave it a hard yank. Sure enough he had a big fish on his line. After a few seconds the fish jumped clear out of the water and dove for the bottom pulling the slack on Butch’s reel. It looked like a sure trophy. The fish put up a good fight for a while and when Butch got it near the boat it started violently thrashing in the water. The dogs got excited. Ginny grabbed the net and brought the fish into the boat but, just as she did both dogs had jumped into the water after the fish. Neither of the short legged dogs were good swimmers. “Roxie” was in shock and Butch was able to lean over the back side of the boat and pull her to safety. Then they looked around and “Gracie” could not be found. They called her name and in a moment of panic thought she may have drowned. They ran up to the front of the boat and there was “Gracie” frantically trying to keep her head above water. The front of the boat was too high off the water for Butch to make an attempt to save her. Ginny quickly reacted and ran to the back of the boat and flipped the fish out of the net. She threw the net to Butch and he made an attempt to catch “Gracie” but he missed at first. On the next try Butch went deep with the net and captured her. He pulled her in and they could see she would not have lasted much longer. Both dogs crashed in the warm leather seats and slowly recovered in the bright July sun. Butch and Ginny went back to check out the fish and as it turned out the monster “Native Cutthroat” was only twenty inches long and did not meet the twenty two inch legal criteria for keeping. The two reluctantly put the fish back in the lake. They fished for a while and then slowly made their way back to their boat slip.
Copyright 2011 Gandy Dancer