Fishing with the Devil

Adjacent to I-84, about 10 miles East of Morgan, Utah, rise two exposed rock strata that run parallel up the side of the mountain. With a slick rock expanse between the pair of stony walls, one nods in agreement with the name "Devil's Slide" as images are easily conjured of victims plunging down it into hell. Except at the base of this slide runs the Weber river.

Last spring, the Weber river became my favorite fishing river and Devil's Slide my favorite spot on the river. Anywhere I catch a fish, it becomes my favorite "hole" and at this spot I caught seven browns in three outings; others were hooked and lost but still added to the excitement of the location.

This morning I came up empty at Devil's Slide-the third time in the past month. It isn't the same river as it was in the spring. The fish are still there (I put them back last spring), but the river is high and now runs swift. The conditions exceed my skills as a novice fly-fisher. I knew that three trips ago; and yet I returned again this morning. It's my favorite fishing river. I caught fish there. Was there really something hurtling down the slide this morning or was it my imagination...