Land of Giants Fishing 2026
Monday was the first of two days with regular anglers Jim and Doug at LOG. The morning got off to a rough start as I walked out of my room in the morning to a flat tire on my truck. Fortunately I saw it early and it only set us back a little from our original plan.
We launched under partly cloudy skies with some high smoke overhead and went to the upper river. We started off by the dam and Jim didn’t waste anytime as he was hooked up in the first run.
It turned out to be a massive 24″ rainbow that was a stunning specimen. Within the first 15 minutes the guys had 3 fish in the net and they were all well over 20″.
We made along drift all the way through that upper water and hooked 7 fish with all but one coming to the net. The rest of the morning was pandemonium. Doug got run into his backing by two different fish, we doubled up a couple times, and had fish that broke off and bent hooks on hard charging runs.
While we definitely had some fish that got away, the guys also put some great trout in the net. The wind was pesky at times today so we were pretty much limited to the upper river where I could manage the boat in the wind.
The afternoon fishing was solid too, although it favored Doug in the front seat a little more than in the morning. They swapped seats after a couple passes and Jim got back in the action again.
We had another good double and then slid down to the sunken island to give that a shot. Jim hooked two in there, but the wind was tough and we decided to run out to the lake to finish the day.
I haven’t fished the lake in a while and the challenge was finding open water. The cloudy skies made it hard to see where the weeds were growing, but I managed to find a lane of open water and Doug was tight to a hot rainbow before I could even get Jim’s rod rigged.
We worked that area for about 40 minutes and the guys landed 6 solid rainbows and we had a couple others get away including another fish that ran Doug into his backing before finding some weeds.
Cloudy skies, temps in the high 70’s and good fishing from start to finish today. It’s going to be tough to top that tomorrow.
Land of Giants Fishing 2026
Tuesday I was back out with Jim and Doug. We launched early and were the first boat at the upper river. In the first run Doug hooked a 17 incher right away but it threw the fly on a jump.
A couple casts after that and he connected with a big girl that took a ripping run upstream. That’s when I realized I was in trouble…..I left my net in the truck.
Doug got that rainbow boat side and amazingly I was able to hand line a 23″+ fish and get the fly out. I did have a quick release tool with me and we used that on the rest of that drift.
Jim landed a pair of beefy rainbows and we added a couple more to the tally floating downstream. But I knew that we really needed a net to handle those fish properly so after that first run we made the trip back to the marina.
It took a little bit of time, but I’m glad we did because the guys put that net to good use the rest of the morning. On our return Doug had the hot hand with the first several fish to the boat.
Jim had a couple strikes, but Doug had the karma going to the point that I was measuring out the rigs to make sure Jim had the same set up. Then Jim got back in the action with a bent rod on every pass.
It was an excellent morning with very little other traffic. On our last pass the guys doubled on a pair of stud rainbows as an armada of boats motored up past us. We had lunch in the shade by sunken island and since there weren’t any boats down there we decided to fish that first in the afternoon.
In less than a minute the guys were doubled up. That spot continued to produce good fishing for several more passes including another double that was a rodeo with rods being passed between Jim and I to keep lines from tangling as those strong rainbows were running in every direction.
Doug picked up a gorgeous leopard spotted rainbow and Jim landed a dandy brown trout. That fishing started to fade in the late afternoon so we motored back to the upper river as most of the traffic had cleared.
It was just as good as the morning with multiple hook ups on every drift. We made one long drift to finish off the day and picked off nice trout the whole way down including another double.
Jim finished us off with the last rainbow back at sunken island. It was another really strong showing at LOG today.
Jim and Doug are always a lot of fun to fish with. We give each other a hard time in a good natured way and there’s plenty of laughs on the water.
Land of Giants Fishing 2026
Wednesday was the start of another two day trip with returning anglers, Stephen and Phil. This was Phil’s first trip to LOG so I was excited to get him up there.
We started up by the dam and I was a little surprised that we didn’t touch a fish up there, but then Phil hooked two just below that but they both shook free.
On the next pass Phil hooked another one and then Stephen tied into a nice rainbow for the first fish in the net. The fishing in the morning was pretty steady from there as the guys hooked a fish or two on each pass and landed some thick rainbows including one double.
They were fighting hard today and we lost a few on the big boulders or when they made long runs. That’s part of the fun at LOG in the summer is trying to tame those big fish on small hooks and light line.
After lunch we fished through the sunken island a couple times and Stephen tagged a couple bows in there, but it was a little busy so we went back to the upper river.
The bright sun and heat seemed to tighten up the fishing a little. We had hook ups on most of our drifts and picked up a few more quality fish, but the trout weren’t quite as grabby so I started working our way downriver.
We had another brief double on our way down through some boulders and hooked another hot fish at sunken island. Then we tried Beaver Creek and that didn’t produce so we decided to call it a day and get out of the heat.
A little slower today with the bright sun, but we still had very solid fishing all morning until it started to taper off around 2:00.
Stephen saw his backing at one point and both he and Phil landed some great trout today.
Land of Giants Fishing 2026
Thursday I was back out with Stephen and Phil and our day got off to a faster start this morning as Phil tagged a decent rainbow in the first spot on the upper river.
The fishing was good in the fast water but there was a noticeable difference early on. It was mainly smaller fish on the feed.
Smaller is relative at LOG, but the guys were sticking fat 15-18″ on every pass. We turned a few bigger ones that came unpinned, but it was a steady stream of hard fighting mid-sized fish.
As the morning progressed we did find a handful of bigger 20″ specimens including a pair of big bows at the lower end of the upper river. Then we started sliding downstream.
Stephen picked off a good one at the sunken island before we moved down to Beaver Creek. That run was dead yesterday in the late afternoon, but we hooked a few today including a nice double on our way to a shady lunch spot.
We went back to Beaver Creek to start the afternoon and Phil’s flies were in the water for all of 5 seconds before he was tight to a fish. That first pass yielded 4 and we cycled that run a handful of other times.
Of note was a gorgeous brown trout that Stephen found on one of our drifts. It was still mostly mid-sized fish with a few bigger ones and a couple more doubles.
In the guide world it is typically not wise to leave good fishing to find fish, but we decided to finish the day out on the lake to see if we could find some bigger rainbows.
Phil had a strike out on the lake in the first few minutes and then it went dead on us. Just as I was starting to regret not staying in the river, Stephen came tight to a solid rainbow.
He tagged a couple more and then I switched Phil over to the same fly and it wasn’t long before his rod was bent too with jumping rainbows.
Phil had an especially hot bow that ran all the way into his backing. That was a stud fish in the 23″ class.
With a couple minutes left in the day Stephen hooked the last fish. It was another good rainbow that broke off when Stephen’s fly line wrapped around his sandal.
It was another fun day at LOG. The guys caught fish from the dam all the way down to the lake with solid action from start to finish.
There are always lots of good stories with Stephen and Phil in the boat and we have a great time together.
Land of Giants Fishing 2026
Friday I was out with local anglers, Ron and Shane. This was Shane’s first time at LOG and I knew he would love it. I went back to the upper river to start the day and the guys doubled up just a few minutes into fishing. Ron landed his while Shane’s came unbuttoned right next to the boat.
That was the theme over the next couple passes as Ron connected with some fat mid-sized fish while Shane had a couple get away from him. There is definitely a learning curve at LOG to figure out how to fight and land these big bows in fast water.
The next pass Shane connected with another heavy fish and this time it all worked out as he landed a super fat 22″ rainbow. Ron picked up a couple slabs after that as we hooked a fish or two on each pass of the upper river.
I wanted to show Shane most of the water today so we worked our way through the boulder garden where both guys brought nice ones to the net.
The Ron came tight on a brightly colored rainbow at the sunken island and the light was perfect to watch that fish run around underwater.
We made a couple passes at Beaver Creek where Shane fooled another heavy 22″ rainbow before we pulled into the shade for lunch.
In the afternoon we went back to the upper river. There was a group of 3 bighorn sheep rams we watched for a bit on our way up.
The upper river was solid again. We had some big fish take us to school in the rocks, but we landed some nice ones too. The best of the afternoon was an absolute blimp of a rainbow that Ron landed.
We made one more pass at the sunken island as it started to heat up and Shane bent his rod with a final hot rainbow before we took a boat ride down into the Gates of the Mountains to cool off and see the sights.
It got a little hot in the late afternoon, but the fishing was steady all day. Ron and Shane will definitely be back to LOG next year.
