Kolob Reservoir – FisherDad

Kolob Reservoir During the Dog Days of Summer

Some of the white sandstone cliffs of Zion National Park. Note the ones just above the red sandstone in the extreme right of this photo.

My first visit to Kolob Reservoir was late June 2005. I cajoled three of my sons to come with me (Douglas, Thomas, and Brian). They made the trip fun with all sorts of comedy antics and teenage bantering. Although Kolob gave up just one five-inch trout between the four of us, it remains one of my most memorable adventures (see Kolob & Little Reservoirs).

Southwest Utah’s Color Country

Sandstone columns overlooking Red Canyon

They say these are the dog days of summer, the hot, sultry time of year between early July and early September. Here in Las Vegas this is our monsoon season. As funny as that sounds, there are two periods where Las Vegas receives most of its precipitation: December through March and July through September. Make no mistake; it’s the July through September period when moist air travels up from the Gulf of Mexico that’s the killer when combined with high temperatures well above 100 degrees. At those temperatures the rain often evaporates before hitting the ground which contributes to humidity… and thus the “dog days of summer.”

Kolob Reservoir – Southwestern Utah

Kolob Terrace red rocks, with white cliffs of Zion in background

My first trip to Kolob was a getaway with my sons Doug, Tom, and Brian. Although that outing was intended to spend time away from home with the boys more than it was a serious fishing trip, I was awed by the geography and saw first hand the size of the trout in the reservoir. We didn’t catch anything other than one little stocked rainbow, but when we moved to the northwestern shoreline at twilight we saw the action up close and personal. For three years I’ve wanted to get back to Kolob for a more intensive assault on those big trout. The foster kids were away at respite, and the Council Meeting day looked like the best opportunity to escape (I didn’t have anything of importance on the agenda, besides Jim and Candy could handle whatever came up). Furthermore, fishing Kolob mid-week on a Wednesday assured small crowds, if any crowds at all.

Kolob & Little Reservoirs – Southwesten Utah

A few Kolob sandstone formations on the Kolob Reservoir Road.

I had wanted to go on another fishing trip with my boys for quite a while. Although I doubted they shared my passion, I was not sure that it could not be cultivated. It had been a couple years since I took Brian and his friends to Cave Lake and Great Basin National Park, and about five years since Tom, Doug, and I went on a tour of northeastern Nevada that included the Ruby Marshes, Illipah Reservoir, Cave Lake, Silver Creek, and Great Basin National Park. Now that they were older I thought they might appreciate the experience a little more and be better able to master the technical nuances of fishing. They seemed interested in the trip (or was it just mid-summer boredom), so we planned a mid-week trip around Doug’s days off.