The Blacksmith Fork fishes nearly as well as the Logan one canyon over and sees a fraction of the traffic, and that pattern repeats all over the West: a river a valley away from a famous one, or a state line away from the crowded section, with the same fish and empty pull-offs. None of the rivers here appear on our top ten. Some are small, some are remote, and a couple are in places nobody associates with trout. All of them are worth a day when the well-known water is a parking lot.
Northern Utah's second rivers
Ogden River, Utah
The Ogden below Pineview Dam is a Blue Ribbon tailwater a few minutes from Utah's second-largest city, and it lives in the shadow of the Provo and Weber. UT-39 runs through Ogden Canyon with designated pull-offs and stairs down to the water. Because the flows are dam-controlled it fishes all year; midges from October through April, the Mother's Day caddis in May on a black size 14, PMDs in July and August. The rainbows are more selective than the typical Utah tailwater fish, so it teaches you something too.
Blacksmith Fork, Utah
UT-101 follows the Blacksmith Fork through Hyrum Canyon for about fifteen miles of freestone with pull-offs the whole way. It has a Salmonfly hatch in May and June, Golden Stones through July, caddis into August and a crane fly emergence in September and October that the neighboring rivers do not advertise. Rainbows dominate, browns hold the deep pools, and Bonneville cutthroat live above the Hardware Ranch elk refuge where the water gets small. Go on a weekday and you may have the canyon to yourself.
Duchesne River, Utah
Most Utah anglers drive past the Duchesne on the way to somewhere else. River Road parallels it through the Tabiona valley with informal access above and below town, and the thing to know is the August hopper fishing: browns sit under sagebrush banks and take a big foam pattern fished tight to the grass. Salmonflies come in June, Golden Stones and caddis follow, and the West Fork near Hanna is a small cutthroat stream that is best from July through September.
Yellowstone's quiet cutthroat river
Lamar River, Wyoming
The Lamar is underrated only in the sense that people drive its valley for wolves and bison and never string a rod. The Northeast Entrance road parallels the river with pull-offs along an open valley floor where wading is easy. Yellowstone cutthroat take a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis or a Royal Humpy through the summer caddis hatches, Golden Stones and PMDs in July and August, and hoppers into September. Soda Butte Creek, the tributary along the entrance road, is the same fishing at a smaller scale. Handle the fish gently; this is a recovering native population.
Great Basin and Eastern Sierra water
East Walker River, Nevada
Below Bridgeport Reservoir the East Walker holds one of the best wild brown trout populations in the Great Basin, and the California section immediately below the dam gets almost all the pressure. Cross into Nevada. Highway 338 crossings give walk-wade access, and the lower ranch-road sections, where public access is confirmed, are the least-fished water with the largest fish. Blue-Winged Olives from October through April and the spring caddis are the windows the browns feed hardest in.
Owens River, California
The Owens is three rivers. The Upper Owens above Crowley Lake is a meadow stream with spring-creek character and walk-wade access from US-395 on public land. The Owens Gorge below Pleasant Valley Reservoir is a tailwater with consistent flows and a trail walk in. The Lower Owens below the gorge, reached from Bishop on Warm Springs Road, is a desert brown trout river that fishes through the winter on midges and Blue-Winged Olives while the high country is snowed in. The Eastern Sierra crowds fish the lakes; the river is quieter.
Carson River, Nevada
The Carson comes off the Sierra through Markleeville and drops into Nevada's Carson Valley near Genoa. The East Fork above Markleeville along Highway 89 is the quality wild rainbow water (a California license applies there), and it is at its best on caddis from April through June and PMDs and Golden Stones into July. The Nevada valley sections near Genoa hold browns and fish early season and fall, before and after summer warms the water. Grover Hot Springs is a few minutes from the East Fork access.
Southern Utah's overlooked valley river
Sevier River, Utah
The Sevier is Southern Utah's longest river and hardly anyone fishes it for trout. The upper valley from Panguitch through Circleville to Kingston is reached from bridge crossings and pull-offs on US-89, with the mid-valley near Circleville the least visited. Rainbows take attractor dries and nymphs, browns hold the deeper pools and go for streamers in the fall pre-spawn, and hoppers in July and August cover the summer. It sits between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef, which makes it an easy addition to a trip you were already taking.
Getting the most out of a second-tier river
The reason these rivers are quiet is usually that they are small, or far from a fly shop, or seasonal. Carry a wider fly selection than you would on a tailwater, because there is no shop report telling you what is hatching: attractors in 12 to 16, an Elk Hair Caddis, a Parachute Adams, a hopper and a Chubby Chernobyl, plus Pheasant Tails and Zebra Midges. Several of these rivers cross private land where access depends on Walk-In Access agreements or road easements, and some are inside a national park or on the wrong side of a state line for your license. Check Utah DWR, Nevada NDOW, California CDFW, Wyoming Game and Fish or the Yellowstone National Park fishing rules before you go.