ONE TRULY GREAT ESCAPE FLY FISHING TRIP TO UTAH OFFERS PERFECT GETAWAY.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

PANGUITCH, Utah - Three hours. It's a baseball game, three episodes of ``E.R.,'' or less than the length of a movie with buffaloes, if you're Kevin Costner.

That's the extra time it takes Southern Californians to go fly fishing in southern Utah rather than the Eastern Sierra.

The difference? Hot Creek near Mammoth is full-on combat fishing, with each run and hole on the creek occupied by another angler trying to fool the same trout. That fish has been caught dozens of times and knows more about what a Tricorythodes minutus should look like than any entomologist. It requires a faultless imitation tied to a spider web two-pound test leader drifted in a drag-free presentation to catch these veteran fish.

Fly fishermen pursue their sport because trout live in beautiful places, and to get away from human affairs and get in touch with nature.

A fly-fishing friend and I wanted fewer humans and a greater number of fish, so we drove north on I-15, past the temptations of Las Vegas, and turned east at St. George, Utah. Panguitch sits in a valley at an elevation of 6,600 feet, with the Sevier River (pronounced ``severe'') running through it.

The area around Panguitch, with green fields, soaring red sandstone cliffs and clear blue skies, has an abundance of beautiful places that trout inhabit. We barely scratched the surface of six of the greater than 40 different lakes, reservoirs, streams and rivers within an hour's drive of Panguitch. And, in four days, we encountered only two other anglers.

We encountered plenty of fish: rainbows, browns, brookies and native Bonneville cutthroat trout, and they readily took large flies tied on 10- pound test. The biggest one that didn't get away was a fat, healthy 18-inch brown trout.

That the name ``Panguitch'' came from the Piute Indian word for ``Big Fish'' is something Vince Salvato and Bobbi Bryant, owners of Panguitch Anglers, are quick to point out.

Panguitch Anglers is the only fly shop for a hundred miles, and it is a friendly place. It features the usual collection of waders, flies, fishing rods and reels and other assorted tackle, along with two tail-wagging dogs, Salvato's hand-carved wooden-duck decoys, a fly-tying bench that's open to visiting anglers and plenty of good fishing yarns.

Salvato, who was born in Brooklyn, settled in Panguitch because ``it's like going back in time 50 years. People are friendly, the pace of life is slower, more rural and peaceful.''

Also on the 150-acre premises is a 1900s farmhouse that Salvato lovingly restored and converted into a fishing lodge for visiting anglers. Nearby is a trout pond where guests can cast to three-pound trout. One of the dogs never tires of wading into the water to watch the fish as they're landed and released.

Mike James, a local fishing guide, showed us some prime spots on the East Fork of the Sevier River, including a beautiful stretch in Kingston Canyon where the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has recently purchased land to provide four miles of river access for anglers. In the fall, the canyon is a polychrome postcard of yellow, orange and red as cottonwoods, aspens and scrub oak show off foliage that could make a Vermonter homesick.

Big brown and rainbow trout live here, and James suggested stripping streamers to imitate the baitfish they feed on. Instead of the usual downstream swing-and-retrieve, he casts downstream and strips in the line while jiggling the tip of the fly rod. A bass angler would call this ``doodling.'' Whatever you call the technique, it works. Lots of trout gobbled the fly-doodles.

Some of the streams in the area can be hard to fish for a few days after a rainstorm, as the water gets cloudy, but there are plenty of opportunities to fish spring-fed creeks and freestone mountain streams that stay clear.

Antimony Creek is a classic freestone creek in the Dixie National Forest. Fly fishers can wade upstream, casting and catching wild fish in pools and pockets of clear water that tumbles down the shady canyon. And you can have the stream all to yourself.

Three hours makes all the difference in the world.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Jimmy Toy of Westlake Village fishes the East Fork of the Sevier River in Panguitch, Utah. The river is home to various kinds of trout.

(2) Here is a big brown trout caught and released on the East Fork of the Sevier River in southern Utah during a recent trip.

(3) The scenery is great and the fly fishing even better on Antimony Creek, a sparkling, clear freestone creek in Utah.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News

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