FLAMING GORGE RESERVOIR, Daggett County -- Although he hates carp poop in his boat, guide Jim Blackburn is trying to convince anglers, particularly fly rodders, that the exotic animals from Asia are a great sport fish.

"I hear it all the time: 'You guide people for those bottom-sucking, mud-sucking and good-for-nothing fish?' and I tell them carp are wise, strong and worthy game fish," said Blackburn.

Saltwater anglers have long known the thrill of spotting and casting to fish cruising the flats. Now Utah anglers can experience the excitement in their home state.

For 25 years, Blackburn has been guiding saltwater anglers in the Florida Keys for bonefish, permit and tarpon, to name a few. He started guiding anglers to carp last summer at Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

"The Gorge is one of the best destinations in the world to sight fish for carp because of the clarity of the water. You can see them 300 feet away," said Blackburn, who prefers to call his quarry "golden

bonefish." "This is a new frontier for fishing overall and at the Gorge."

Reports of anglers actually seeking carp at the Gorge came more than a decade ago, when Green River fly-fishing guides living in Dutch John spent days off casting to the cruising lunkers from their dories. Instead of pictures of clients holding up trophy trout, the walls of the trailers on guide's row were covered with the guides themselves holding up giant carp.

"Fishing for carp is really still in its infancy, but it is taking off. Once people have fish break them off a couple of times they are hooked," said Byron Gunderson of Fish Tech Outfitters.

Gunderson said a wave of interest in carp is sweeping across the fishing world, led by fly fishers.

"Trout fishing is fun, but having backing on your reel is a joke. You really don't need it," he said. "Carp are so powerful you have to have backing and you will use it. Once you hook these fish everything begins to bust loose. They are very powerful fish."

Knowing Blackburn is guiding anglers to carp is one thing, but seeing his 18-foot Hell's Bay Boatworks Whipray skiff on the water is another. A guy standing on a platform over the outboard motor using a 22-foot pole to push a boat around is not something Utah anglers are accustomed to seeing.

"One time I had these two old-timers saying 'look he has a roof over his motor so his engine doesn't get wet'. I didn't say anything. It would have been too hard to explain it to them," Blackburn said.

In addition to giving Blackburn a better view of fish feeding in the distance, the platform allows him to silently approach the carp.

The best time to sight fish for Cyprinus carpio at the Gorge is July to September, when the water is warm and the fish are actively feeding in the shallows.

On this mid-June day, the fish were scattered and spooky, but a few were feeding in the flats. Several unsuccessful attempts to get the golden bones to snarf up a Hoover fly went without results. Then a fish actively rooting on the bottom -- commonly called tailing or standing on its head -- was spotted. The fly landed next to the fish and was quickly taken.

The race was on, with line stripping from the reel faster than a nearby pronghorn antelope -- North America's fastest land animal -- who abandoned the shoreline due to the ruckus.

The big-shouldered fish was heavy and put up more of a fight than most trout caught on the fabled Green River on the other side of the dam. Once at the boat, Blackburn did not ask if the angler wanted to touch the fish, but held it quickly up for the mandatory trophy pictures and then returned it to the water.

Blackburn's Flaming Gorge clients have landed carp ranging from 9 to 27 pounds, with the average running about 14 to 16 pounds. That is substantially larger than the 8- to 10-pound

bonefish caught in the Keys. Blackburn tells stories of fish that took the fly and did not stop when the backing screamed off the reel. He knows there are carp 35 pounds and up in the reservoir.

Novice anglers may hesitate to try sight fishing because of the long casting they believe is required, but Blackburn says the fish can be caught at short distances.

"You don't need to be able to make a 90-foot perfect cast," he said. "A first-time fly fisher caught our biggest fish as her first fish on a fly rod."

bpretty@sltrib.com

Carpe carp

* Grand Slam Backcountry Charters, owned by Jim Blackburn, guides out of the Lucerne Valley Marina with a permit through the Ashley National Forest.

The cost is $350 for an 8-hour trip. The price includes one or two anglers.

Anglers will need a Utah fishing license and reciprocal stamp to fish in Wyoming or a Wyoming license and a Utah stamp.

Call Blackburn at 970-846-1734, or visit his Web site at http://www.grandslam fish.com.

If You Go

Grand Slam Backcountry Charters, owned by Jim Blackburn, guides out of the Lucerne Valley Marina with a permit through the Ashley National Forest.

The cost is $350 for a 8-hour trip. The price includes one or two anglers.

Anglers will need a Utah fishing license and reciprocal stamp to fish in Wyoming or a Wyoming license and a Utah stamp.

Call Blackburn at 970-846-1734 or visit his website at http://www.grandslamfish.com.