Thursday, July 30, 2009

Unclaimed Freight - FOTD



This is some "unclaimed freight" from the Roughfisher. Again, he turns a simple pattern into a beauty (and some nice fly porn). I like the ribbing on the fly, seems like either an olive micro-tubing or some lime wire. Nice tie - and thanks for finding this beauty in the discard pile!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's MILLER Time!



That's right, Heath Miller has resigned with the Steelers for 6 more years. He is my favorite Steeler and a class guy. If you have ever seen this guy play, you know he gets very few accolades, but is one of the most reliable, bulldozing, team players that has ever played the game. He'll never be the best TE from a stats standpoint, but he is the MVP of the Steelers offense in my opinion. I TiVo every game on TV and re-watch the game and watch him on every play - he always makes some one pay! Now he is getting paid. Steelers, thank you for getting this done!



Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Our Vacation

As you know by now I spent a week in SC, and although it isn't my next future residence, it was pretty cool.

The campground we stayed at (Lakewood Campground in South Myrtle Beach) was very cool - like it's own little town. Over 600 spots to camp/tent/trailer in. My mom and dad rented a trailer for the week and invited us down. Now, the trailer is like a mini-mobile home and sleeps 6 (barely). It wasn't spacious, but was nice to sleep in AC and eat meals out on the porch and use the golf car to fart around in. This place was so huge it had over a 1/3 mile of beach front, 2 pools, paddle boats, playground, water slides, 3 ponds, store, mini golf, cafe and I'm forgetting so much more.

The down side is that I didn't have WiFi at the trailer - I had to go to the cafe which was a few hundred yards away. The beach was really nice - but it was like any other beach - sand, waves, water, sun. The views were nice, although after a while all the bikinis just blended in. The weather was damn hot - high 80's and early 90's every day and the nights dipped into the high 70's. The humidity was unbearable. I went shirtless the entire week, so I am sure the views weren't so good for everyone else when I was around.

We had intentions of going out and doing a lot of things - but we left the campground 3 times - we hit the local tshirt shops, did a dinner buffet for my birthday and did some mini-golfing (which Avi absolutely LOVED!!). The cafe/beach/pool/food/beer/playground/food/beer/sleep/repeat was our routine.

Avelyn had a great time with Nana and Papa, and visa versa. Zach was just a little too small to know that anything was different than home. He did go in the ocean and pool and had a good time.

I tried going fishing - made an effort to go to Orvis, buy a saltwater license, look at the tide charts, but never found the time to go. The flights were decent, and the kids did well on them. The flight times were way too early for us - getting up before 4am was hard.

My wife has pics on her Picasa Album if interested. Click my link at the top right corner.

Here are a couple of our normal activities throughout the week:










It was nice to get home and see the mutt on Sunday.

Frank the Tank





My new favorite Steeler is (move over Heath Miller):

FRANK THE TANK





A few things to like about Frank Summers:

The guy can catch the ball out of the backfield.
No way do I want to hit that guy with a 5 yard running start.
He's a true Steeler - great upbringing, great kid, he is special.
He wears my frickin number 44!!!!
Look at those calves!
We need a FB - and a short yardage guy - and a smile (besides Hines) all game long.

I love this guy! Let's start the chant "FRANK THE TANK...FRANK THE TANK!!"

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oh, the reasons why we live in Colorado/ the Rockies...

I have just returned from the Southern East Coast - specifically Myrtle Beach, SC which I had never been to. I have been to the beaches of NC and FL and every state north of DC. I will say that it just reinforces why I live in such a beautiful place and not in some other places. I like Myrtle Beach, it was nice to be near the ocean and the seafood was great, but...

Let's just remind ourselves why we (I say "we" because most of my 3 readers live in/along the Rockies as I do) do live here. Let's please be reminded that I am not trying to insult you in any way, I am merely just pointing out some differences between us and the Southern East Coasters. So, for all you Southern East Coasters shaking your heads sideways, there is 20 rocky mountainers shaking their heads up and down.

Also, I have to add this legal jargon to make the wife happy. The opinions and views expressed on this blog are in no way those of my wife, Jennifer.

10. Rental cars suck, especially when you drive an SUV at home. Oh, and Colorado is the king of SUVs, more SUVs per capita than big hair in NJ. I asked for an SUV at the rental car place and they wanted to charge me $25 more a day for a Murano - dude that ain't an SUV! Almost everyone in beach towns drive cars (unless pulling a 5th wheel or camper - although I saw Hyundai SUVs pulling huge pop-up trailers, which I thought was frickin' insane, then remembered - no mountains and passes in SC!!) - and they all don't know how to drive them. I love the feeling of being up high and seeing everything...which leads us to..

9. Trees are nice, wow, they are so green and beautiful. So lush, so...right next to the road, so clumped in huge sections of overgrowness. Oh yeah, people come to Colorado and go through tree-withdrawal. Yes, that is funny. But when us Coloradans go back to the East Coast we can't see shit! Who needs GPS in Colorado? No damn trees to block the view - just the way we like it. Feel free to keep your tree hugging highways to yourself. After a while it got old seeing nothing but trees - I want to see what was behind those trees. Also, if you want a fence, just build a mound of dirty and plant trees on top - in 5 years it will be impenetrable. Whalla! DIY fence!

8. Beer has absolutely no effect on me at sea level - I drank 6 beers during the 6pm to 10pm hours and didn't have a hang over in the morning. Yes, this sounds normal for most heavy drinkers - but not me! I'm a light weight. I don't see the cost effectiveness of having to drink 6-12 beers to get drunk when I can do the same thing with 3 beers at a mile high! (everything boils down to money, sex and sports with men - that is a true story). Which, by the way means that I couldn't get enough alcohol in my wife (without taking out a second mortgage) to get her drunk and take....ok, onto #7.

7. Salt water is gross. Yes, it makes cuts/scars heal in 3X less time, but....I don't want it in my mouth, eyes, nose...anywhere. We don't have any salt water in the rockies. Oh, and water isn't meant to be 75 degrees - it's meant to be ice cold and put into beer. Yeah, that is the kind of water we have in Colorado. Big deal, the east coast has the ocean, but we have high mtn lakes and beer water! My kid wouldn't go into the water because she didn't want salt water in her mouth or eyes. Yes, this means that my kid is a little bit of a priss - but I'm ok with that. She had no problem swimming in the cloudy watered, heavily chlorinate, suntan lotion clouded pool! Can't be TOO much of a priss then!

6. I just want all southerners to know that the Confederates lost the war, and no, there aren't any re-dos. So take your stupid flags off your trucks, and your trailers and your mobile homes with no wheels. You lost. And you look like jack asses flying your flags. Technically I'm not even sure if Colorado is north or south of the Mason-Dixon line...but whatever.

5. What is the deal with no recycling in the South? I guess I have no idea if it is a southern problem or a SC problem or a campground problem - but a campground is the #1 place that they should be pushing recycling. I mean, everything at a campground is portable - beer, soda, water, bags, boxes, paper - everything, so they all come in containers that are usually recyclable! I did not see a single recycling bin, not anyone recycling (for their benefit they had no where to put recyclables) and no emphasis on it. I think in a resort town everyone thinks they can just abuse the environment (because they are either leaving - and going home) or they are capitalizing off it (the locals). Sad. Very sad. We don't have as bad of an outlook here in Colorado/RM - although I sure wish Highlands Ranch would pay for my damn recycling!

4. Why the hell were there so many SC and NC license places at the campground? Can't you people drive a little further to something less hot/fat/salt watered/treed? I mean the frickin' Canadians (lots of Ontario's there) can support your local economy on their own (God Bless Canadians! I mean this - since I am 2 generations away from Canada - not to mention the Rockies roll through Canada!!). And SC and NC aren't that big - so why pack up your 5th wheel and drive to the beach that is what 2 or 3 hours away? When we drive 3 hours out here we are only in the the next cowtown over! Yellowstone is 11 hours, Ft Smith MT is 7 hours, Durango is 6, Moab is 4. Get up off your lazy asses and drive somewhere! And what the hell is up with the accent's down there? By the end of the week I sounded like I was born and bred in the south. You couldn't tell the difference between me and a pure bred. It's like a virus or something. And I just can't use the word "y'all" out here without someone laughing at me.

3. Where did all these "big" people come from? Now, I know I have to be politically correct (whatever!) but there is just heavier people on the east coast - well, at least heavier than in Colorado/RM. But, when I think about it, everything on the east coast is geared to eating - buffets, GREAT food, fatty foods, etc - or not working out - mosquitoes, beaches, buffets, etc. People in Colorado/RM are just much healthier - maybe because we have such amazing scenery that goes vertical (the mtns). There seems to be a slacking attitude in the east, my wife and I noticed that because we weren't pressured at all to work out while we were on vacation - like we are every day we are home.

2. My poor daughter has welts all over her body, and although she is in her terrible 3's, none of these welts were inflicted by me (although trust me, she is a handful). They are of course bug bites, mosquitoes, flies, whatever. The poor kid literally has over 20 bites. She has bites on top of bites - one on each ankle, wrist, elbow, knee....everywhere. Guess what, NO FRICKIN BUGS IN COLORADO! Yes, we have some this year because of all the rain, but none in the mtns, none in your backyard most of the time.

1. I basically sweat non-stop for a week. What the hell is up with the humidity? It constantly feels like I was going through alcohol withdrawals and the sweat was pouring out of my body. It is disgusting. Then you need to go into an air conditioned building where it is 20 degrees cooler - except you freeze to death! Only to go back outside and have a huge weight put back on your chest. It is draining. No wonder everyone in the East is fat - how the hell do you get the energy to exercise in that humidity. Colorado has very low to no humidity. Oh, and when I woke up this morning it was 57 degrees! It did not get below 76 degrees the entire time I was in SC - not even at night or during rain storms! The AC never shut off.

Yeah, this sounds like I'm bitching, but I'm really not. If you want to know why I live out here, I think you need to ask yourself why you would tolerate where you live. Then realize I live in paradise.

Just kidding - Colorado is horrible, way too much snow, cold winters, no oxygen to breath, sunburns, too many cows, neighborhoods with every house looking the same, and the schools just aren't safe. Come at your own risk.

SC Fishin'

I realized that just because you drag the rod along, buy a few flies and even get the fishing license, it still doesn't mean you can find the time to fish.



I never did get to fish.....

Friday, July 24, 2009

Congrats!

Congrats to my buddy Chris and his wife Mandy who yesterday had a little boy, Whitaker. Everyone is doing well, and he should have a fly rod in his hand by the end of the week.

Congrats again guys!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Headed to SC on vacation!

I'll be away for about a week on vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. Of course I will find a way to have access to the internet and I will probably post pics, but not sure I will be doing much fishing. I need a vacation.

Edit: Ok, I have broken down and packed a fly rod - and some old flies I got before my Cozumel trip - and of course added a bobber and some plain hooks - want to see if I can get Avi into some smaller fish.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Sparkle Larvae - FOTD

The Roughfisher is at it again! Yup, he's gone and tied one gorgeous fly after another - and using materials we all have hanging around. Easy ties (it looks like) and something we can all do - oh, and probably catches more fish than some of these patterns that take 15 minutes to tie! Just sayin'.



This is my favorite - I love blondes....



Thanks Roughfisher for the great pattern, let me know if you need anyone to test them out (hint hint).

Western Drake - FOTD



SmallieFanatic has done it AGAIN! This time with a western drake pattern that is to die for. I love good ole fly porn, and the background and the focus on this photo makes the fly jump out at you.

I should get this guy to send me samples! and photos! and teach me how to tie! and how to photograph! Great work Mr Smallie!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Jason Jagger Photography


I saw this on another blog that I follow - just an amazing picture by Jason Jagger - check out his website at
www.jasonjaggerphoto.com.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Dragonflies or Damsels in Distress!

My wife loves dragonflies, and I kind of think they are cool bugs too. They hang out on the tip of your rod, or on your hat, or float over the water with ease. I pretty cool bug in my opinion.

SmallieFanatic has some amazing closeups of these critters - pretty unreal quality, and the background makes the dragonfly jump out at you. Check them out:



Saturday, July 04, 2009

Lily Lake & Big Thompson River - July 3, 2009

Our annual RMNP fishing trip was changed a bit this year. Instead of hitting the Roaring River, Steffan and I decided to try Lily Lake, then head over to the Big T. Since I was camping in Estes Park already with the family, this made it very easy for me. It was not easy passing up the Roaring River, but Steffan had been there the week before and it was way blown out - and all the rivers (non-tailwaters) were pretty high and blowing as well. The RR is a beautiful river, not the size of a river, more like a brook from back East. It is ice cold and holds some very majestic fish. We would decide to try Lily Lake and the Big T today instead.

Steffan found our campsite at 6am as planned. We were on Lily Lake in the kayak at 6:30. This lake is 14 acres, so more the size of a puddle. And although I was told it was 25 feet deep in it's deepest places, the 3 places we dropped anchor were less than 5 feet deep. The weeds here are outrageous - they look like islands, and take up most of the lake. The weeds that aren't over grown to the very top are within a foot or so from the top. This made fishing very difficult.



We tried a couple of spots and got lucky with one. We had just seen a fish jump and Steffan cast directly at it - within 2 seconds he had one on. Not much of a fight, but the fiesty rainbow of 11 inches was netted and flopped out before we could get a picture. We did however see some youngin's float real close to the kayak - I'm sure they weren't afraid of us because they had never seen humans in a big orange kayak.



We didn't stick around long - in fact, we were out of there by 8:30 or so and headed to the Big T. We fished between EP and Drake. Steffan had a great little spot and we hit it hard. It was right by a bridge enbankment and the fish were everywhere in there - including some good sized fish, some as large as about 17 inches.



I was lucky enough to get a fish right off - the rainbow wasn't huge, maybe 13 inches, but he sure was colorful.



At around noontime, after a couple of quick storms blew threw, Steffan started to catch a ton of fish - including this beautiful rainbow - a nice 17 incher on a dry fly caddis. That was quite a treat because Steffan had fished this hole many times before and this w







Steffan kept slaying them all day, after we switched to another hole further down, he caught 5 out of this one hole - all were decent size.





I had a decent day, catching a few (not a bunch), but mostly just enjoying being on a river with a friend and seeing beautiful fish chasing dry flies. It was a very good day. I did find these guys clung to a stick - they were almost an inch long - caddis larva - not as green as the ones down on the Ark, but huge in size!



Just another day in paradise!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Colorado River Headwaters - Sat June, 27, 2009

I don't have any pictures, no fish were caught, a few bug bites were gotten, a few flies were lost, a bunch of nice fishing holes found, and I did spend about 2 hours in some of the most beautiful country in the US.

I had a brief opportunity to fish the Colorado River just as it comes out of RMNP right on the Winding River Resort's property. I tried wet wading, but after a millisecond of being in the chilled water I walked back to the truck and put my hip waders on. The water was high - very high - but there were still beautiful holes and long riffles to fish. Rumor has it that the DOW had stocked 800 lbs of 1lb and 2lb rainbows in that section last fall. None of which were seen or heard from today.

So, besides the scenery, there was not much to report. Our camping trip however was very successful - we had a blast with our neighbors, and saw 6 "meese", a couple elk, and had a fox do a run by our camping spot at 11pm while the fire died down. We also had some unknown animal digging through our stuff at 4am, which scared the living crap out of us - we didn't have a flashlight, baseball bat, or anything to defend ourselves as my neighbor and I made a bunch of noise getting out of the tent to spook the animal away. Luckily we heard 4 legged heavy foot falls headed in the opposite direction.

We did spend part of Saturday morning at Grand Lake pitching worms on a Barbie fishing pole into the shallows for cruising trout - of which none were found. The kids had a blast at the lake and Cabo got lots of attention as she swam after the ball.

Here are few pics of our camping trip: