Colorado River - November 28, 2014

I had the opportunity to head up into the mountains on Friday with Steffan and fish - the weather was superb and the fishing was even better. I met Steffan a little after 5am at the I70 Morrison Park N Ride and headed up the hill.

We made a quick stop at the gas station in Silverthorne for some lunch, a burrito and a donut and were headed up to Kremmling. The ride was uneventful, but the views were amazing, this picture was just after turning off on the dirt road to Pumphouse.

First cast....bam! Landed this thick rainbow, probably about 16 inches and very healthy.

Then.....nothing. We fished the pool above and below the bridge and then down and around the corner - looked like beautiful water, but we didn't hook anything. So we decided to try our luck further up river. On the way out of the parking lot I saw all these turkeys between the road and the river - so I jumped out (while Steffan filmed it) and chased after them - about 30 turkeys lifted off and flew to the other side of the river.

At our new destination we killed some beers and then dropped in right at the parking lot. The river is flowing high and relatively clear - especially for late November. Steffan hopped in first and on the first cast he had on this sweet brown:

Two casts later and he was into this big rainbow:

All fish were healthy and in the 15 to 16 inch range.

I finally started catching fish - including a brown and a whitie for the tri-fecta. We moved down river and fished lal the usual spots, catching a couple here and there.

At about 1pm we walked back to the truck and had lumch - then hiked up into the Canyon to fish. We could hear a couple of goose hunters shooting in the canyon, and then came upon them as they were leaving - their yellow and black labs getting to swim across the river.  We fished the bend, losing our rigs and basically getting skunked up there.

We finished up and decided to stop at the Outlets to see if we could see the pigs on the Blue River under the bridge. There was a couple of fly fishermen in there so we decided to get dinner - but the Dam Grill was packed - so we headed to Idaho Springs for some Tommyknocker. The food was good, the beer was ok, and we were back in the Park N Ride in Morrison by 7:15pm or so.

Long day, but well worth the time spent stalking fish. Thanks Steffan for driving. I might be done fishing for the next 3 or 4 months.

Bug Collars??? Worth the Hype?!?!?

These are new - I've seen them on Instagram - then I googled them - these are pretty cool - add a little weight and color just behind the bead. I like the contrast. But do you think they work?
Made by Bozeman Fly Goods

Bug Collars: Something New for the Fly Tying Industry

by Jake McGlothlin on June 25, 2014

in Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Fly tyers are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest; that new thing that will give them the extra edge to create better looking, more realistic bugs. The industry has seen some great changes and new products over the past five years. Here’s a new one that caught my eye.

They’re called Bug Collars, from the new company Bozeman Fly Goods. Well, what the hell is it?
Glad you asked.

“Bug Collars are doughnut shaped brass beads that allow the tyer to quickly and easily add a “hots pot to their fly.” (Taken from the Bug Collar website). When you look at them and think about it, you can imagine numerous uses for such a bead. When I was first shown the beads weeks ago I immediately began to think about the different ways I could put them to good use. The most obvious and perhaps useful is adding a quick hot spot. Either behind a bead head, or further down the fly.
Bug Collars will be offered in five sizes and a whopping 30 colors, including plated, painted, fluorescent and metallic. I recently had a chance to see some of the colors offered and they definitely made me ooh and ahh. The cone on the Bug Collar is designed to fit snugly against the back of a bead, or to stack within itself. Pretty exciting stuff.

Bug Collars will be on shop shelves starting September 2014. They will be sold in standard packs of 25 beads per package, and will cost between $3-$6 it sounds like. However, you can preorder packs of 100 or 250 Bug Collars from now till August 1st. These mixed bags will contain all five sizes in a variety of colors so you have a lot to try and play around with. The 100 pack is available for a discounted $18 (check it out here), and the 250 for $45 (you know you want it). Pre orders will ship on August 15.
This product definitely got me excited and I can’t wait to get some and put my creative juices to good use. You can follow Bozeman Fly Goods on their website, or on their Instagram page.

South Park!

 

 

NP Stillwater Fishing - Oct 16-17, 2014

Fished NP this weekend - it was a good time. Only caught a couple, but got to see a friend of mine and have good beer and a nice steak!