I guess it has been quite a while since I posted on my blog here, I'd say not much has happened, but that wouldn't be true. My daughter Avelyn is 2 years old now and she has been quite a fun handful. I'm going to try and make it a point to post on here more often. I tried Twitter, but that seem to be too short for getting a story out or adding a spot where I can permanently remember memories.
So much is going on right now - I'll post my random stuff as it happens.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
July 27-29, 2007 – Fryingpan River, Roaring Fork River & Eagle River
Friday – Roaring Fork River – Aspen (flows around 360 cfs) & Fryingpan River (flows around 208 cfs) – Basalt
Chad and I did our annual Pan trip for a long weekend. His wife had a friend (and three children) in so it was a perfect time to get away. We left late on a Thursday night with the camper and pulled into a campground in Carbondale just after 10pm – the camper was up and we were asleep by 11pm. The campground, which will remain nameless, was essentially a dump – at $33 a night they were robbing us – but it was nicely placed on the Crystal River and it was one of the few that was close to town and the Aspen/Glenwood corridor. Not having any specific plans was a good thing. When we woke up Friday morning the Crystal was badly browned out by the previous nights sprinkles and we knew we'd have to hit the upper Roaring Fork if we were going to fish it at all. The Fork has tons of access along the Rio Grande trail and we took advantage of it. We hit the first access a Lower Woody Creek Bridge and fished a quarter mile section that looked particularly fishy. We hit the water at 7am – over anxious of course – and the hatches and fish were on. Caddis of all colors were popping and the fish next to the bank were actively taking in the low morning sun. The water was still off color in this section and Chad stuck to streamers while I pitched larger than normal nymphs. After about 2 hours fishing this stretch, Chad had hooked two nice 16 inch browns, and 18 inch brown and a 20 inch rainbow all within about a 30 yard stretch. I on the other hand manage 2 small browns and not a whole lot else. It was a slow start for me and a fast start for Chad (as usual).
We moved up the frontage road and stopped at Henry Stein Park. This was a nice section of river that stretch through some pristine park land right on the Rio Grande Trail. Some of the luxury homes actually stretched right down to the water – but it appeared to be all public water and I didn't notice any land owners being picky about you fishing on their section of river. The river was beautiful. Clear as a bell and cold. I went south while Chad went north – I wade some sections that were moving fast, but were fishy. I caught a couple smaller fish – including my first on a streamer/nymph rig. While standing on a rock tying on a new rig, I saw out of the corner of my eye a brown log coming diagonal across the river towards me, when I looked up I noticed it was a small otter that was making his way to me – he hadn't really noticed me and I yelled at him to get the hell out of my hole – he looked up scared and then dove under a nearby rock. It was funny as hell – he was the cutest little guy I had seen, and the look on his face (yes, otters give looks too) was priceless.
Chad met up with me after a while and talked me into heading down river to the boulder filled, deep pool section. We stopped under the walking bridge as we could see fish – I cast to one particular eager fish that was next to the concrete pillar – of course the fish took on the first cast and I managed to pull the fly out of his mouth. That was basically my luck. I watched Chad catch a couple in the pool and then moved down. After getting broken off completely I was relaxing on the grassy section of bank – walkers/bikers were sitting close by watching Chad catch fish. As I was retying my rig I noticed a 14 inch rainbow in the shallows working the current – after tying on I cast to him and had him hooked on the first cast. He made a slight run and popped off. More back luck. Chad and I kept walking north along the trail to hit the plunge pool section – the water was much faster and you could see where the fish were holed up, but I couldn't get them to take at all. I caught a few small browns, but nothing over 12 inches. I moved down again and stumbled (literally – the water was very tough to move in and the rocks were extra slippery) upon a nice dark colored brown spinning in front of a rock holding his section of slick water picking of bugs before they moved left and right as they parted around the rock. The fish was in rods reach but I had a ton of weight on so I just stiff armed my flies by him a few times – after 3 'casts' I had him on – he was probably 16 inches and had some major fight – and of course within 10 seconds of hooking him he had wiggled off too. I have NEVER had this bad of luck on hooking or landing fish. This river is not unlike many many I have fished and I always have decent luck.
After fishing for almost an hour more I met up with Chad and we headed out. It was just about noontime and we wanted to hit the Pan. We hightailed it for the Ruedi Canyon. We headed straight for our favorite section – mile marker 12.5, just below the turn out for the dam. We had a quick lunch, a couple of beers and were very excited to be on the world famous Fryingpan. This is easily my favorite river to fish. Huge fish potential, lots of fish, spunky fish, no crowds (except at the dam), and very pretty fish.
We had the pull-out to ourselves, so we would be able to choose our stretches of river. I jumped in right at the big rock and hit all the normal spots. Flows on the Pan were about 206 cfs (which was slightly higher than the 180 cfs we had heard about) – this was almost twice as high as last years trip – so some of the normal spots were a bit trickier for me. Nymphing in fast water is difficult, especially with very small flies that the Pan is known for. I consider myself a good nympher, but I could not figure out what fly, what size or how to fish the water. Most water was different depths and slightly off color – so I went up a size in my nymphs. I caught a few fish – nothing impressive – some actually very unimpressive (less than 10 inches). I managed one of the prettiest browns I have ever seen. He was orange – not yellow/brown or brown – but orange. His spots were deeply colored with great halos and he was feisty – most were 14 inches long. Of course I saw some great fish, but couldn't get into them, and the one time I did – of course he got off very quickly. Chad returned with his same old story – great fishing, lots of big fish, and damn – he had the pics to prove it.
We fished this stretch for quite a while. During this time the thunder was rolling in and then we got one hell of a rainstorm. It down poured for about 20 minutes – soaking us for the rest of the night. We moved up to just below the dam – the bend pool area. Fishing that stretch is always crazy – you line up and fish for the same 6 huge fish as they tailwag in your wake, endlessly feeding on microscopic bugs that must be tinier than anything you are fishing. I caught a few – most were small (of course I'm going to catch the 10 inchers when I'm fishing to five 20 inch fish!). I did manage to ass hook a huge rainbow that was about 19 inches. I swiped at him with the net, but snagged the loose nymph and broke him off before getting him in the net. Just my luck.
We grew tired of the same stretches of river so we decided to head back down the canyon. Stopping at mile marker 12 to hit some smooth water. It was still raining and getting kind of late. It seemed like it was 8 pm at night all day long – the light was off the river and it just seemed gloomy all day long. I fished the stretch next to the river and Chad hiked down river. I still could not get into fish and I was starting to get cold as the water was seeping through my rain coat. I hike down to find Chad – he hit a couple of pools and then a huge rock pool where he pulled fish after fish out of the hole – nothing huge. I tried fishing the hole without a bite. I kept moving down river – not doing any fishing. The rain had caused the river to fog – so there were some great picture opportunities. I met up with Chad and took his camera and took some pictures of him while he was standing next to a huge log jam on the river. Chad told me he had just hooked the fish of the day, but the fish slammed his streamer and then shot straight under the jog jam snapping the tippet. I grabbed his camera and headed upstream to get a cool angle while he tied on another fly. He was below the log jam now and within one cast he was screaming for me to come down river. The fish had hit again with unreal power and then darted straight across river at Chad and he quickly beached it in some slower water. This stretch was very fast water with a small tail out on the far bank about 15 feet across – this fish could have gone any direction and would have broken off Chad – but it went straight across river and into somewhat slower water. I arrived to see Chad with a monster rainbow in his net – I couldn't even begin to imagine how big the fish really was. While fumbling with the camera it did not start up correctly and I had to restart it – in the 15 seconds this took Chad was working to get the fly out of his mouth and noticed his old streamer there! All he could say is "I can't believe I got my fly back!" He struggled to get the fish out of the net – his tail was completed out of the net, and his head was touching the wooden rim. As Chad went to hold the fish up and I had the camera ready, the rainbow made a suicide run for the water – Chad literally could not hold his hands around the fish and control it and it flipped back into the water right in front of me – the fish actually was tired and slid back towards Chad, but as he reached for it, it moved 6 inches to its right and was back in fast water and gone. This fish was the fish of a lifetime. It was easily 26 inches long, 9 inches tall and probably 8 inches wide – it looked as big as a human thigh, silver slick colored with a slight strip of pink. We high fived each other a couple of times, I was amazed by the fish, Chad continued to be amazed that he got his fly back. We got the hell out of there after that. Another rainy night – we made burgers on the grill inside the camper, were done eating at 9:15, considered tying some flies – decided sleep was more important and were asleep by 9:45pm.
Saturday – Fryingpan River – Basalt (flows were 206 cfs to start the day and 260 cfs to end the day)
When we woke up at 7 and looked outside, the Crystal River was literally red – not brown – but a distinctive red. The rain all night had blown out the river and would continue down river to the Fork. So it looked like another day on the Pan – ah schucks! We hit the lower section of the river and worked our way up towards the dam. We hit one of the first pull outs on the lower stretch around Quaalude Corner around 9am. I was struggling to get going after the previous days suckitude, so I took my time – Chad took off for a good run. This section was again very fast water with few places that were ideal for nymphing. So I tied on a streamer and nymph rig and tried my luck. I managed to hook a decent fish that was sitting in a slow pool on the far side of the river. After hooking him I had to figure out how to get him back to me across some rough river. Somehow I had managed to drag him over two waterfalls, he got hung up on a stick, then wiggled free and I surfed him over to my side of the bank about 20 yards down from where he was originally hooked. He was a pretty rainbow, fat, but not too large, only about 14 inches. He had taken the Czech nymph (that looked a lot like the green drake nymphs and the caddis nymphs – big black head with a bright green body) in size 16, and somehow didn't shake free. It was a good start to the day. The river started to get more crowded in this section so we moved again.
The next stretch we hit was just down river from Strawberry Rock. The river is again very fast and most of the fishable areas were spin outs across river that required great casts and great mends of the line. But, you ran the risk of having to drag the fish back to your side of the river to land it – which again, proved very difficult for me. We parked in a small turn out and I jumped in just below the truck. My first cast was to a small plunge pool that I was literally standing in – I hooked a monster brown and the fish took off into the fast water and within 5 seconds was easily 80 feet down river. Within another second or two he had popped off in the fast current. Damn, it was a nice fish too.
I fished my way up to Strawberry Rock catching a couple small browns. Chad met up with me and passed me. There was some beautiful water up there – in particular a section of chunked red rocks that was like shelves in the middle of the water, the water was spinning all around this shelf, cascading over it and making multiple water falls. It was such a cool spot – unfortunately this picture does not do it justice. I fished a little further up river, watching Chad's rod bent about every 7 or 8 minutes or so. I had a couple on, but couldn't land anymore. On the walk back to the truck Chad told me how he landed a 22 inch brown that he caught in the pool right next to the truck – he said the damn fish took off down river after he hooked it. Yep, same hole as mine and yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. Sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't – and I didn't this weekend.
We moved down again – to our normal stretch (I think it is called Old Faithful Pullout). I again jumped in just below the rocks and had very little luck. I did manage to catch one very memorable fish on a streamer – it was for sure the largest fish I had caught all weekend on the streamer. Unfortunately the fish was only 3 times bigger than the inch and a half streamer!
I saw another otter (my 2nd of the weekend) – this one was much longer, he was two toned, lighter colored brownish blonde in the upper body and dark brown on his butt and tail. He was running along the bank maybe 7 feet from me and didn't even see me at all. I spent about an hour fishing over and changing flies on one fish in particular. It was a cuttbow with spectacular ruby coloring and was actively feeding in a side pool where the current would relax and the fish could just feed. I tried everything for over an hour with no luck. I waved Chad over and told him to catch the fish – which he did in under 10 casts. The fish was in fact a spectacular color – red along its entire bottom.
I continued fishing and hooked a couple fish in the faster water – I nice rainbow not more than 6 inches away from the bank on an errant cast, and a small brown – both of which popped off. I did manage to land a tiny (under 9 inches) brown. I was pretty much done fishing, but we decided to try the dam section again, so we moved up. The section just below the falls was completely empty – so we hit it. Chad was working just under the falls as I was stalking fish when again I saw his rod bent and he was jockeying a fish my way (not on purpose either). I helped him land a huge rainbow (technically I didn't land him – I beached him because he wouldn't fit in the net) – I took a couple of pictures, although they weren't pretty. The fish was huge – about 22 inches (maybe more) but it's mouth was very disfigured and it had other scars on it. The fish was pretty undeterred when we let him go as he swam right back to his spot.
I moved just above the falls and hooked and landed a nice 17 inch brown that fall well. I fished this section for an hour – hooking and landing 2 more 15 inch fish. I did see a HOG of a rainbow – brightly colored red on its bottom – move into my hole. As I was fishing towards him I hooked onto a nice fish – thinking it was the 20+ rainbow – but it ended up being a 14 inch brown that pulled like a log! The upper stretches along the flat water head towards that dam were stacked with guides and rednecks – all standing within casting distance, and all dry flying. Chad and I hiked into this section not knowing that there was such a crowd – we headed down one of the many bush corridors that lead to the river – when we popped out there was a guy 50 feet to our right, and 30 feet to our left. But, right in front of us feeding in the shallows were about 10 fish between 18 and 20 inches. Of course they saw us and we saw them, but they wouldn't hit for the world. Just before I left Chad to go get the truck, we saw one fish making his way up slowly from the lower stretches towards us. The shear size and length of this fish is indescribable. He was easily 24 inches low, and easily 15 lbs. But he wasn't a trout – Chad and I both agreed on that – the fish had a pouty face like a carp or whitefish, and he was a bluish dark gray in color. We weren't sure what kind he was – but if anyone knows if there are whities or carp in that river that are that big, please let me know.
I went back and got the truck and parked at the pull out with the toilets and picnic tables and waited for Chad. We headed back to the campsite around 8:30, fried up burgers again in a pan, and hit the hay at about 9:30. No tying flies, no chatting, we were completely exhausted.
Sunday – Eagle River – Wolcott (flows around 300+ cfs, water was very dark and off color but not muddy)
We got out of bed around 8am, no rain that night so perhaps the Fork would be clearer. We packed up the camper and headed down to the lower Fork. The water was again way off color so we decided to try the Eagle River closer to Vail. Well, the Eagle was also chocolate milk in color and a mess. We kept going towards Vail and eventually saw it clear up near Edwards/Wolcott. We pulled into Edwards and followed the river down a frontage road, but the entire section was private – of course it was prime water too! We finally kept heading west to Wolcott where it became public land and we stopped at a campground/picnic area and jumped in. The stretch was along some railroad tracks and was fairly flat but awefully silty. The water was about knee to waste deep and Chad and I started working runs with streamers. We waded to the far side of the river and Chad immediately hooked 2 nice browns at about 16 inches. I hooked one fish while I was trying to get my footing and just letting the fly drag as I wasn't paying attention. I never got him in as he popped off in the faster water due to the force of the river.
Chad kept moving down river and I saw his rod bent and he was moving back towards me – he motioned that he might need help so I headed his way. I helped him land a nice 17 inch brown that was thick and feisty. I fished the hole Chad was just working and again he vanished over the railroad bridge onto the other side of the river. I continued working great looking runs, but couldn't even get a strike. I too worked my way under the railroad bridge onto the other side. I managed to hook a 6 inch brown – but that was it. We maybe fished another hour and then we were ready to head home. I was surprised that a Vail guide shop was working this free/public stretch of river and actually was guiding clients on that stretch for the day. It seemed too easy of a stretch to figure out yourself, and I couldn't understand why they couldn't work a deal to get them on the better sections further upriver in the private sections.
We hit the road right around 12:30pm. The ride home was quite eventful – about 10 miles outside of Edwards I blew a tire on the camper. We pulled over and changed it. We stopped to get lunch briefly in Vail, then were back on the road. Coming down highway 70 into Silverthorne the traffic stopped dead only ½ mile from the Asbestos Alley exit in Silverthorne. We sat there for 45 minutes without moving. Obviously an accident had happened, but when we went by it looked like no one was injured – just some banged up cars. After getting going again, we flew all the way to Idaho Springs where the traffic was stop and go again for several miles. We finally got home around 4 – 4:30pm.
Chad and I did our annual Pan trip for a long weekend. His wife had a friend (and three children) in so it was a perfect time to get away. We left late on a Thursday night with the camper and pulled into a campground in Carbondale just after 10pm – the camper was up and we were asleep by 11pm. The campground, which will remain nameless, was essentially a dump – at $33 a night they were robbing us – but it was nicely placed on the Crystal River and it was one of the few that was close to town and the Aspen/Glenwood corridor. Not having any specific plans was a good thing. When we woke up Friday morning the Crystal was badly browned out by the previous nights sprinkles and we knew we'd have to hit the upper Roaring Fork if we were going to fish it at all. The Fork has tons of access along the Rio Grande trail and we took advantage of it. We hit the first access a Lower Woody Creek Bridge and fished a quarter mile section that looked particularly fishy. We hit the water at 7am – over anxious of course – and the hatches and fish were on. Caddis of all colors were popping and the fish next to the bank were actively taking in the low morning sun. The water was still off color in this section and Chad stuck to streamers while I pitched larger than normal nymphs. After about 2 hours fishing this stretch, Chad had hooked two nice 16 inch browns, and 18 inch brown and a 20 inch rainbow all within about a 30 yard stretch. I on the other hand manage 2 small browns and not a whole lot else. It was a slow start for me and a fast start for Chad (as usual).
We moved up the frontage road and stopped at Henry Stein Park. This was a nice section of river that stretch through some pristine park land right on the Rio Grande Trail. Some of the luxury homes actually stretched right down to the water – but it appeared to be all public water and I didn't notice any land owners being picky about you fishing on their section of river. The river was beautiful. Clear as a bell and cold. I went south while Chad went north – I wade some sections that were moving fast, but were fishy. I caught a couple smaller fish – including my first on a streamer/nymph rig. While standing on a rock tying on a new rig, I saw out of the corner of my eye a brown log coming diagonal across the river towards me, when I looked up I noticed it was a small otter that was making his way to me – he hadn't really noticed me and I yelled at him to get the hell out of my hole – he looked up scared and then dove under a nearby rock. It was funny as hell – he was the cutest little guy I had seen, and the look on his face (yes, otters give looks too) was priceless.
Chad met up with me after a while and talked me into heading down river to the boulder filled, deep pool section. We stopped under the walking bridge as we could see fish – I cast to one particular eager fish that was next to the concrete pillar – of course the fish took on the first cast and I managed to pull the fly out of his mouth. That was basically my luck. I watched Chad catch a couple in the pool and then moved down. After getting broken off completely I was relaxing on the grassy section of bank – walkers/bikers were sitting close by watching Chad catch fish. As I was retying my rig I noticed a 14 inch rainbow in the shallows working the current – after tying on I cast to him and had him hooked on the first cast. He made a slight run and popped off. More back luck. Chad and I kept walking north along the trail to hit the plunge pool section – the water was much faster and you could see where the fish were holed up, but I couldn't get them to take at all. I caught a few small browns, but nothing over 12 inches. I moved down again and stumbled (literally – the water was very tough to move in and the rocks were extra slippery) upon a nice dark colored brown spinning in front of a rock holding his section of slick water picking of bugs before they moved left and right as they parted around the rock. The fish was in rods reach but I had a ton of weight on so I just stiff armed my flies by him a few times – after 3 'casts' I had him on – he was probably 16 inches and had some major fight – and of course within 10 seconds of hooking him he had wiggled off too. I have NEVER had this bad of luck on hooking or landing fish. This river is not unlike many many I have fished and I always have decent luck.
After fishing for almost an hour more I met up with Chad and we headed out. It was just about noontime and we wanted to hit the Pan. We hightailed it for the Ruedi Canyon. We headed straight for our favorite section – mile marker 12.5, just below the turn out for the dam. We had a quick lunch, a couple of beers and were very excited to be on the world famous Fryingpan. This is easily my favorite river to fish. Huge fish potential, lots of fish, spunky fish, no crowds (except at the dam), and very pretty fish.
We had the pull-out to ourselves, so we would be able to choose our stretches of river. I jumped in right at the big rock and hit all the normal spots. Flows on the Pan were about 206 cfs (which was slightly higher than the 180 cfs we had heard about) – this was almost twice as high as last years trip – so some of the normal spots were a bit trickier for me. Nymphing in fast water is difficult, especially with very small flies that the Pan is known for. I consider myself a good nympher, but I could not figure out what fly, what size or how to fish the water. Most water was different depths and slightly off color – so I went up a size in my nymphs. I caught a few fish – nothing impressive – some actually very unimpressive (less than 10 inches). I managed one of the prettiest browns I have ever seen. He was orange – not yellow/brown or brown – but orange. His spots were deeply colored with great halos and he was feisty – most were 14 inches long. Of course I saw some great fish, but couldn't get into them, and the one time I did – of course he got off very quickly. Chad returned with his same old story – great fishing, lots of big fish, and damn – he had the pics to prove it.
We fished this stretch for quite a while. During this time the thunder was rolling in and then we got one hell of a rainstorm. It down poured for about 20 minutes – soaking us for the rest of the night. We moved up to just below the dam – the bend pool area. Fishing that stretch is always crazy – you line up and fish for the same 6 huge fish as they tailwag in your wake, endlessly feeding on microscopic bugs that must be tinier than anything you are fishing. I caught a few – most were small (of course I'm going to catch the 10 inchers when I'm fishing to five 20 inch fish!). I did manage to ass hook a huge rainbow that was about 19 inches. I swiped at him with the net, but snagged the loose nymph and broke him off before getting him in the net. Just my luck.
We grew tired of the same stretches of river so we decided to head back down the canyon. Stopping at mile marker 12 to hit some smooth water. It was still raining and getting kind of late. It seemed like it was 8 pm at night all day long – the light was off the river and it just seemed gloomy all day long. I fished the stretch next to the river and Chad hiked down river. I still could not get into fish and I was starting to get cold as the water was seeping through my rain coat. I hike down to find Chad – he hit a couple of pools and then a huge rock pool where he pulled fish after fish out of the hole – nothing huge. I tried fishing the hole without a bite. I kept moving down river – not doing any fishing. The rain had caused the river to fog – so there were some great picture opportunities. I met up with Chad and took his camera and took some pictures of him while he was standing next to a huge log jam on the river. Chad told me he had just hooked the fish of the day, but the fish slammed his streamer and then shot straight under the jog jam snapping the tippet. I grabbed his camera and headed upstream to get a cool angle while he tied on another fly. He was below the log jam now and within one cast he was screaming for me to come down river. The fish had hit again with unreal power and then darted straight across river at Chad and he quickly beached it in some slower water. This stretch was very fast water with a small tail out on the far bank about 15 feet across – this fish could have gone any direction and would have broken off Chad – but it went straight across river and into somewhat slower water. I arrived to see Chad with a monster rainbow in his net – I couldn't even begin to imagine how big the fish really was. While fumbling with the camera it did not start up correctly and I had to restart it – in the 15 seconds this took Chad was working to get the fly out of his mouth and noticed his old streamer there! All he could say is "I can't believe I got my fly back!" He struggled to get the fish out of the net – his tail was completed out of the net, and his head was touching the wooden rim. As Chad went to hold the fish up and I had the camera ready, the rainbow made a suicide run for the water – Chad literally could not hold his hands around the fish and control it and it flipped back into the water right in front of me – the fish actually was tired and slid back towards Chad, but as he reached for it, it moved 6 inches to its right and was back in fast water and gone. This fish was the fish of a lifetime. It was easily 26 inches long, 9 inches tall and probably 8 inches wide – it looked as big as a human thigh, silver slick colored with a slight strip of pink. We high fived each other a couple of times, I was amazed by the fish, Chad continued to be amazed that he got his fly back. We got the hell out of there after that. Another rainy night – we made burgers on the grill inside the camper, were done eating at 9:15, considered tying some flies – decided sleep was more important and were asleep by 9:45pm.
Saturday – Fryingpan River – Basalt (flows were 206 cfs to start the day and 260 cfs to end the day)
When we woke up at 7 and looked outside, the Crystal River was literally red – not brown – but a distinctive red. The rain all night had blown out the river and would continue down river to the Fork. So it looked like another day on the Pan – ah schucks! We hit the lower section of the river and worked our way up towards the dam. We hit one of the first pull outs on the lower stretch around Quaalude Corner around 9am. I was struggling to get going after the previous days suckitude, so I took my time – Chad took off for a good run. This section was again very fast water with few places that were ideal for nymphing. So I tied on a streamer and nymph rig and tried my luck. I managed to hook a decent fish that was sitting in a slow pool on the far side of the river. After hooking him I had to figure out how to get him back to me across some rough river. Somehow I had managed to drag him over two waterfalls, he got hung up on a stick, then wiggled free and I surfed him over to my side of the bank about 20 yards down from where he was originally hooked. He was a pretty rainbow, fat, but not too large, only about 14 inches. He had taken the Czech nymph (that looked a lot like the green drake nymphs and the caddis nymphs – big black head with a bright green body) in size 16, and somehow didn't shake free. It was a good start to the day. The river started to get more crowded in this section so we moved again.
The next stretch we hit was just down river from Strawberry Rock. The river is again very fast and most of the fishable areas were spin outs across river that required great casts and great mends of the line. But, you ran the risk of having to drag the fish back to your side of the river to land it – which again, proved very difficult for me. We parked in a small turn out and I jumped in just below the truck. My first cast was to a small plunge pool that I was literally standing in – I hooked a monster brown and the fish took off into the fast water and within 5 seconds was easily 80 feet down river. Within another second or two he had popped off in the fast current. Damn, it was a nice fish too.
I fished my way up to Strawberry Rock catching a couple small browns. Chad met up with me and passed me. There was some beautiful water up there – in particular a section of chunked red rocks that was like shelves in the middle of the water, the water was spinning all around this shelf, cascading over it and making multiple water falls. It was such a cool spot – unfortunately this picture does not do it justice. I fished a little further up river, watching Chad's rod bent about every 7 or 8 minutes or so. I had a couple on, but couldn't land anymore. On the walk back to the truck Chad told me how he landed a 22 inch brown that he caught in the pool right next to the truck – he said the damn fish took off down river after he hooked it. Yep, same hole as mine and yeah, I'm thinking the same thing. Sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't – and I didn't this weekend.
We moved down again – to our normal stretch (I think it is called Old Faithful Pullout). I again jumped in just below the rocks and had very little luck. I did manage to catch one very memorable fish on a streamer – it was for sure the largest fish I had caught all weekend on the streamer. Unfortunately the fish was only 3 times bigger than the inch and a half streamer!
I saw another otter (my 2nd of the weekend) – this one was much longer, he was two toned, lighter colored brownish blonde in the upper body and dark brown on his butt and tail. He was running along the bank maybe 7 feet from me and didn't even see me at all. I spent about an hour fishing over and changing flies on one fish in particular. It was a cuttbow with spectacular ruby coloring and was actively feeding in a side pool where the current would relax and the fish could just feed. I tried everything for over an hour with no luck. I waved Chad over and told him to catch the fish – which he did in under 10 casts. The fish was in fact a spectacular color – red along its entire bottom.
I continued fishing and hooked a couple fish in the faster water – I nice rainbow not more than 6 inches away from the bank on an errant cast, and a small brown – both of which popped off. I did manage to land a tiny (under 9 inches) brown. I was pretty much done fishing, but we decided to try the dam section again, so we moved up. The section just below the falls was completely empty – so we hit it. Chad was working just under the falls as I was stalking fish when again I saw his rod bent and he was jockeying a fish my way (not on purpose either). I helped him land a huge rainbow (technically I didn't land him – I beached him because he wouldn't fit in the net) – I took a couple of pictures, although they weren't pretty. The fish was huge – about 22 inches (maybe more) but it's mouth was very disfigured and it had other scars on it. The fish was pretty undeterred when we let him go as he swam right back to his spot.
I moved just above the falls and hooked and landed a nice 17 inch brown that fall well. I fished this section for an hour – hooking and landing 2 more 15 inch fish. I did see a HOG of a rainbow – brightly colored red on its bottom – move into my hole. As I was fishing towards him I hooked onto a nice fish – thinking it was the 20+ rainbow – but it ended up being a 14 inch brown that pulled like a log! The upper stretches along the flat water head towards that dam were stacked with guides and rednecks – all standing within casting distance, and all dry flying. Chad and I hiked into this section not knowing that there was such a crowd – we headed down one of the many bush corridors that lead to the river – when we popped out there was a guy 50 feet to our right, and 30 feet to our left. But, right in front of us feeding in the shallows were about 10 fish between 18 and 20 inches. Of course they saw us and we saw them, but they wouldn't hit for the world. Just before I left Chad to go get the truck, we saw one fish making his way up slowly from the lower stretches towards us. The shear size and length of this fish is indescribable. He was easily 24 inches low, and easily 15 lbs. But he wasn't a trout – Chad and I both agreed on that – the fish had a pouty face like a carp or whitefish, and he was a bluish dark gray in color. We weren't sure what kind he was – but if anyone knows if there are whities or carp in that river that are that big, please let me know.
I went back and got the truck and parked at the pull out with the toilets and picnic tables and waited for Chad. We headed back to the campsite around 8:30, fried up burgers again in a pan, and hit the hay at about 9:30. No tying flies, no chatting, we were completely exhausted.
Sunday – Eagle River – Wolcott (flows around 300+ cfs, water was very dark and off color but not muddy)
We got out of bed around 8am, no rain that night so perhaps the Fork would be clearer. We packed up the camper and headed down to the lower Fork. The water was again way off color so we decided to try the Eagle River closer to Vail. Well, the Eagle was also chocolate milk in color and a mess. We kept going towards Vail and eventually saw it clear up near Edwards/Wolcott. We pulled into Edwards and followed the river down a frontage road, but the entire section was private – of course it was prime water too! We finally kept heading west to Wolcott where it became public land and we stopped at a campground/picnic area and jumped in. The stretch was along some railroad tracks and was fairly flat but awefully silty. The water was about knee to waste deep and Chad and I started working runs with streamers. We waded to the far side of the river and Chad immediately hooked 2 nice browns at about 16 inches. I hooked one fish while I was trying to get my footing and just letting the fly drag as I wasn't paying attention. I never got him in as he popped off in the faster water due to the force of the river.
Chad kept moving down river and I saw his rod bent and he was moving back towards me – he motioned that he might need help so I headed his way. I helped him land a nice 17 inch brown that was thick and feisty. I fished the hole Chad was just working and again he vanished over the railroad bridge onto the other side of the river. I continued working great looking runs, but couldn't even get a strike. I too worked my way under the railroad bridge onto the other side. I managed to hook a 6 inch brown – but that was it. We maybe fished another hour and then we were ready to head home. I was surprised that a Vail guide shop was working this free/public stretch of river and actually was guiding clients on that stretch for the day. It seemed too easy of a stretch to figure out yourself, and I couldn't understand why they couldn't work a deal to get them on the better sections further upriver in the private sections.
We hit the road right around 12:30pm. The ride home was quite eventful – about 10 miles outside of Edwards I blew a tire on the camper. We pulled over and changed it. We stopped to get lunch briefly in Vail, then were back on the road. Coming down highway 70 into Silverthorne the traffic stopped dead only ½ mile from the Asbestos Alley exit in Silverthorne. We sat there for 45 minutes without moving. Obviously an accident had happened, but when we went by it looked like no one was injured – just some banged up cars. After getting going again, we flew all the way to Idaho Springs where the traffic was stop and go again for several miles. We finally got home around 4 – 4:30pm.
Friday, July 20, 2007
July 20, 2007 - Big Thompson River - above Drake
July 20, 2007 - Big Thompson River - above Drake
Flows around 130 cfs, evening fishing - 5pm to about 9pm
Chad, Cabo and I decided we hadn't fished in a while so we wanted to do some evening fishing. We both hadn't fished the Big T in a while and so we headed up there on a Friday night. Problem was that there is a ton of traffic on a Friday evening - even when you leave at 2:45. Santa Fe and I25 were dead stopped in places and I didn't get to Chad's until 3:30. The traffic only got worse from there - it took us 2 hours to get to the Big T. So we fished our way through the Big T valley towards Drake. Our first two spots along the highway actually produced no results for either Chad or I. The next spot was a little better as Chad started hooking fish on the streamer and baetis rig. I unfortunately had no luck. Our fourth spot was on a bend and the the fish seemed to be everywhere - Chad was actually hooking into small fish on a good sized streamer. I again, caught nothing.
Our fifth spot was very fishy looking and Chad had great luck - I had 2 on, but nothing landed. The water was very warm (at least it seemed) and the hatches were coming of sporadically. Of course this isn't much of a river that you try to match the hatch on - except maybe the occassional caddis hatch. I still had no luck, but found several areas where the fish tailing and jumping out of the water after the bugs (just not my bugs). Our final spot was in a pull out just before Drake. The pull out always has a mound of dirt at the end of it. This spot was the first spot I ever caught a fish on the Big T some 7 years ago. The light was fading fast and I jumped in with a nymph rig and finally hooked and almost landed (I wasn't interested in netting a 10 inch fish so I tried to hand land him in decently fast water) a little guy. The fish in this spot were literally JUMPING out of the water and doing tail wags after the flurry of hatches that were coming off. Caddis were definitely flying, but there were some much larger bugs too - it was now closer to 8:30pm and you could tell that this must happen every night because the fish were keying on it. I switched to a black foam caddis, but I could not get a single fish to take. At about 9 (when it was too dark to see anything) I jumped out of the water and started looking for Chad (who was further down). In the pull out area I noticed a cross planted in the embankment - it read "Don Davis, Owner Great Western Fly Fishing" - it was a sad thing to see, but I realized that a piece of him (or his spirit) wanted to be in that very spot eternally fishing the Big T. RIP Mr. Davis, I caught one for you in your special spot.
The drive home was dark yet very fast. I got home at 11 - 4.5 hours of driving and 3.5 hours of fishing.
Flows around 130 cfs, evening fishing - 5pm to about 9pm
Chad, Cabo and I decided we hadn't fished in a while so we wanted to do some evening fishing. We both hadn't fished the Big T in a while and so we headed up there on a Friday night. Problem was that there is a ton of traffic on a Friday evening - even when you leave at 2:45. Santa Fe and I25 were dead stopped in places and I didn't get to Chad's until 3:30. The traffic only got worse from there - it took us 2 hours to get to the Big T. So we fished our way through the Big T valley towards Drake. Our first two spots along the highway actually produced no results for either Chad or I. The next spot was a little better as Chad started hooking fish on the streamer and baetis rig. I unfortunately had no luck. Our fourth spot was on a bend and the the fish seemed to be everywhere - Chad was actually hooking into small fish on a good sized streamer. I again, caught nothing.
Our fifth spot was very fishy looking and Chad had great luck - I had 2 on, but nothing landed. The water was very warm (at least it seemed) and the hatches were coming of sporadically. Of course this isn't much of a river that you try to match the hatch on - except maybe the occassional caddis hatch. I still had no luck, but found several areas where the fish tailing and jumping out of the water after the bugs (just not my bugs). Our final spot was in a pull out just before Drake. The pull out always has a mound of dirt at the end of it. This spot was the first spot I ever caught a fish on the Big T some 7 years ago. The light was fading fast and I jumped in with a nymph rig and finally hooked and almost landed (I wasn't interested in netting a 10 inch fish so I tried to hand land him in decently fast water) a little guy. The fish in this spot were literally JUMPING out of the water and doing tail wags after the flurry of hatches that were coming off. Caddis were definitely flying, but there were some much larger bugs too - it was now closer to 8:30pm and you could tell that this must happen every night because the fish were keying on it. I switched to a black foam caddis, but I could not get a single fish to take. At about 9 (when it was too dark to see anything) I jumped out of the water and started looking for Chad (who was further down). In the pull out area I noticed a cross planted in the embankment - it read "Don Davis, Owner Great Western Fly Fishing" - it was a sad thing to see, but I realized that a piece of him (or his spirit) wanted to be in that very spot eternally fishing the Big T. RIP Mr. Davis, I caught one for you in your special spot.
The drive home was dark yet very fast. I got home at 11 - 4.5 hours of driving and 3.5 hours of fishing.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
July 7-8, 2007 - Arkansas River - Salida
July 7-8, 2007 - Arkansas River - Salida area (Big Bend, Rincon, Hecla)
Flows 1080 cfs, tea green in color - days were in the 70's, big puffy clouds gave way to dark grey clouds and thunder, then back to puffy clouds. Sunday was slightly overcast.
With the wife away I decided to play. After having such a great day in RMNP on Wednesday I was excited to go somewhere and go fishing. I called Brian (Hydedrifter) on Thursday night and he told me that he was having phenominal days fishing - some of the best of the summer - so that sealed the deal - I was headed for Salida! I packed up the truck bright and early on Saturday morning, popped the camper on the back, threw the dog in the back and off we went. About Bailey is when it happened - I realized I had forgotten my boots. Crap. I was in a dilemma - with a log ride ahead of me, and holiday traffic coming home the next, I almost bagged it. But, I was already about an hour into the drive and so I pulled over and let the dog play in the Platte along highway 285 for a bit.
Obviously I decided to keep going. I just had to make a stop at WalMart to find a pair of wading boots. On the way I decided to drop the camper of at Brown's Canyon at a state park camp ground - a great spot over looking the river at Hecla Junction. On my way to WalMart I did manage to get lost on the back streets of Salida and stopped at a place called Riverworks to ask directions. If you have never heard of Riverworks, I'm sure you have seen their work - especially if you have fished in Salida. Riverworks is where rafters and kayakers go to get frames built for their boats. It isn't much of a place - just a three stall garage with a couple guys and a work bench with a computer. They were working on a couple of boats when I came in - one had this cool anchor seat that hung out over the back of the raft - the anchor rope went through one of the hollow pipes out the side - pretty cool. They pointed me the right direction, and wish me luck on the weekend. I pulled into WalMart around 11, grabbed a pair of $25 boots, and was at my secret spot by noon - we jumped out - it was beautiful - about 75 degrees, partly cloudy and only one other guy in our parking lot. We went down to check out the river and it was roaring. I have never fished the Ark above 600 cfs, so this would be a test.
I didn't get into fish right away - I was trying a streamer and that lasted about 15 casts and I was done. I moved on to a green weenie (as Brian calls it) size 16, this is a pattern that Brian showed me a couple years back and the thing is always on. It is basically a pheasant tail, with mylar body, charteuse wire ribbing, a big gold bead and peacock herl behind the bead (you can add some hen soft hackle for a variation that works just as well). I tied a red version up top and a green version on the bottom and began nymphing around rocks and along seams. The fish weren't on right away and the normal spots, so I kept working my way down. We disturbed a gaggle of geese on one of the little islands, they wanted to attack me, but dog trumps goose every time - although my dog is afraid of fish. I set up below a huge boulder in the middle with a long slow slot with fast moving water in the seam. I'd cast into the slow stuff along the edge and the fish would take it at about the 1 o'clock lie. I hooked and landed about 10 or 12 in this section - all browns except one bow. Two browns were pushing 17 inches and all were fiesty as heck. Cabo kissed each fish and looked for them when I plopped them back into the water. It was 3 pm and I had worn out my welcome here, so I headed down to Howard to see if Brian and Mary were around - and they were. We chatted for about an hour and then I was on my way to fish some more.
I stopped just above Rincon at a nice area where Brian had floated me by last year. The spot was very nice with a sand bar in the middle and downed logs in a jam along the shore. I fished the edges and the flat stuff and hooked and landed several nice fish - one was easily 17 inches and fought great. I think two were rainbows and they were fat. I moved up to a rock wall area that the water pushed up against and created an eddy. I hook and lost a HUGE brown - I saw him flash and I would estimate him at 18 inches - he broke everything off. I hooked and landed a small bow out of the hole and then called it a night at 7:30 ish.
We camped at Hecla Junction at the base of Brown's Canyon - I figured I'd fish the next morning and then head out. The canyon is a great place to fish IF you can get across the river to the tracks. I drove the 3 miles on the dirt road - stopped at the boat ramp to throw the ball for Cabo for 30 minutes while chatting with some rafters packing their gear. Cabo and I made cheeseburgers, had a Pepsi, then went to bed. I read for an hour or so, I surprisingly got a text message while in the canyon - somehow I had just enough reception (strange).
Woke up at 7:15, packed the camper, moved the truck and camper down to the lot - and was fishing by 8am. We hiked down the canyon (not up the canyon since I couldn't get across!!) and hit some holes the looked fishy - but weren't. On all the websites they say the fishing has been on from 5am to 10am - that's crap. The day before I caught all my fish from noon on, and this morning I didn't catch a single fish until almost 11am. I was making my way back to the truck along the shoreline and casting up ahead tight to the bank - I was hooking into tons of fish (finally). And these fish were pretty big - all were over 14 inches (with the occassional youngin'). There's an island right below the boat ramps that a guy was fishing on - the island made for some great slack water behind rocks and there are tons of fish there - he was hooking into lots of them, but they were all small. I was working the shoreline - ducking under tree branches and dodging bushes to get in the perfect spot to cast along the bank ahead. It paid off as the big fish were in the hard to reach water. One brownie was about 16 inches and string. Again, Cabo kissed all my fish and then dunked her head under the water to see where they "went".
That was it - I hike out of the canyon and was out at the highway at 12:15pm and home by 2:30pm. I had to wash the wife's truck and vacuum it as it was well worn with bug splats and wader sauce on the floormats.
Flows 1080 cfs, tea green in color - days were in the 70's, big puffy clouds gave way to dark grey clouds and thunder, then back to puffy clouds. Sunday was slightly overcast.
With the wife away I decided to play. After having such a great day in RMNP on Wednesday I was excited to go somewhere and go fishing. I called Brian (Hydedrifter) on Thursday night and he told me that he was having phenominal days fishing - some of the best of the summer - so that sealed the deal - I was headed for Salida! I packed up the truck bright and early on Saturday morning, popped the camper on the back, threw the dog in the back and off we went. About Bailey is when it happened - I realized I had forgotten my boots. Crap. I was in a dilemma - with a log ride ahead of me, and holiday traffic coming home the next, I almost bagged it. But, I was already about an hour into the drive and so I pulled over and let the dog play in the Platte along highway 285 for a bit.
Obviously I decided to keep going. I just had to make a stop at WalMart to find a pair of wading boots. On the way I decided to drop the camper of at Brown's Canyon at a state park camp ground - a great spot over looking the river at Hecla Junction. On my way to WalMart I did manage to get lost on the back streets of Salida and stopped at a place called Riverworks to ask directions. If you have never heard of Riverworks, I'm sure you have seen their work - especially if you have fished in Salida. Riverworks is where rafters and kayakers go to get frames built for their boats. It isn't much of a place - just a three stall garage with a couple guys and a work bench with a computer. They were working on a couple of boats when I came in - one had this cool anchor seat that hung out over the back of the raft - the anchor rope went through one of the hollow pipes out the side - pretty cool. They pointed me the right direction, and wish me luck on the weekend. I pulled into WalMart around 11, grabbed a pair of $25 boots, and was at my secret spot by noon - we jumped out - it was beautiful - about 75 degrees, partly cloudy and only one other guy in our parking lot. We went down to check out the river and it was roaring. I have never fished the Ark above 600 cfs, so this would be a test.
I didn't get into fish right away - I was trying a streamer and that lasted about 15 casts and I was done. I moved on to a green weenie (as Brian calls it) size 16, this is a pattern that Brian showed me a couple years back and the thing is always on. It is basically a pheasant tail, with mylar body, charteuse wire ribbing, a big gold bead and peacock herl behind the bead (you can add some hen soft hackle for a variation that works just as well). I tied a red version up top and a green version on the bottom and began nymphing around rocks and along seams. The fish weren't on right away and the normal spots, so I kept working my way down. We disturbed a gaggle of geese on one of the little islands, they wanted to attack me, but dog trumps goose every time - although my dog is afraid of fish. I set up below a huge boulder in the middle with a long slow slot with fast moving water in the seam. I'd cast into the slow stuff along the edge and the fish would take it at about the 1 o'clock lie. I hooked and landed about 10 or 12 in this section - all browns except one bow. Two browns were pushing 17 inches and all were fiesty as heck. Cabo kissed each fish and looked for them when I plopped them back into the water. It was 3 pm and I had worn out my welcome here, so I headed down to Howard to see if Brian and Mary were around - and they were. We chatted for about an hour and then I was on my way to fish some more.
I stopped just above Rincon at a nice area where Brian had floated me by last year. The spot was very nice with a sand bar in the middle and downed logs in a jam along the shore. I fished the edges and the flat stuff and hooked and landed several nice fish - one was easily 17 inches and fought great. I think two were rainbows and they were fat. I moved up to a rock wall area that the water pushed up against and created an eddy. I hook and lost a HUGE brown - I saw him flash and I would estimate him at 18 inches - he broke everything off. I hooked and landed a small bow out of the hole and then called it a night at 7:30 ish.
We camped at Hecla Junction at the base of Brown's Canyon - I figured I'd fish the next morning and then head out. The canyon is a great place to fish IF you can get across the river to the tracks. I drove the 3 miles on the dirt road - stopped at the boat ramp to throw the ball for Cabo for 30 minutes while chatting with some rafters packing their gear. Cabo and I made cheeseburgers, had a Pepsi, then went to bed. I read for an hour or so, I surprisingly got a text message while in the canyon - somehow I had just enough reception (strange).
Woke up at 7:15, packed the camper, moved the truck and camper down to the lot - and was fishing by 8am. We hiked down the canyon (not up the canyon since I couldn't get across!!) and hit some holes the looked fishy - but weren't. On all the websites they say the fishing has been on from 5am to 10am - that's crap. The day before I caught all my fish from noon on, and this morning I didn't catch a single fish until almost 11am. I was making my way back to the truck along the shoreline and casting up ahead tight to the bank - I was hooking into tons of fish (finally). And these fish were pretty big - all were over 14 inches (with the occassional youngin'). There's an island right below the boat ramps that a guy was fishing on - the island made for some great slack water behind rocks and there are tons of fish there - he was hooking into lots of them, but they were all small. I was working the shoreline - ducking under tree branches and dodging bushes to get in the perfect spot to cast along the bank ahead. It paid off as the big fish were in the hard to reach water. One brownie was about 16 inches and string. Again, Cabo kissed all my fish and then dunked her head under the water to see where they "went".
That was it - I hike out of the canyon and was out at the highway at 12:15pm and home by 2:30pm. I had to wash the wife's truck and vacuum it as it was well worn with bug splats and wader sauce on the floormats.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
July 4, 2007 - Roaring River, RMNP
July 4, 2007 - Roaring River, RMNP
Mostly sunny, normal grey clouds towards early afternoon, blew over then sunny again. About 72 degrees.
My buddy Steffan and I fished RMNP today and had a great time. We got their early - before 7am and the ranger let us in without paying (which we tried to do but he wasn't in his "booth"). Hit the Lawn Lake parking lot and were on the river and suited up after a 3/4 mile hike around 7:30 or so.
The river was crystal clear, flowing nice - not too high - and was actually warmer than I remember. The hike in seemed shorter too. But the fish were exactly the same!!
I wanted to teach Steffan to fish a little, so I showed him what we were using - red and charteuse PTs/copper john mixes - big gold bead, wire body, pheasant tail, peacock behind the bead in size 16. We caught all our fish on the red one - after having success, we stuck to a double rig of just that fly.
I had 3 on in a few cast trying to show him how to flick cast and keep his casts short and sweet. The second fish ran almost 12 inches and was gorgeous. Steffan quickly got the hang of the tight casting and was hooking into fish all day - pulling bunches out of the typical holes. I caught my share, but one fish in particular caught my eye. If anyone knows the Roaring River, they know this hole. The hole sits on top of a huge set of boulders - the river actually is roaring through this section and drops down off an 8 foot bolder falls. This pool sits on top of the boulder field on the left side. This area is the only area that does not have a path on either side close to the river - the path actually pulls away from the river because there is no way to stay next to the river - it goes straight up.
The pool had a bunch of fish in it - but this fish in particular was bullying its way around the pool pushing the youngin's around. Well, I caught a smaller fish sitting in a crease between two rocks where the water dumps out into the waterfall section. The pool had no discernible drift pattern - unless you can fish in a toilet. Most fish sat backwards in this hole or sat up close to the bank to get away from the swirl. This fish was dancing in the hole - pushing fish out of his holes or just throwing his weight around - and there was plenty of it. I managed to hook him and landed him in the tight water - he was 13 inches and very brightly colored orange (pic coming soon). I put him next to the rod, so I got a good size on him. That is the largest fish I have seen in this river.
We fished a good 1.5 miles in and then headed out around 3:30pm. I pulled into my house at 6:30pm.
I will have the pictures of the trip after I get the disposable camera developed and scanned. My wife took the digital back to Boston for her trip home - so I was stuck with the disposable!
Mostly sunny, normal grey clouds towards early afternoon, blew over then sunny again. About 72 degrees.
My buddy Steffan and I fished RMNP today and had a great time. We got their early - before 7am and the ranger let us in without paying (which we tried to do but he wasn't in his "booth"). Hit the Lawn Lake parking lot and were on the river and suited up after a 3/4 mile hike around 7:30 or so.
The river was crystal clear, flowing nice - not too high - and was actually warmer than I remember. The hike in seemed shorter too. But the fish were exactly the same!!
I wanted to teach Steffan to fish a little, so I showed him what we were using - red and charteuse PTs/copper john mixes - big gold bead, wire body, pheasant tail, peacock behind the bead in size 16. We caught all our fish on the red one - after having success, we stuck to a double rig of just that fly.
I had 3 on in a few cast trying to show him how to flick cast and keep his casts short and sweet. The second fish ran almost 12 inches and was gorgeous. Steffan quickly got the hang of the tight casting and was hooking into fish all day - pulling bunches out of the typical holes. I caught my share, but one fish in particular caught my eye. If anyone knows the Roaring River, they know this hole. The hole sits on top of a huge set of boulders - the river actually is roaring through this section and drops down off an 8 foot bolder falls. This pool sits on top of the boulder field on the left side. This area is the only area that does not have a path on either side close to the river - the path actually pulls away from the river because there is no way to stay next to the river - it goes straight up.
The pool had a bunch of fish in it - but this fish in particular was bullying its way around the pool pushing the youngin's around. Well, I caught a smaller fish sitting in a crease between two rocks where the water dumps out into the waterfall section. The pool had no discernible drift pattern - unless you can fish in a toilet. Most fish sat backwards in this hole or sat up close to the bank to get away from the swirl. This fish was dancing in the hole - pushing fish out of his holes or just throwing his weight around - and there was plenty of it. I managed to hook him and landed him in the tight water - he was 13 inches and very brightly colored orange (pic coming soon). I put him next to the rod, so I got a good size on him. That is the largest fish I have seen in this river.
We fished a good 1.5 miles in and then headed out around 3:30pm. I pulled into my house at 6:30pm.
I will have the pictures of the trip after I get the disposable camera developed and scanned. My wife took the digital back to Boston for her trip home - so I was stuck with the disposable!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
June 9, 2007 - Chatfield Res.
June 9, 2007 - Chatfield Res.
Water was super high and super off color - although not sure if the water is usually any clearer - never really fished here. The day was hot 82 or so and partly cloudy (although the tops of my legs and arms are fried). I took the kayak and the dog and went carpin'!
Got there around 12 noon and went to the dog park to try and wear out the dog first. Got on the water after inflating the kayak around 1:15 pm. The dog was pooped so she didn't fight me too much about getting in the front of the kayak and laying down. We hit a section on the back side of the reservior close to where the river dumps in - but I did not really see where the river dumped in. Right off the bat I saw a carp jump out of the water to the left side in the frog water next to the shore. The land fishermen weren't anywhere near it so I dropped anchor and cast to the carp. I'm not exactly sure what I am doing - so I tied on a 10 foot leader and 2 green damsel fly imitations I had tied earlier in the week. They weren't pretty flies, but they were buggy. I cast to the torpedo multiple times, but got not luck. I couldn't see the fish, or even see any tailing fish or wakes, just a huge splash every 7 or 8 minutes. Pretty crazy. The fish was huge - like 12-15 lb range and he was brownish orange with a brighter belly than his back. I'm not sure of the make or model - but it was definitely a carp.
No luck there so I decided to work the muscles a little on the kayak. I went to a small island and dropped anchor just offshore - no luck there either, so I pulled anchor and decided to explore. The water is super super high right now and I could literally paddle between the trees and shrubs and make my way over what lloked like a peninsula - the water was only a foot deep, but this kayak doesn't go very deep. This is very very carpy water - I can imagine that a pro would have a blast. I could hear fish jumping out of the water and would see one every once in a while out of the corner of my eye. I didn't stop in the shallows, instead went to this small island and parked the kayak. The dog was happy to get out and walk around and I wanted to wade a little and see if I could "see" fish - nope. I actually got bit by mosquitos and thought to myself just how "snakey" the water looked and decided to get back in the kayak. I started paddling back when I saw a guy in a pontoon boat and went in his direction. He was right at the entrance to a lagoon that had some really froggy water. I paddled past him and dumped anchor in 2.5 feet of water. Two HUGE carp jumped out of the water in a lagoon between me and the pontooner. Damn, I wanted to try and get him, but I didn't want to get to close to the other guy.
I was having a ton of problems with cottonwood puffs clinging to my line and my fly. No way can you get these things off - they are like yarn and hard to cut. I went into some really dead water and saw a sweet turtle and scared something off in front of the kayak that scared the crap out of me. I moved on as the water was skinny and I didn't want to pop the kayak on all the sticks in the water. I moved finally to a spot that I thought for sure would be good. I finally got the cottonwood puffs off my line and I was twisted facing backwards by the wind, so I would myself back with the paddle and again had cottonwood puffd on my line. After finally cleaning them off I made 4 casts into the brush where I had seen a fish jump (not sure how they got into the shrubs and bushes) and I hooked a branch and lost my flies. I decided I had had enough - so I paddled for home. The kayak takes about 9 minutes to set up and 9 minutes to break down and pack away - pretty damn easy.
This was my first time fishing from the kayak. I like the kayak - although in the wind it will SUCK! Also, I'm very low in the boat and I can't see crap/carp. Sometimes I boost myself up on the back that is inflated, but it isn't very easy to balance. I need to make some sort of high seat in it - to see better, but also to keep my ass dry - when you paddle, the water goes into the bottom and then rolls to the heaviest place in the boat (my ass). I need to make a rod holder or something so that I can paddle easier without hitting the rod. I also need to make some sort of lap box/bag to put all my stuff in. There isn't a ton of room for your feet, so having a waist pack at your feet is crowded. My fly line was also getting caught often on the velcro look on the side of the kayak - not sure how to fix that.
Well, that was my adventure in a nut shell.
Water was super high and super off color - although not sure if the water is usually any clearer - never really fished here. The day was hot 82 or so and partly cloudy (although the tops of my legs and arms are fried). I took the kayak and the dog and went carpin'!
Got there around 12 noon and went to the dog park to try and wear out the dog first. Got on the water after inflating the kayak around 1:15 pm. The dog was pooped so she didn't fight me too much about getting in the front of the kayak and laying down. We hit a section on the back side of the reservior close to where the river dumps in - but I did not really see where the river dumped in. Right off the bat I saw a carp jump out of the water to the left side in the frog water next to the shore. The land fishermen weren't anywhere near it so I dropped anchor and cast to the carp. I'm not exactly sure what I am doing - so I tied on a 10 foot leader and 2 green damsel fly imitations I had tied earlier in the week. They weren't pretty flies, but they were buggy. I cast to the torpedo multiple times, but got not luck. I couldn't see the fish, or even see any tailing fish or wakes, just a huge splash every 7 or 8 minutes. Pretty crazy. The fish was huge - like 12-15 lb range and he was brownish orange with a brighter belly than his back. I'm not sure of the make or model - but it was definitely a carp.
No luck there so I decided to work the muscles a little on the kayak. I went to a small island and dropped anchor just offshore - no luck there either, so I pulled anchor and decided to explore. The water is super super high right now and I could literally paddle between the trees and shrubs and make my way over what lloked like a peninsula - the water was only a foot deep, but this kayak doesn't go very deep. This is very very carpy water - I can imagine that a pro would have a blast. I could hear fish jumping out of the water and would see one every once in a while out of the corner of my eye. I didn't stop in the shallows, instead went to this small island and parked the kayak. The dog was happy to get out and walk around and I wanted to wade a little and see if I could "see" fish - nope. I actually got bit by mosquitos and thought to myself just how "snakey" the water looked and decided to get back in the kayak. I started paddling back when I saw a guy in a pontoon boat and went in his direction. He was right at the entrance to a lagoon that had some really froggy water. I paddled past him and dumped anchor in 2.5 feet of water. Two HUGE carp jumped out of the water in a lagoon between me and the pontooner. Damn, I wanted to try and get him, but I didn't want to get to close to the other guy.
I was having a ton of problems with cottonwood puffs clinging to my line and my fly. No way can you get these things off - they are like yarn and hard to cut. I went into some really dead water and saw a sweet turtle and scared something off in front of the kayak that scared the crap out of me. I moved on as the water was skinny and I didn't want to pop the kayak on all the sticks in the water. I moved finally to a spot that I thought for sure would be good. I finally got the cottonwood puffs off my line and I was twisted facing backwards by the wind, so I would myself back with the paddle and again had cottonwood puffd on my line. After finally cleaning them off I made 4 casts into the brush where I had seen a fish jump (not sure how they got into the shrubs and bushes) and I hooked a branch and lost my flies. I decided I had had enough - so I paddled for home. The kayak takes about 9 minutes to set up and 9 minutes to break down and pack away - pretty damn easy.
This was my first time fishing from the kayak. I like the kayak - although in the wind it will SUCK! Also, I'm very low in the boat and I can't see crap/carp. Sometimes I boost myself up on the back that is inflated, but it isn't very easy to balance. I need to make some sort of high seat in it - to see better, but also to keep my ass dry - when you paddle, the water goes into the bottom and then rolls to the heaviest place in the boat (my ass). I need to make a rod holder or something so that I can paddle easier without hitting the rod. I also need to make some sort of lap box/bag to put all my stuff in. There isn't a ton of room for your feet, so having a waist pack at your feet is crowded. My fly line was also getting caught often on the velcro look on the side of the kayak - not sure how to fix that.
Well, that was my adventure in a nut shell.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007 - Blue River above Dillon
Saturday, May 12, 2007 - Blue River above Dillon
Flows were about 175cfs and the water was slightly tea colored.
The wife got a massage for mother's day and Cabo, Avelyn and I had to wait out some rain. After the massage the wife dropped the dog and I off at the bridge and went shopping for a couple of hours. We skipped the actual river and jumped in just as it dumps in. The reservoir was pretty low, you had to walk about 100 yards from the delta to the actual reservoir. I saw a few fisherman working the river, so skipping ahead was risky (I thought that maybe the number of rods would triple as I got closer to the inlet), but there was no one actually fishing down by the reservoir area.
The weather was clearing, and not 5 minutes after I hit my destination the sun came out at full force and it started getting warm. It was probably close to 65 degrees when the sun was out, but the big fluffy clouds dropped the weather 5 degrees every time one came by. The water was cold, cold enough to make the dog shiver - which only happens once in a blue moon. The water running down the slopes to the reservoir was fast and shallow - so I headed right to the area where it dumps in and was slightly flatter. The main channel looked nice, but I could see that there was some flats areas where the water was 2 feet deep and then dropped off quickly to 6 foot deep areas. I knew that the fish would be in the deeper areas, usually in schools. Of course the nympher in me wanted to catch them on nymphs, which I did manage to hook two and almost land one (a SDR). The rainbows seemed frisky and small, but that was fine. I switched to my microstreamer pattern reluctantly. I casted into the drop offs and hooked and landed 4 frisky rainbows. qall were maybe 13 inches, not overly fat, and almost completely bleached out and all silver. They all seem to have pouty snouts, smaller than an average rainbow. Their snouts seemed too small for your their faces - it just seemed odd. All fish took the streamer hard. All were offered up to Cabo for a look, she "tried" to bite them all (she's a big wimp - not much of an attempt, she's more afraid of them!), then she looked for them as they plopped in the water and disappeared. She'd look for them underwater for about a minute or two and then give up.
Jen was going to meet me at the boat ramp around 3 - 3:30, so I started walking through the mud over. These flats were all silt and were only about 2 feet or less deep for about 40 yards out. When Jen showed up it was nice and warm so we decided to get the kayak out and give Avi a ride. The kayak takes less than 7 minutes to set up and it is quite stealth on the water. I took her for a ride and then Jen took her for another. Jen took it out by herself. We really need to get that thing out more often. This thing will be awesome for still water fishing - it is stealth and not overly tippy.
That was pretty much my day in a nutshell.
Flows were about 175cfs and the water was slightly tea colored.
The wife got a massage for mother's day and Cabo, Avelyn and I had to wait out some rain. After the massage the wife dropped the dog and I off at the bridge and went shopping for a couple of hours. We skipped the actual river and jumped in just as it dumps in. The reservoir was pretty low, you had to walk about 100 yards from the delta to the actual reservoir. I saw a few fisherman working the river, so skipping ahead was risky (I thought that maybe the number of rods would triple as I got closer to the inlet), but there was no one actually fishing down by the reservoir area.
The weather was clearing, and not 5 minutes after I hit my destination the sun came out at full force and it started getting warm. It was probably close to 65 degrees when the sun was out, but the big fluffy clouds dropped the weather 5 degrees every time one came by. The water was cold, cold enough to make the dog shiver - which only happens once in a blue moon. The water running down the slopes to the reservoir was fast and shallow - so I headed right to the area where it dumps in and was slightly flatter. The main channel looked nice, but I could see that there was some flats areas where the water was 2 feet deep and then dropped off quickly to 6 foot deep areas. I knew that the fish would be in the deeper areas, usually in schools. Of course the nympher in me wanted to catch them on nymphs, which I did manage to hook two and almost land one (a SDR). The rainbows seemed frisky and small, but that was fine. I switched to my microstreamer pattern reluctantly. I casted into the drop offs and hooked and landed 4 frisky rainbows. qall were maybe 13 inches, not overly fat, and almost completely bleached out and all silver. They all seem to have pouty snouts, smaller than an average rainbow. Their snouts seemed too small for your their faces - it just seemed odd. All fish took the streamer hard. All were offered up to Cabo for a look, she "tried" to bite them all (she's a big wimp - not much of an attempt, she's more afraid of them!), then she looked for them as they plopped in the water and disappeared. She'd look for them underwater for about a minute or two and then give up.
Jen was going to meet me at the boat ramp around 3 - 3:30, so I started walking through the mud over. These flats were all silt and were only about 2 feet or less deep for about 40 yards out. When Jen showed up it was nice and warm so we decided to get the kayak out and give Avi a ride. The kayak takes less than 7 minutes to set up and it is quite stealth on the water. I took her for a ride and then Jen took her for another. Jen took it out by herself. We really need to get that thing out more often. This thing will be awesome for still water fishing - it is stealth and not overly tippy.
That was pretty much my day in a nutshell.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
April 12-15, 2007 - Bighorn River, Ft Smith, MT
April 12-15, 2007 - Bighorn River, Ft Smith, MT
Flows about 1,500 cfs - gin clear.
Thursday, April 12 - Afterbay to 3 Mile
Woke up at 3am - about 30 minutes early, couldn't wait to pick up Chad and Nate and start the drive. Chad was waiting, Nate was sleeping. The plug on Nate's boat wouldn't reach the outlet, so Nate's boat stayed at home. The drive was uneventful, but driving my wife's new 4Runner with only 190 miles on it was pretty sweet - we rode in style.
Stopped at StX to grab Buster's boat - a HUGE thanks to Buster!! Got to Ft. Smith around 1pm, hit Cottonwood, dropped off our crap and then over to Bighorn we went. We were on the water at 1pm. The water was nice and there was no real traffic as we were heading out late. I decided to get some rowing experience in the the soft water right off - but after one cast Chad had a snag or a fish - it ended up being the latter and I quickly learned how to beach the boat and net a fish. Chad hooked a killer 21 inch rainbow that had some really nice heft. What a great start. I think a few dinks were cuaght in the first stretch and we docked just above the Meat Hole. We wanted to make sure we got Nate into some huge fish and so we waited about a half hour for the traffic to move on. We holed up in the Meat Hole and landed some decent fish. Nate work the shelf closest to the bank and hooked a ton, Chad pulled them in steadily as usual, I didn't catch quite as many but did manage a few. PaulM, OB and SemperFish met us there at around 3:30 or so - they fished the hole and then decided to move on. We had seen TPlane and Dad drift by us as well, but we weren't exactly sure that was him - sorry Tim! The flies of the day seemed to be pink soft hackles and pink ray charles.
We moved down past Suck Hole and docked on the right. PaulM/OB/SF stopped at the hole and Paul pulled out some beauties. Nate hooked a few in the flats and I managed a couple small fish. We kept moving, hitting some of the usual spots and trying to get Nate into fish and acquainted with the river. He did well, and we managed some fish. Not much else memorable about the day (my memory is shot too). We were off the river by 7. We hit the cabin, made dinner and I was in bed by 8:30. Chad and Nate tried to tough it out and chat, but they hit the hay soon after.
Friday, April 13th - Afterbay to 3 Mile
We were met by Buster in the morning - about 7:30 am knocking on the door. He was checking to see if we made it. We hit the water closer to 9am. Nate manned the oars for this one (as he had most of the day before). We were thinking about two trips - but we knew we could stretch one trip into 3 Mile. We launched with literally 6 boats within 40 yards of us. We managed to stop above the Meat Hole and wait it out. We moved in on the Hole as a group of guys looked like they were leaving - but they weren't. Bastards all got out of their boat and walked back onto the shelf. Stupid. But Chad wasn't giving in - he stayed put. Eventually Nate and I hit the shelf - Nate worked the far side of the river (not really on the shelf) and had his rod bent consistently. I worked the far right of the shelf and did pretty damn well. Even had a lunker on of over 20 inches that Chad decided was best to flail at and NOT net (thanks Chad). Chad of course caught his limit. We were in the Meat for about 4 hours then moved on.
We didn't fish the Suck Hole for very long, but Nate let me row it. And although Chad was paniced in the front of the boat, Nate said I did very well. The hole isn't that bad, it just throws you at the concrete, but then kind of pulls you back into the calm eye of the hole and then you can back paddle out. We fished our way down past the fallen trees on the right to the next riffle that bends left to right and stopped. This was a great hole last year for browns, and we weren't disappointed. I landed a nice 18 inch brown and Chad landed a FAT brown of over 20 inches. Huge difference in 2 inches of fish - I'd say probably over a pound difference. Nate did real well too - hitting some other spots. We fished down to the cliffs on the left and had even better luck. My first lame cast landed a 20 inch rainbow with a hook jaw. Landed land probably 12 fish right at the boat, and Chad of course walked the entire half mile bank and caught his share. The fish were hitting tiny midges - black with some sparkle. My killers worked well, as did the mercuries and black beauties. I caught a bunch of fish in the stretch and walked all the way down the cliffs with Chad. Nate had to meet us in the boat.
We fished our way to 3 Mile and called it a day at 7:30pm. We hit the cabin, ate dinner, met up with TPlane and Dad, tied some flies and then hit the bed. TPlane admitted he had snuck a white fish and was the clear leader to win the white fish trophy - even if it was only an 8 inch dink! No one else had caught one, and after a day and a half it looked like we might get skunked.
Saturday, April 14th - 3 Mile to Bighorn
No screwing around today, Paul met us at 6:40 - to say the least, none of us were up. We managed to get on the water by about 8am. Before we headed out we met FredYellowEgg in the parking lot - it was nice meeting you! Paul and Chad in his boat and Nate and I in the other. We pulled over about 1/4 mile down on a nice riffle next to the house that everyone overlooked - they were more interested in getting out on the water. It had a nice long sandbar with some nice back channel riffles that Chad hit quickly. I waded to the end where the fast water and slow water connected and hit a nice fat brown about 17 inches on a big 14 pink ray charles.
Nate had some luck in the channel nailing three fish. We moved down again to another great stretch - this time across from the drive in on the far bank. Paul knew this hole and knew the deep sandy bottom often had fish hanging on the edge. Nate hooked 3 fish in the hole, then jumped out, Paul got right in the hole and hooked 3 and then obliged me to try - I hooked 3 nice fish and then it went dead. The guys across from us were hooking some hogs. Next to Pauls boat in the flat stuff there were some fish feeding in the deep stuff - of course there was no way to make the fly look really enough for them to eat it - but the fish were huge - maybe 2 or 3 close to 30 inches! I hooked and landed a 16 inch brown, and Nate had on one of those hogs - but that was it. We moved down to try and find Chad who constantly is like a lost puppy and moves around unstoppable. Chad was scoping out a hole that Paul mentioned and he was determined to get it. That was a very good this too. We hit the hole with an island in the middle - most of the traffic stays far left, but you can hole up in the side channel were it dumps into the main channel that is easilt 15 feet deep. Chad hook moster after monster by just letting the streamer and nymph sink into the deep channel. One brown was easily 20 inches and I saw him catch at least 10 more. Nate was hitting the bottom of the run and hooking fish hand over fish - he's a pro with that low profile eager nymphing pose ready to strike at any time. Paul and I fished the side channel as it dumped in and he caught a ton of fish. I did very very well - landing fish after fish on my double weighted nymph rig that had about 8 or 9 feet of tippet between my indicator and flies. I caught a ton, but every fish I had to wade out of the channel over to Paul in the slow stuff. Since it was over 65 degrees, I had taken off my jacket and only had a box of flies down my pants, forceps clung to my t-shirt and tippet and weights pinned to my shirt. Net and camera and everything else was in the boat. Paul was more than willing to help me net a few and take some pics. Of course BlackOtter and Kyo pulled in just as I was landing a lunker of a fish - this thing wouldn't fight, but was a log - I kind of knew in the back of my mind what it was, a whitie! Of course I got the official ribbing and the picture taken for proof. It was a lot of fun though. I caught some more while the guys shot the shiit.
We moved down, hopping more boats and seeing some beautiful young ladies fishing along the way. It was nice seeing the ladies enjoying the day and fishing as well. We saw a bunch of ladies with hook ups, including one gal that was a pro with a dry fly (and she was hot too!). We moved into some less crowded water - a real flat stretch that was only about 6 feet deep max all the way across, but over a 100 yards wide. Nate headed north, Paul jumped out next to the boat, Chad went running for the riffles and shelves further down - and I just relaxed - watching Nate and Paul and tying on a new rig. Paul has an unorthodexed nymphing motion, slapping the water on his false cast and then he can throw a line a good 80 feet. I'm not kidding - he gets some torque behind the fly and almost flips it 80 feet. I've never seen anyone do this - ever! And he catches fish way the hell out there too! He landed some biggies - a nice rainbow with a hooked jaw that I couldn't quite land, and then a few more fish. I dropped into the hole below him and had 4 fish on in 10 minutes. I moved down again and proceeded to hook about 35 fish and landed about two dowzen in the next two hours. I was in a zone, and every other cast I had a fish on. The hard part was landing them with no net - I dragged them onto the shallows and tried to hand land them. They were all mostly browns, all were at least 17 inches, and all jumped! I landed probably 5 rainbows, not as large (except one), and landed one brown that was 14 inches. One brown was huge, I was out to my waste, and couldn't get back to shore and tried to hand land him and he snapped me off. All the fish were taking the same style fly - Paul Bighorn swap jujubee bead head black and white with a tuft of peacock dubbing behind the bead. After shredding those two they kept hitting tan zebras with bead heads. And occassionally they hit the killer - all in size 18 or 20. Blackotter and Kyo pulled up and hit some fish, but we ended up chatting for a good 45 minutes.
We moved on again, stopping here or there, but we had to make up some time as we were still about 5 miles away from take out. One place we stopped was next to the huge tree that dropped some shade over the bank. The water was fast and Paul was into a fish immediately. Nate and I pulled across the water from them, and hooked a fish in a back eddy - but that was it. Paul nailed about 4 fish in there and then let Chad fish his spot. Chad hooked into a pig and needed Paul's help. Paul got the boat net and tried to help Chad, not before falling in above his chest waders first. He managed to net the fish, but only after Chad pointed out that it was behind him. From the other side of the river, this was pretty entertaining - a comedy of errors - but it had a happy ending. We got out of there and hit the confluence of Soap Creek and fished the seams. I actually put on a streamer and managed 2 small browns while Nate rowed us. Chad was hooking into fish left and right and was slowed down a lot. We hit Bighorn access around 8 pm as it was getting dark. We said good bye to Paul and we headed back to the cabin.
We cooked dinner - and waited for the masses, but only TPlane showed up. He chatted a while, and headed back to his nicer accomodations. We drank a few beers and then hit the sack. Not much of a trophy ceremony, but I got to keep my baby!
Sunday, April 15th
We headed home around 9 am after dropping the boat off at Busters. Not much else to say really. I hate that drive!
I just wanted to thank everyone who we met and had a great time fishing with. I'd like to really thank Buster for hooking us up with the boat - we hope you enjoy your Ice Cold Makers Mark and your T-Shirt! As always, it was a blast. I was sunburned and burnt out when I got home, but it was so worth it. Year 3 went off without a hitch and it was a great trip. Thanks again guys, and I hope you all enjoy your T-Shirts!!
Flows about 1,500 cfs - gin clear.
Thursday, April 12 - Afterbay to 3 Mile
Woke up at 3am - about 30 minutes early, couldn't wait to pick up Chad and Nate and start the drive. Chad was waiting, Nate was sleeping. The plug on Nate's boat wouldn't reach the outlet, so Nate's boat stayed at home. The drive was uneventful, but driving my wife's new 4Runner with only 190 miles on it was pretty sweet - we rode in style.
Stopped at StX to grab Buster's boat - a HUGE thanks to Buster!! Got to Ft. Smith around 1pm, hit Cottonwood, dropped off our crap and then over to Bighorn we went. We were on the water at 1pm. The water was nice and there was no real traffic as we were heading out late. I decided to get some rowing experience in the the soft water right off - but after one cast Chad had a snag or a fish - it ended up being the latter and I quickly learned how to beach the boat and net a fish. Chad hooked a killer 21 inch rainbow that had some really nice heft. What a great start. I think a few dinks were cuaght in the first stretch and we docked just above the Meat Hole. We wanted to make sure we got Nate into some huge fish and so we waited about a half hour for the traffic to move on. We holed up in the Meat Hole and landed some decent fish. Nate work the shelf closest to the bank and hooked a ton, Chad pulled them in steadily as usual, I didn't catch quite as many but did manage a few. PaulM, OB and SemperFish met us there at around 3:30 or so - they fished the hole and then decided to move on. We had seen TPlane and Dad drift by us as well, but we weren't exactly sure that was him - sorry Tim! The flies of the day seemed to be pink soft hackles and pink ray charles.
We moved down past Suck Hole and docked on the right. PaulM/OB/SF stopped at the hole and Paul pulled out some beauties. Nate hooked a few in the flats and I managed a couple small fish. We kept moving, hitting some of the usual spots and trying to get Nate into fish and acquainted with the river. He did well, and we managed some fish. Not much else memorable about the day (my memory is shot too). We were off the river by 7. We hit the cabin, made dinner and I was in bed by 8:30. Chad and Nate tried to tough it out and chat, but they hit the hay soon after.
Friday, April 13th - Afterbay to 3 Mile
We were met by Buster in the morning - about 7:30 am knocking on the door. He was checking to see if we made it. We hit the water closer to 9am. Nate manned the oars for this one (as he had most of the day before). We were thinking about two trips - but we knew we could stretch one trip into 3 Mile. We launched with literally 6 boats within 40 yards of us. We managed to stop above the Meat Hole and wait it out. We moved in on the Hole as a group of guys looked like they were leaving - but they weren't. Bastards all got out of their boat and walked back onto the shelf. Stupid. But Chad wasn't giving in - he stayed put. Eventually Nate and I hit the shelf - Nate worked the far side of the river (not really on the shelf) and had his rod bent consistently. I worked the far right of the shelf and did pretty damn well. Even had a lunker on of over 20 inches that Chad decided was best to flail at and NOT net (thanks Chad). Chad of course caught his limit. We were in the Meat for about 4 hours then moved on.
We didn't fish the Suck Hole for very long, but Nate let me row it. And although Chad was paniced in the front of the boat, Nate said I did very well. The hole isn't that bad, it just throws you at the concrete, but then kind of pulls you back into the calm eye of the hole and then you can back paddle out. We fished our way down past the fallen trees on the right to the next riffle that bends left to right and stopped. This was a great hole last year for browns, and we weren't disappointed. I landed a nice 18 inch brown and Chad landed a FAT brown of over 20 inches. Huge difference in 2 inches of fish - I'd say probably over a pound difference. Nate did real well too - hitting some other spots. We fished down to the cliffs on the left and had even better luck. My first lame cast landed a 20 inch rainbow with a hook jaw. Landed land probably 12 fish right at the boat, and Chad of course walked the entire half mile bank and caught his share. The fish were hitting tiny midges - black with some sparkle. My killers worked well, as did the mercuries and black beauties. I caught a bunch of fish in the stretch and walked all the way down the cliffs with Chad. Nate had to meet us in the boat.
We fished our way to 3 Mile and called it a day at 7:30pm. We hit the cabin, ate dinner, met up with TPlane and Dad, tied some flies and then hit the bed. TPlane admitted he had snuck a white fish and was the clear leader to win the white fish trophy - even if it was only an 8 inch dink! No one else had caught one, and after a day and a half it looked like we might get skunked.
Saturday, April 14th - 3 Mile to Bighorn
No screwing around today, Paul met us at 6:40 - to say the least, none of us were up. We managed to get on the water by about 8am. Before we headed out we met FredYellowEgg in the parking lot - it was nice meeting you! Paul and Chad in his boat and Nate and I in the other. We pulled over about 1/4 mile down on a nice riffle next to the house that everyone overlooked - they were more interested in getting out on the water. It had a nice long sandbar with some nice back channel riffles that Chad hit quickly. I waded to the end where the fast water and slow water connected and hit a nice fat brown about 17 inches on a big 14 pink ray charles.
Nate had some luck in the channel nailing three fish. We moved down again to another great stretch - this time across from the drive in on the far bank. Paul knew this hole and knew the deep sandy bottom often had fish hanging on the edge. Nate hooked 3 fish in the hole, then jumped out, Paul got right in the hole and hooked 3 and then obliged me to try - I hooked 3 nice fish and then it went dead. The guys across from us were hooking some hogs. Next to Pauls boat in the flat stuff there were some fish feeding in the deep stuff - of course there was no way to make the fly look really enough for them to eat it - but the fish were huge - maybe 2 or 3 close to 30 inches! I hooked and landed a 16 inch brown, and Nate had on one of those hogs - but that was it. We moved down to try and find Chad who constantly is like a lost puppy and moves around unstoppable. Chad was scoping out a hole that Paul mentioned and he was determined to get it. That was a very good this too. We hit the hole with an island in the middle - most of the traffic stays far left, but you can hole up in the side channel were it dumps into the main channel that is easilt 15 feet deep. Chad hook moster after monster by just letting the streamer and nymph sink into the deep channel. One brown was easily 20 inches and I saw him catch at least 10 more. Nate was hitting the bottom of the run and hooking fish hand over fish - he's a pro with that low profile eager nymphing pose ready to strike at any time. Paul and I fished the side channel as it dumped in and he caught a ton of fish. I did very very well - landing fish after fish on my double weighted nymph rig that had about 8 or 9 feet of tippet between my indicator and flies. I caught a ton, but every fish I had to wade out of the channel over to Paul in the slow stuff. Since it was over 65 degrees, I had taken off my jacket and only had a box of flies down my pants, forceps clung to my t-shirt and tippet and weights pinned to my shirt. Net and camera and everything else was in the boat. Paul was more than willing to help me net a few and take some pics. Of course BlackOtter and Kyo pulled in just as I was landing a lunker of a fish - this thing wouldn't fight, but was a log - I kind of knew in the back of my mind what it was, a whitie! Of course I got the official ribbing and the picture taken for proof. It was a lot of fun though. I caught some more while the guys shot the shiit.
We moved down, hopping more boats and seeing some beautiful young ladies fishing along the way. It was nice seeing the ladies enjoying the day and fishing as well. We saw a bunch of ladies with hook ups, including one gal that was a pro with a dry fly (and she was hot too!). We moved into some less crowded water - a real flat stretch that was only about 6 feet deep max all the way across, but over a 100 yards wide. Nate headed north, Paul jumped out next to the boat, Chad went running for the riffles and shelves further down - and I just relaxed - watching Nate and Paul and tying on a new rig. Paul has an unorthodexed nymphing motion, slapping the water on his false cast and then he can throw a line a good 80 feet. I'm not kidding - he gets some torque behind the fly and almost flips it 80 feet. I've never seen anyone do this - ever! And he catches fish way the hell out there too! He landed some biggies - a nice rainbow with a hooked jaw that I couldn't quite land, and then a few more fish. I dropped into the hole below him and had 4 fish on in 10 minutes. I moved down again and proceeded to hook about 35 fish and landed about two dowzen in the next two hours. I was in a zone, and every other cast I had a fish on. The hard part was landing them with no net - I dragged them onto the shallows and tried to hand land them. They were all mostly browns, all were at least 17 inches, and all jumped! I landed probably 5 rainbows, not as large (except one), and landed one brown that was 14 inches. One brown was huge, I was out to my waste, and couldn't get back to shore and tried to hand land him and he snapped me off. All the fish were taking the same style fly - Paul Bighorn swap jujubee bead head black and white with a tuft of peacock dubbing behind the bead. After shredding those two they kept hitting tan zebras with bead heads. And occassionally they hit the killer - all in size 18 or 20. Blackotter and Kyo pulled up and hit some fish, but we ended up chatting for a good 45 minutes.
We moved on again, stopping here or there, but we had to make up some time as we were still about 5 miles away from take out. One place we stopped was next to the huge tree that dropped some shade over the bank. The water was fast and Paul was into a fish immediately. Nate and I pulled across the water from them, and hooked a fish in a back eddy - but that was it. Paul nailed about 4 fish in there and then let Chad fish his spot. Chad hooked into a pig and needed Paul's help. Paul got the boat net and tried to help Chad, not before falling in above his chest waders first. He managed to net the fish, but only after Chad pointed out that it was behind him. From the other side of the river, this was pretty entertaining - a comedy of errors - but it had a happy ending. We got out of there and hit the confluence of Soap Creek and fished the seams. I actually put on a streamer and managed 2 small browns while Nate rowed us. Chad was hooking into fish left and right and was slowed down a lot. We hit Bighorn access around 8 pm as it was getting dark. We said good bye to Paul and we headed back to the cabin.
We cooked dinner - and waited for the masses, but only TPlane showed up. He chatted a while, and headed back to his nicer accomodations. We drank a few beers and then hit the sack. Not much of a trophy ceremony, but I got to keep my baby!
Sunday, April 15th
We headed home around 9 am after dropping the boat off at Busters. Not much else to say really. I hate that drive!
I just wanted to thank everyone who we met and had a great time fishing with. I'd like to really thank Buster for hooking us up with the boat - we hope you enjoy your Ice Cold Makers Mark and your T-Shirt! As always, it was a blast. I was sunburned and burnt out when I got home, but it was so worth it. Year 3 went off without a hitch and it was a great trip. Thanks again guys, and I hope you all enjoy your T-Shirts!!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Cheesman Canyon
Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Cheesman
30 degrees in the morning – almost 55 by mid-day. About 100 cfs and clear.
SKUNKED!
Not much else to say - fished with Cabo, Chad and homebru. Didn't see a whole lot of fish. I did help a guy land a fat pig - 20 inch rainbow - took some photos and emailed them to him. That was about it. The dirt road down there and back was crazy deep with sand, water and ruts.
30 degrees in the morning – almost 55 by mid-day. About 100 cfs and clear.
SKUNKED!
Not much else to say - fished with Cabo, Chad and homebru. Didn't see a whole lot of fish. I did help a guy land a fat pig - 20 inch rainbow - took some photos and emailed them to him. That was about it. The dirt road down there and back was crazy deep with sand, water and ruts.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Sunday, February 4, 2007 – South Platte, Deckers
Sunday, February 4, 2007 – South Platte River, Deckers
40 degrees in the morning – almost 50 by mid-day. About 148 cfs (clear) above muddy Creek, and almost 200 cfs (off color) below muddy Creek.
Caught 2 fish, both rainbows, one 13 inches, one 15 inches. Size 20 tan zebra and size 20 red zebra black head.
Fished for three hours with Cabo. Met Chad and Quinn down in Deckers down the dirt road and up and over the hill right before the opening to the mini canyon. Big crowds - which was surprising. Lots of spin rodders and some older guys who looked like they knew what they were doing, but jumped in the nxt hole next to me no further than 40 feet. The water seemed much warmer than usual, even the dog stood in the water quite a bit without shaking. Since it has been easily 5 weeks since the last time I fished, it was good to see fish in the river and feeding, and having the chance to catch them.
The first fish I caught within minutes of starting - in the shallow runs right after the huge rock. The second fish I caught at the little island just before the fast stretch that enters the canyon. I could see the fish and I just had to get in the right spot to hook him. He was hooked quickly and I landed him and showed him to Cabo. She curled up her lip and acted like she wanted to bite him - but she's too chicken too. I put the fish in the water and she face dived under to try and find it.
We moved down to the rest area right down river of the fly shop. The water was really off color - and I didn't catch anything. It was almost 1pm by now, and I told Chad I was out of there. Chad was done too - and we climbed out of there - there was about 3 feet of snow still in some areas. Cabo loved it - playing fetch with pine cones and trying to get my attention the entire time I fished. I needed to get home for the SB - so I headed out.
I forgot to mention that I did see a bald eagle as I was driving down - it was about a 1/4 mile down river from the fly shop - very cool sight.
40 degrees in the morning – almost 50 by mid-day. About 148 cfs (clear) above muddy Creek, and almost 200 cfs (off color) below muddy Creek.
Caught 2 fish, both rainbows, one 13 inches, one 15 inches. Size 20 tan zebra and size 20 red zebra black head.
Fished for three hours with Cabo. Met Chad and Quinn down in Deckers down the dirt road and up and over the hill right before the opening to the mini canyon. Big crowds - which was surprising. Lots of spin rodders and some older guys who looked like they knew what they were doing, but jumped in the nxt hole next to me no further than 40 feet. The water seemed much warmer than usual, even the dog stood in the water quite a bit without shaking. Since it has been easily 5 weeks since the last time I fished, it was good to see fish in the river and feeding, and having the chance to catch them.
The first fish I caught within minutes of starting - in the shallow runs right after the huge rock. The second fish I caught at the little island just before the fast stretch that enters the canyon. I could see the fish and I just had to get in the right spot to hook him. He was hooked quickly and I landed him and showed him to Cabo. She curled up her lip and acted like she wanted to bite him - but she's too chicken too. I put the fish in the water and she face dived under to try and find it.
We moved down to the rest area right down river of the fly shop. The water was really off color - and I didn't catch anything. It was almost 1pm by now, and I told Chad I was out of there. Chad was done too - and we climbed out of there - there was about 3 feet of snow still in some areas. Cabo loved it - playing fetch with pine cones and trying to get my attention the entire time I fished. I needed to get home for the SB - so I headed out.
I forgot to mention that I did see a bald eagle as I was driving down - it was about a 1/4 mile down river from the fly shop - very cool sight.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007 Blue River, Silverthorne
Monday, January 15, 2007 Blue River, Silverthorne
Very cold (-5 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and no real breeze. Water was clear below the dam, about 64 cfs.
Frickin cold!! I asked Chad about 6 times on the way up what the hell we were thinking?!?!?!?
We started right below the dam around 9:30 - fished my way to the bridge, then under the bridge, back to the bridge and headed back to the car around 2 pm. I managed to catch 2 fish - one small 8 inch rainbow up by the outlets on a blue poison tongue size 20 and another, a nice 14 inch rainbow just under the foot bridge on a red juju bee midge size 22. I saw lots of fish - some were huge and some were small, none were very active, and few were actively feeding. I saw two fish that had to be over 24 inches easy - of course they were sitting in the deepest pools at the bottom. Chad managed 5 fish or so and a few got off.
We saw at least 5 accidents on the way up to Dillon. One car in the median, one pick up truck flipped over in the median, one car flipped over a guard rail onto an on-ramp, one car slammed into the guard rail and had gotten itself stuck on the embankment, and a rear ender coming down the big hill out of Evergreen. People seriously need to learn to slow down - accidents don't need to happen if some of those people learned to drive a little better. Sad.
Very cold (-5 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and no real breeze. Water was clear below the dam, about 64 cfs.
Frickin cold!! I asked Chad about 6 times on the way up what the hell we were thinking?!?!?!?
We started right below the dam around 9:30 - fished my way to the bridge, then under the bridge, back to the bridge and headed back to the car around 2 pm. I managed to catch 2 fish - one small 8 inch rainbow up by the outlets on a blue poison tongue size 20 and another, a nice 14 inch rainbow just under the foot bridge on a red juju bee midge size 22. I saw lots of fish - some were huge and some were small, none were very active, and few were actively feeding. I saw two fish that had to be over 24 inches easy - of course they were sitting in the deepest pools at the bottom. Chad managed 5 fish or so and a few got off.
We saw at least 5 accidents on the way up to Dillon. One car in the median, one pick up truck flipped over in the median, one car flipped over a guard rail onto an on-ramp, one car slammed into the guard rail and had gotten itself stuck on the embankment, and a rear ender coming down the big hill out of Evergreen. People seriously need to learn to slow down - accidents don't need to happen if some of those people learned to drive a little better. Sad.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006 Cheesman Canyon
Monday, November 27, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Very cold (19 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad on his birthday (I took the day off). Ice cold morning - took a bit to get the blood flowing. Got to the canyon around 8:30 - in the canyon around 9:15. Tons of fish everywhere. I started out with a bugger and scud combo, but quickly switched to a double scud/czech nymph rig. I surprising hooked an enormous pig right next to a sand bar that ran across the river and popped off - right out of the gate! I hooked a couple smaller trout in the hole directly below the family hole, but had no luck getting them in. I moved up river, seeing lots of fish. I fished the big rock up to the riffles, with no luck. I did manage to hook a small brown and a 13 inch brown above the riffles. Other than that I couldn't catch a thing. Chad had some luck - 6 or 7 fish, mostly browns.
That's about it for the day! I think I'm done fishing for the winter - three times in a row and I haven't caught much.
Very cold (19 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad on his birthday (I took the day off). Ice cold morning - took a bit to get the blood flowing. Got to the canyon around 8:30 - in the canyon around 9:15. Tons of fish everywhere. I started out with a bugger and scud combo, but quickly switched to a double scud/czech nymph rig. I surprising hooked an enormous pig right next to a sand bar that ran across the river and popped off - right out of the gate! I hooked a couple smaller trout in the hole directly below the family hole, but had no luck getting them in. I moved up river, seeing lots of fish. I fished the big rock up to the riffles, with no luck. I did manage to hook a small brown and a 13 inch brown above the riffles. Other than that I couldn't catch a thing. Chad had some luck - 6 or 7 fish, mostly browns.
That's about it for the day! I think I'm done fishing for the winter - three times in a row and I haven't caught much.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Saturday, November 25, 2006 - Winter Park
rday, November 25, 2007 - Winter Park Resort
Traffic was below average, weather was snowing in Denver, blue sky from Idaho Springs to WP
Although not a fishing experience, I had the chance to go snowboarding on Saturday with the wife. My mother in law was in town and she watched Avi for the day. This is the first time Jen and I have been together alone snowboarding in over a year. The weather was crappy in Denver and I think it scared some people away. By the time we hit Idaho Springs the weather was beautiful - sunny skies and it was actually warmer. The lift lines were non-existant - right up Zephyr Express and down the other side - the skiing on the WP side was ok, but the skiing on MJ side was killer! Tons of powder - which actually slows you down - but we did 2 or 3 runs in knee deep powder and it was awesome. We only did about 6 runs before Jen called it quits - we were home by 2:30. Great day!
Traffic was below average, weather was snowing in Denver, blue sky from Idaho Springs to WP
Although not a fishing experience, I had the chance to go snowboarding on Saturday with the wife. My mother in law was in town and she watched Avi for the day. This is the first time Jen and I have been together alone snowboarding in over a year. The weather was crappy in Denver and I think it scared some people away. By the time we hit Idaho Springs the weather was beautiful - sunny skies and it was actually warmer. The lift lines were non-existant - right up Zephyr Express and down the other side - the skiing on the WP side was ok, but the skiing on MJ side was killer! Tons of powder - which actually slows you down - but we did 2 or 3 runs in knee deep powder and it was awesome. We only did about 6 runs before Jen called it quits - we were home by 2:30. Great day!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Friday, Nov 10, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman
Friday, November 10, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Cold in the morning - about 45 degrees - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, slightly off color above Deckers - about 119 cfs.
I fished with Cabo today, and there isn't much to report. The parking lot at 10 am was packed with about 15 cars, tons of anglers. I saw a ton of fish, most of the good holes were taken. I couldn't find out what the fish were eating. I tried everything from scuds that Chad had luck with to tiny midges to no avail. Nice day, but the wind made it very cold. I was out of the canyon by about 2 pm.
This is a picture of the Family Hole in Cheesman, as you can see the river has changed quite a bit and this hole is completely filled in. This hole is usually about 4 to 6 feet in the middle - now it is about 1 foot deep.
I fished above the bridge at Deckers at the bend with no luck either. Caught a 6 inch fish on a red brassie beadhead soft hackle (my first). I also had a fish about 2 feet from me go after my streamer, but then stop just before the strike. I'm not sure why, I guess I need to understand how to make the streamer look and act more real. That was about it for the day.
Cold in the morning - about 45 degrees - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, slightly off color above Deckers - about 119 cfs.
I fished with Cabo today, and there isn't much to report. The parking lot at 10 am was packed with about 15 cars, tons of anglers. I saw a ton of fish, most of the good holes were taken. I couldn't find out what the fish were eating. I tried everything from scuds that Chad had luck with to tiny midges to no avail. Nice day, but the wind made it very cold. I was out of the canyon by about 2 pm.
This is a picture of the Family Hole in Cheesman, as you can see the river has changed quite a bit and this hole is completely filled in. This hole is usually about 4 to 6 feet in the middle - now it is about 1 foot deep.
I fished above the bridge at Deckers at the bend with no luck either. Caught a 6 inch fish on a red brassie beadhead soft hackle (my first). I also had a fish about 2 feet from me go after my streamer, but then stop just before the strike. I'm not sure why, I guess I need to understand how to make the streamer look and act more real. That was about it for the day.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
November 9, 2006 - Fly Tying Clinic - Cherry Creek TU
November 9, 2006 - Fly Tying Clinic - Cherry Creek TU
Hit the Fly Tying Clinic on Thursday with Chad and Brian. Before the show we hit Applebee's for dinner and to shoot the sh!t. Hit the show around 7pm. Wasn't overly crowded at all. Good door prizes and raffles. Chad of course won something.
I hung out at a few tables - Sue Armstrong was tying her woven huge stone flies - unbelievable work, 2 hours per fly or so, crazy! Bill Searles was very cool - he's a member of the RMF board too, ties an amazing crayfish pattern that I just had to buy! He had a cool way to make wings with larger feather - splits it, then over laps the feathers and ties off - pretty good and unique idea. I sat with Frank Prekel and saw his epoxy shad streamer that looked cool. Sat with Al Makkai and he showed me his scud/shrimp pattern. Interesting stuff. The usually suspects had a crowd around tham all night (Garcia, Bartholemew, Dorsey).
Al Makkai's scud patterns.
I gave out a few RockyMtnFly stickers, but not nearly enough. A few people seemed very interested. It was a nice night and went by really quickly. I met two members of this forum that I hadn't know before Bill (flashback) and David (ScruffyFly) - I hope to hang out with these guys and do some fishing!
Hit the Fly Tying Clinic on Thursday with Chad and Brian. Before the show we hit Applebee's for dinner and to shoot the sh!t. Hit the show around 7pm. Wasn't overly crowded at all. Good door prizes and raffles. Chad of course won something.
I hung out at a few tables - Sue Armstrong was tying her woven huge stone flies - unbelievable work, 2 hours per fly or so, crazy! Bill Searles was very cool - he's a member of the RMF board too, ties an amazing crayfish pattern that I just had to buy! He had a cool way to make wings with larger feather - splits it, then over laps the feathers and ties off - pretty good and unique idea. I sat with Frank Prekel and saw his epoxy shad streamer that looked cool. Sat with Al Makkai and he showed me his scud/shrimp pattern. Interesting stuff. The usually suspects had a crowd around tham all night (Garcia, Bartholemew, Dorsey).
Al Makkai's scud patterns.
I gave out a few RockyMtnFly stickers, but not nearly enough. A few people seemed very interested. It was a nice night and went by really quickly. I met two members of this forum that I hadn't know before Bill (flashback) and David (ScruffyFly) - I hope to hang out with these guys and do some fishing!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Saturday, October 21, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Evening fishing - evening was nice around 45 degrees, cooled off into the evening but not too cold. Water was clear - about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad at Cheesman - got there around 5:30 and fished into the canyon. Hard to see any fish with the sun almost down so early and throwing a weird light tint on the water. Nymphed the runs first then moved down to the boulder. I hooked one in the middle boulder to the far bank where they sit in the hole and chill out. The fish was a 18 inch rainbow.
Moved down to the family pool and had no luck - weren't there very long before we called it a night. I wasn't cold, and I could feel my hands the entire night - which is unusual. Good night of fishing. Chad caught one small rainbow, so I out fished him. Miracles do happen!
Evening fishing - evening was nice around 45 degrees, cooled off into the evening but not too cold. Water was clear - about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad at Cheesman - got there around 5:30 and fished into the canyon. Hard to see any fish with the sun almost down so early and throwing a weird light tint on the water. Nymphed the runs first then moved down to the boulder. I hooked one in the middle boulder to the far bank where they sit in the hole and chill out. The fish was a 18 inch rainbow.
Moved down to the family pool and had no luck - weren't there very long before we called it a night. I wasn't cold, and I could feel my hands the entire night - which is unusual. Good night of fishing. Chad caught one small rainbow, so I out fished him. Miracles do happen!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Saturday, Sept 30, 2006 Colorado River, Gore Canyon
Saturday, Sept 30, 2006 Colorado River, Gore Canyon
Full day of fishing - morning was nice around 55 degrees, afternoon was awesome, no clouds and around 75 degrees. Water was slightly off color - about 680 cfs.
Where should I start, first of all, for a late September day it was probably the best possible day you could ask for. The sun was out the entire day without a cloud in the sky and the temp was around 75 degrees. Of course sun does bad things for fishing.
My buddy Nate and I headed down to Gore Canyon early - got to the canyon slightly after 8 am. We didn't make it very far down the dirt road before I decided I wasn't "in to" 4x4ing and pulled off. We walked the rest of the way - which was ok on the way down, but brutal on the way back. We actually saw quite a few fishermen today - which was different from last year.
First off - the water in Gore Canyon looks amazing - plenty of holes and rocks were you just know the fish are in. Problem is, we just could scare any up. I hooked into a few fish, but most were tiny and when they were being pulled in they twisted and turned until they fell off the hook. I managed to land a small 7 incher and on the next cast landed a fat 17 inch white fish. I was so excited, until I realized it wasn't a trout.
We fished until about 2:30 and hiked our asses out of the canyon. Even Cabo was pooped by the time we made it back to the truck. We decided to head down to the Blue River - where it dumps into Dillon. No one was there this late in the day, so we had the delta access to ourselves. The river wasn't producing so we decided to strip streams on the "flats" where the river delta meets the reservior. Nate hooked into 2 rainbows that were about 14 inches and he called me over. He found a nice little pod of fish and we hook a half dozen or so. That was my first stillwater experience and it was a good one. I learned that stripping streamers blind can be frustrating, but if you find a pod of fish it can be great fun.
We were back in Denver around 6:30. It was a nice day to get out, but the fishing was disappointing.
Full day of fishing - morning was nice around 55 degrees, afternoon was awesome, no clouds and around 75 degrees. Water was slightly off color - about 680 cfs.
Where should I start, first of all, for a late September day it was probably the best possible day you could ask for. The sun was out the entire day without a cloud in the sky and the temp was around 75 degrees. Of course sun does bad things for fishing.
My buddy Nate and I headed down to Gore Canyon early - got to the canyon slightly after 8 am. We didn't make it very far down the dirt road before I decided I wasn't "in to" 4x4ing and pulled off. We walked the rest of the way - which was ok on the way down, but brutal on the way back. We actually saw quite a few fishermen today - which was different from last year.
First off - the water in Gore Canyon looks amazing - plenty of holes and rocks were you just know the fish are in. Problem is, we just could scare any up. I hooked into a few fish, but most were tiny and when they were being pulled in they twisted and turned until they fell off the hook. I managed to land a small 7 incher and on the next cast landed a fat 17 inch white fish. I was so excited, until I realized it wasn't a trout.
We fished until about 2:30 and hiked our asses out of the canyon. Even Cabo was pooped by the time we made it back to the truck. We decided to head down to the Blue River - where it dumps into Dillon. No one was there this late in the day, so we had the delta access to ourselves. The river wasn't producing so we decided to strip streams on the "flats" where the river delta meets the reservior. Nate hooked into 2 rainbows that were about 14 inches and he called me over. He found a nice little pod of fish and we hook a half dozen or so. That was my first stillwater experience and it was a good one. I learned that stripping streamers blind can be frustrating, but if you find a pod of fish it can be great fun.
We were back in Denver around 6:30. It was a nice day to get out, but the fishing was disappointing.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006 Clear Creek, Idaho Springs
Saturday, September 23, 2006 Clear Creek, Idaho Springs
Cold afternoon, very overcast - about 50 degrees. Water was slightly off color and flows were over 100 cfs or so.
I watch the daughter today while the wife worked - she got out early so I made a break for some fishing while I had the chance. I took cabo and headed for Clear Creek. Having been here the week before for the clean up, I knew where the fish were stacked up - well, at least I thought.
I tried nymphing, then streamer/SJW rig, then dry/dropper, then streamer, then back to a double nymph rig. I managed to catch 4 browns all about 10 to 12 inches.
Basically I gave up after 2 hours and went home. Nothing to see here, just keep moving!
Cold afternoon, very overcast - about 50 degrees. Water was slightly off color and flows were over 100 cfs or so.
I watch the daughter today while the wife worked - she got out early so I made a break for some fishing while I had the chance. I took cabo and headed for Clear Creek. Having been here the week before for the clean up, I knew where the fish were stacked up - well, at least I thought.
I tried nymphing, then streamer/SJW rig, then dry/dropper, then streamer, then back to a double nymph rig. I managed to catch 4 browns all about 10 to 12 inches.
Basically I gave up after 2 hours and went home. Nothing to see here, just keep moving!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Clear Creek River CleanUp with Trout Unlimited - September 16, 2006
Clear Creek River CleanUp with Trout Unlimited - September 16, 2006
Not much to report here. Kind of sad about the turn out we got - not a whole lot of people and most were up in age. I'm also disappointed by how much trash we picked up - not the fact that we picked it up, but the fact that there was still a lot there.
We cleaned up the same stretch 2 years prior - yes there was a lot of trash then, but that stretch had never had trout fishermen cleaning it up.
The majority of what we cleaned up was McDonald's trash, beer cans, styrafoam coffee cups and cigarette packs. The beer of choice for the littering folk is Budweiser. The two extremes were either Bud or Milwaukee's best. The cigarette of choice was Marlboro (shocker). Needless to say the people doing the littering are inbred Bud drinking, Marlboro smoking losers - yeah that's right I said it - and you know who you are and you should be ashamed of yourselves. The McDonald's trash is due to there being a McD's in Idaho Springs and this must have been the main exit point. But there is still no excuse!
Volunteers also bother me. Not because they are usually an older crowd, but mostly because a bunch of them were there more for the free food, for the socialization or the raffle - rather than being there to pick up trash. For example - I was working Stanley Road as I was instructed and came across three orange bags that were blown into the brush by the wind - here I am carrying a bag full of garbage that weighed close to 40 or 50 lbs - I'm thinking, how can these bags get blown off the road? Well, I pull them open and someone had stuffed them with weeds, tumble weeds to be exact. The bags weighed about 1 lb each and there were three of them! What a damn waste! So, I unpacked them and stashed them in the truck for later.
Another time a couple drove by me in their Lexus, they had said that they had picked up the area below, but when it got to steep and rocky next to the river that they decided to stop. They drove up further (to where I was) and said that it looked like the whole road had been picked and they were all done - they said they were headed back to the park - they were done. I think they were looking for some kind of agreement from me, or some sign that I thought that was ok for them to do. I looked at my watch (10:30 - basically an hour and a half after we started - and an hour and a half before we were supposed to meet back at the park), so I told them "WHATEVER!". Of course, further up the road there was trash all over - so basically their trip was short.
The third thing that happened was also kind of deflating. Greg (the guy I was teamed with) had been told by a guy that he had worked the opposite side of the road from the river all the way up - so Greg and I grabbed the river side and walked about a quarter mile (we met another group that was working still further up) before turning around due to a 50 mpg wind and driving huge rain drops. We tied off our bags and left them next to the road (as instructed) - then we headed back on the far side of the road. We had left this stretch alone because the guy said it was done. Well, Greg and I started walking past some trash, at first we thought he just missed some - nope, finally I said "hey Greg, I have one more bag, I can't keep walking by this stuff" - Greg said "yeah I know, it's killing me too" - so we started picking - and started picking hard - getting behind the trees and picking up at least 120 beer cans and other stuff. We filled a bag between the two of us in the 1/3 mile stretch we had been told was done. Amazing.
Ok, so I'm a sore volunteer. Two years ago there was young teenagers helping us and they pulled a ton of trash on their own. The kids of today (well two years ago) basically were the work horses - but there weren't any volunteering today. So what does that say for the rest of us oldies (or midlifers)? I guess most are just interested in making an attempt, but their main interest is in the ass kissing and free stuff at the end. Sad.
For the record, I ate 1 brat, drank one water, didn't take a free t-shirt, and didn't stick around for the raffle (you had to be there to win). I wasn't there for the people, I was there for the fish/river/trash. I came, I saw, I picked up, I left.
Ok, I'm off my soap box. I hope others had a better experience than I did.
Not much to report here. Kind of sad about the turn out we got - not a whole lot of people and most were up in age. I'm also disappointed by how much trash we picked up - not the fact that we picked it up, but the fact that there was still a lot there.
We cleaned up the same stretch 2 years prior - yes there was a lot of trash then, but that stretch had never had trout fishermen cleaning it up.
The majority of what we cleaned up was McDonald's trash, beer cans, styrafoam coffee cups and cigarette packs. The beer of choice for the littering folk is Budweiser. The two extremes were either Bud or Milwaukee's best. The cigarette of choice was Marlboro (shocker). Needless to say the people doing the littering are inbred Bud drinking, Marlboro smoking losers - yeah that's right I said it - and you know who you are and you should be ashamed of yourselves. The McDonald's trash is due to there being a McD's in Idaho Springs and this must have been the main exit point. But there is still no excuse!
Volunteers also bother me. Not because they are usually an older crowd, but mostly because a bunch of them were there more for the free food, for the socialization or the raffle - rather than being there to pick up trash. For example - I was working Stanley Road as I was instructed and came across three orange bags that were blown into the brush by the wind - here I am carrying a bag full of garbage that weighed close to 40 or 50 lbs - I'm thinking, how can these bags get blown off the road? Well, I pull them open and someone had stuffed them with weeds, tumble weeds to be exact. The bags weighed about 1 lb each and there were three of them! What a damn waste! So, I unpacked them and stashed them in the truck for later.
Another time a couple drove by me in their Lexus, they had said that they had picked up the area below, but when it got to steep and rocky next to the river that they decided to stop. They drove up further (to where I was) and said that it looked like the whole road had been picked and they were all done - they said they were headed back to the park - they were done. I think they were looking for some kind of agreement from me, or some sign that I thought that was ok for them to do. I looked at my watch (10:30 - basically an hour and a half after we started - and an hour and a half before we were supposed to meet back at the park), so I told them "WHATEVER!". Of course, further up the road there was trash all over - so basically their trip was short.
The third thing that happened was also kind of deflating. Greg (the guy I was teamed with) had been told by a guy that he had worked the opposite side of the road from the river all the way up - so Greg and I grabbed the river side and walked about a quarter mile (we met another group that was working still further up) before turning around due to a 50 mpg wind and driving huge rain drops. We tied off our bags and left them next to the road (as instructed) - then we headed back on the far side of the road. We had left this stretch alone because the guy said it was done. Well, Greg and I started walking past some trash, at first we thought he just missed some - nope, finally I said "hey Greg, I have one more bag, I can't keep walking by this stuff" - Greg said "yeah I know, it's killing me too" - so we started picking - and started picking hard - getting behind the trees and picking up at least 120 beer cans and other stuff. We filled a bag between the two of us in the 1/3 mile stretch we had been told was done. Amazing.
Ok, so I'm a sore volunteer. Two years ago there was young teenagers helping us and they pulled a ton of trash on their own. The kids of today (well two years ago) basically were the work horses - but there weren't any volunteering today. So what does that say for the rest of us oldies (or midlifers)? I guess most are just interested in making an attempt, but their main interest is in the ass kissing and free stuff at the end. Sad.
For the record, I ate 1 brat, drank one water, didn't take a free t-shirt, and didn't stick around for the raffle (you had to be there to win). I wasn't there for the people, I was there for the fish/river/trash. I came, I saw, I picked up, I left.
Ok, I'm off my soap box. I hope others had a better experience than I did.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Monday, September 4, 2006 South Platte River, Dream Stream/11 Mile Canyon
Monday, September 4, 2006 South Platte River, Dream Stream/11 Mile Canyon
Beautiful day, hot and sunny around 75 degrees and NO wind! Water was slightly off color and flows were 143 cfs or so.
Fished with Chad and Nate (fishboy) - we were dying for some big fish - but none were had. Started at the Dream at 8am. Fished the bridge section just above the bend run and worked my way back to the bridge. I caught one cuttbow (about 14 inches) at the bend run on a microbugger in black. I had a couple of earlier hits by smaller fish. I walked the rest of the way back to towards 11 Mile Res looking for Chad and Nate - I didn't see a single fish the entire way. Nate hadn't much luck either - we both were blindly casting to great looking stretches with no luck.
We decided to head to the 11 Mile Canyon stretch. The canyon was packed on a holiday weekend with cut off jean short and wife beater wearing, cigarette hanging out of their mouth, budweiser bottle in one hand, spinner rod in the other fishermen. Scary the congregation of rednecks.
The canyon is what it is, beautiful water, and tons of small fish. The big ones wouldn't move for anything and wouldn't eat a fly if it was on a platter. I caught a few dinks - but as the afternoon got later, the fishing shut off. It was a long ride home on a holiday weekend.
Beautiful day, hot and sunny around 75 degrees and NO wind! Water was slightly off color and flows were 143 cfs or so.
Fished with Chad and Nate (fishboy) - we were dying for some big fish - but none were had. Started at the Dream at 8am. Fished the bridge section just above the bend run and worked my way back to the bridge. I caught one cuttbow (about 14 inches) at the bend run on a microbugger in black. I had a couple of earlier hits by smaller fish. I walked the rest of the way back to towards 11 Mile Res looking for Chad and Nate - I didn't see a single fish the entire way. Nate hadn't much luck either - we both were blindly casting to great looking stretches with no luck.
We decided to head to the 11 Mile Canyon stretch. The canyon was packed on a holiday weekend with cut off jean short and wife beater wearing, cigarette hanging out of their mouth, budweiser bottle in one hand, spinner rod in the other fishermen. Scary the congregation of rednecks.
The canyon is what it is, beautiful water, and tons of small fish. The big ones wouldn't move for anything and wouldn't eat a fly if it was on a platter. I caught a few dinks - but as the afternoon got later, the fishing shut off. It was a long ride home on a holiday weekend.
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