Friday, May 19, 2006 - Blue River, Silverthorne
Night fishing - 7 pm to 10 pm, 252 cfs
Fished with Chad at the Blue for some night fishing. basically the water was high (higher than the 101 flows that were reported the previous day) and the water off color. This meant that the fish were harder to find. Chad managed two fish (12 & 16 inches) on streamers and I got none. We were home and in bed by 11pm. Not much to report, so I kept it short.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Saturday May 13, 2006 - Cheesman Canyon
Saturday May 13, 2006 - Cheesman Canyon
Flows about 53 cfs, water was gin clear.
I fished with Chad and Jason (his neighbor) tonight. We decided to do a late evening trip to Cheesman and try our luck. The flows were really low so we knew we'd be headed for a tough night of fishing. We hiked into the canyon around 5:30pm on a very warm day around 70 degrees. We jumped down into our normal holes (the riffles). I hooked a big brown twice, but he popped off very quickly. I had on another smaller trout, but he got off too. I moved down a bit to the log hole and hooked a nice rainbow and he popped off too. Finally I hooked and landed a 16 inch rainbow - very colorful, pink the whole length of his body. I was hooking fish on the size 20 mercury baettis that Paul gave me and a size 22 killer midge with a gold bead head.
I crossed the river and tried the slow pool right next to the big rocks (the river flows between them). I could see multiple fish - most about 20 inches feeding on nymphs, but they weren't taking anything I was throwing. It started getting pretty dark. I finally went to the end of the pool and started throwing up between the rocks a midge combo - I hooked a fish and when he got right up next to me I had a knot failure at my indicator and EVERYTHING popped off and he was gone. I moved down from there to the hufge rock, but by now it was pitch black and a head lamp in the middle of the river does you no good.
I broke down my fly rod - chatted with Jason as he jumped in another hole and headed down to find Chad. I found Chad standing in the straights area (the very beginning of the Canyon where the water is deep but dead slow) - chucking streamers. I sat down next to him and of course he went on to tell me that he had just landed 5 in a row and they were all hogs. To say the least, he wasn't going to get me to rig back up and try. Then, of course, he lands a fish that was breaching the surface no more than 6 feet in front of me. He showed me the fish - easily 20 inches and as thick as a horse - and I started rigging back up. Jason came down to meet us - he was ready to go home too - then I slammed a fat hog and he was hooked! I caught about a 20 inch rainbow (all the fish we caught on streamers were all fat hogs and 20 inches it seemed).
I have never caught a big fish on a streamer - the slam and the fight are addicting. i think I need to do more night time fishing!! We proceded to fish for the next two hours with only streamers - Chad caught about another 5 or 6 fish, I landed 3 total and Jason had on a nice fish but somehow it got off. I had on another two fish on consecutive casts, but they managed to get off. This new strategy was amazing - basically you chucked an olive streamer (olive was the killer color) out and did foot long strips back and let it sink for 2 seconds in between strips. Of course the night time makes it for a totally different experience because you ahve no idea where your streamer is landing in front or behind you. Also, I had a lot of problems because I'd strip so that my leader was up in side my guides, then I'd cast and basically the line would cast but from my second guide - the leader would be trapped in the first guide. To say the least this was trouble - my flies snagged the top guide and broke off, they snagged the rock behind me and broke off - and I assume all this whipping made the leader weaker so when a fish did hit it - it would break off. Jason was having the exact same problem - I lost at least 10 streamers and he probably lost 5.
The hike out sucked and the drive home did too - I got home at around midnight. But man, that was some of the best fishing I've ever had. Chad told me that the Blue, Pan and Taylor all where good fished at night for hogs. I believe him and can't wait to get the chance.
Flows about 53 cfs, water was gin clear.
I fished with Chad and Jason (his neighbor) tonight. We decided to do a late evening trip to Cheesman and try our luck. The flows were really low so we knew we'd be headed for a tough night of fishing. We hiked into the canyon around 5:30pm on a very warm day around 70 degrees. We jumped down into our normal holes (the riffles). I hooked a big brown twice, but he popped off very quickly. I had on another smaller trout, but he got off too. I moved down a bit to the log hole and hooked a nice rainbow and he popped off too. Finally I hooked and landed a 16 inch rainbow - very colorful, pink the whole length of his body. I was hooking fish on the size 20 mercury baettis that Paul gave me and a size 22 killer midge with a gold bead head.
I crossed the river and tried the slow pool right next to the big rocks (the river flows between them). I could see multiple fish - most about 20 inches feeding on nymphs, but they weren't taking anything I was throwing. It started getting pretty dark. I finally went to the end of the pool and started throwing up between the rocks a midge combo - I hooked a fish and when he got right up next to me I had a knot failure at my indicator and EVERYTHING popped off and he was gone. I moved down from there to the hufge rock, but by now it was pitch black and a head lamp in the middle of the river does you no good.
I broke down my fly rod - chatted with Jason as he jumped in another hole and headed down to find Chad. I found Chad standing in the straights area (the very beginning of the Canyon where the water is deep but dead slow) - chucking streamers. I sat down next to him and of course he went on to tell me that he had just landed 5 in a row and they were all hogs. To say the least, he wasn't going to get me to rig back up and try. Then, of course, he lands a fish that was breaching the surface no more than 6 feet in front of me. He showed me the fish - easily 20 inches and as thick as a horse - and I started rigging back up. Jason came down to meet us - he was ready to go home too - then I slammed a fat hog and he was hooked! I caught about a 20 inch rainbow (all the fish we caught on streamers were all fat hogs and 20 inches it seemed).
I have never caught a big fish on a streamer - the slam and the fight are addicting. i think I need to do more night time fishing!! We proceded to fish for the next two hours with only streamers - Chad caught about another 5 or 6 fish, I landed 3 total and Jason had on a nice fish but somehow it got off. I had on another two fish on consecutive casts, but they managed to get off. This new strategy was amazing - basically you chucked an olive streamer (olive was the killer color) out and did foot long strips back and let it sink for 2 seconds in between strips. Of course the night time makes it for a totally different experience because you ahve no idea where your streamer is landing in front or behind you. Also, I had a lot of problems because I'd strip so that my leader was up in side my guides, then I'd cast and basically the line would cast but from my second guide - the leader would be trapped in the first guide. To say the least this was trouble - my flies snagged the top guide and broke off, they snagged the rock behind me and broke off - and I assume all this whipping made the leader weaker so when a fish did hit it - it would break off. Jason was having the exact same problem - I lost at least 10 streamers and he probably lost 5.
The hike out sucked and the drive home did too - I got home at around midnight. But man, that was some of the best fishing I've ever had. Chad told me that the Blue, Pan and Taylor all where good fished at night for hogs. I believe him and can't wait to get the chance.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Friday & Saturday, May 5th & 6th, 2006 - Arkansas
Friday & Saturday, May 5th & 6th, 2006 - Arkansas River – Salida to Howard
600+ cfs, water was off color. Friday was cool and windy in the afternoon/evening. Saturday was sunny in the upper 60’s.
I was lucky enough to get invited down to float the Ark on Saturday by Brian (Hyde Drifter). I got down there early on Friday night and fished my secret spot (just south of Big Bend) from 4pm to 8pm. The water was high and off color so I stuck to the big pool. On my third cast I caught a 13-inch brown on a chartreuse midge with a red bead head. I continued working the pool and hooked a big brown on a streamer, but he broke me completely off. Most of the other areas were too off color to see or catch anything. I did manage to hook one more a little lower down – he was a nice 14-inch brown.
I headed over to eat dinner in Salida and then headed to meet Brian at his camper and introduced myself. We decided to meet at 6:30 am the next day to get breakfast and then jump on the river. I just assumed that we'd both get in some rowing and fishing, but Brian's raft was only a two-seater and he just wanted to row and watch - which I'm not sure I could do with fish showing everywhere.
We dropped in just below Salida and planned to float all the way to Howard. Brian is a hell of a guy - the guy can row that raft "in a phone booth" (inside joke) - basically I didn't spill my tea the entire trip! Even Brian enjoyed the satisfaction of rowing one of his best days - with flows around 600 cfs.
Although I felt a little awkward taking advantage of Brian's rowing skills it turned out that he just loves being on the river - he loves talking fish, talking flies, teaching casting, trying new patterns, and showing new techniques. He's also amazing at spotting fish areas - but then again when all the GUIDES on the river know you by first name, that usually means you have floated the river a few hundred times. He hooked me up with some killer PMX's and some soft hackle nymphs and chartreuse pheasant tails - and the caddis patterns where spot on and caught lots of fish.
The river was high (600 cfs) and slightly off color - the banks are where the fish were at. The morning was slow, but as the water warmed the caddis started popping and the fishing picked up. I caught fish on one of his newest patterns, had some killer dry fly action in the early afternoon, and had a bunch I couldn't land on a dry fly during the last 2 miles or so. It was a beautiful day, great weather, hardly a breeze, smooth water and good company. I saw the Ark from a new angle and I respect it more for some of the amazing private water it has stashed away. The entire Arkansas Valley is just amazing. And the fish are healthy and large (for that river) - they feed fiestily too on size 16 nymphs - which is a change for us South Platte size 24 midge guys.
I'd like to thank Brian and Mary for their hospitality and kindness and I owe them big time! Although Brian doesn't want the publicity, he's a hell of a fly tyer - he donated over 40 dozen flies to TU this year for their auctions - and for that (and everything else he does) he should be commended. This is just another story of how this board brings us all closer together.
Brian was nice enough to donated almost 2 dozen flies to me, of which I donated directly to the fish Gods. Did I mention he's a hell of a fisherman too? He grabbed my rod in a great hole and made some beautiful casts to some nice fish - he only "landed" one - but it was one memorable fish!
600+ cfs, water was off color. Friday was cool and windy in the afternoon/evening. Saturday was sunny in the upper 60’s.
I was lucky enough to get invited down to float the Ark on Saturday by Brian (Hyde Drifter). I got down there early on Friday night and fished my secret spot (just south of Big Bend) from 4pm to 8pm. The water was high and off color so I stuck to the big pool. On my third cast I caught a 13-inch brown on a chartreuse midge with a red bead head. I continued working the pool and hooked a big brown on a streamer, but he broke me completely off. Most of the other areas were too off color to see or catch anything. I did manage to hook one more a little lower down – he was a nice 14-inch brown.
I headed over to eat dinner in Salida and then headed to meet Brian at his camper and introduced myself. We decided to meet at 6:30 am the next day to get breakfast and then jump on the river. I just assumed that we'd both get in some rowing and fishing, but Brian's raft was only a two-seater and he just wanted to row and watch - which I'm not sure I could do with fish showing everywhere.
We dropped in just below Salida and planned to float all the way to Howard. Brian is a hell of a guy - the guy can row that raft "in a phone booth" (inside joke) - basically I didn't spill my tea the entire trip! Even Brian enjoyed the satisfaction of rowing one of his best days - with flows around 600 cfs.
Although I felt a little awkward taking advantage of Brian's rowing skills it turned out that he just loves being on the river - he loves talking fish, talking flies, teaching casting, trying new patterns, and showing new techniques. He's also amazing at spotting fish areas - but then again when all the GUIDES on the river know you by first name, that usually means you have floated the river a few hundred times. He hooked me up with some killer PMX's and some soft hackle nymphs and chartreuse pheasant tails - and the caddis patterns where spot on and caught lots of fish.
The river was high (600 cfs) and slightly off color - the banks are where the fish were at. The morning was slow, but as the water warmed the caddis started popping and the fishing picked up. I caught fish on one of his newest patterns, had some killer dry fly action in the early afternoon, and had a bunch I couldn't land on a dry fly during the last 2 miles or so. It was a beautiful day, great weather, hardly a breeze, smooth water and good company. I saw the Ark from a new angle and I respect it more for some of the amazing private water it has stashed away. The entire Arkansas Valley is just amazing. And the fish are healthy and large (for that river) - they feed fiestily too on size 16 nymphs - which is a change for us South Platte size 24 midge guys.
I'd like to thank Brian and Mary for their hospitality and kindness and I owe them big time! Although Brian doesn't want the publicity, he's a hell of a fly tyer - he donated over 40 dozen flies to TU this year for their auctions - and for that (and everything else he does) he should be commended. This is just another story of how this board brings us all closer together.
Brian was nice enough to donated almost 2 dozen flies to me, of which I donated directly to the fish Gods. Did I mention he's a hell of a fisherman too? He grabbed my rod in a great hole and made some beautiful casts to some nice fish - he only "landed" one - but it was one memorable fish!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006 - South Platte River – Dr
Saturday, April 22, 2006 - South Platte River – Dream Stream
56 cfs, water was clear. Sunny in the 60’s – a little wind late.
Fished with Chad and his dad – we started right at the bridge between Spinney and 11-Mile. Got off to a good start, hooked and landed a huge 22” rainbow that was as big as a 2”X6” board. Unfortunately I realized after landing him that he was spawning and I should have left him alone.
Chad’s dad hooked a large rainbow that I tried to land for him, but he’s not used to landing big fish, so he couldn’t guide the fish to me and eventually he got off. He did hook and land a huge fish a few minutes later – the same exact fish I caught. I netted it for him and he was excited. He’d end up hooking and landing two more large fish.
We moved up to the dam section - after a 300-yard walk we finally got to the river. The water looked man-made – with boulders and tree stumps in the middle to break up the current. Problem was, there was no current today. 56 cfs is stupid. I hooked and landed a nice fighting 14-inch cuttbow with a nice orange gash under his chin. I moved up to the hog pen and we could see enormous fish, but neither Chad nor I could land one – even after trying everything including eggs.
We left and headed back, but stopped at the Tomahawk access on the way back. It was a nice little river, but typical low water on one of the forks of the South Platte. I caught a 6-inch brown – but that was it. We left soon after.
56 cfs, water was clear. Sunny in the 60’s – a little wind late.
Fished with Chad and his dad – we started right at the bridge between Spinney and 11-Mile. Got off to a good start, hooked and landed a huge 22” rainbow that was as big as a 2”X6” board. Unfortunately I realized after landing him that he was spawning and I should have left him alone.
Chad’s dad hooked a large rainbow that I tried to land for him, but he’s not used to landing big fish, so he couldn’t guide the fish to me and eventually he got off. He did hook and land a huge fish a few minutes later – the same exact fish I caught. I netted it for him and he was excited. He’d end up hooking and landing two more large fish.
We moved up to the dam section - after a 300-yard walk we finally got to the river. The water looked man-made – with boulders and tree stumps in the middle to break up the current. Problem was, there was no current today. 56 cfs is stupid. I hooked and landed a nice fighting 14-inch cuttbow with a nice orange gash under his chin. I moved up to the hog pen and we could see enormous fish, but neither Chad nor I could land one – even after trying everything including eggs.
We left and headed back, but stopped at the Tomahawk access on the way back. It was a nice little river, but typical low water on one of the forks of the South Platte. I caught a 6-inch brown – but that was it. We left soon after.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Bighorn River, Montana - April 6-9, 2006
Thursday through Saturday, April 6-8, 2006 – Bighorn River, Montana
Thursday
Cold afternoon about 40 degrees, cloudy and later with driving rains. Water was clear, flows about 2,500 cfs. Floated Afterbay to 3-Mile Access from 2pm to 7:30pm.
I left the house around 3:30 am to be at Chad’s around 4 am. I was right on time and Chad was waiting. We piled the stuff in and off we went – hitting the gas station right before jumping on rt 70. It was still pitch black and we made conversation for about 30 minutes and I told Chad to take a nap while it was still dark. I was doing ok driving – but around Cheyenne I started getting tired. I struggled a bit, but kept going until about Casper (3 hours+ in) and we swapped out. The day was dry, but we could see the storm clouds rolling in from the NW. As we got closer and closer to the MT border it was obvious that there was some rain/snow close by, but we had juts missed it. We arrived in Ft. Smith at around 11am – we checked into the Cottonwood Camp, got our cabin, got our licenses, a parking pass for the day, bought a few white streamers and decided to dress and hit the 3 Mile access. The cabin was really nice – not huge, but well set up. Two bunk beds, a small bathroom with shower, a small kitchen and a nice sitting area with rap around seating around a small table – perfect for 3 guys.
We hit 3 Mile access right away – with about 2 hours to spare before Paul arrived. I shot up the left side of the island and made my way to the upper reaches – the water swings around the edge and runs shallow. A slight drop off closer to shore on the left is where I hooked my first two fish. A pair of nice 18 inch browns that were very colorful.
I dropped down to around the boat ramp – right where the water swiftens. Chad was already working this stretch and I waded over next to him to fish a shallow shelf that dropped into a huge pool next to some dead trees that were hung up in the middle. I immediately hooked a huge fish. I called Chad over to help me land the pig. The fish measured out at about 26 inches and about 10.5 lbs – what a fish. Chad didn’t have his camera – he left the batteries in the cabin to charge. I hooked another huge fish in the same spot – a 21 inch rainbow – not quite as impressive.
Paul showed up moments later and we were pulled off the water and ready to be escorted to the Afterbay section to launch our first day of floating.
We dropped the boat in the water around 1 pm and off we went. Paul rowed (as he did the remainder of the weekend) and kept us near the banks to try our hand at fishing the shore. We didn’t have much luck – although we could see quite a few fleeing under the boat. The weather was starting to turn – you could feel the moisture in the air and then it started raining. We hit Meat Hole right off – all the other boats had already hit it and we had the river somewhat to ourselves. Meat Hole was good to us – just as we remembered. I think we all caught 3 fish in the hole. Chad caught the largest on streamers and black mercury midges.
We moved down once again, hitting various holes as the wind blew rain sideways and into our faces. Although I had my new wading jacket on and was protected from the wetness, I was severely underdressed underneath and started getting cold about half way through. I stopped fishing with about a mile to go on the 3 mile leg – content to shiver instead of cast.
Chad caught quite a few, and Paul and I caught a few that day – it was a good day and time to call it a day. We pulled the drift out around 7pm, packed her up and headed back to the cabin. We decided to hit Paulie’s restaurant and have a nice dinner – chicken fried steak hit the spot. The conversation was great and we got a lot of the business stuff out of the way – the rest of the weekend was free to verbally abuse each other. Of course I got the worst beating. We got back to the cabin, tied up some flies that had worked that day and hit the hay.
Friday
Cold in the morning 40 degrees, cloudy all day, afternoon warmed up to about 52 degrees. Water was clear, flows about 2,500 cfs. Floated Afterbay to 3-Mile Access from 9am to 5:30pm.
Seven AM came and the guys were stirring. I wasn’t thinking that Paul and Chad were ready, but I guess they were. I was still tired, but was ready to go. There wasn’t much sense of urgency so I hung out in bed. After getting some abuse I realized the guys were waiting on me. Hell, last year we didn’t hit the river until 8:30 or so – and these guys wanted to be half way down to Meat Hole by 8 AM! I dressed quick, threw on extra clothes and we were off. We dropped into the river amongst a slightly larger crowd than the previous day. We might have been the 4th boat out or so. The weather was cloudy, but it was obvious there wouldn’t be any rain in the next few hours. We were thinking about hitting the 3 Mile stretch twice today. We had met up with another board member that morning named George. He had his own pontoon boat and was rearing to go. We were going to leap frog each other down the river and give him a ride back to Afterbay at the half way point of the day. This ended up being our best day of fishing – although Paul nor I would even come close to the day Chad was about to have.
Chad covers a lot of water on foot, making an average of 6 casts a minute – rarely two in the same spot. He hooks and lands fish very quickly, and moves on. The first stretch of river produced a couple of fish – nothing huge. We stopped on the right side of the river to fish a popular stretch, but nothing came out of it. I hooked and landed a small 11 inch whitefish which won me the prestigious whitefish award for the weekend. Meat Hole was booked so we kept on rowing. We jumped down to Suck Hole and fished it. I fished the lower section while Paul and Chad fished the upper sections. My favorite spot that produced 100 fish the year before was hitting, but not nearly as well. I landed 4 nice fish – 2 bows and 2 browns. The browns were feisty while the rainbows were logs without much fight. The rainbows were big and fat – measuring probably 18 or 19 inches. This was easily 2 or 3 inches larger than the previous year. The browns were good sized too – 18 inches each – that too was about 3 or 4 inches larger than last years average. Chad and Paul also had some luck in the upper Suck Hole.
We moved down a bunch of times, we all hooked fish. Chad especially, hooking huge fish after huge fish. One stretch that looked very whitefishie we jumped out in. We fished this for a while and did very well. I hooked two enormous browns in the 20 inch range. Chad worked his way down river and every time I looked over he had rod bent or a net full of fish. He too was catching very large browns. Every hole that day produced fish. One hole that was new for Paul and us was a stretch where a long island ran on the left hand side and there was a great fast run that cut the island in half. This run had a shelf that ran to the left and it dropped off to about 3 feet of water. Paul was hooking fish at the bottom of the island left and right and couldn’t be stopped. Chad fished the whole 300 yard stretch – with a cast here and a cast there. I worked the fast riffle. On my second cast I hooked a pig – he was definitely longer than 26 inches. Unfortunately he got off. I lost a lot of fish on this trip – maybe about 50% - they seemed to fight harder this year but with a lot less run in them than last year.
The day seemed to be flying by – what we thought would be a two trip day was looking like a one trip day. We stretched the day out at the end – staying in some holes a little longer and shooting the crap with each other. I took some video and some photos, but not nearly enough. The weather held up nicely, overcast yet warm with minimal wind. We pulled in around 6 pm again and saw George – he basically blew down the river and fished that stretch by the boat ramp for 5 hours (sorry George). We moved cars and I met Chad back at 3 Mile Access to continue fishing. No such luck though as the extra traffic and lowering sun seemed to put down the fish. Chad as usual caught a bunch.
That night I threw a bunch of food on the grill for everyone and we just chatted for the night. We tried to tie some flies, but no one seemed overly interested. George stayed at the cabin that night.
Saturday
Cool morning about 40 degrees, sunny inn the morning, some clouds later in the afternoon, warmed up to about 65 degrees. Water was clear, flows about 2,500 cfs. Floated Afterbay to 3-Mile Access from 9am to 3:30pm.
Our last day on the Horn was going to be beautiful weather, which meant bad things for the fish! We had decided to do the 3 Mile stretch again and maybe head out around 2 or 3 pm for home. Being home all of Sunday would definitely score bonus points with the wives. We were on the river before 8 am again. This time it was pretty heavy traffic though. Boats were all pulled over between Afterbay and Meat Hole, so we kept going. We moved down to Suck Hole and were the first ones to pull over. I was working my way down to my favorite section when a boat swung in maybe 25 yards from me and anchored on shore – 4 guys jumped out and proceeded to fish very close to me. This pissed me off – especially since they didn’t even look like they cared. A guide and his compadres were hooking large fish across the way with regularity. I hooked a fish on my first cast, but didn’t land it. It was a slow start for all of us.
We moved down again and started getting into some fish – well, at least Paul and I were. We hit the island stretch again and Paul went right back to catching his browns. He hooked and landed 10 fish or so. I worked my way back to the drop off next to the riffle and worked down further into the deeper water. I hooked a huge snaky looking rainbow that was so skinny it was scary. Next I hooked a huge rainbow, he was 24 inches long, but as I got him closer I could see that his lower mouth was all deformed and a mess. I played him and tried to get the hook out of his mouth without touching him – luckily it popped out. I worked the deeper sections and hooked and landed 5 or so nice fish – Paul also continued his magic. Chad however was still being shut out. We moved directly across the river to the other bank in an area that looked nice, but we were never able to reach before – this time we made it – a beautiful bank that held about a foot of water – it had some redds and a huge tree that had fallen over and touched the water. Chad was working a streamer in the shallows and hooked an enormous rainbow – big red bellied and about 26 inches easy. The fish was a pig and we had to land this “skunk-off” fish for Chad. I grabbed the net and just as I was ready to get into position the fish popped off. To say the least Chad was disappointed.
We moved down to a stretch not far that ran off a shelf and around a corner, as we floated over we could see some huge fish. I worked the stretch and hooked and landed two nice huge browns in the 18 inch range. Chad finally hooked and landed a nice 19 inch brown – he was finally skunk off.
The next stretch we moved to was the whitefish looking area, and again we all did well – I hooked and landed another two huge browns and lost a couple. Chad worked his way down and around. We decided it was time to head out and we worked the rest of the river from the boat. We were off the water by 2:30 pm. We grabbed our gear, unloaded, packed, stopped to get gas and we were on our way home. Chad was back by 10:30pm and I was home by 11pm. It was a very good trip. It was great meeting Paul and fishing with him.
The entire trip fish were consistently hitting on small black midges and pink midges. Most were black beauties or mercury midges. Scuds would produce fish, but not nearly as many. We didn't see any dry fly action, and only Chad had luck with streamers - although I think he caught about half on the streamer and half on the midge on his two fly setup.
Thursday
Cold afternoon about 40 degrees, cloudy and later with driving rains. Water was clear, flows about 2,500 cfs. Floated Afterbay to 3-Mile Access from 2pm to 7:30pm.
I left the house around 3:30 am to be at Chad’s around 4 am. I was right on time and Chad was waiting. We piled the stuff in and off we went – hitting the gas station right before jumping on rt 70. It was still pitch black and we made conversation for about 30 minutes and I told Chad to take a nap while it was still dark. I was doing ok driving – but around Cheyenne I started getting tired. I struggled a bit, but kept going until about Casper (3 hours+ in) and we swapped out. The day was dry, but we could see the storm clouds rolling in from the NW. As we got closer and closer to the MT border it was obvious that there was some rain/snow close by, but we had juts missed it. We arrived in Ft. Smith at around 11am – we checked into the Cottonwood Camp, got our cabin, got our licenses, a parking pass for the day, bought a few white streamers and decided to dress and hit the 3 Mile access. The cabin was really nice – not huge, but well set up. Two bunk beds, a small bathroom with shower, a small kitchen and a nice sitting area with rap around seating around a small table – perfect for 3 guys.
We hit 3 Mile access right away – with about 2 hours to spare before Paul arrived. I shot up the left side of the island and made my way to the upper reaches – the water swings around the edge and runs shallow. A slight drop off closer to shore on the left is where I hooked my first two fish. A pair of nice 18 inch browns that were very colorful.
I dropped down to around the boat ramp – right where the water swiftens. Chad was already working this stretch and I waded over next to him to fish a shallow shelf that dropped into a huge pool next to some dead trees that were hung up in the middle. I immediately hooked a huge fish. I called Chad over to help me land the pig. The fish measured out at about 26 inches and about 10.5 lbs – what a fish. Chad didn’t have his camera – he left the batteries in the cabin to charge. I hooked another huge fish in the same spot – a 21 inch rainbow – not quite as impressive.
Paul showed up moments later and we were pulled off the water and ready to be escorted to the Afterbay section to launch our first day of floating.
We dropped the boat in the water around 1 pm and off we went. Paul rowed (as he did the remainder of the weekend) and kept us near the banks to try our hand at fishing the shore. We didn’t have much luck – although we could see quite a few fleeing under the boat. The weather was starting to turn – you could feel the moisture in the air and then it started raining. We hit Meat Hole right off – all the other boats had already hit it and we had the river somewhat to ourselves. Meat Hole was good to us – just as we remembered. I think we all caught 3 fish in the hole. Chad caught the largest on streamers and black mercury midges.
We moved down once again, hitting various holes as the wind blew rain sideways and into our faces. Although I had my new wading jacket on and was protected from the wetness, I was severely underdressed underneath and started getting cold about half way through. I stopped fishing with about a mile to go on the 3 mile leg – content to shiver instead of cast.
Chad caught quite a few, and Paul and I caught a few that day – it was a good day and time to call it a day. We pulled the drift out around 7pm, packed her up and headed back to the cabin. We decided to hit Paulie’s restaurant and have a nice dinner – chicken fried steak hit the spot. The conversation was great and we got a lot of the business stuff out of the way – the rest of the weekend was free to verbally abuse each other. Of course I got the worst beating. We got back to the cabin, tied up some flies that had worked that day and hit the hay.
Friday
Cold in the morning 40 degrees, cloudy all day, afternoon warmed up to about 52 degrees. Water was clear, flows about 2,500 cfs. Floated Afterbay to 3-Mile Access from 9am to 5:30pm.
Seven AM came and the guys were stirring. I wasn’t thinking that Paul and Chad were ready, but I guess they were. I was still tired, but was ready to go. There wasn’t much sense of urgency so I hung out in bed. After getting some abuse I realized the guys were waiting on me. Hell, last year we didn’t hit the river until 8:30 or so – and these guys wanted to be half way down to Meat Hole by 8 AM! I dressed quick, threw on extra clothes and we were off. We dropped into the river amongst a slightly larger crowd than the previous day. We might have been the 4th boat out or so. The weather was cloudy, but it was obvious there wouldn’t be any rain in the next few hours. We were thinking about hitting the 3 Mile stretch twice today. We had met up with another board member that morning named George. He had his own pontoon boat and was rearing to go. We were going to leap frog each other down the river and give him a ride back to Afterbay at the half way point of the day. This ended up being our best day of fishing – although Paul nor I would even come close to the day Chad was about to have.
Chad covers a lot of water on foot, making an average of 6 casts a minute – rarely two in the same spot. He hooks and lands fish very quickly, and moves on. The first stretch of river produced a couple of fish – nothing huge. We stopped on the right side of the river to fish a popular stretch, but nothing came out of it. I hooked and landed a small 11 inch whitefish which won me the prestigious whitefish award for the weekend. Meat Hole was booked so we kept on rowing. We jumped down to Suck Hole and fished it. I fished the lower section while Paul and Chad fished the upper sections. My favorite spot that produced 100 fish the year before was hitting, but not nearly as well. I landed 4 nice fish – 2 bows and 2 browns. The browns were feisty while the rainbows were logs without much fight. The rainbows were big and fat – measuring probably 18 or 19 inches. This was easily 2 or 3 inches larger than the previous year. The browns were good sized too – 18 inches each – that too was about 3 or 4 inches larger than last years average. Chad and Paul also had some luck in the upper Suck Hole.
We moved down a bunch of times, we all hooked fish. Chad especially, hooking huge fish after huge fish. One stretch that looked very whitefishie we jumped out in. We fished this for a while and did very well. I hooked two enormous browns in the 20 inch range. Chad worked his way down river and every time I looked over he had rod bent or a net full of fish. He too was catching very large browns. Every hole that day produced fish. One hole that was new for Paul and us was a stretch where a long island ran on the left hand side and there was a great fast run that cut the island in half. This run had a shelf that ran to the left and it dropped off to about 3 feet of water. Paul was hooking fish at the bottom of the island left and right and couldn’t be stopped. Chad fished the whole 300 yard stretch – with a cast here and a cast there. I worked the fast riffle. On my second cast I hooked a pig – he was definitely longer than 26 inches. Unfortunately he got off. I lost a lot of fish on this trip – maybe about 50% - they seemed to fight harder this year but with a lot less run in them than last year.
The day seemed to be flying by – what we thought would be a two trip day was looking like a one trip day. We stretched the day out at the end – staying in some holes a little longer and shooting the crap with each other. I took some video and some photos, but not nearly enough. The weather held up nicely, overcast yet warm with minimal wind. We pulled in around 6 pm again and saw George – he basically blew down the river and fished that stretch by the boat ramp for 5 hours (sorry George). We moved cars and I met Chad back at 3 Mile Access to continue fishing. No such luck though as the extra traffic and lowering sun seemed to put down the fish. Chad as usual caught a bunch.
That night I threw a bunch of food on the grill for everyone and we just chatted for the night. We tried to tie some flies, but no one seemed overly interested. George stayed at the cabin that night.
Saturday
Cool morning about 40 degrees, sunny inn the morning, some clouds later in the afternoon, warmed up to about 65 degrees. Water was clear, flows about 2,500 cfs. Floated Afterbay to 3-Mile Access from 9am to 3:30pm.
Our last day on the Horn was going to be beautiful weather, which meant bad things for the fish! We had decided to do the 3 Mile stretch again and maybe head out around 2 or 3 pm for home. Being home all of Sunday would definitely score bonus points with the wives. We were on the river before 8 am again. This time it was pretty heavy traffic though. Boats were all pulled over between Afterbay and Meat Hole, so we kept going. We moved down to Suck Hole and were the first ones to pull over. I was working my way down to my favorite section when a boat swung in maybe 25 yards from me and anchored on shore – 4 guys jumped out and proceeded to fish very close to me. This pissed me off – especially since they didn’t even look like they cared. A guide and his compadres were hooking large fish across the way with regularity. I hooked a fish on my first cast, but didn’t land it. It was a slow start for all of us.
We moved down again and started getting into some fish – well, at least Paul and I were. We hit the island stretch again and Paul went right back to catching his browns. He hooked and landed 10 fish or so. I worked my way back to the drop off next to the riffle and worked down further into the deeper water. I hooked a huge snaky looking rainbow that was so skinny it was scary. Next I hooked a huge rainbow, he was 24 inches long, but as I got him closer I could see that his lower mouth was all deformed and a mess. I played him and tried to get the hook out of his mouth without touching him – luckily it popped out. I worked the deeper sections and hooked and landed 5 or so nice fish – Paul also continued his magic. Chad however was still being shut out. We moved directly across the river to the other bank in an area that looked nice, but we were never able to reach before – this time we made it – a beautiful bank that held about a foot of water – it had some redds and a huge tree that had fallen over and touched the water. Chad was working a streamer in the shallows and hooked an enormous rainbow – big red bellied and about 26 inches easy. The fish was a pig and we had to land this “skunk-off” fish for Chad. I grabbed the net and just as I was ready to get into position the fish popped off. To say the least Chad was disappointed.
We moved down to a stretch not far that ran off a shelf and around a corner, as we floated over we could see some huge fish. I worked the stretch and hooked and landed two nice huge browns in the 18 inch range. Chad finally hooked and landed a nice 19 inch brown – he was finally skunk off.
The next stretch we moved to was the whitefish looking area, and again we all did well – I hooked and landed another two huge browns and lost a couple. Chad worked his way down and around. We decided it was time to head out and we worked the rest of the river from the boat. We were off the water by 2:30 pm. We grabbed our gear, unloaded, packed, stopped to get gas and we were on our way home. Chad was back by 10:30pm and I was home by 11pm. It was a very good trip. It was great meeting Paul and fishing with him.
The entire trip fish were consistently hitting on small black midges and pink midges. Most were black beauties or mercury midges. Scuds would produce fish, but not nearly as many. We didn't see any dry fly action, and only Chad had luck with streamers - although I think he caught about half on the streamer and half on the midge on his two fly setup.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Sunday, April 2, 2006 - South Platte River – Decke
Sunday, April 2, 2006 - South Platte River – Deckers
156 cfs, water was clear. Sunny in the lower 60’s.
Fished with Cabo today – not much to tell. The water was higher than normal. Harder to find the fish – especially with nymphs and midges. I lost a bunch of flies – including 2 streamers. Spooked the fish at the bend log, I got a few bites on some of those black beauties, but they all got off. I fished all the usual spots with no luck. Managed to get one small rainbow just on the other side of the 2nd bridge – his fin was messed up – it actually looked like he had bones sticking out and the cartilage was hanging limp. Cabo had a good time afterwards as I through the ball for her for about 15 minutes in the deep water.
156 cfs, water was clear. Sunny in the lower 60’s.
Fished with Cabo today – not much to tell. The water was higher than normal. Harder to find the fish – especially with nymphs and midges. I lost a bunch of flies – including 2 streamers. Spooked the fish at the bend log, I got a few bites on some of those black beauties, but they all got off. I fished all the usual spots with no luck. Managed to get one small rainbow just on the other side of the 2nd bridge – his fin was messed up – it actually looked like he had bones sticking out and the cartilage was hanging limp. Cabo had a good time afterwards as I through the ball for her for about 15 minutes in the deep water.
Monday, March 20, 2006
T minus 22 days and counting until the Bighorn
Wow, I'm jacked up for the Bighorn trip this year. I can hardly work without the excitement making my mind wander every minute or so.
I can't believe some of these guys live with an hour of the river and get to fish it every weekend. I'm jealous. Basically the Bighorn is the same distance and time from Billings as Deckers/Cheesman is from my house. If I lived in the Montana/Billings area, I'd never get any work done. I'd definitely own a boat or pontoon, and I'd try and log as many hours as I could on the great river.
Last year the Bighorn trip was a blast. Chad and I basically crammed 16 hours of driving, 5 hours wade fishing, 24 hours of float fishing, 24 hours of sleeping, 6 hours of eating and 4 hours of tying into an 80 hour period - pretty hectic pace for a 4 day "trip".
This year we are going to spread it out some more - drive all night - get up early, get three days of fishing in and then head home. I can't wait.
The Horn is an amazing fishery - although I only have a couple days experience on it and it was my first float trip, I have to say that it is the perfect river. The river is never really that wide - it is crossable in sections, even with 2500 cfs flows. The river is long and there are large fish throughout. The river is a standard depth - I'm generalizing here - but when we were floating I didn't have to move my indicator all the much - most depths stayed in the 4 to 6 foot range. There were some deep pools and great shelves, and the bug population was amazing. Scuds are the key here - ever rock over turned showed thousands of them.
Flies ranged in the 18 to 20 range. And although the pink and orange scuds were highly recommended, I can't imagine a fish would eat something so bright. The Ray Charles is also another fly that didn't look like any bug I had ever seen - but it worked. It amazes me that the flies that work here on the SPlatte are the same flies that work up in MT and in the same sizes. Zebras, Killers, Mercury's, Black Beauties all work - but they have to be small.
Last year I was expecting a little more MT atmosphere out of the Ft Smith area. But Ft Smith is more Wyoming than MT. You can see mountains way off in the distance, but otherwise it is rolling prairie and fields. The river banks were actually mostly bare of scrub brush - with huge cottonwoods standing on the sandy or rock banks - with hardly any low lying scrub brush between the trees. Cows have the right away in Ft Smith and they can be heard all over the river mooing in the breeze. I also expected expensive lodges or private homes located right next to the river. There really wasn't any sign of luxury in Ft Smith. Yes, there was the occassional house close to the river - but nothing gaudy or extravigant. The town of Ft Smith is also quite simple - 3 float boats per permanent capita. You can see boats lining the streets, sitting out in front of houses, fly shops, grocery store, campgrounds. It's actually kind of amusing.
The town closes up at 8 pm. The 10 fly shops are all small, clean and well kept - of course they all sell basically the same thing. There is one restaurant, one convenience store, and that's it. Of course the restaurant and store have their own hours, so sometimes they are open - most of the time they aren't. I'm sure they have more steady hours in the summer months.
The Horn is an easy float - only one real section of tough water that is easier the second time you float it. It gets shallow in some spots and sometimes you need to make a judgement call on which side of the island you are going to float - but other than that it is smooth sailing.
I saw lot sof guides on the Horn - pointing their clients to the perfect drifts or holes. We floated past lots of guys with fish on - some holes with 4 guys with fish on, everyone seemed very happy. It seemed like the Horn was a place where fishing dreams come true. I'm having fishy dreams lately - so many that I can't sleep at night - and I'm still 22 days away!!!
This trip will be a chance to finally row a float boat, meet up with some great new friends, video and document the trip for a story I hope to write, test out the new camper for more than one overnight trip, and hang with some good friends. I have tied more in the last few weeks than I ever have. I have tied a couple dozen of my killers in silver, blue and red - a couple dozen Chad streamers, a couple dozen zebras in green and tan, and a dozen or so scuds. Problem is that as a fisherman I almost NEVER change flies unless I lose them - and on the Horn I never seemed to lose them.
Well - this should be a good trip - I can't wait.
I can't believe some of these guys live with an hour of the river and get to fish it every weekend. I'm jealous. Basically the Bighorn is the same distance and time from Billings as Deckers/Cheesman is from my house. If I lived in the Montana/Billings area, I'd never get any work done. I'd definitely own a boat or pontoon, and I'd try and log as many hours as I could on the great river.
Last year the Bighorn trip was a blast. Chad and I basically crammed 16 hours of driving, 5 hours wade fishing, 24 hours of float fishing, 24 hours of sleeping, 6 hours of eating and 4 hours of tying into an 80 hour period - pretty hectic pace for a 4 day "trip".
This year we are going to spread it out some more - drive all night - get up early, get three days of fishing in and then head home. I can't wait.
The Horn is an amazing fishery - although I only have a couple days experience on it and it was my first float trip, I have to say that it is the perfect river. The river is never really that wide - it is crossable in sections, even with 2500 cfs flows. The river is long and there are large fish throughout. The river is a standard depth - I'm generalizing here - but when we were floating I didn't have to move my indicator all the much - most depths stayed in the 4 to 6 foot range. There were some deep pools and great shelves, and the bug population was amazing. Scuds are the key here - ever rock over turned showed thousands of them.
Flies ranged in the 18 to 20 range. And although the pink and orange scuds were highly recommended, I can't imagine a fish would eat something so bright. The Ray Charles is also another fly that didn't look like any bug I had ever seen - but it worked. It amazes me that the flies that work here on the SPlatte are the same flies that work up in MT and in the same sizes. Zebras, Killers, Mercury's, Black Beauties all work - but they have to be small.
Last year I was expecting a little more MT atmosphere out of the Ft Smith area. But Ft Smith is more Wyoming than MT. You can see mountains way off in the distance, but otherwise it is rolling prairie and fields. The river banks were actually mostly bare of scrub brush - with huge cottonwoods standing on the sandy or rock banks - with hardly any low lying scrub brush between the trees. Cows have the right away in Ft Smith and they can be heard all over the river mooing in the breeze. I also expected expensive lodges or private homes located right next to the river. There really wasn't any sign of luxury in Ft Smith. Yes, there was the occassional house close to the river - but nothing gaudy or extravigant. The town of Ft Smith is also quite simple - 3 float boats per permanent capita. You can see boats lining the streets, sitting out in front of houses, fly shops, grocery store, campgrounds. It's actually kind of amusing.
The town closes up at 8 pm. The 10 fly shops are all small, clean and well kept - of course they all sell basically the same thing. There is one restaurant, one convenience store, and that's it. Of course the restaurant and store have their own hours, so sometimes they are open - most of the time they aren't. I'm sure they have more steady hours in the summer months.
The Horn is an easy float - only one real section of tough water that is easier the second time you float it. It gets shallow in some spots and sometimes you need to make a judgement call on which side of the island you are going to float - but other than that it is smooth sailing.
I saw lot sof guides on the Horn - pointing their clients to the perfect drifts or holes. We floated past lots of guys with fish on - some holes with 4 guys with fish on, everyone seemed very happy. It seemed like the Horn was a place where fishing dreams come true. I'm having fishy dreams lately - so many that I can't sleep at night - and I'm still 22 days away!!!
This trip will be a chance to finally row a float boat, meet up with some great new friends, video and document the trip for a story I hope to write, test out the new camper for more than one overnight trip, and hang with some good friends. I have tied more in the last few weeks than I ever have. I have tied a couple dozen of my killers in silver, blue and red - a couple dozen Chad streamers, a couple dozen zebras in green and tan, and a dozen or so scuds. Problem is that as a fisherman I almost NEVER change flies unless I lose them - and on the Horn I never seemed to lose them.
Well - this should be a good trip - I can't wait.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Saturday, March 18, 2006 - South Platte River, Dec
Saturday, March 18, 2006 - South Platte River, Deckers
Beautiful morning, 45 degrees, windy and cooler as the afternoon went on, 146 cfs, clear water.
Fished with Tom today - nice day to get out. I haven’t been out with Tommy in over a year (Dream Stream I think last January). I think we were on the front end of a low pressure storm – the fishing seemed ok. The water was running at a decent clip – there are a lot more places that the fish hold when the water is flowing at over 125 cfs. Basically we just hit the Deckers areas between the bridges.
I jumped right in at the bend where the log is down and worked my way upstream. I didn’t have a whole lot of luck at first chucking a streamer with a nymph trailer. I worked my way up to the lightning burned stump and hit that run on the far side of the island. I could see a few fish, but couldn’t stir anything in the first run. I moved up to hole that sits under the tree. I fished it for a while and finally saw a fish sitting on the far bank in a deep hole. I moved up and tried to trail the streamer right in front of him. I hooked a 14 inch rainbow that slammed the streamer – my first fish of the day, it got me excited. I kept trying at the other deeper fish, with no luck.
I moved up the run to the bridge and fished the dump pool right under the highway/fly shop bridge. I’m still not sure how to fish the streamer in some of the normal pools and runs. Off color water seem to make the fish hit the streamer a lot more – of course today was gin clear. I moved down and fished the highway side of the island. I switched to an 18 and 20 midge and hooked a couple of very small fish. They were just sitting in the run (that normally wouldn’t be there with low water). I moved down again, to a spot I don’t really want to divulge. The spot is the same spot I hooked a 24 inch rainbow three weeks prior. The fish slammed my flies and thrashed it’s head and ripped the whole rig apart. Well, I started fishing the run, not for anything in particular until I saw a dark figure behind a rock move out to a sandy spot and then moved back to its holding position. I 1through a size 18 and 20 killer midge at this fish for about 20 mins, over a 100 casts – nothing. I switched the 20 killer midge to a 20 black beauty and with in 10 casts I had him on. It was a big fish and he thrashed his head again. I moved him carefully to a smoother run and beached him in 6 inches, scooped him with my net. Tommy saw me scoop him and gave me a thumbs up. The fish didn’t even fit in the net! His head was hanging out a good 8 inches! The fish was long and not as thick as usual – but still a beautiful fish. He was nicely colored and strong. The mouth was huge! I saw a small fly hanging out of his mouth – a size 20 rainbow snack – the exact fly I was fishing with 3 weeks prior! As I went to remove the fly the fish got heavy and popped out of the net. I thought I still had him on my flies so I didn’t panic. I tried to grab the net and the fish, but I didn’t want to rough him up so as he floated towards the current, I just let him go. What a beautiful fish.
What a great feeling! I went down and sat next to Tom as he changed flies. I was satisfied, but wanted to keep fishing. The weather started turning a bit – it got very cool and windy. Tom decided he was going to hit the lower bridge and on the other side – I said I’d fish my way towards him. I fished the bend again, right at the log. On my first cast on the far side of the log I hooked and landed a feisty 12 inch rainbow. I caught 3 or 4 more fish from the same spot – most a little smaller. I moved down towards the bridge hitting all the normal holes. Not much luck. With such fast water it is harder to fish such small nymphs. I moved to the other side of the bridge and met Tom. We headed back to the bridge and I climbed up on to the bridge and scouted about – Tom pointed out a fish ahead of him, actually just under the bridge in the shade. I thought it was a stick, but it was a huge fish – probably a brown, maybe about 22 inches. Tom fished to it, but he said he scared it off.
On the other side of the bridge was a huge rainbow that was sitting on a sandbar between two fast runs. I moved down and tried to throw at him, but lost sight of him. Tom appeared on the bridge and we decided to head out. It was a good day.
Beautiful morning, 45 degrees, windy and cooler as the afternoon went on, 146 cfs, clear water.
Fished with Tom today - nice day to get out. I haven’t been out with Tommy in over a year (Dream Stream I think last January). I think we were on the front end of a low pressure storm – the fishing seemed ok. The water was running at a decent clip – there are a lot more places that the fish hold when the water is flowing at over 125 cfs. Basically we just hit the Deckers areas between the bridges.
I jumped right in at the bend where the log is down and worked my way upstream. I didn’t have a whole lot of luck at first chucking a streamer with a nymph trailer. I worked my way up to the lightning burned stump and hit that run on the far side of the island. I could see a few fish, but couldn’t stir anything in the first run. I moved up to hole that sits under the tree. I fished it for a while and finally saw a fish sitting on the far bank in a deep hole. I moved up and tried to trail the streamer right in front of him. I hooked a 14 inch rainbow that slammed the streamer – my first fish of the day, it got me excited. I kept trying at the other deeper fish, with no luck.
I moved up the run to the bridge and fished the dump pool right under the highway/fly shop bridge. I’m still not sure how to fish the streamer in some of the normal pools and runs. Off color water seem to make the fish hit the streamer a lot more – of course today was gin clear. I moved down and fished the highway side of the island. I switched to an 18 and 20 midge and hooked a couple of very small fish. They were just sitting in the run (that normally wouldn’t be there with low water). I moved down again, to a spot I don’t really want to divulge. The spot is the same spot I hooked a 24 inch rainbow three weeks prior. The fish slammed my flies and thrashed it’s head and ripped the whole rig apart. Well, I started fishing the run, not for anything in particular until I saw a dark figure behind a rock move out to a sandy spot and then moved back to its holding position. I 1through a size 18 and 20 killer midge at this fish for about 20 mins, over a 100 casts – nothing. I switched the 20 killer midge to a 20 black beauty and with in 10 casts I had him on. It was a big fish and he thrashed his head again. I moved him carefully to a smoother run and beached him in 6 inches, scooped him with my net. Tommy saw me scoop him and gave me a thumbs up. The fish didn’t even fit in the net! His head was hanging out a good 8 inches! The fish was long and not as thick as usual – but still a beautiful fish. He was nicely colored and strong. The mouth was huge! I saw a small fly hanging out of his mouth – a size 20 rainbow snack – the exact fly I was fishing with 3 weeks prior! As I went to remove the fly the fish got heavy and popped out of the net. I thought I still had him on my flies so I didn’t panic. I tried to grab the net and the fish, but I didn’t want to rough him up so as he floated towards the current, I just let him go. What a beautiful fish.
What a great feeling! I went down and sat next to Tom as he changed flies. I was satisfied, but wanted to keep fishing. The weather started turning a bit – it got very cool and windy. Tom decided he was going to hit the lower bridge and on the other side – I said I’d fish my way towards him. I fished the bend again, right at the log. On my first cast on the far side of the log I hooked and landed a feisty 12 inch rainbow. I caught 3 or 4 more fish from the same spot – most a little smaller. I moved down towards the bridge hitting all the normal holes. Not much luck. With such fast water it is harder to fish such small nymphs. I moved to the other side of the bridge and met Tom. We headed back to the bridge and I climbed up on to the bridge and scouted about – Tom pointed out a fish ahead of him, actually just under the bridge in the shade. I thought it was a stick, but it was a huge fish – probably a brown, maybe about 22 inches. Tom fished to it, but he said he scared it off.
On the other side of the bridge was a huge rainbow that was sitting on a sandbar between two fast runs. I moved down and tried to throw at him, but lost sight of him. Tom appeared on the bridge and we decided to head out. It was a good day.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
What's been new....
Well, I have some time to blow off here at work and wanted to write down some thoughts.
The last year and a half have been absolutely amazing to me - so good that I've been playing the lottery thinking I have a good shot at it!
October 2004 - the Red Sox beat the Yankees and Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years. They did this is amazing fashion - coming back from an 0-3 deficit to beat the Yankees and then sweeping teh Cards - that has never been done before - ever.
December 2004 - we finally get pregnant - I won't get into the details, but it took 11 months of trying.
December 2004 - we sell our condo and buy a house. Its an amazing house - and the condo was a pain in the ass to sell - finally.
December 2004 - I catch my first bonefish in Cozumel - an amazing experience.
April 2005 - first trip to the Bighorn River in MT - an amazing experience. Some of the best fishing of my life.
June 2005 - I finish my basement - my Red Sox (and now Steelers) shrine adds a bedroom, full bath and huge TV room to my house.
August 2005 - Avelyn Jade Edwards is born - in perfect health, and mom is perfect too.
January 2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos - I go to the game, and watch the Steelers roll over the Broncos. Best part about it is that I will never have to listen to Bronco fans again.
February 2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers win the SB (honestly it hasn't sunk in yet) - and they do it in amazing fashion - winning 4 games on the road as a 6th wildcard seed.
I've been pretty blessed in the last 1.5 years or so. I'm hoping to continue this string of luck in the coming years.
In about a month the Red Sox start spring training - of which I am excited. The 6 weeks between Super Bowl and Opening Day Baseball are the most boring times of year. Of course we still have March Madness in between.
I have compiled a list of several places I want to fish this season - this will be a hard list to achieve with a new baby and my best fishing buddy about to have his 2nd - having the camper and a wife that likes to camp I may get lucky with some of these):
Bighorn River (in April)
RMNP (in summer)
Fryingpan/Roaring Fork
Williams Fork
Gunnison (in June)
Grey Reef (I'm dreamin')
Colorado float (Pump House to Radium)
Eleven Mile Canyon (probably during run-off)
I'm hoping to do a Yellowstone trip in the next 2 or 3 years. That is quite a hike for the family, but I know it will be a good one. I'd like to get up to the Cody, WY area and fish those parts too - I hear that there are some amazing water up there.
That's all from me. I'm going to try and post a little more often in this thing as time progresses - of course some of it might be Red Sox related - but oh well.
The last year and a half have been absolutely amazing to me - so good that I've been playing the lottery thinking I have a good shot at it!
October 2004 - the Red Sox beat the Yankees and Cardinals to win their first World Series in 86 years. They did this is amazing fashion - coming back from an 0-3 deficit to beat the Yankees and then sweeping teh Cards - that has never been done before - ever.
December 2004 - we finally get pregnant - I won't get into the details, but it took 11 months of trying.
December 2004 - we sell our condo and buy a house. Its an amazing house - and the condo was a pain in the ass to sell - finally.
December 2004 - I catch my first bonefish in Cozumel - an amazing experience.
April 2005 - first trip to the Bighorn River in MT - an amazing experience. Some of the best fishing of my life.
June 2005 - I finish my basement - my Red Sox (and now Steelers) shrine adds a bedroom, full bath and huge TV room to my house.
August 2005 - Avelyn Jade Edwards is born - in perfect health, and mom is perfect too.
January 2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos - I go to the game, and watch the Steelers roll over the Broncos. Best part about it is that I will never have to listen to Bronco fans again.
February 2006 - Pittsburgh Steelers win the SB (honestly it hasn't sunk in yet) - and they do it in amazing fashion - winning 4 games on the road as a 6th wildcard seed.
I've been pretty blessed in the last 1.5 years or so. I'm hoping to continue this string of luck in the coming years.
In about a month the Red Sox start spring training - of which I am excited. The 6 weeks between Super Bowl and Opening Day Baseball are the most boring times of year. Of course we still have March Madness in between.
I have compiled a list of several places I want to fish this season - this will be a hard list to achieve with a new baby and my best fishing buddy about to have his 2nd - having the camper and a wife that likes to camp I may get lucky with some of these):
Bighorn River (in April)
RMNP (in summer)
Fryingpan/Roaring Fork
Williams Fork
Gunnison (in June)
Grey Reef (I'm dreamin')
Colorado float (Pump House to Radium)
Eleven Mile Canyon (probably during run-off)
I'm hoping to do a Yellowstone trip in the next 2 or 3 years. That is quite a hike for the family, but I know it will be a good one. I'd like to get up to the Cody, WY area and fish those parts too - I hear that there are some amazing water up there.
That's all from me. I'm going to try and post a little more often in this thing as time progresses - of course some of it might be Red Sox related - but oh well.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Sunday, February 26, 2006 - South Platte River, De
Sunday, February 26, 2006 - South Platte River, Deckers.
Flows about 160 cfs, clear water in the morning, soon after the water started rising and it became off color as thick as mud – capped out at 209 cfs (even higher below Muddy Creek). Weather was beautiful – bright blue sky, temps about 60 degrees.
Fished with Nate today – his first day out. Got down there a little after 11am. Fished down the dirt road first. Nate hooked a couple of small fish on a streamer/nymph rig. I went empty handed. We moved down to between the bridges. The water started to run a little off color and I thought it was because of Muddy Creek flowing in. I fished the far side of the island between the bridges. Right up above the lightning strike stump I was fishing a brown wooly bugger and wasn’t really paying attention when I got a slight strike and then a major pull. The fish slid down the river corridor a bit shaking its head furiously. I only had him on for maybe 15 seconds – the fish must have been over 22 inches long. I could see him as he shook his head. He broke me clear off – everything.
Some guy with a spin rod had hooked a nice rainbow on the other side of the island as I was standing there. A 10-inch rainbow that dragged him about 60 feet down the river. He said that there were two of them right up next to the bank – most likely spawning.
I fished up the island and back after that, then tried to go down to the bent log. The problem was that the water was getting darker and darker and it seemed to be getting slightly higher and harder. In one of the normal spots the water felt like it was going to sweep me away – which was pretty unusual. We decided to pack it in and leave. When I got home I looked up the cfs – 209 cfs and a bunch more for the run off from Muddy Creek.
Flows about 160 cfs, clear water in the morning, soon after the water started rising and it became off color as thick as mud – capped out at 209 cfs (even higher below Muddy Creek). Weather was beautiful – bright blue sky, temps about 60 degrees.
Fished with Nate today – his first day out. Got down there a little after 11am. Fished down the dirt road first. Nate hooked a couple of small fish on a streamer/nymph rig. I went empty handed. We moved down to between the bridges. The water started to run a little off color and I thought it was because of Muddy Creek flowing in. I fished the far side of the island between the bridges. Right up above the lightning strike stump I was fishing a brown wooly bugger and wasn’t really paying attention when I got a slight strike and then a major pull. The fish slid down the river corridor a bit shaking its head furiously. I only had him on for maybe 15 seconds – the fish must have been over 22 inches long. I could see him as he shook his head. He broke me clear off – everything.
Some guy with a spin rod had hooked a nice rainbow on the other side of the island as I was standing there. A 10-inch rainbow that dragged him about 60 feet down the river. He said that there were two of them right up next to the bank – most likely spawning.
I fished up the island and back after that, then tried to go down to the bent log. The problem was that the water was getting darker and darker and it seemed to be getting slightly higher and harder. In one of the normal spots the water felt like it was going to sweep me away – which was pretty unusual. We decided to pack it in and leave. When I got home I looked up the cfs – 209 cfs and a bunch more for the run off from Muddy Creek.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006 - South Platte River, De
Sunday, February 12, 2006 - South Platte River, Deckers.
Flows about 117 cfs, clear water in the morning, slightly off color by midday. Weather was beautiful – bright blue sky, temps about 45 degrees – very cold in the shade.
Fished with Chad again down in Deckers. After the previous weeks good luck I was ready to go. We met down at the first dirt road parking lot at around 11am. Chad had Quinn, so it was going to be a quick trip – which was fine because I wanted to get home too. I jumped in at the riffle right next to the head of the parking lot. Since the water was higher, this run looked pretty nice. As I was rigging up a streamer and nymph rig I could see the fish moving in the riffle. The water was gin clear and you could see sandy run areas between strips of rocks and green weeds – the fish would dash in and out.
I hooked an 11-inch rainbow right off that crashed the streamer, soon after I hooked a 12-inch rainbow that took the size 18 zebra midge. After that I was done. I proceeded to lose two green secret weapon streamers – not sure how, I think it was because of the tippet (the Wal Mart brand). After re-rigging twice I fished a nice little run on a bend. Chad had said he caught a huge fish there on Monday – but both of us worked the bend and the run and got nothing. Soon after I moved down to between the bridges – where again, I couldn’t scare up anything. I fished the streamer hard, but got nothing. I did see one small fish (maybe 7 inches) hit the streamer twice. We actually went back down the dirt road, but still could catch anything in Chad’s favorite spot – the Rock Garden. We decided to head home around 2:30.
Flows about 117 cfs, clear water in the morning, slightly off color by midday. Weather was beautiful – bright blue sky, temps about 45 degrees – very cold in the shade.
Fished with Chad again down in Deckers. After the previous weeks good luck I was ready to go. We met down at the first dirt road parking lot at around 11am. Chad had Quinn, so it was going to be a quick trip – which was fine because I wanted to get home too. I jumped in at the riffle right next to the head of the parking lot. Since the water was higher, this run looked pretty nice. As I was rigging up a streamer and nymph rig I could see the fish moving in the riffle. The water was gin clear and you could see sandy run areas between strips of rocks and green weeds – the fish would dash in and out.
I hooked an 11-inch rainbow right off that crashed the streamer, soon after I hooked a 12-inch rainbow that took the size 18 zebra midge. After that I was done. I proceeded to lose two green secret weapon streamers – not sure how, I think it was because of the tippet (the Wal Mart brand). After re-rigging twice I fished a nice little run on a bend. Chad had said he caught a huge fish there on Monday – but both of us worked the bend and the run and got nothing. Soon after I moved down to between the bridges – where again, I couldn’t scare up anything. I fished the streamer hard, but got nothing. I did see one small fish (maybe 7 inches) hit the streamer twice. We actually went back down the dirt road, but still could catch anything in Chad’s favorite spot – the Rock Garden. We decided to head home around 2:30.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Saturday, February 4, 2006 – South Platte River, D
Saturday, February 4, 2006 – South Platte River, Deckers
Cold morning about 30 degrees, warmer in the late morning about 52 degrees. Water was clear above Muddy Creek, slightly off color below it, flows about 54 cfs
Fished with Chad again – pretty good day of fishing. We fished the stretch of river by Wigwam first and then made our way back to the bridges. I hooked into a bunch of small rainbows right at the lot before Wigwam – most on size 20 gunmetal black midges. We fish down into the mini canyon down there and I hooked a couple more – nothing bigger than 10 inches. Chad had a slow morning, but started hooking up inside the canyon – including a nice 18-inch fat rainbow that we got a picture of. I was nymphing all morning and had limited results. On the other side of the canyon is a nice deep hole next to a rock that Chad let me jump in – on my second cast I hooked and landed a nice 16-inch rainbow – again, he was nice and fat.
I drove down to between the bridges while Chad walked the stretch – he had some amazing luck, hooking about 12 more on the trip to the bridges. I didn’t have much luck at all – so I decided to switch to a streamer and fish the section right after the first bridge. Well, I hooked 3 fish on that stream, a small 11-inch rainbow in cloudy water, a nice 15-inch fat rainbow in the same hole, and a small 11-inch brown trout a little further down. Chad fished the stretch just after the downed log and said he caught 4 fish in 20 minutes or so and all were larger than 20 inches – all on a streamer/mercury midge pattern. All told I caught about a dozen or so fish and Chad caught upwards of 35. A very nice day.
Cold morning about 30 degrees, warmer in the late morning about 52 degrees. Water was clear above Muddy Creek, slightly off color below it, flows about 54 cfs
Fished with Chad again – pretty good day of fishing. We fished the stretch of river by Wigwam first and then made our way back to the bridges. I hooked into a bunch of small rainbows right at the lot before Wigwam – most on size 20 gunmetal black midges. We fish down into the mini canyon down there and I hooked a couple more – nothing bigger than 10 inches. Chad had a slow morning, but started hooking up inside the canyon – including a nice 18-inch fat rainbow that we got a picture of. I was nymphing all morning and had limited results. On the other side of the canyon is a nice deep hole next to a rock that Chad let me jump in – on my second cast I hooked and landed a nice 16-inch rainbow – again, he was nice and fat.
I drove down to between the bridges while Chad walked the stretch – he had some amazing luck, hooking about 12 more on the trip to the bridges. I didn’t have much luck at all – so I decided to switch to a streamer and fish the section right after the first bridge. Well, I hooked 3 fish on that stream, a small 11-inch rainbow in cloudy water, a nice 15-inch fat rainbow in the same hole, and a small 11-inch brown trout a little further down. Chad fished the stretch just after the downed log and said he caught 4 fish in 20 minutes or so and all were larger than 20 inches – all on a streamer/mercury midge pattern. All told I caught about a dozen or so fish and Chad caught upwards of 35. A very nice day.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Sunday, January 8, 2006 – South Platte River, Deck
Sunday, January 8, 2006 – South Platte River, Deckers
Cold morning about 40 degrees, warmer in the late morning about 52 degrees, but very windy. Water was slightly off color, flows about 146 cfs
I fished with Chad this morning down in Deckers down the dirt road across from the fly shop and up near the Wigwam club. We fished this stretch for about 2.5 hours. I didn’t have any luck – Chad hook about 10 fish on a streamer pattern – all were pretty small, I think one was a 14-incher. The water was higher than normal so there were a lot more spots to fish and there were a lot of tempting holes. An especially nice hole is the bend stretch right before it breaks into the mini canyon down there.
We next went to between the bridges down in Deckers. Typical spots. The water being higher and faster made it harder to locate the fish and get a good drift. I managed to ass-hook one large brown on the other side of the downed log. The brown had nice blue spots and was about 13 or so inches. Chad only hooked a couple of fish. But the site of the day was a dead sucker up on the bank. We had no idea there were even suckers in there! I fished the last hour or so with a streamer – I got a ton of tips from Chad. I feel more comfortable with a streamer, but I still didn’t catch any fish.
Cold morning about 40 degrees, warmer in the late morning about 52 degrees, but very windy. Water was slightly off color, flows about 146 cfs
I fished with Chad this morning down in Deckers down the dirt road across from the fly shop and up near the Wigwam club. We fished this stretch for about 2.5 hours. I didn’t have any luck – Chad hook about 10 fish on a streamer pattern – all were pretty small, I think one was a 14-incher. The water was higher than normal so there were a lot more spots to fish and there were a lot of tempting holes. An especially nice hole is the bend stretch right before it breaks into the mini canyon down there.
We next went to between the bridges down in Deckers. Typical spots. The water being higher and faster made it harder to locate the fish and get a good drift. I managed to ass-hook one large brown on the other side of the downed log. The brown had nice blue spots and was about 13 or so inches. Chad only hooked a couple of fish. But the site of the day was a dead sucker up on the bank. We had no idea there were even suckers in there! I fished the last hour or so with a streamer – I got a ton of tips from Chad. I feel more comfortable with a streamer, but I still didn’t catch any fish.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
2005 Fishing Journal
2005 Fishing Journal
Sunday, January 9, 2005 – South Platte River on the Dream Stream & 11 Mile Canyon
Dream Stream cfs 50 & Eleven Mile Canyon cfs (not sure)
30 degrees in the morning – almost 45 by mid-day – 40 mph winds. Nice in the Canyon, but the sun was coming down so it felt colder.
Fished today with Tom Shyrock and Kevin (Braidwood from the fly fishing board) – and what a good day it was. We left HR at 6:30 and drove down 25 to Colorado Springs and the west on 24 for Lake George. The trip took over 2 hours (but not much more). We got there about 8:45 and when we stepped out of the car it was 40 and beautiful with little wind and amazingly the only car in the parking lot of the Dream Stream (at the bridge). By the time we got our waders on the wind had kicked up and it was noticeably colder. We split up covering the first half-mile or so of the river, leap frogging each other to hit the next hole. We weren’t doing well for the first hour, with only sighting about 1 fish between the three of us. It was nearly impossible to cast into the wind and if you put the wind to your back your shadow was directly on the river. The wind also blew the line on the water at an unnatural pace – so that also didn’t help. Tom and Kevin came back and said they were heading back to the bridge area, and after breaking off my flies again I decided to join them. As I was heading back Kevin was walking up and wanted to show me the pics of the fish he just caught – a beautiful 20-inch cutthroat trout. The fish was amazingly beautiful and was the largest cutt I had ever seen. He showed me where he caught it and I tied on and tried the hole to no avail. I started walking in the river (which made my feet pretty numb) and fishing various holes around the bend. There was a nice spot where the river broke from a riffle into a 2-foot deep pool and they slowly swirled around a bend. I hooked up with a 6-inch rainbow within a few minutes – not what I was expecting. I stuck with it though and finally had something on – a whole lot of something too! The fish was solid and wouldn’t come off the bottom. He would come to the surface to show me his size and then log back down to the bottom. He made a 10-foot run, but that was it, he was impossible to turn, so I let him shake his head a few times. Finally I got a chance to drag him towards me and I netted him – the fish took up my entire net. He was a 21 or 22-inch rainbow that was as fat as any fish I’ve seen, but he wasn’t solid – just fat. I plopped him on the ice next to me and snapped a photo – he was frantic so I just broke off the fly and put him back in the water – and then had to give him a little shove back into the middle. My hands were numb as hell, but I was pumped up. I started heading back to the bridge. I met up with Tom and showed him the pics – he wasn’t too happy since he was getting shut out. He was fishing the huge dump pool right after the bridge on the 11-Mile side. I could see huge fish just hanging in this pool – Kevin tried for them with a bugger to no avail.
We decided to head over to the Canyon around 2 pm, on the way we had to go 5 miles on a road that was pretty scary with 2 or 3 feet of snow that was half plowed, half untouched. Scary. But, we made it. Eleven Mile Canyon is very pretty though and the pocket water was excellent. There were so many ice shelves that I was nervous to stand on one and fish to a great hole – but I did anyways. I ended up catching 2 12-inch rainbows that were just hanging in the pools. We only fished for about 45 minutes and then started heading home. The drive was long, but it was a very rewarding day.
Saturday, January 22, 2005 – South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Flows at 74 cfs - 40 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – water was gin clear
Fished with Nate. Wanted to get into the canyon after having a great day at Eleven Mile Canyon. This was the exact opposite. Hardly any fish in the normal spots. The big rock and spawning area was completely empty. Nate caught one fish – 18-inch rainbow on an unweighted nymph. I didn’t hook a fish, only saw a few and was very disappointed. We were home by 3pm.
Saturday, March 19, 2005 – South Platte River Cheesman Canyon
Flows at 104 cfs – clear as a bell
45 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – blue sky.
Fished with Nate, Dave, Tom and Chad. We decided to go deep into Cheesman this time – which was cool because I have never been that deep. We pulled into the parking lot and were car number 5 at 7:30 in the morning. The hike in was quite a ways and killed me to skip by all the holes I normally fish. I do have to admit that the water further up the canyon looks sweet and there are lots of plunge pools and riffles that look killer. The flows were higher than normal winter flows at about 104 cfs. I actually jumped in the first hole and fished about 25 yards below a strong riffle. It looked like an amazing spot. The others either jumped in ahead of me or kept walking towards the dam. I hooked a nice fish after about a half hour, he shot down stream and then had about 30 yards of my line out and popped off. I kept moving. I came to a nice spot where the water ran around a square boulder. The near side of the river looked great, but I knew the fish would be on the far side away from the traffic and out of direct sunlight – I made my way around to the other side and was soon hooked into a big rainbow – which popped out of my net as I went to scoop him. It was about a 17-inch rainbow that I hooked on a black midge.
I moved up the canyon slowly throwing to fishy spots. I didn’t see a whole lot of fish, just really fishy water. I met up with the rest of the guys further up and we shot the shit for a while. Nate was the only one who wasn’t there – he hiked all the way to the dam. I started working my wake back to the entrance to the canyon – fishing my normal spots. There was now over 30 people in the first ¼ mile of river and almost every spot was taken. Nate and Dave headed out, as they had to head home early. I saw some rainbows spawning in the usual flat areas by the big rock. I fish to the far side of the big rock and hooked an 18-inch rainbow on a midge. Pretty fish, but it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Soon after that we hiked out and went home.
Thursday - Sunday, April 14-17, 2005 – Big Horn River, Ft. Smith, Montana
Flows at 1500 cfs – clear as a bell
45 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – blue sky for both days
Chad and I got up to Ft. Smith at about 2 pm and decided to try three-mile access. The wind was killer and we could catch anything. A bunch of small fish were hitting dries in the inlet, but nothing else. We decided to meet Dave back at the cabin around 4:30. The three of us decided to fish the dam and we did until about 8:30. Dave hooked a beautiful rainbow about 18 inches, Chad hooked a nice brown about 16 inches and I hook a couple of dinks.
Friday
Our first float day began at 8:30 – we shoved off from the dam headed for the 11-mile access. It was a cool day, but it was sunny and a lot less windy. The first stretch of the river is a long canal area that ranged from 12 feet to 3 feet deep – we hooked a couple of fish, but they were mostly small. We saw numerous schools of much larger fish swim under the boat. We had very good action in the first huge gravel bar after the long canal stretch after. We jumped out and fished it for about an hour or so. The gravel bar was about 8 inches deep and then dumped into a huge pool. The fish would sit sideways and watch for food to drop over the shelf. Chad hooked a beautiful 20-incher on a streamer on his second cast. I caught about 7 out smaller fish out of the hole – the largest being a 16-inch rainbow.
We decided to move on. The river was great for floating. Further down we floated through “Suck” hole, which is a toilet bowl with a fall chunk of concrete – it caused the river to spin and was tough for Dave to paddle out of. We fished the remaining mile or two to 3 Mile access with a little luck – catching fish here and there – nothing too large.
But suddenly, the fish just turned off in the afternoon, we caught nothing after that for the remaining 8 miles. We basically just whizzed through the remaining 8 miles trying to get to the pull out. Other anglers were having little luck as well – there were some nice holes, but not nearly as many as the upper 3 miles of the river. We pulled out around 8:30 exhausted.
Saturday
Saturday was another nice day – a little warmer and just as sunny. We hit the dam at 8:30 and we were probably the 12th boat in the water (after being the first the previous day). Today was a totally different story than yesterday. We decided to just do the 3-mile float and maybe do it twice if needed. The canal stretch after the dam produced well - we hook a ton of smaller fish - including some white fish. We docked the boat just before the gravel bar (there was 8 fishermen on the bar) and worked the fast area to the right side of the river. The river funneled to the right with a nice 15-yard wide and 35 yard long run that led to a slower pool where the water collected and met faster deeper water. I hooked a huge 20-inch rainbow in the fast water, but no way I was landing him. As I was fixing my rig a huge 28-inch rainbow took my fly just as I was about to cast – again he was in the fast water and there was no way to pull him in. After fighting him for about 6 seconds, the fly popped out but the fish continued to give a thrashing exaggerated struggle (like big often do) until he realized he wasn’t on any longer. We jumped back in the boat and headed for Suck Hole. Just on the other side I hooked a nice brown and we
pulled in and did some fishing - and damn did we fish!
Over the next 6 hours I stood in that hole and hooked around 60 fish landing 40 of them. 90% were browns - majority about 16-18 inches, a few big rainbows about 18 or 19 inches and two enormous white fish - about 20 inches each (may have been the same fish). Dave had decent action and Chad moved up to the Suck Hole and had on a 30-inch rainbow that he was within inches of landing after a 20-minute fight. Numerous boats were running through my stretch, they’d get to the end and paddle back up and do it again. The fishing was great. I was hooking about 10-12 fish per hour and landing most of them. They were taking a size 20 midge that I tied – a black beadhead with a wire body and peacock herl below the bead. I went through about 6 of them and had to settle on tiny zebra midges – but they worked too. Every fish fought unbelievably – the brown were especially feisty and they jump – every one of them! White fish are pigs and they were tough to land. I think I caught the same fish twice – he was huge – at least 19 or 20 inches. When I told the woman we rented the cabin from she told me the record is just over 21 inches! We basically flew through the rest of the 1.5 miles to 3-Mile pull out around 8:30 again.
Those fish are so smart; I had a lot of them find ways to get off. They would dive bomb the bottom and rub their faces on rocks or weeds to try and get the hook out. They’d race 100 yards to the middle of the river to try and snag something or loosen the line. Many of the fish got off.
This part of Montana was not as pretty as I have imagined – actually it was quite ugly. The river is on an Indian reservation and the Indians can fish without licenses, keep anything they catch and use bait. The surroundings were sometimes eerie – not bushes, just low grass and lots of big cottonwoods lined the stamped down banks. Cattle roamed freely. What surprised me the most is the lack of huge fishing homes on the banks. None. Well actually only about 3 – but they weren’t very glamorous. The ride home took forever – but it was a great trip.
Friday, May 6, 2005 – Arkansas River
Flows at 150-200 cfs – clear as a bell
45 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day
This was to be my first caddis experience – and it was quite an experience. Chad and I got to Brown’s Canyon around 8:15 and we fished the access right next to the parking lot to get warmed up. We both hooked 4 nice browns, about 12-14 inches. Heading into Brown’s – which is a stretch of canyon with railroad tracks running through it that is fast and deep. Not a good recipe for me at all – since I nymph a lot. I hooked a nice 18-inch fish right off and it almost went over a waterfall. We moved up the river more and I crossed and found a nice deep hole – I landed 4 fish in the hole – all about 14 inches – one was a nice rainbow. Chad fished even further down and hooked about 20 fish on a size 12 stimulator. The sky darkened and the wind kicked up and it started to rain, then hail, then lightning and thunder. Crazy weather – all in about 15 minutes and then it was over. We moved to my favorite spot on the west side of Salida on some private access. I hooked 4 17-inch browns in this stretch and they were fun fish. We had heard that the hatch was hitting east of Salida so we headed over to a spot Chad knew. We were into a huge caddis hatch soon enough – so many that they were hitting my hood (I had it on to keep them off my neck and hair) harder than rain or sleet. It was sheets and sheets of them, so many that the fish weren’t even hitting them off the top of the water with any regularity. I scooped up a few in this section on nymphs and then switched to a caddis dry – amazingly I hooked one – my smallest of the day – an 11-inch brown. We moved to another spot, but it was 5 o’clock already and I was fished out. I didn’t hook anything, but the fish were up on the water taking the caddis finally. We left for home around 6 pm. It was a good day – cool hatch and fun hanging with Chad.
Saturday, May28, 2005 – Blue River, Dillon
Flows at 54 cfs below dam, about 225 cfs above reservoir - 55 degrees in the morning – almost 65 by mid-day – water was slightly off color in both locations
Cabo and I decided to get away on Memorial Day weekend and so we fished the Blue. Started out in the parking lot below the dam. The water was slightly off color. Started with mysis but had no luck. There were about 3 other guys in the hole for about 30 minutes (at around 8:30 am) and then they all left – I had the place to myself – I fished the whole stretch with no luck at all. I saw a couple of fish, but I think my flies were too small. I decided to head up to above the reservoir at around 10 am.
Above the reservoir was high, but relatively clear. Dillon has gotten slightly more filled up, but the reservoir is still a long away from the mouth of the river. I didn’t fish the river much because it was too fast. I fished the section at the end and then down to the reservoir. I found a nice deep slower hole to fish. I hooked into a couple of happy bows and that were about 12-13 inches long. My 4th fish was much larger – he took a san juan worm and barely fought until I tried to yank him out of the current. “He” was a 21-inch rainbow that was big and fat and was beautiful. I pulled him into the shallows and landed him as quick as possible. He was huge. I kept fishing the hole – caught a few more fish – smaller ones - and then moved on. I made my way to the mouth stretch and hooked a feisty brown that kept hitting my strike indicator. By now, Cabo and I were perched on a stump that had rolled down stream and was sitting in the middle of the mouth stretch. Cabo was shaking so I decided to call it a day. It was only about 12:30, but I didn’t mind leaving – we were home by 2!
Friday & Saturday, June 10 & 11, 2005 – Fryingpan River - Basalt, CO
About 150 cfs very clear, Friday was rainy and miserable – probably about 45 degrees – Saturday was sunny and warm about 65 degrees until 5 pm – then rain (we left).
Chad and I decided to do a camping trip and fish the Pan. Cabo accompanied us. Friday we left around 7 and were on the river around 11 am. The weather was drizzly and wet. That didn’t stop us and we hit the first spot, which was only 2 miles down the canyon. Chad hooked into some nice fish and I hooked into one 14-inch rainbow. Nothing I seemed to do was right, although the river looked plenty fishy. We moved up to about the 11 mile stretch (not far from the 2 mile to the dam stretch) and Chad was still hooking them left and right – mostly on wooly buggers and a mysis trailer. He even put me in the perfect hole where the fish were hitting dries off the top with consistency. Unfortunately I couldn’t hook a thing. I saw plenty of fish, but hooked nothing. Chad continued to hook smaller fish on the bugger. We decided to set up camp at around 6 pm. We camped at the tent sites just above the dam – next to Mollie B campground. It was the non-reservable sites in a bunch of aspens – nice sight really.
Chad decided he wanted to do some night fishing, so I dropped him off at 7 pm at the two-mile stretch just below the dam. I headed back into El Jebel for Wendy’s and a call to Jennifer. Cabo and I were fished out for the day and cold and still wet. I met Chad back at the 2-mile stretch at about 9 pm and we called it a night.
The next morning we were packed up and at the river at about 7:30 am. The sun was out and there weren’t any clouds – which was a relief. Chad jumped in quickly and I slowly had to talk myself into it. I felt bad because I would have to leave Cabo in the truck as the water was freezing and the sun hadn’t been that warm. I decided to start fishing, but leave her in the truck until 10 am. I fished a stretch next to the truck just above the Caddis Bridge. I hooked a couple of small browns and I ass-hooked a nice 15-inch rainbow. I could see tons of fish, but I had no clue what they were eating – I think I got lucky on the 6 or so I had caught. I moved up about 25 yards to where Chad said he saw a bunch of fish. He was right – there were a bunch of rainbows rubbing on each other next to a fallen log right off the far bank. There was a nice rock to hide behind and try and chuck at them. I tried for about 30 minutes or so when I hooked one – and I really hooked one. I think I foul hooked him, but it was a 30-inch rainbow that was the biggest fish I have ever seen in my life. The fish got pissed and swam around a rocky island formation, up to a waterfall and then up and over the 15-inch high waterfall and popped off. I was shaking this fish was so big. I had called out to Chad to come help – and just couldn’t believe it. Later fishing the same stretch I hooked a 25-inch rainbow and he wouldn’t budge – he finally popped off. I hooked him again about 20 minutes later, and this time I wrestled him. Amazing! He was so colorful and strong – after dragging him back to the rock to show Cabo (she was perched on the rock now as it was after 10 am). I had a tight squeeze on the fish and he still managed to get off – as he fell the fly got lodged in the knee of my waders and the fish got off – but I got a good view of him and I think Cabo was actually a bit scared! We moved up and down the stretch – seeing tons of fish – some were huge, some were normal.
Chad and I decided to start heading out of the canyon and try fishing another couple of stretches. We fished the stretch and had decent luck – I hooked a few smaller fish and had a good time. The weather was nice now and the dog was warm. We moved down again and I was having the same luck – caught about 5 or 6 and then the wind kicked up to over 50 mph and the rain started heading in – that is when we called it quits at 5 pm. We were home by 8 pm!
Sunday, June 19, 2005 – South Platte River - Deckers, CO
About 240 cfs very clear, 75 degrees with huge horseflies.
I fished with Cabo today – just a short day while Jennifer was out of town. We fished my favorite stretch that is just up river from the Trumbull fire station. We tried the normal spots first with very little luck. I move up to where the old 8 foot deep hole was and hooked a dink. I through just behind a rock and hooked a nice 14-inch brown that was pretty feisty. We continued working our way towards Deckers, hooking into lots of 10-inch dinks. The horseflies starting getting pretty bad, so we decided to call it quits and head home. First we went over to Flies N Lies for a bottle of water. The guy there said they just stocked 25,000 dinks. Not good for this year, but hopefully good for years to come.
Saturday, July 2, 2005 – Roaring River – Rocky Mountain National Park
About 80 cfs very clear, 55 in the morning and sunny, stormy and overcast about 55 degrees at around 3pm.
Chad and I fished RMNP today – the river is located about 2 miles inside the Estes Park entrance at the fork left a right and turn into the Lawn Lake area. The hike is about a mile in and 800 feet of elevation gain. The hike wasn’t too bad. When we reach a good point, Chad said to jump in. Problem was that the river still had some pretty good tilt to it and it was moving. Chad started with an emerger and I started with big ugly caddis. The problem was that I couldn’t see the fly on the water so I soon switched to a two-nymph rig. The water was still fast as we moved up river, but the pocket water became better and I could see the fish in all the obvious spots – they were very active and weren’t very spooky. I hook a nice size greenback cutthroat of about 11 inches. I fished my way up river hooking about 50 fish and landing about 40 of them. Each fish seemed easier to catch than the first, some were larger and some were smaller (the smallest was about 7 inches), and each fish was prettier than the last. This was the first time I had caught cutthroats and it was a real treat. Some of the fish were and awesome red and orange color and were so feisty. They all fought pretty well for small wild fish.
As the morning turned into afternoon the storm clouds came in and thunder was around us. It moved off and then another storm came in and dumped some heavy downpours on us. There was a lot of thunder and a little bit of lightning. We had to stop once as the wind picked up and it started to rain. We packed up our stuff and headed out around 3 pm. It was a great day and a great experience.
Sunday, July 10, 2005 – Clear Creek – by Kermmits
About 250 cfs very clear, 75 in the morning and sunny, 85 by noontime
I wanted to get out and do some quick fishing – so I hit Clear Creek because Chad said he had fished it and it was fishing well. The water was pretty dang high and fast. There was still rafters coming down it and that should have been a sign. I didn’t see any fish the whole day. I started under the bridge at Kermmits and worked my way upstream – there is that nice stretch I had always wanted to fish that is flat. It was a very nice stretch, but it was moving pretty good today. I fished my way back down to the I-70 bridge – I hooked a nice 11-inch brown – but that was it.
I moved up to the Budweiser plant and found a sweet section just up river – that you can get to now because the Bud plant is out of business and there are no “No Trespassing” signs. The river was nice – so perfect packet water and undercut banks (which will probably disappear once the river drops), but it is a stretch to explore with Chad at a later date.
Sunday, July 24, 2005 – South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon and Deckers
Flows: 174 cfs. Cloudy in the morning and the then hot and 90 degrees in the late morning/afternoon
Decided to hit the Canyon in the morning, hiked in and it started off well. Within 20 minutes of fishing Nate’s favorite hole three guys come down and fish within 20 feet of me in the hole – unreal! I was pissed. I moved up slightly and crossed the river, then worked my way back down river. I found a decent hole just up river from the “rock” as someone was moving out of the hole. Of course I was going to work my way down to the rock – but the guy comes back to the hole and gets right up near me – UNREAL!!! I was pretty pissed so I just up and left. I got on the river by 7:30 and was out by 9:45.
I decided to fish Deckers by the last turn out right by the fly shop and work my way to the bridge. I hooked a couple of dinks in that stretch, nothing fun. I did take a mean spill when I turned my ankle. The water actually felt good, as it was hot as hell. I fished my way back to the Deckers bridge (as I had never fished that stretch, but knew there was some huge fish in there). The water was faster and not very deep, so I moved quickly. Nothing I was throwing was working. I ended up on the concrete pillar next to the road fishing at a few fish I could see – I hooked a small one, and then a larger bow – with no coloration at all. The larger bow was about 15 inches but he had nowhere to fight me. I was trying for a brightly colored rainbow that ran about 18 inches – but he wouldn’t take at all. I left and was home by 2 pm.
Sunday, July 31, 2005 Blue River – Frisco
Flows ~ 100 cfs. Sunny and hot 80 degrees
Fished the delta where the Blue dumps into Dillon Reservoir, but there wasn’t much river to fish at the delta. The water from the reservoir was all the way up to the river!! It looked awesome!! Not many spots to fish and it was crowded.
I also tried the inlet of East Creek to Dillon next to the hospital – not much area to fish here either. I then fished the East Creek right by the massage place right on the road. Nice fishy water – only caught one small brown about 5 inches long. Not good – but nice to get out with Cabo while the ladies had their massages.
Sunday, August 7, 2005 Blue River – Silverthorne and then north towards Green Mountain Res.
Flows ~ 113 cfs. Sunny and hot 85 degrees
I fished with the dog – last trip before the baby. We started under the bridges and I hooked a 17-incher or so, but didn’t land him. I moved up towards Green Mountain Reservoir to a few places. One spot in particular that I like was called Columbine Landing – nice deep holes, looked like it was used by rafters to get in and out of. The river held no fish though and I was very disappointed. I was gone by noontime – and stuck in traffic. I stopped at Clear Creek on the way home, but got skunked there too. Just not a good day for fishing – too hot and too much sun.
Sunday, August 28, 2005 - Colorado River – Gore Canyon
About 1,000 cfs, slightly off color. Nice sunny day, clouds late, 50 in the morning, 80 by the afternoon.
Chad and I fished the Colorado through Gore Canyon. The Canyon is amazing – about 1500 feet high with a railroad set about 800 feet up from the river – the railroad is heavily used by Amtrak and Union Pacific. It is about a 2.25-hour drive from house to canyon and another 15-minute walk in. Just on the outskirts of the canyon the water is nice and fishy, a little wide with some slow and fast spots. The water today was a bit high and off colored. We hiked in about a mile and started fishing. The river was at places about 100 feet across and often times very fast – so we stuck to fishing the slower sections close to the edges.
We started out leapfrogging each other – Chad fishing a South Platte Spider and my trying the largest nymphs I had. I hooked a couple of small browns (about 11” long). Then, Chad hooked a huge brown that I helped him land and took pictures of – a 19 inch brown that was very healthy. We continued up the canyon, we saw a couple of rafters, a ton of kayakers but not a single fisherman all day. Chad had a lot of luck – fishing streamers he got some larger fish – in the 14 or 15-inch range. I stuck to the smaller fish – although not many. In one run I managed to hook 3 fish – the first was a nice 13 inch brown, the second was a huge white fish that I had at my net, and the third was a 17 or 18 inch white fish that took me about 20 yards down stream, around a rock in the middle of the river and Chad finally helped me land. The fish was ugly – with scars on its underside.
We fished some more and had a little luck. We were out of the canyon by 3 pm and on the way home.
Saturday and Sunday, September 3 – 4, 2005 - Colorado River – Byers Canyon
70 CFS – clear, sunny day about 70 then some clouds and thunder = but no rain at all – storm missed us
Jennifer, Avelyn, Cabo and I camped in our new popup tent trailer at the end of Byers Canyon in our usual spot. It was a nice (although short) camping trip. I got to fish late afternoon in the normal spots – but the only spot that was really productive was the run before the fallen bridge just after the sideways tree. I caught probably 5 fish out of that hole, 2 of which were around 13 inches. Moving down to the dry fly cliff I hooked a good-sized fish just before the brush, but he broke me off as he made a run under a deep rock. Lots of hatches going off.
I fished the next Morning as well. No real luck – just two 6-inch fish in the same spot as the day before. The water was extremely low – lowest I have ever seen. Although clear, it has a tinge to it that made it slightly off color. Because of the low water the fish weren’t in the normal runs, most runs were less than 6 inches deep – which never hold fish anyways.
Cabo and I did see a deer with two babies cross the water in front of us on Sunday morning. Pretty cool sight.
Saturday and Sunday, September 24 – 25, 2005 – Taylor River – Taylor Park and the South Platte – North Fork in South Park
Clear days, but cold weather – 60 during the day 30 at night. Clear water – normal flows below dam, low flows above (about 100 cfs). South Platte North Fork was a trickle but clear.
Good trip but cold – went with Chad and froze our asses off at night. Good trip over Cottonwood Pass – we made it in a little over 3 hours. Nice day – warm, we headed to above the reservoir to camp. The river dumps straight into the reservoir at the north end. The reservoir was low, and there didn’t seem to be any browns running at all. We camped about 4 miles up the road behind a cliff rock structure, pretty neat place. We fished that section for a while with not a single bite, then we moved down to where it dumped into the reservoir with similar results. We decided to hit the below dam section before it got dark – it was about 5:30 and we wanted to hit it before sunset. We fished until dark – I hooked and landed two nice fat rainbows – one was about an 18 incher on a size 22 killer nymph (silver rib body, bead head and peacock herl), and the other was a 19 incher I caught on a size 18 mysis pattern tat I tied myself.
Chad hooked two small browns, but that was it. We head back to the camper, tied flies for a little while, then went to bed – the heater wouldn’t stay lit due to oxygen depletion. That was not good news.
In the morning we packed up and headed back to below the dam. Not much happening so we were soon off to about 3 miles below – just below the private section. A really nice area, but super rocky and somewhat fast. I couldn’t catch a thing – Chad caught about 6 or 7 – one being a nice 25 inch fat rainbow and other that went unidentified – about 18 inches long and grayish brown with no real spots. Later it would be identified as a mackinaw – or a lake trout.
On the way home we hit the North Fork of the South Platte River – basically a piss-dribble going through South Park. It held some nice little fish though. This wasn’t the kind of water I’m any good at, so I got skunked, but Chad hooked a few nice ones, including a 13-inch rainbow with a hook jaw. That is a nice fish for the section. I got home in time to catch the 4th quarter of the Steelers/Patriots game.
Sunday, October 16, 2005 – South Platte River – Dream Stream
Clear day, light wind – 70 during the day. Clear water – normal flows (about 96 cfs).
Fished with Nate and Chad – hit the Dream Stream hoping the kokanees and browns would be running – and they were. Got there around 8:30 am and jumped in just above the bridge – hooked two small browns (about 8 inches). Moved up to the double bend pool and hooked a nice 18-inch fish with my first cast – it was silver, and shook free – couldn’t tell if it was a brown or a rainbow. I hooked another great fish in that hole, but no way could I land him – he was a fat brown and as I tried to pull him out of the pool he popped off. I saw another huge fish in that hole – come to find out, Tom hooked him the next day – a 24-inch brown. He was sitting at the head of the pool, but when I cast to him the first time I spooked him.
I decided to head on the other side of the bridge towards Eleven Mile Reservoir. Chad and Nate were already working this area. Nate was holed up in a deep pool that was holding about 50 or so kokanees. I fished it for a while and landed 5 or so fish – all were about 16 to 18 inches. Nate hooked a bunch as he stayed and hogged the hole. I tried fishing up and down the river – but with no luck. The water seemed very low and the fish just weren’t budging. I did see two huge 6-inch long crayfish. I assumed they had come up out of the reservoir to feed on the deep kokanee bodies.
Chad caught a nice rainbow and cuttbow, but was shut out from the large browns. Nate just caught kokanees all day. Decent day, but I need to go some place were I can catch a bunch of small fish all day.
Sunday, November 6, 2005 – South Platte River – Deckers
Clear day, light wind – 70 during the day. Gin clear water – about 46 cfs.
Chad and I fished Deckers today and the weather was amazing and the water gin clear. Chad brought his son Quinn and I brought the mutt, Cabo. What a great day. We had about 4 hours to hit it up before the Steelers/Packers game. We fished the bridge section up and down, hitting the usual runs - sticking to the middle since the flows were so low (about 45 cfs).
The majority of the fish weren't even 12 inches, but there was a bunch of them - mostly hitting size 18 zebra midges. All were rainbows, without a brown in sight. The bows weren't overly colorful, but they did fight pretty well. I remember back in May/June when I was down there that Dick Jr. told me they dumped about 2,500 fingerlings into the river. I had caught a ton then, and they were all about 6 or 7 inches. Well, those fingerlings are doing well; all are in the 10 to 11 inch range. Hopefully they continue to thrive and are 13 to 15 inches next year.
Saturday, November 18, 2005 Blue River – Palmer Gulch before Green Mountain Res.
Flows ~ 113 cfs - clear water. Sunny and freezing - about 40 degrees max
Fished with Chad and Nate today at Palmer Gulch on the Blue River. I had never been to this spot, but Chad had pointed it out last time we were down that way. The river is beautiful there, nice and wide with tons of rocks and riffles and good water. The problem today was it was too damn cold. The weather was sunny, but cold and the water was freezing, which was mixed with snow on the ground. We fished from about 10 am to 2 pm. After nymphing for most of the morning I decided I had enough and was headed back up to Chad and Nate further up river. I found Nate nymphing a nice stretch, but he said he had no luck. I move up ahead of him and found a nice little calm pool to the side of where the water broke back around an island. The pool was 5 foot deep and I could finally see fish in it. I was skeptical but decided to fish it while I waited for Chad to return. I hooked an 18-inch rainbow out of the pool – nice fight, good fish. I proceeded to hook a 14-inch rainbow right after that. I then foul hooked a big 17-inch rainbow that had fungus all over its head – scary looking thing. I continued to fish the hole waiting for Chad. I hooked two small kokanee salmon after that – both were very small at maybe 12 inches long. Those 5 fish were hooked in an hour worth of time while I waited for Chad. We decided to head out and beat the traffic, which was horrible earlier that morning. Chad said he caught 7 fish – a huge brown and a couple of nice rainbows – all on red copper johns. Nate unfortunately didn’t catch anything.
Saturday, December 3, 2005 – South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Flows at 40 cfs - 15 degrees in the morning – almost 34 by mid-day – constant snow
Chad, myself and Alex (LTG) fished the canyon on this cold and snowy day. We left later – actually getting to the canyon around 11 am. I hit Nate’s run right off and had two good sized fish on, but both popped off. I fished back towards the canyon mouth, hitting the normal spots with limited luck. I tried my hand at dry flying, as there were some small fish hitting the size 18 BWO sailboats that were sporadically coming off. I did manage to hook one, but he got off quickly.
I did hook and land a 10-inch brown trout that was filling a nice seam and riffle. Hardly a decent catch. Chad got skunked, while 2 weeks before he had come into the canyon and landed about 25 fish – some were huge. Not on this day. I moved to the big rock and saw a huge 24-inch fish with tons of fungus on his head – that was pretty disappointing. We left around 4pm.
Sunday, January 9, 2005 – South Platte River on the Dream Stream & 11 Mile Canyon
Dream Stream cfs 50 & Eleven Mile Canyon cfs (not sure)
30 degrees in the morning – almost 45 by mid-day – 40 mph winds. Nice in the Canyon, but the sun was coming down so it felt colder.
Fished today with Tom Shyrock and Kevin (Braidwood from the fly fishing board) – and what a good day it was. We left HR at 6:30 and drove down 25 to Colorado Springs and the west on 24 for Lake George. The trip took over 2 hours (but not much more). We got there about 8:45 and when we stepped out of the car it was 40 and beautiful with little wind and amazingly the only car in the parking lot of the Dream Stream (at the bridge). By the time we got our waders on the wind had kicked up and it was noticeably colder. We split up covering the first half-mile or so of the river, leap frogging each other to hit the next hole. We weren’t doing well for the first hour, with only sighting about 1 fish between the three of us. It was nearly impossible to cast into the wind and if you put the wind to your back your shadow was directly on the river. The wind also blew the line on the water at an unnatural pace – so that also didn’t help. Tom and Kevin came back and said they were heading back to the bridge area, and after breaking off my flies again I decided to join them. As I was heading back Kevin was walking up and wanted to show me the pics of the fish he just caught – a beautiful 20-inch cutthroat trout. The fish was amazingly beautiful and was the largest cutt I had ever seen. He showed me where he caught it and I tied on and tried the hole to no avail. I started walking in the river (which made my feet pretty numb) and fishing various holes around the bend. There was a nice spot where the river broke from a riffle into a 2-foot deep pool and they slowly swirled around a bend. I hooked up with a 6-inch rainbow within a few minutes – not what I was expecting. I stuck with it though and finally had something on – a whole lot of something too! The fish was solid and wouldn’t come off the bottom. He would come to the surface to show me his size and then log back down to the bottom. He made a 10-foot run, but that was it, he was impossible to turn, so I let him shake his head a few times. Finally I got a chance to drag him towards me and I netted him – the fish took up my entire net. He was a 21 or 22-inch rainbow that was as fat as any fish I’ve seen, but he wasn’t solid – just fat. I plopped him on the ice next to me and snapped a photo – he was frantic so I just broke off the fly and put him back in the water – and then had to give him a little shove back into the middle. My hands were numb as hell, but I was pumped up. I started heading back to the bridge. I met up with Tom and showed him the pics – he wasn’t too happy since he was getting shut out. He was fishing the huge dump pool right after the bridge on the 11-Mile side. I could see huge fish just hanging in this pool – Kevin tried for them with a bugger to no avail.
We decided to head over to the Canyon around 2 pm, on the way we had to go 5 miles on a road that was pretty scary with 2 or 3 feet of snow that was half plowed, half untouched. Scary. But, we made it. Eleven Mile Canyon is very pretty though and the pocket water was excellent. There were so many ice shelves that I was nervous to stand on one and fish to a great hole – but I did anyways. I ended up catching 2 12-inch rainbows that were just hanging in the pools. We only fished for about 45 minutes and then started heading home. The drive was long, but it was a very rewarding day.
Saturday, January 22, 2005 – South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Flows at 74 cfs - 40 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – water was gin clear
Fished with Nate. Wanted to get into the canyon after having a great day at Eleven Mile Canyon. This was the exact opposite. Hardly any fish in the normal spots. The big rock and spawning area was completely empty. Nate caught one fish – 18-inch rainbow on an unweighted nymph. I didn’t hook a fish, only saw a few and was very disappointed. We were home by 3pm.
Saturday, March 19, 2005 – South Platte River Cheesman Canyon
Flows at 104 cfs – clear as a bell
45 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – blue sky.
Fished with Nate, Dave, Tom and Chad. We decided to go deep into Cheesman this time – which was cool because I have never been that deep. We pulled into the parking lot and were car number 5 at 7:30 in the morning. The hike in was quite a ways and killed me to skip by all the holes I normally fish. I do have to admit that the water further up the canyon looks sweet and there are lots of plunge pools and riffles that look killer. The flows were higher than normal winter flows at about 104 cfs. I actually jumped in the first hole and fished about 25 yards below a strong riffle. It looked like an amazing spot. The others either jumped in ahead of me or kept walking towards the dam. I hooked a nice fish after about a half hour, he shot down stream and then had about 30 yards of my line out and popped off. I kept moving. I came to a nice spot where the water ran around a square boulder. The near side of the river looked great, but I knew the fish would be on the far side away from the traffic and out of direct sunlight – I made my way around to the other side and was soon hooked into a big rainbow – which popped out of my net as I went to scoop him. It was about a 17-inch rainbow that I hooked on a black midge.
I moved up the canyon slowly throwing to fishy spots. I didn’t see a whole lot of fish, just really fishy water. I met up with the rest of the guys further up and we shot the shit for a while. Nate was the only one who wasn’t there – he hiked all the way to the dam. I started working my wake back to the entrance to the canyon – fishing my normal spots. There was now over 30 people in the first ¼ mile of river and almost every spot was taken. Nate and Dave headed out, as they had to head home early. I saw some rainbows spawning in the usual flat areas by the big rock. I fish to the far side of the big rock and hooked an 18-inch rainbow on a midge. Pretty fish, but it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Soon after that we hiked out and went home.
Thursday - Sunday, April 14-17, 2005 – Big Horn River, Ft. Smith, Montana
Flows at 1500 cfs – clear as a bell
45 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – blue sky for both days
Chad and I got up to Ft. Smith at about 2 pm and decided to try three-mile access. The wind was killer and we could catch anything. A bunch of small fish were hitting dries in the inlet, but nothing else. We decided to meet Dave back at the cabin around 4:30. The three of us decided to fish the dam and we did until about 8:30. Dave hooked a beautiful rainbow about 18 inches, Chad hooked a nice brown about 16 inches and I hook a couple of dinks.
Friday
Our first float day began at 8:30 – we shoved off from the dam headed for the 11-mile access. It was a cool day, but it was sunny and a lot less windy. The first stretch of the river is a long canal area that ranged from 12 feet to 3 feet deep – we hooked a couple of fish, but they were mostly small. We saw numerous schools of much larger fish swim under the boat. We had very good action in the first huge gravel bar after the long canal stretch after. We jumped out and fished it for about an hour or so. The gravel bar was about 8 inches deep and then dumped into a huge pool. The fish would sit sideways and watch for food to drop over the shelf. Chad hooked a beautiful 20-incher on a streamer on his second cast. I caught about 7 out smaller fish out of the hole – the largest being a 16-inch rainbow.
We decided to move on. The river was great for floating. Further down we floated through “Suck” hole, which is a toilet bowl with a fall chunk of concrete – it caused the river to spin and was tough for Dave to paddle out of. We fished the remaining mile or two to 3 Mile access with a little luck – catching fish here and there – nothing too large.
But suddenly, the fish just turned off in the afternoon, we caught nothing after that for the remaining 8 miles. We basically just whizzed through the remaining 8 miles trying to get to the pull out. Other anglers were having little luck as well – there were some nice holes, but not nearly as many as the upper 3 miles of the river. We pulled out around 8:30 exhausted.
Saturday
Saturday was another nice day – a little warmer and just as sunny. We hit the dam at 8:30 and we were probably the 12th boat in the water (after being the first the previous day). Today was a totally different story than yesterday. We decided to just do the 3-mile float and maybe do it twice if needed. The canal stretch after the dam produced well - we hook a ton of smaller fish - including some white fish. We docked the boat just before the gravel bar (there was 8 fishermen on the bar) and worked the fast area to the right side of the river. The river funneled to the right with a nice 15-yard wide and 35 yard long run that led to a slower pool where the water collected and met faster deeper water. I hooked a huge 20-inch rainbow in the fast water, but no way I was landing him. As I was fixing my rig a huge 28-inch rainbow took my fly just as I was about to cast – again he was in the fast water and there was no way to pull him in. After fighting him for about 6 seconds, the fly popped out but the fish continued to give a thrashing exaggerated struggle (like big often do) until he realized he wasn’t on any longer. We jumped back in the boat and headed for Suck Hole. Just on the other side I hooked a nice brown and we
pulled in and did some fishing - and damn did we fish!
Over the next 6 hours I stood in that hole and hooked around 60 fish landing 40 of them. 90% were browns - majority about 16-18 inches, a few big rainbows about 18 or 19 inches and two enormous white fish - about 20 inches each (may have been the same fish). Dave had decent action and Chad moved up to the Suck Hole and had on a 30-inch rainbow that he was within inches of landing after a 20-minute fight. Numerous boats were running through my stretch, they’d get to the end and paddle back up and do it again. The fishing was great. I was hooking about 10-12 fish per hour and landing most of them. They were taking a size 20 midge that I tied – a black beadhead with a wire body and peacock herl below the bead. I went through about 6 of them and had to settle on tiny zebra midges – but they worked too. Every fish fought unbelievably – the brown were especially feisty and they jump – every one of them! White fish are pigs and they were tough to land. I think I caught the same fish twice – he was huge – at least 19 or 20 inches. When I told the woman we rented the cabin from she told me the record is just over 21 inches! We basically flew through the rest of the 1.5 miles to 3-Mile pull out around 8:30 again.
Those fish are so smart; I had a lot of them find ways to get off. They would dive bomb the bottom and rub their faces on rocks or weeds to try and get the hook out. They’d race 100 yards to the middle of the river to try and snag something or loosen the line. Many of the fish got off.
This part of Montana was not as pretty as I have imagined – actually it was quite ugly. The river is on an Indian reservation and the Indians can fish without licenses, keep anything they catch and use bait. The surroundings were sometimes eerie – not bushes, just low grass and lots of big cottonwoods lined the stamped down banks. Cattle roamed freely. What surprised me the most is the lack of huge fishing homes on the banks. None. Well actually only about 3 – but they weren’t very glamorous. The ride home took forever – but it was a great trip.
Friday, May 6, 2005 – Arkansas River
Flows at 150-200 cfs – clear as a bell
45 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day
This was to be my first caddis experience – and it was quite an experience. Chad and I got to Brown’s Canyon around 8:15 and we fished the access right next to the parking lot to get warmed up. We both hooked 4 nice browns, about 12-14 inches. Heading into Brown’s – which is a stretch of canyon with railroad tracks running through it that is fast and deep. Not a good recipe for me at all – since I nymph a lot. I hooked a nice 18-inch fish right off and it almost went over a waterfall. We moved up the river more and I crossed and found a nice deep hole – I landed 4 fish in the hole – all about 14 inches – one was a nice rainbow. Chad fished even further down and hooked about 20 fish on a size 12 stimulator. The sky darkened and the wind kicked up and it started to rain, then hail, then lightning and thunder. Crazy weather – all in about 15 minutes and then it was over. We moved to my favorite spot on the west side of Salida on some private access. I hooked 4 17-inch browns in this stretch and they were fun fish. We had heard that the hatch was hitting east of Salida so we headed over to a spot Chad knew. We were into a huge caddis hatch soon enough – so many that they were hitting my hood (I had it on to keep them off my neck and hair) harder than rain or sleet. It was sheets and sheets of them, so many that the fish weren’t even hitting them off the top of the water with any regularity. I scooped up a few in this section on nymphs and then switched to a caddis dry – amazingly I hooked one – my smallest of the day – an 11-inch brown. We moved to another spot, but it was 5 o’clock already and I was fished out. I didn’t hook anything, but the fish were up on the water taking the caddis finally. We left for home around 6 pm. It was a good day – cool hatch and fun hanging with Chad.
Saturday, May28, 2005 – Blue River, Dillon
Flows at 54 cfs below dam, about 225 cfs above reservoir - 55 degrees in the morning – almost 65 by mid-day – water was slightly off color in both locations
Cabo and I decided to get away on Memorial Day weekend and so we fished the Blue. Started out in the parking lot below the dam. The water was slightly off color. Started with mysis but had no luck. There were about 3 other guys in the hole for about 30 minutes (at around 8:30 am) and then they all left – I had the place to myself – I fished the whole stretch with no luck at all. I saw a couple of fish, but I think my flies were too small. I decided to head up to above the reservoir at around 10 am.
Above the reservoir was high, but relatively clear. Dillon has gotten slightly more filled up, but the reservoir is still a long away from the mouth of the river. I didn’t fish the river much because it was too fast. I fished the section at the end and then down to the reservoir. I found a nice deep slower hole to fish. I hooked into a couple of happy bows and that were about 12-13 inches long. My 4th fish was much larger – he took a san juan worm and barely fought until I tried to yank him out of the current. “He” was a 21-inch rainbow that was big and fat and was beautiful. I pulled him into the shallows and landed him as quick as possible. He was huge. I kept fishing the hole – caught a few more fish – smaller ones - and then moved on. I made my way to the mouth stretch and hooked a feisty brown that kept hitting my strike indicator. By now, Cabo and I were perched on a stump that had rolled down stream and was sitting in the middle of the mouth stretch. Cabo was shaking so I decided to call it a day. It was only about 12:30, but I didn’t mind leaving – we were home by 2!
Friday & Saturday, June 10 & 11, 2005 – Fryingpan River - Basalt, CO
About 150 cfs very clear, Friday was rainy and miserable – probably about 45 degrees – Saturday was sunny and warm about 65 degrees until 5 pm – then rain (we left).
Chad and I decided to do a camping trip and fish the Pan. Cabo accompanied us. Friday we left around 7 and were on the river around 11 am. The weather was drizzly and wet. That didn’t stop us and we hit the first spot, which was only 2 miles down the canyon. Chad hooked into some nice fish and I hooked into one 14-inch rainbow. Nothing I seemed to do was right, although the river looked plenty fishy. We moved up to about the 11 mile stretch (not far from the 2 mile to the dam stretch) and Chad was still hooking them left and right – mostly on wooly buggers and a mysis trailer. He even put me in the perfect hole where the fish were hitting dries off the top with consistency. Unfortunately I couldn’t hook a thing. I saw plenty of fish, but hooked nothing. Chad continued to hook smaller fish on the bugger. We decided to set up camp at around 6 pm. We camped at the tent sites just above the dam – next to Mollie B campground. It was the non-reservable sites in a bunch of aspens – nice sight really.
Chad decided he wanted to do some night fishing, so I dropped him off at 7 pm at the two-mile stretch just below the dam. I headed back into El Jebel for Wendy’s and a call to Jennifer. Cabo and I were fished out for the day and cold and still wet. I met Chad back at the 2-mile stretch at about 9 pm and we called it a night.
The next morning we were packed up and at the river at about 7:30 am. The sun was out and there weren’t any clouds – which was a relief. Chad jumped in quickly and I slowly had to talk myself into it. I felt bad because I would have to leave Cabo in the truck as the water was freezing and the sun hadn’t been that warm. I decided to start fishing, but leave her in the truck until 10 am. I fished a stretch next to the truck just above the Caddis Bridge. I hooked a couple of small browns and I ass-hooked a nice 15-inch rainbow. I could see tons of fish, but I had no clue what they were eating – I think I got lucky on the 6 or so I had caught. I moved up about 25 yards to where Chad said he saw a bunch of fish. He was right – there were a bunch of rainbows rubbing on each other next to a fallen log right off the far bank. There was a nice rock to hide behind and try and chuck at them. I tried for about 30 minutes or so when I hooked one – and I really hooked one. I think I foul hooked him, but it was a 30-inch rainbow that was the biggest fish I have ever seen in my life. The fish got pissed and swam around a rocky island formation, up to a waterfall and then up and over the 15-inch high waterfall and popped off. I was shaking this fish was so big. I had called out to Chad to come help – and just couldn’t believe it. Later fishing the same stretch I hooked a 25-inch rainbow and he wouldn’t budge – he finally popped off. I hooked him again about 20 minutes later, and this time I wrestled him. Amazing! He was so colorful and strong – after dragging him back to the rock to show Cabo (she was perched on the rock now as it was after 10 am). I had a tight squeeze on the fish and he still managed to get off – as he fell the fly got lodged in the knee of my waders and the fish got off – but I got a good view of him and I think Cabo was actually a bit scared! We moved up and down the stretch – seeing tons of fish – some were huge, some were normal.
Chad and I decided to start heading out of the canyon and try fishing another couple of stretches. We fished the stretch and had decent luck – I hooked a few smaller fish and had a good time. The weather was nice now and the dog was warm. We moved down again and I was having the same luck – caught about 5 or 6 and then the wind kicked up to over 50 mph and the rain started heading in – that is when we called it quits at 5 pm. We were home by 8 pm!
Sunday, June 19, 2005 – South Platte River - Deckers, CO
About 240 cfs very clear, 75 degrees with huge horseflies.
I fished with Cabo today – just a short day while Jennifer was out of town. We fished my favorite stretch that is just up river from the Trumbull fire station. We tried the normal spots first with very little luck. I move up to where the old 8 foot deep hole was and hooked a dink. I through just behind a rock and hooked a nice 14-inch brown that was pretty feisty. We continued working our way towards Deckers, hooking into lots of 10-inch dinks. The horseflies starting getting pretty bad, so we decided to call it quits and head home. First we went over to Flies N Lies for a bottle of water. The guy there said they just stocked 25,000 dinks. Not good for this year, but hopefully good for years to come.
Saturday, July 2, 2005 – Roaring River – Rocky Mountain National Park
About 80 cfs very clear, 55 in the morning and sunny, stormy and overcast about 55 degrees at around 3pm.
Chad and I fished RMNP today – the river is located about 2 miles inside the Estes Park entrance at the fork left a right and turn into the Lawn Lake area. The hike is about a mile in and 800 feet of elevation gain. The hike wasn’t too bad. When we reach a good point, Chad said to jump in. Problem was that the river still had some pretty good tilt to it and it was moving. Chad started with an emerger and I started with big ugly caddis. The problem was that I couldn’t see the fly on the water so I soon switched to a two-nymph rig. The water was still fast as we moved up river, but the pocket water became better and I could see the fish in all the obvious spots – they were very active and weren’t very spooky. I hook a nice size greenback cutthroat of about 11 inches. I fished my way up river hooking about 50 fish and landing about 40 of them. Each fish seemed easier to catch than the first, some were larger and some were smaller (the smallest was about 7 inches), and each fish was prettier than the last. This was the first time I had caught cutthroats and it was a real treat. Some of the fish were and awesome red and orange color and were so feisty. They all fought pretty well for small wild fish.
As the morning turned into afternoon the storm clouds came in and thunder was around us. It moved off and then another storm came in and dumped some heavy downpours on us. There was a lot of thunder and a little bit of lightning. We had to stop once as the wind picked up and it started to rain. We packed up our stuff and headed out around 3 pm. It was a great day and a great experience.
Sunday, July 10, 2005 – Clear Creek – by Kermmits
About 250 cfs very clear, 75 in the morning and sunny, 85 by noontime
I wanted to get out and do some quick fishing – so I hit Clear Creek because Chad said he had fished it and it was fishing well. The water was pretty dang high and fast. There was still rafters coming down it and that should have been a sign. I didn’t see any fish the whole day. I started under the bridge at Kermmits and worked my way upstream – there is that nice stretch I had always wanted to fish that is flat. It was a very nice stretch, but it was moving pretty good today. I fished my way back down to the I-70 bridge – I hooked a nice 11-inch brown – but that was it.
I moved up to the Budweiser plant and found a sweet section just up river – that you can get to now because the Bud plant is out of business and there are no “No Trespassing” signs. The river was nice – so perfect packet water and undercut banks (which will probably disappear once the river drops), but it is a stretch to explore with Chad at a later date.
Sunday, July 24, 2005 – South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon and Deckers
Flows: 174 cfs. Cloudy in the morning and the then hot and 90 degrees in the late morning/afternoon
Decided to hit the Canyon in the morning, hiked in and it started off well. Within 20 minutes of fishing Nate’s favorite hole three guys come down and fish within 20 feet of me in the hole – unreal! I was pissed. I moved up slightly and crossed the river, then worked my way back down river. I found a decent hole just up river from the “rock” as someone was moving out of the hole. Of course I was going to work my way down to the rock – but the guy comes back to the hole and gets right up near me – UNREAL!!! I was pretty pissed so I just up and left. I got on the river by 7:30 and was out by 9:45.
I decided to fish Deckers by the last turn out right by the fly shop and work my way to the bridge. I hooked a couple of dinks in that stretch, nothing fun. I did take a mean spill when I turned my ankle. The water actually felt good, as it was hot as hell. I fished my way back to the Deckers bridge (as I had never fished that stretch, but knew there was some huge fish in there). The water was faster and not very deep, so I moved quickly. Nothing I was throwing was working. I ended up on the concrete pillar next to the road fishing at a few fish I could see – I hooked a small one, and then a larger bow – with no coloration at all. The larger bow was about 15 inches but he had nowhere to fight me. I was trying for a brightly colored rainbow that ran about 18 inches – but he wouldn’t take at all. I left and was home by 2 pm.
Sunday, July 31, 2005 Blue River – Frisco
Flows ~ 100 cfs. Sunny and hot 80 degrees
Fished the delta where the Blue dumps into Dillon Reservoir, but there wasn’t much river to fish at the delta. The water from the reservoir was all the way up to the river!! It looked awesome!! Not many spots to fish and it was crowded.
I also tried the inlet of East Creek to Dillon next to the hospital – not much area to fish here either. I then fished the East Creek right by the massage place right on the road. Nice fishy water – only caught one small brown about 5 inches long. Not good – but nice to get out with Cabo while the ladies had their massages.
Sunday, August 7, 2005 Blue River – Silverthorne and then north towards Green Mountain Res.
Flows ~ 113 cfs. Sunny and hot 85 degrees
I fished with the dog – last trip before the baby. We started under the bridges and I hooked a 17-incher or so, but didn’t land him. I moved up towards Green Mountain Reservoir to a few places. One spot in particular that I like was called Columbine Landing – nice deep holes, looked like it was used by rafters to get in and out of. The river held no fish though and I was very disappointed. I was gone by noontime – and stuck in traffic. I stopped at Clear Creek on the way home, but got skunked there too. Just not a good day for fishing – too hot and too much sun.
Sunday, August 28, 2005 - Colorado River – Gore Canyon
About 1,000 cfs, slightly off color. Nice sunny day, clouds late, 50 in the morning, 80 by the afternoon.
Chad and I fished the Colorado through Gore Canyon. The Canyon is amazing – about 1500 feet high with a railroad set about 800 feet up from the river – the railroad is heavily used by Amtrak and Union Pacific. It is about a 2.25-hour drive from house to canyon and another 15-minute walk in. Just on the outskirts of the canyon the water is nice and fishy, a little wide with some slow and fast spots. The water today was a bit high and off colored. We hiked in about a mile and started fishing. The river was at places about 100 feet across and often times very fast – so we stuck to fishing the slower sections close to the edges.
We started out leapfrogging each other – Chad fishing a South Platte Spider and my trying the largest nymphs I had. I hooked a couple of small browns (about 11” long). Then, Chad hooked a huge brown that I helped him land and took pictures of – a 19 inch brown that was very healthy. We continued up the canyon, we saw a couple of rafters, a ton of kayakers but not a single fisherman all day. Chad had a lot of luck – fishing streamers he got some larger fish – in the 14 or 15-inch range. I stuck to the smaller fish – although not many. In one run I managed to hook 3 fish – the first was a nice 13 inch brown, the second was a huge white fish that I had at my net, and the third was a 17 or 18 inch white fish that took me about 20 yards down stream, around a rock in the middle of the river and Chad finally helped me land. The fish was ugly – with scars on its underside.
We fished some more and had a little luck. We were out of the canyon by 3 pm and on the way home.
Saturday and Sunday, September 3 – 4, 2005 - Colorado River – Byers Canyon
70 CFS – clear, sunny day about 70 then some clouds and thunder = but no rain at all – storm missed us
Jennifer, Avelyn, Cabo and I camped in our new popup tent trailer at the end of Byers Canyon in our usual spot. It was a nice (although short) camping trip. I got to fish late afternoon in the normal spots – but the only spot that was really productive was the run before the fallen bridge just after the sideways tree. I caught probably 5 fish out of that hole, 2 of which were around 13 inches. Moving down to the dry fly cliff I hooked a good-sized fish just before the brush, but he broke me off as he made a run under a deep rock. Lots of hatches going off.
I fished the next Morning as well. No real luck – just two 6-inch fish in the same spot as the day before. The water was extremely low – lowest I have ever seen. Although clear, it has a tinge to it that made it slightly off color. Because of the low water the fish weren’t in the normal runs, most runs were less than 6 inches deep – which never hold fish anyways.
Cabo and I did see a deer with two babies cross the water in front of us on Sunday morning. Pretty cool sight.
Saturday and Sunday, September 24 – 25, 2005 – Taylor River – Taylor Park and the South Platte – North Fork in South Park
Clear days, but cold weather – 60 during the day 30 at night. Clear water – normal flows below dam, low flows above (about 100 cfs). South Platte North Fork was a trickle but clear.
Good trip but cold – went with Chad and froze our asses off at night. Good trip over Cottonwood Pass – we made it in a little over 3 hours. Nice day – warm, we headed to above the reservoir to camp. The river dumps straight into the reservoir at the north end. The reservoir was low, and there didn’t seem to be any browns running at all. We camped about 4 miles up the road behind a cliff rock structure, pretty neat place. We fished that section for a while with not a single bite, then we moved down to where it dumped into the reservoir with similar results. We decided to hit the below dam section before it got dark – it was about 5:30 and we wanted to hit it before sunset. We fished until dark – I hooked and landed two nice fat rainbows – one was about an 18 incher on a size 22 killer nymph (silver rib body, bead head and peacock herl), and the other was a 19 incher I caught on a size 18 mysis pattern tat I tied myself.
Chad hooked two small browns, but that was it. We head back to the camper, tied flies for a little while, then went to bed – the heater wouldn’t stay lit due to oxygen depletion. That was not good news.
In the morning we packed up and headed back to below the dam. Not much happening so we were soon off to about 3 miles below – just below the private section. A really nice area, but super rocky and somewhat fast. I couldn’t catch a thing – Chad caught about 6 or 7 – one being a nice 25 inch fat rainbow and other that went unidentified – about 18 inches long and grayish brown with no real spots. Later it would be identified as a mackinaw – or a lake trout.
On the way home we hit the North Fork of the South Platte River – basically a piss-dribble going through South Park. It held some nice little fish though. This wasn’t the kind of water I’m any good at, so I got skunked, but Chad hooked a few nice ones, including a 13-inch rainbow with a hook jaw. That is a nice fish for the section. I got home in time to catch the 4th quarter of the Steelers/Patriots game.
Sunday, October 16, 2005 – South Platte River – Dream Stream
Clear day, light wind – 70 during the day. Clear water – normal flows (about 96 cfs).
Fished with Nate and Chad – hit the Dream Stream hoping the kokanees and browns would be running – and they were. Got there around 8:30 am and jumped in just above the bridge – hooked two small browns (about 8 inches). Moved up to the double bend pool and hooked a nice 18-inch fish with my first cast – it was silver, and shook free – couldn’t tell if it was a brown or a rainbow. I hooked another great fish in that hole, but no way could I land him – he was a fat brown and as I tried to pull him out of the pool he popped off. I saw another huge fish in that hole – come to find out, Tom hooked him the next day – a 24-inch brown. He was sitting at the head of the pool, but when I cast to him the first time I spooked him.
I decided to head on the other side of the bridge towards Eleven Mile Reservoir. Chad and Nate were already working this area. Nate was holed up in a deep pool that was holding about 50 or so kokanees. I fished it for a while and landed 5 or so fish – all were about 16 to 18 inches. Nate hooked a bunch as he stayed and hogged the hole. I tried fishing up and down the river – but with no luck. The water seemed very low and the fish just weren’t budging. I did see two huge 6-inch long crayfish. I assumed they had come up out of the reservoir to feed on the deep kokanee bodies.
Chad caught a nice rainbow and cuttbow, but was shut out from the large browns. Nate just caught kokanees all day. Decent day, but I need to go some place were I can catch a bunch of small fish all day.
Sunday, November 6, 2005 – South Platte River – Deckers
Clear day, light wind – 70 during the day. Gin clear water – about 46 cfs.
Chad and I fished Deckers today and the weather was amazing and the water gin clear. Chad brought his son Quinn and I brought the mutt, Cabo. What a great day. We had about 4 hours to hit it up before the Steelers/Packers game. We fished the bridge section up and down, hitting the usual runs - sticking to the middle since the flows were so low (about 45 cfs).
The majority of the fish weren't even 12 inches, but there was a bunch of them - mostly hitting size 18 zebra midges. All were rainbows, without a brown in sight. The bows weren't overly colorful, but they did fight pretty well. I remember back in May/June when I was down there that Dick Jr. told me they dumped about 2,500 fingerlings into the river. I had caught a ton then, and they were all about 6 or 7 inches. Well, those fingerlings are doing well; all are in the 10 to 11 inch range. Hopefully they continue to thrive and are 13 to 15 inches next year.
Saturday, November 18, 2005 Blue River – Palmer Gulch before Green Mountain Res.
Flows ~ 113 cfs - clear water. Sunny and freezing - about 40 degrees max
Fished with Chad and Nate today at Palmer Gulch on the Blue River. I had never been to this spot, but Chad had pointed it out last time we were down that way. The river is beautiful there, nice and wide with tons of rocks and riffles and good water. The problem today was it was too damn cold. The weather was sunny, but cold and the water was freezing, which was mixed with snow on the ground. We fished from about 10 am to 2 pm. After nymphing for most of the morning I decided I had enough and was headed back up to Chad and Nate further up river. I found Nate nymphing a nice stretch, but he said he had no luck. I move up ahead of him and found a nice little calm pool to the side of where the water broke back around an island. The pool was 5 foot deep and I could finally see fish in it. I was skeptical but decided to fish it while I waited for Chad to return. I hooked an 18-inch rainbow out of the pool – nice fight, good fish. I proceeded to hook a 14-inch rainbow right after that. I then foul hooked a big 17-inch rainbow that had fungus all over its head – scary looking thing. I continued to fish the hole waiting for Chad. I hooked two small kokanee salmon after that – both were very small at maybe 12 inches long. Those 5 fish were hooked in an hour worth of time while I waited for Chad. We decided to head out and beat the traffic, which was horrible earlier that morning. Chad said he caught 7 fish – a huge brown and a couple of nice rainbows – all on red copper johns. Nate unfortunately didn’t catch anything.
Saturday, December 3, 2005 – South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Flows at 40 cfs - 15 degrees in the morning – almost 34 by mid-day – constant snow
Chad, myself and Alex (LTG) fished the canyon on this cold and snowy day. We left later – actually getting to the canyon around 11 am. I hit Nate’s run right off and had two good sized fish on, but both popped off. I fished back towards the canyon mouth, hitting the normal spots with limited luck. I tried my hand at dry flying, as there were some small fish hitting the size 18 BWO sailboats that were sporadically coming off. I did manage to hook one, but he got off quickly.
I did hook and land a 10-inch brown trout that was filling a nice seam and riffle. Hardly a decent catch. Chad got skunked, while 2 weeks before he had come into the canyon and landed about 25 fish – some were huge. Not on this day. I moved to the big rock and saw a huge 24-inch fish with tons of fungus on his head – that was pretty disappointing. We left around 4pm.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
First day in daycare
Well, we survived! Yesterday was Avelyn's first day of daycare - I know, I know, kind of corny, but I was a mess the night before. I mean, someone else would be raising my kid 3 days a week - that's tough on a new dad.
Well, she made it fine through the day (with the exception of a blowout), and I'm happy to report Dad did too! Of course I did have to visit her at lunch.
On Sunday Chad and I fished the SPlatte at Deckers. You can read about it here: Deckers Trip 11/6.
What a day we had, I think I might try and do some research and try and write my first article - nah, I probably don't have time for that.
Well, that was my week.
Well, she made it fine through the day (with the exception of a blowout), and I'm happy to report Dad did too! Of course I did have to visit her at lunch.
On Sunday Chad and I fished the SPlatte at Deckers. You can read about it here: Deckers Trip 11/6.
What a day we had, I think I might try and do some research and try and write my first article - nah, I probably don't have time for that.
Well, that was my week.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Daddy home alone with the baby - well almost!
Well, I made it through my first work from home/watch Avelyn for the day - day. Actually, it was a dry run, Jennifer was here all day with me, but it was good for me to get into the routine and see what Avi does during the day. Not too bad, I worked in the morning, went to the mall in the ealry afternoon, worked a little in the late afternoon. Bought a video camera on eBay - should be pretty nice - too bad we will miss Halloween with Avi.
I figured out the whole photo gallery on this site - added a ton of pictures - so check them out.
Looking forward to fishing next weekend with Chad - I need to get the vise down on the bar downstairs and start thinking about tying for the Winter swap.
Monday night is not only Halloween, it's also the Steelers vs Ravens on Monday Night Football. Good thing the Steelers aren't playing the Bengals, otherwise Avi wouldn't be allowed to wear her Tigger costume for Halloween - we didn't even think about that before buying it!
Happy Halloween and GO STEELERS!
I figured out the whole photo gallery on this site - added a ton of pictures - so check them out.
Looking forward to fishing next weekend with Chad - I need to get the vise down on the bar downstairs and start thinking about tying for the Winter swap.
Monday night is not only Halloween, it's also the Steelers vs Ravens on Monday Night Football. Good thing the Steelers aren't playing the Bengals, otherwise Avi wouldn't be allowed to wear her Tigger costume for Halloween - we didn't even think about that before buying it!
Happy Halloween and GO STEELERS!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Not Fit for Comedy
Some people say I should do stand-up comedy because of some of the stuff I can just spout off at any moment - I guess some think it's pretty funny, when in actuality most of it is true (with a little improv thrown in).
For instance, my wife seems to have suddenly become a source of incredible comedic material. Now my wife isn't what you call overly funny or loud or clutsy or any of those things but, she is....pregnant. This seems to bring out funny stories in all of us.
Well, this happened about a week ago, it was a weekday and I'll try and jog my memory aout the specifics, but bear with me. I remember coming home and asking Jen what was for dinner, she was obviously in no mood to cook so I decided to take it upon myself to start dinner. Even though she had been home for over an hour already and I juts got home - I decided I'd do it. Nothing of course had been taken out of the freezer to defrost, so I had very limited choices. This is not a problem for Jennifer as she is happy to fill up on peanut butter and jelly or raman noodles. Of course I wanted something a little more adult-ish. Picking through the freezer it came down to meatball subs (on bread not rolls - that's out), cheeseburgers (which Jen never likes), sausages (which I was informed would make Jen puke at the sight of) or ravioli's (no negative comments, no rolled eyes, no puking motions - ok ravioli's it is).
I throw the pot on the stove, throw the water and raviolis in the water and start heating the water - suddenly I get a dirty look.
"Why are they in the wtaer already? Shouldn't you boil the water first?"
"I'm doing the cooking here - this is the way I do it."
She sits herself in the recliner all grumpy, "That's not the way I do it."
"Jennifer, what happens if you put ravioli's into boiling water?"
She's starting to sniffle now and she's welling up.
"What?"
"The ravioli's will burst open! I'm cooking - don't worry about it."
Now I feel guilty and go over to her. "What's wrong hun - you don't usually cry over ravioli's. You don't really want ravioli's do you?"
"No."
"Well then, what do you want for dinner?" Long pause...."Well?"
"Ice cream"
"No, no ice cream - no more damn ice cream."
Ravioli's are done and we sit at the livingroom table in front of the TV to watch. I'm stupid because I cook just enough for 2.5 people. I say stupid because no way Jen eats a serving and I have to eat hers plus the left over other half - and I wonder why I'm fat. Maybe I'm wrong here though - maybe she'll eat the whole thing. I wolf mine down and she stops - half a plate eaten.
"Come on eat those."
"I'm not hungry anymore."
"Your eating for 2 and you eat less than before, makes no sense. Give me those." And I eat those too. Then I clean up the dishes and eat the other 6 in the strainer. I'm a pig - but that's for another blog.
It's 8:15 now and I'm not sure if "ice cream" was a joke or a truth, so I watch CSI and Survivor - although it is virtually impossible to watch either since my wife can't stop flipping the damn channels! This usually results in me heading up to play computer games or tying flies or working on the basement. But, I got home late, I'll sit with my beautiful, lovely, bulging, neurotic, crazy woman wife. After 245 flips of channels and even my ADD can't keep up at around 8:45 I ask her if she wants me to go to King Soopers for ice cream. She says no, so I sit there for another 5 minutes contemplating my next question.
"Where do you want to go for ice cream?"
"Cold Stone."
"Where - on Wadsworth?"
"Or Dairy Queen."
Now you need to understand - I can live right next to a Dairy Queen, or a hair salon or a frickin' indian food place and I will see it, but it doesn't register - no matter how many times I drive by it. So basically - unless I frequent the place I won't remember that it exists.
"Where the hell is the Dairy Queen?"
"Down by the Einstein's."
"It is?"
"Yes - you were right there on Sunday - you know by the library?"
"Oh yeah. Ok."
We sit for another 5 minutes. "Dude, are we going yet?" "Not yet."
"Are you kidding me, you won't leave because Survivor and CSI are on?"
"Dude, you need help."
The show gets over and I'm just about comfortable and she turns to me and asks - "are you ready?" WTF!!!! So we grab the dog, and jump in the truck and head to DQ. It's 9:03 mind you.
We pull into the parking lot, jump out and start walking towards the DQ - which is dark. No way this place is closed - it's a Thursday night and my wife is pregnant! We walk up - CLOSED. "What do you want to do now?" "I'll settle for a McDonald's McFlurry."
Sweet - McDonald's is in the same parking lot. So we roll into the drive through. They guy in front of us has a 2004 Lexus - rolls down his window and a squeeky 16 year old pubescent voice asks for 4 items from the 99 cent menu. Dude, you are driving a frickin' Lexus, and how old are you anyways. Wish I was a cop, I'd run the plates. We order the McFlurry and roll to the pay window. My poor dog is hanging out the back window because we've been to these kind of places before and she always gets a bone. I mean hell, she's adorable and if I worked there and didn't even have a bone I'd pet her at least. The guy takes my $2 and doesn't even ackowledge her. Poor dog. We roll to the pick-up window and she sticks her head way out this time. Of course I'm thinking the woman will ask "Can I give your dog a bone?" so I pull almost past the window so Cabo's head is closer to the window. The woman hands out the McFlurry and then slams the window shut. Poor dog is thinking she just got screwed!!! But wait....there's white milky smelling stuff in the front seat now, so I'm going to lay down like a good girl, because good girls get food. She sits there for about 20 seconds without getting noticed and then decides to play the pretty girl with the sad eyes and puts her head on Jen's shoulder in the passenger's seat. Jen ignores her and eats the McFlurry right in front of her.
Now I'm mad - the damn dog loves ice cream and one bite away from my pregnanat wife ain't gonna kill her.
"No way, I'm not letting her lick it off the spoon."
"Why not? I do it all the time."
"You are sick, she can wait until we get home."
So the poor dog waits. We get home, she jumps out and goes straight to her bed (good girls get what they want remember?), Jen goes over to her bowl and calls Cabo over. She takes a spoonful of frozen goop and tries flipping it into her bowl. No go - if hangs on the first time and when Jen tries a harder flip this time if lands directly on the floor in front of the bowl. Cabo moves in for the kill and the ice cream is gone in seconds. Do dogs get brain freeze?
My wife is happy, my dog is happy, I'm going up to bed.
For instance, my wife seems to have suddenly become a source of incredible comedic material. Now my wife isn't what you call overly funny or loud or clutsy or any of those things but, she is....pregnant. This seems to bring out funny stories in all of us.
Well, this happened about a week ago, it was a weekday and I'll try and jog my memory aout the specifics, but bear with me. I remember coming home and asking Jen what was for dinner, she was obviously in no mood to cook so I decided to take it upon myself to start dinner. Even though she had been home for over an hour already and I juts got home - I decided I'd do it. Nothing of course had been taken out of the freezer to defrost, so I had very limited choices. This is not a problem for Jennifer as she is happy to fill up on peanut butter and jelly or raman noodles. Of course I wanted something a little more adult-ish. Picking through the freezer it came down to meatball subs (on bread not rolls - that's out), cheeseburgers (which Jen never likes), sausages (which I was informed would make Jen puke at the sight of) or ravioli's (no negative comments, no rolled eyes, no puking motions - ok ravioli's it is).
I throw the pot on the stove, throw the water and raviolis in the water and start heating the water - suddenly I get a dirty look.
"Why are they in the wtaer already? Shouldn't you boil the water first?"
"I'm doing the cooking here - this is the way I do it."
She sits herself in the recliner all grumpy, "That's not the way I do it."
"Jennifer, what happens if you put ravioli's into boiling water?"
She's starting to sniffle now and she's welling up.
"What?"
"The ravioli's will burst open! I'm cooking - don't worry about it."
Now I feel guilty and go over to her. "What's wrong hun - you don't usually cry over ravioli's. You don't really want ravioli's do you?"
"No."
"Well then, what do you want for dinner?" Long pause...."Well?"
"Ice cream"
"No, no ice cream - no more damn ice cream."
Ravioli's are done and we sit at the livingroom table in front of the TV to watch. I'm stupid because I cook just enough for 2.5 people. I say stupid because no way Jen eats a serving and I have to eat hers plus the left over other half - and I wonder why I'm fat. Maybe I'm wrong here though - maybe she'll eat the whole thing. I wolf mine down and she stops - half a plate eaten.
"Come on eat those."
"I'm not hungry anymore."
"Your eating for 2 and you eat less than before, makes no sense. Give me those." And I eat those too. Then I clean up the dishes and eat the other 6 in the strainer. I'm a pig - but that's for another blog.
It's 8:15 now and I'm not sure if "ice cream" was a joke or a truth, so I watch CSI and Survivor - although it is virtually impossible to watch either since my wife can't stop flipping the damn channels! This usually results in me heading up to play computer games or tying flies or working on the basement. But, I got home late, I'll sit with my beautiful, lovely, bulging, neurotic, crazy woman wife. After 245 flips of channels and even my ADD can't keep up at around 8:45 I ask her if she wants me to go to King Soopers for ice cream. She says no, so I sit there for another 5 minutes contemplating my next question.
"Where do you want to go for ice cream?"
"Cold Stone."
"Where - on Wadsworth?"
"Or Dairy Queen."
Now you need to understand - I can live right next to a Dairy Queen, or a hair salon or a frickin' indian food place and I will see it, but it doesn't register - no matter how many times I drive by it. So basically - unless I frequent the place I won't remember that it exists.
"Where the hell is the Dairy Queen?"
"Down by the Einstein's."
"It is?"
"Yes - you were right there on Sunday - you know by the library?"
"Oh yeah. Ok."
We sit for another 5 minutes. "Dude, are we going yet?" "Not yet."
"Are you kidding me, you won't leave because Survivor and CSI are on?"
"Dude, you need help."
The show gets over and I'm just about comfortable and she turns to me and asks - "are you ready?" WTF!!!! So we grab the dog, and jump in the truck and head to DQ. It's 9:03 mind you.
We pull into the parking lot, jump out and start walking towards the DQ - which is dark. No way this place is closed - it's a Thursday night and my wife is pregnant! We walk up - CLOSED. "What do you want to do now?" "I'll settle for a McDonald's McFlurry."
Sweet - McDonald's is in the same parking lot. So we roll into the drive through. They guy in front of us has a 2004 Lexus - rolls down his window and a squeeky 16 year old pubescent voice asks for 4 items from the 99 cent menu. Dude, you are driving a frickin' Lexus, and how old are you anyways. Wish I was a cop, I'd run the plates. We order the McFlurry and roll to the pay window. My poor dog is hanging out the back window because we've been to these kind of places before and she always gets a bone. I mean hell, she's adorable and if I worked there and didn't even have a bone I'd pet her at least. The guy takes my $2 and doesn't even ackowledge her. Poor dog. We roll to the pick-up window and she sticks her head way out this time. Of course I'm thinking the woman will ask "Can I give your dog a bone?" so I pull almost past the window so Cabo's head is closer to the window. The woman hands out the McFlurry and then slams the window shut. Poor dog is thinking she just got screwed!!! But wait....there's white milky smelling stuff in the front seat now, so I'm going to lay down like a good girl, because good girls get food. She sits there for about 20 seconds without getting noticed and then decides to play the pretty girl with the sad eyes and puts her head on Jen's shoulder in the passenger's seat. Jen ignores her and eats the McFlurry right in front of her.
Now I'm mad - the damn dog loves ice cream and one bite away from my pregnanat wife ain't gonna kill her.
"No way, I'm not letting her lick it off the spoon."
"Why not? I do it all the time."
"You are sick, she can wait until we get home."
So the poor dog waits. We get home, she jumps out and goes straight to her bed (good girls get what they want remember?), Jen goes over to her bowl and calls Cabo over. She takes a spoonful of frozen goop and tries flipping it into her bowl. No go - if hangs on the first time and when Jen tries a harder flip this time if lands directly on the floor in front of the bowl. Cabo moves in for the kill and the ice cream is gone in seconds. Do dogs get brain freeze?
My wife is happy, my dog is happy, I'm going up to bed.
Pregnancy the First Frontier
First of all, I'm writing this kind of late, a lot has happened in the past six months (most of it kind of funny) so I will have to do a recap to catch everybody (and myself) up.
Let's start from the very beginning - way back....
October 2004 - Boston Red Sox win ALCS and World Series (greatest moment of my life I might add!)
November 2004 - we get an off on the condo - we are ready to sell - scramble to find new house
Wednesday, November 17th 2004 (approximately) - Jennifer was impregnanted (yeah yeah yeah - enough goalie jokes and am I sure it is mine - only the paternity test can tell that for sure.
November 30, 2004 - Close on condo, put offer on house, go to house for inspection, house needs $40K in work, rescind offer on house, put offer on another house (you get all that?)
December 1-5, 2004 - Trip to Cozumel - great trip
December 5, 2004 PM - Pregnancy test taken - positive results - oh crap I'm going to be a dad!
December 6, 2004 - offer accepted on house, inspection on house, oh crap we are going to be home owners!
December 17, 2004 - move into new house
January 2005 - Steelers finish regular season 15-1!
January 2005 - caught a 22 inch rainbow on the Dream Stream - largest fish ever!
January 2005 - Steelers lose to Patriots in AFC Championship Game (first bad luck in over 3 months)
February 2005 - first ultrasound at 10 weeks - holy sh!t that looks like a human in there!
March - present....not much happened...except some funny stories...which will be in future threads.
Ok, we're all up to speed. Jennifer is currently 26.5 weeks and doing pretty well. I on the other hand am nervous as hell. And no one helps when they say this will only get worse before it gets better - um, thanks?!?
Let's start from the very beginning - way back....
October 2004 - Boston Red Sox win ALCS and World Series (greatest moment of my life I might add!)
November 2004 - we get an off on the condo - we are ready to sell - scramble to find new house
Wednesday, November 17th 2004 (approximately) - Jennifer was impregnanted (yeah yeah yeah - enough goalie jokes and am I sure it is mine - only the paternity test can tell that for sure.
November 30, 2004 - Close on condo, put offer on house, go to house for inspection, house needs $40K in work, rescind offer on house, put offer on another house (you get all that?)
December 1-5, 2004 - Trip to Cozumel - great trip
December 5, 2004 PM - Pregnancy test taken - positive results - oh crap I'm going to be a dad!
December 6, 2004 - offer accepted on house, inspection on house, oh crap we are going to be home owners!
December 17, 2004 - move into new house
January 2005 - Steelers finish regular season 15-1!
January 2005 - caught a 22 inch rainbow on the Dream Stream - largest fish ever!
January 2005 - Steelers lose to Patriots in AFC Championship Game (first bad luck in over 3 months)
February 2005 - first ultrasound at 10 weeks - holy sh!t that looks like a human in there!
March - present....not much happened...except some funny stories...which will be in future threads.
Ok, we're all up to speed. Jennifer is currently 26.5 weeks and doing pretty well. I on the other hand am nervous as hell. And no one helps when they say this will only get worse before it gets better - um, thanks?!?
Friday, December 31, 2004
2004 Fishing Journal
2004 Fishing Journal
Saturday, March 13, 2004 – South Platte River by Deckers
45 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 7 fish – 3 browns and 4 rainbows – all were about 12-14 inches
36+ cfs flows water was fair to dirty clarity
Cabo and I went fishing today and had a great day. We spent about 5 hours fishing and managed a few fish. The weather was great, but the water was mucked up a bit. The water was pretty low – earlier in the week it was at 90 cfs and then 60 cfs and then finally down to 36 cfs. We fished in the Trumbull area – just up the road from the fire station in my favorite spot. Not more than a few seconds of watching the river and we noticed that a fish was slurping PMD’s off the surface in the large pool directly behind the large rock. The fish was hitting bugs a foot or so off the bank, which was unusual. I tied on a size 20 PMD and on my 8th cast landed a nice 13 or 14 inch brown (around 8am). He was a good size, but not overly fat. I showed the fish to Cabo and she was interested as usual, kind of looking at it funny and then wondering where it disappeared to! I switched to nymphs and fished up and back down the bank for about 100 yards – without any luck. I returned to the pool and found two fish slurping bugs again, so I tied on a PMD with no luck, switched to a white tiny dry fly, but still no luck – the fish would come right up to the fly, but not take. I could see a few PMDs but saw a few bugs that were dead laying on the water with their wings out, so I switched to a spinner size 18 and nailed the fish with my 1st cast. The fish was a beautiful rainbow – full coloration about the same size 13 inches (10am). Again, I showed the fish to Cabo and she was playful, but wouldn’t touch it. I plopped in into the water and she wanted to see where it went! She proceeded to try to “feel” around for it with her paws in the water and then stick her face into the water to see if she could “see” it – with no luck – but it was funny. I saw a bald eagle fly over – pretty amazing. A guy came down to talk to me as I was throwing a stick into the water for Cabo. He basically asked me about the river.
We moved down the road towards Deckers about a ¼ mile – this is the last bend before you can see the Fly Shop and there is a U shaped turn on the right. I liked this area because there are some big bolders and pocket water – and I’ve see people catch a lot of fish here. Cabo and I hit the first fast riffle we saw that was about a foot deep. A few casts in I had one on – a nice fight from a 12 inch brown – that was caught on a dual nymph rig of a beadhead purple flash and black body on top and a beadhead and red body with silver wire ribbing on bottom – I caught my next 5 fish on this same red nymph!
I moved down a bit to where there is a fallen log on the far bank and the water rushes past a rock and along the log. The fast current made this an ideal spot. About 6 casts in I got one heck of a tug and thought I had on a monster!! He gave a good fight, but when he came to net he was another 12 inch brown. These fish were not afraid to shake their heads and try to throw the hook. I again moved down to the last large pool right before the bridge (second bridge from the Fly Shop). This pool always looks nice but it was full of mud on the road side, so you have to stand almost in the middle and cast to the fast area on the far bank. My 5 or 6th cast hooked another fish that gave a great fight – a 12 inch rainbow that had beautiful coloring. I caught him right at the end of the pool and didn’t even know I had him on! A few more casts to the middle of the pool produced another 12 inch rainbow. And finally my last fish was at the head of the pool – where my fly barely hit the water and my line was racing up stream. This fish was the best fight of all – when I landed him after a 2 minutes fight it was another 12 or 13 inch rainbow - this one was the prettiest of all. I had caught the last five fish on the same rig – and all 5 fish on the same fly – the red emerging nymph with silver wire ribbing – about size 18.
I lost both flies in a hang up just after that – which was fine because the wind started picking up and Cabo started shaking – all signs that it is time to go home!
Saturday, March 20, 2004 – South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny – windy late in the day
Caught 4 fish – 3 browns (12, 14 and 16 inches) and 1 rainbow (20 inches)
40+ cfs flows water was clear as a bell in the Canyon but horribly dirty down in Deckers
Nate and I hit the canyon for the first time this year. Great morning – expecting 70 degrees. We set up in our normal holes. Fish were far back in mine – sitting in the shallow water in front of the two huge rocks at the end of the pool. Landed a 14 inch brown on the same red nymph emerger as last week – the trick this time was NO ADDED WEIGHT! He fought some, tried to dive bomb the rocks, but I pulled him out. I slammed another brown (only 12 inches) a few minutes later between those two huge rocks – same fly and still no added weight. It was about 9 or 9:30 am. I fished my normal spot at the top of the pool next with no luck – I didn’t even see much and there were not any top feeding trout yet – there was some sporadic hatches of PMDs, but nothing to get the fish rising. I moved into Nate’s pool and saw tons of huge fish just laying around – eating, but not eating much – the water was so slow in that pool that they could be very picky. I moved down to just blow my pool and tried to fish the riffles coming out of my pool into this one. No luck – too shallow and too slow. I leaned back towards the shore and threw a fly between the two huge rocks that are at the end of my pool (but this time I was down stream from them). I could see a fish taking from the surface and since I have no added weight I figured I’d tried. I landed a 16 inch brown on my first cast. Same nymph same result – wow are they hitting the red beadhead!
At that very moment Nate was hollering because he had a lunker on. He was fishing the “Rock” – which is a 15 foot high bolder that the river flows around – it’s about 2 holes below mine and 3 below Nate’s. We fish this stretch a lot because right before the Rock is a bunch of fast riffles that hold lots of fish. This area is where the fish gather to spawn – and there was some lunkers spawning today. Including two 22 inch probably 6 pound fish that were getting it on. Brightly colored and full or energy they moved up and down a 8 inch deep 30 foot long stretch of river splashing and making lots of noise. Well, as I said Nate was pulling this fish out and by the time I reached him he was already netted – a huge rainbow about 20 inches and easily the fattest fish I’ve seen in those parts. We got snap shots and a measurement and back in he went. Nate said that he landed it on the same red nymph. That rock is easy to fish – the fish sit under there and stack up – you throw a San Juan worm and a small nymph and they’ll take the nymph every time. It was about 11:30 now – so we rested and then Nate headed back down river to the entrance to try some dry fly fishing.
No luck for me in that stretch – plenty of fish but they were all spawning. I moved down past Nate to the stretch of narrow water just below the flats – just below a small falls. There are always fish in the riffles but I have had luck on dry flies here. I watched the water and could see PMDs coming off occasionally and I could see a smaller fish taking them occasionally in the riffles. So I tied one on and started throwing into the middle. In slow motion I say this huge mouth come up and take my fly. I landed a 20 or 19 inch rainbow on a size 20 PMD – we got a couple of pictures and then plopped him back in. Awesome fish, not very fat but super colorful – that was at about 1 pm. We decided to head to the Deckers bridge and try our luck – we tried but the water was too dirty. I had a little guy in by the log – but I was on the far bank and he wiggled his way off. We left soon after.
Saturday, April 17, 2004 – South Platte River in Waterton Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – 80 by mid-day – sunny – windy late in the day
Caught 5 fish – 3 brookies (all 8 inches or less) and 2 rainbows (both 14 inches)
20 cfs flows water was murky closer to the dam – clear towards the road
I fished Waterton Canyon on Saturday with Nate. Wanted to do some fishing but close to home. We biked all the way to the dam at around 8ish. With jelly legs I stumbled down the embankment and fished the section right under the dam - no luck there. Moved down about 300 yards to a nice steady spot. Saw a few fish taking PMD off the surface - but I must have spooked them. Ended up catching 4 fish in that hole all on a zebra midge with a white puff emerger behind the bead head (size 18). The four fish were nice - two tiny 8 inch brookies and 2 14 inch rainbows. The first bow came in without a fight, looked lethargic actually, but was colorful with a huge jaw. I caught him in 6 inches of water right IN a riffle. The second rainbow was much fiestier - but not as colorful. Nice fish for this section of the Platte - I am surprised that they are there - but am happy about it.
We tried a couple more spots - but didn't see anything.
Sunday, May 2, 2004 – South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – 80 by mid-day – sunny and hot
Caught 3 fish – 1 brown (13 inches) and 2 rainbows (13 inches and 18/19 inches)
Missed three fish – three huge fish!!
40 cfs flows water was clear as a bell in the canyon – mud brown in Deckers
I fished Cheesman again today - had a decent day although it was very crowded. The "new" Gill Trail is open and the old parking areas along the road are closed - so if you are headed to the Canyon you have to park in the old camp ground (Trout Unlimited Cutthroat chapter has paid for the paving and landscaping of the old campground gravel parking lot) and walk about twice as far as the old hike in (which sucked).
Flows were at 40 cfs, which is about 50% higher than last time I went - although you couldn't really tell. The river outside the Canyon was mud brown but the Canyon was crystal clear. I started the day in my normal hole (which I will not give away) and hit a 13 inch brown on my very first cast. It hit on a size 22, black zebra midge with gold wire and a gold beadhead. I fished the hole some more and hooked onto an enormous brown - long and skinny - I would say probably about 21 inches. He fought me hard, but wasn't interested in giving an inch and I couldn't turn his head and he headed for some rocks and I paniced - and tried to hard to turn him and he popped off.
I moved up the river some more and tried a 30 foot stretch of fast water between two very deep rapids. On my first cast I nailed a 13 inch rainbow. He fought pretty good, but had no where to go - so I landed him pretty easily. Beautifull colored rainbow, he hit on the same zebra midge. I fished up river some more but with no luck. I came back to that same hole and hooked into a sweet 19 inch rainbow. He fought like mad, but had no place to go either - I looked like an idiot fumbling over rocks and slipping on weeds and falling into ankle deep water trying my hardest to keep tension on the line. Finally the fish was more tired than me (barely) and I managed to scoop him up just as he became deadweight and started to be carried by the current. What a beautiful fish - killer coloring and fat. Same fly this time too.
It was around 10am when I caught that last one - well, I tried a hundred places and decided to head back to the mouth of the canyon. At around 1:30 at the mouth of the canyon (right before the Wigwam club) there is a small waterfall and a strecth of about 30 yards of knee deep water. I have always had good luck here and this was no exception (kinda). I nymphed my same rig with a large wieght and hooked into a huge rainbow. This fish fought like no other I have ever had on (except maybe some 6 inch brookies that are worth their weight in gold) - he grabbed the fly and charged me!!! He ran 20 feet to the head of the pool, shot to the far shore, shot 50 feet to the base of the pool, shot at me again, then to the head of the pool, then to the far shore again, this time though - he tried to beach himself!!! NO KIDDING!! Half his fins were out of the water and he managed to get the fly stuck on weeds and popped off. What a pretty fish - I could see him the whole time - bright red on his belly.
The very next cast I hooked another rainbow and he did the same thing! He charged me and then headed to the head of the pool and then the far shore where he managed to get under a rock and put reverse tension on the line and popped off. Crazy! I tied on a dry fly next and tried at the 13 to 15 new little months sucking the surface. Some fish were smaller, some were about 16 inches and in the riffles there were some bigger fish. I couldn't get any of these guys to actually hold onto the fly - so I left with a good sunburn and worn out. The walk back nearly killed me. Not a bad day - 3 for 6 - that's .500 right!
My buddy and I think that walk might not be worth the trip anymore - we are considering the Blue or the Colorado river by Kremmling next. Unfortunately the CO river is going to be pretty muddy over the next few months - so the Blue will probably win (or another tailwater).
Sunday, May 9, 2004 – Fraser River in Fraser & Colorado River in Byers Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – almost 80 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 10 fish – 6 browns and 4 rainbows – all were about 10-15 inches
Fraser was 8 cfs clear as a bell – Colorado 50+ cfs flows, water was good to fair clarity
I decided I was fishing this Sunday rain or shine - my buddy decided he had landscaping and church to attend to and bagged on me. This would give me a chance to fish at my own pace and with my chocolate lab. I had been wanting to try the Fraser and of course the Colorado always peeks my interest.
I started out late, but it was a nice day. The whole drive I kept second guessing myself about this 1.5 hour trip - I mean, if the weather is bad, you get a hole in your wader, or you get skunked it would be a bad day - right? Too many opportunities to make this a wasted 3 hour round trip drive - I should turn around and head home - sleep in a little, maybe clean the house, do laundry, etc. Good thing I wasn't shaken - I continued on - made Fraser by 9:00 ish. I had heard great things about the river behind the Safeway, so I tried there first. I knew the flows were low from the chart on the internet - 8 cfs - hardly enough water to be fishable. By I knew I wanted to see this famous river and I was not surprised to see a small creek with not much water. I fished my way around the Safeway, catching only an 8 inch brown. I wanted to try the Tabernash section of the Fraser River next, but knew there was no way that the river would have any water since it was trickling in Fraser. I decided to head to the Colorado only a half hour more down the road.
The Colorado always fishes well as long as the water is somewhat clear. I had talked to Nelson's Fly Shop in Tabernash on Saturday and they confirmed it was clear and at average flows (about 50 cfs). My favorite spot is just outside of Hot Sulphur Springs just west of Byers Canyon. There is a camping area/public access point there and it is a really good spot. Most of this stretch is brilliant during low water, but higher water makes it a bit more difficult, as the fish will move. I arrived around 11am and it was mostly empty (Mother's Day has a positive side for us guys) - I jumped into my first hole, just above the old log bridge at the head of the bend pool. Nothing, not even a snag - sad. I moved down just above the bridge and hit a few right off - always a good spot. I lost 2 or 3 but landed a nice 10 inch brown on a prince nymph size 18 who fought like crazy and didn't want to be landed.
I moved down a couple holes, skipping over another fisherman. The next spot I had no luck in, water was deep, fast and dark - lost my rig and decided to switch to a San Juan Worm in hopes of it being more noticeable in the water. Next spot was amazing, first cast right next to the bottom of the riffles landed me a sweet 12 inch feisty brown on the SJ Worm. My next cast back to the same cast produced the exact same result - 12 inch brown who hit like a ton of bricks and ran up and down - finally coming to net. Unfortunately I'm not very graceful on slippery rocks in waders and basically scared everything in a 100 foot radius as I nearly did a header in 4 inches of water. I moved down again, amazing to see most spots that were gravel were about 6 inches deep now and those spots that were normally very shallow were now prime spots right next to the banks. Standing in the middle of the river - with my lab standing between my legs for balance - I casted to both banks - moving down to get better spots. I found the perfect spot in a 25 foot run the rammed a log and slid to faster water. I hooked 6 fish in this hole - all about 13 inches long - I landed 4 all browns. The two I missed were both rainbows, both were missed due to the fast water causing them to pop off. I could have sworn it was the same rainbow I missed twice - big jaw and fiesty.
Of course I splashed around that hole having some difficulties landing the fiesty ones away from the mostly fast water - I had made enough noise and decided to move on.
I decided to change my rig - so I sat down on the elevated bank with my feet in the water. Cabo - my mutt - poking her nose at me trying to see if I'll play a little "stick" before I tied on a fly - she was right - how do you say know to that face?? Of course, you can't have sticks without swimming and since that hole was already spoiled I threw it in a few times. It was amazing to quickly see that both human and dog could both be the most content they may have ever been. I leaned back on the bank and Cabo chewed her stick peacefully, I watch the clouds and the sky in 75 degree heat, my feet reminding me that I was water logged and my mind wandering to what kind of fish lie around the bend in the perfect looking run.
Right before the big bend (some of you may know which one I'm talking about) I decided to go up and fish the right fork - there is a large pool split in half by a rock and the fish were easily seen darting about. No luck there - actually lost my rig and had to tie back up.
I decided to head back to the truck, or at least to the first spot - which didn't yield anything. Lastly I wanted to move up and fish the large riffle just after the highway bridge. This riffle looks great, but holds a ton of small fish. The lunkers are on the bottom - and they are always there. I rigged up and jump to the base of the riffle. Landed a small rainbow (11 inches or so) right off on a black zebra midge size 20. Next fish was the fish I was looking for - I hooked a 16 inch rainbow and he didn't fight very much - just went into the standard roll at the surface - gorgeous red belly and gills - got him right next to me and he popped off (damn it!!). That was the fish I was after. I kept at it - landing a 12 inch rainbow again. Finally I hooked another, this one didn't fight much, wouldn't come to the surface and I was actually surprised to land a 14 inch cutbow. Pretty fish - no fight - just dead weight.
After peering over and seeing my soak and wet lab whining and shivering I decided it was probably time to go home. The ride home made me realize that I shouldn't have had my doubts about the ride out this morning. The scenery in that part of Colorado is amazing - and it made me realize no matter how "bad" of a day I had (and I do have about 25 leaks in my waders) I was still in one of the prettiest places on earth and it would always be better than most experiences you could have on a Sunday! As I tossed Chex Mix to my fishing buddy in the back seat - with her head propped up on the arm rest between the front seats - I couldn't think of any way it could have been better.
Sunday, May 31, 2004 – South Platte River in Deckers
65 degrees in the morning – almost 80 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 9 fish – 6 rainbows and 3 browns – all were about 12-17 inches
50 cfs flows, water was clear to good clarity
The river has completely changed – gravel has completely taken over for the first mile from Deckers down river. All holes have been completely filled in and it looks like “sand flats”.
I fished today - great day for it again. Went down to the South Platte by Deckers - wanted to catch some decent size fish and have easy access - I brought the mutt with me to keep me company.
What the hell has happened to the Platte by Deckers - it has been flooded by gravel and every hole from the bridge at Deckers to about a mile down has been filled in and turned into a sand flat. Does anyone know what happened? Seriously, this is scary - I mean the spot I fished normally has 10 foot deep holes and they were completely filled in! If anyone knows, please post - because this was not this way only two weeks ago.
Well, I parked at the spot just up river from the Trumbull Fire Dept, jumped into the water and couldn't believe my eyes. I had to find new places to fish, because every hole was filled in. I stood on the exact spot that was about 7 feet deep (right next to the rock the cracked in half and had the pipe put into support in - next to the gauge station). AMAZING. I moved up and tried for some fish in a gravel gully - no luck. I knew the fish were in the deeper spots, but there weren't any. I tried around rocks - 1 rock in particular I took 3 huge fish on consecutive casts, 3 rainbows all about 17 inches and fat. They took a black zebra midge (size 20), a red nymph that I just used tinsel wrapped (size 20) and a green zebra gold beadhead (size 18). These fish fought nice. Close to the same rock I slammed a cute little (15 inches) in the current on the same green zebra. I moved back to the rock and tied on a maroon San Juan worm and a zerba nymph. I hooked the biggest fish of the day - since the water was only 10 inches deep you can see these guys very easily. The fish was another bow and he was easily 19 inches - he shook his head viciously and popped the hook. I hooked another 17 inch bow right after that on the green zebra midge. Awesome spot, but obviously I had caught everything out of that hole, because I kept fishing it for another 1.5 hours with no a lick.
I moved up closer to Deckers, the parking area right before you get to the fly shop, on the bend (just after the cross over bridge). water was very low (I could tell finally because the water looked somewat familiar now). There was still gravel everywhere, but the river looked like its old self. Except on the bend there right where that downed log is - usually the water is 15 inches deep there and there is tons of fish (small ones) - this time it was 6 inches deep and looked like a beach - you could easily see that there were no fish there. I moved down river to the bridge - that was the only deep spots in that stretch. I hook a huge rainbow (for that hole) - 15 inches on a purple crystalline flash nymph (size 18) on the first cast. He shot me down another hole and I landed him barely. I hooked another bow - 15 inches - and he jumped straight up out of the water and almost hit Cabo in the butt - she didn't even notice. I fought to land him and had to finagle around a rock and a log and landed him in an inch of water.
I ducked under the bridge and fished the other side - hooked two fish immediately, but the bolted down stream and I lost both within split seconds. Moved down a bit again, to water that was unrecognizable - I just fished the deep spots. I saw a rainbow and a brown cuddling next to a rock, the bow kept coming out to feed but the brown stayed between two rocks. I hooked the bow twice! But he shook his head and popped off - neither time did it seem to slow him down - he kept feeding. I took off all the weight and hooked the brown - he bolted straight down stream for about 40 yards, jumping three times - I landed him in a calm 6 inch pool - basically he beached himself - thank God. He was 15 inches, skinny, colorful, and full of energy. I hooked him on the black zebra midge (size 20). I hooked another brown who fled about 20 yards down stream again - and a couple jumps - he was about 14 inches and very colorful.
That was my day. I have fly fished for 5 summers now and am finally "getting" it. I can spot fish easily, I know how deep the indicator needs to be, I know how much weight to use, I know what type of drift I need, I know where the fish are - these are all things I am finally getting. I have also learned to keep moving. Fishing in one spot for 4 hours is useless. If you spook a fish you will never catch it. Never fish to a motionless trout - he ain't eating, so you can't catch it! I've learned to keep my eyes open, fish are everywhere and they are always eating. I have learned that clarity and quickness of the water determine the size of the fly you need. If you are fishing in slow crystal clear water, you need size 22 and 24 nymphs. Faster water needs size 20's and 18's. I have also learned to play fish - which is huge. When I first started fishing I would hook a lunker and either lose it after a long fight of basically me running down stream, or lose it immediately when the smart ass fish decided to head for a rock or a stick. I learned how to land huge fish at Boxwood Gulch - where every fish is 18 inches or your money back. A few of these fish today didn't want to be hooked (which is new for that area of the Platte) and wanted to dive towards stuff. Keep you rod tip up (obviously), but lead the fish AWAY from hazards. If he starts charging up stream point your rod tip down stream, force him to tire himself out. If he wants to go right, point you rod tip left. Do this the whole time - it will wear the fish out and you will land fish faster and easier. Remember to get the rod tip up just before netting, this holds the fishes head above water just as you scoop with the net - you aren't going to scoop a fish that is fully submerged - he'll charge under your net (and you will snag that second fly in the net and lose him) and go right between your legs and you'll lose him.
Sunday, June 6, 2004 – Big Thompson River in Estes Park & St. Vrain River in Lyons
70 degrees in the morning – almost 90 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 8 fish – 1 brookie, 5 browns and 2 rainbows – all were about 9-15 inches
Big T was 304 cfs clear as a bell – St. Vrain 70+ cfs flows, water was good clarity
Headed to the Big Thompson - tried to stop in Drake to fish it, but it was at 300 flows. Headed to just below the dam and fished that area caught 7 fish - mostly browns. Landed one sweet 15 inch brown that wouldn't come out of the middle of the river - I dove into a hole about 40 feet from where I hooked him because the current was so damn strong nothing could fight it. I learned that my new hip waders aren't much use when you literally jump into a hole that is about a half inch over them. Leaves you with a wet ass.
Most of the fish were hitting a gold beadhead nymph zebra style with red and purple crystalline flash as a head. I also caught 2 pretty rainbows that were feeding right next to the under cut banks. They were 13 inches and 12 inches and they fought pretty well. I lost tons of fish (about 5), including a lunker that I hooked 2 feet right in front of me, he sat in a hole and I tried to pull him straight up, he managed to get just below the surface and I literally saw the fly pop out of his mouth. Sad.
We were pretty bummed about the flows on the Thompson so we headed down to the St Vrain to give it a look. I have never been there, and have read about it in Gierach's books. What a let down. The river is barely a river, and the section I was in (right before Buttonhole Reservior) was pretty much fishless. I did manage to false hook a 10 inch brookie. The river is a joke, tons of private property and no real good holes to fish. I'm sure if is better above Longmont Reservior, but it was horrible today.
That is my story for this weekend - I look like a raccoon from the sun as I have white eyes and perfect white lines going from my eyes to my ears.
Sunday, June 13, 2004 – South Platte River in Deckers
60 degrees in the morning – almost 90 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught nothing
140 cfs flows, water was fair to poor clarity
I have officially been skunked!! First time this year, the water was just way too high - 140 cfs, and the fish were no where to be found. It was unbelievably hot too - after a cool morning. Tons of fisherman and tons of campers. No fish.
Sunday, June 20, 2004 – South Platte River in Deckers
70 degrees in the morning – almost 80 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 1 fish 13 inch rainbow, netted a 20 inch rainbow.
71.4 cfs flows, water was poor clarity
Water was ugly – like chocolate milk for most of the river, slightly better before Horse Creek (in Deckers) and ok (not great) down the dirt road out of Deckers. I fished the far back area – almost to the Wigwam club – there is a huge rock right next to the road. I caught a 13 or 14 inch rainbow on a pheasant tail size 20. I talked to a guy for about a half an hour about fishing and the condition of the river. We were expecting a dry fly hatch to go off any minute, but nothing came of it. I almost didn’t fish because the water was discolored. I did however scoop up a 20 inch fish with my net. The fish was pretty much just hanging around a sandbar casually eating. I had hooked him for a split second, and even though he popped off he continued to thrash in the water. Cabo (my mutt) went after it and it was funny to see her sticking her head under the water to “find” it! The fish kept coming back to the sandbar, and I would have Cabo go and get the fish – when I say go, basically it means she goes up to it, turns towards me to “check” to see if everything is ok – she’s a wimp. She tried to touch it with her paw a few times and the fish would wiggle away – but again come back to the sandbar. Finally I walked over and scooped it up. This was a very thick fish and he was black as anything on top with a slight pink color. He was beautiful and he thrashed a little in the net. I set him back in the water and Cabo wanted to play with him – but only from a foot away. She would basically just put her feet in the water and act like she was trying to feel for it – then stick her head under and look for it (funny as hell).
That was my day – pretty uneventful. I wish the water had been better. I did see a pair of bald eagles trying to mate in the air – pretty neat. One was screeching while the other was trying to continue to fly away.
Saturday, June 27, 2004 – Blue River by Dillon
65 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds early and then rain by early afternoon
Caught 9 fish – 3 browns and 6 rainbows – the upper Blue fish (which dumps into Dillon) were all about 9-14 inches, the below the dam fish were (2) 15 inchers and (1) 19 incher
25 cfs above Dillon and 37.5 below the dam – clear as a bell
Great day fishing, I had the wife (and mutt) with me and she watched, took pictures and read for the day – then went shopping at the outlets briefly. It was a nice day until right after we left – it started pouring and was nasty rainy weather. I started out on the Blue just above Dillon Reservoir where it dumps into it. This area was still pretty low and had some flat areas. I started with a size 18 brown caddis and landed 2 of the 4 hits I had – both were exactly 10 inch rainbows. I switched to a two-nymph rig and fished my way back to the road/bridge. I hit all the deep holes and flats, slamming a few larger browns – all were about 14 or 15 inches and they fought like mad! The did some acrobatics and were tough to bring to hand. The mutt was on the other bank when I hook a sweet fish who wouldn’t co-operate – well finally I landed it and the mutt decided she needed to come over and examine the fish – so she sloshed right through the hole – for some reason I couldn’t catch any more fish in that hole!!?!! I moved on and hooked a few others. It was nice to catch some hard fighting fish! Throughout the day on the upper Blue there were huge red quills hatching – most were very large in size 10 or 12 – amazing.
This picture says it all – my wife is taking the picture and Cabo is between my legs – there is no greater feeling in this world than to catch fish with your dog between your legs and your wife within speaking distance. I do not have children, but I can imagine that the birth of my first will be just as great, but without the scenery. I’m not much of a free thinker, but as I write this I can not get the dreams of my next fishing trip out of my head – I have a free day on Wednesday, and if I was a betting man I’d say I’ll be on a river somewhere – with Cabo between my legs!
I moved down to right under route 70 between the two bridges. This is one of my favorite spots. The wife headed over to the outlets and the dog and me had 45 minutes to catch as many as possible. I slapped on a mysis shrimp and a gray and silver emerger beadhead. I hooked a 15-inch rainbow and then another – one on the emerger and one on the mysis. I crossed over the river and moved up closer to the waterfall (its not that big). I knew fish liked to sit in the very shallow water and feed, and that was honestly the only spot there was any decent drift. I hook a fish and he wouldn’t move, I would have thought I had hooked bottom, but the fish was only in 8 inches of water and I could see him move slightly. He jetted into the current and stayed there, I tried yanking him off the bottom, but he wouldn’t come up, I tried working him to the bank and he started thrashing. Finally he went dead weight and started going down river – under one of the bridges. I finally netted him and he popped out! I swooped again and hooked him. A fat 19-inch rainbow with a snub nose and plenty of girth. I sat him in the water next to me and he just laid there – I got a quick measure and then slid him into the current. Great fish and a great day!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 – Blue River, Silverthorne – Asbestos Alley
55 degrees in the morning – almost 55 by mid-day – cloudy then rainy/drizzly
Caught 17 fish – 1 browns and 16 rainbows – all but 3 were over 15 inches
50+ cfs flows - water was clear until it started raining
I started off at the Blue towards Breckenridge where it dumps into Dillon Reservoir. The water was a bit higher than Sunday but still clear. I fished all the holes but couldn’t find anything. I finally hooked a 10-inch brown on a huge caddis fly. I moved down to Asbestos Alley under the bridges. I fished the normal stretch and had one on quickly but he got off. I was using a small gray zebra midge and a huge mysis shrimp pattern. I moved under the short bridge and hooked a 16 incher right on the other side. I moved down a bit more and hook a tiny 5 incher – the catch of the day. I actually was trying to recast when I launched the little guy to about the 12 o’clock position where he proceeded to land at my foot. I popped him off and let the dog play with it a bit. I moved back up to between the bridges but someone was fishing my hole. I went up to the big hole (where everyone fishes) to watch a guy land a nice 20 incher. It started raining heavier and I moved down again between the bridges (the guy moved out of it). I hooked 2 quick 16 inch fish in a size 20 mysis pattern.
The rain started getting to me, and my mysis pattern was now bent, so I decided to go to Cutthroat Anglers and get some more mysis – and also stop and get some lunch, and dry out. I had forgotten to bring my rain gear, so I was soaked AND freezing!! Cutthroat is a nice place – kind of small, but the guys are great. I bought 9 Umpqua mysis (3 each of 3 different patterns) all in size 20. I drove back to my spot and ate lunch – and fed the dog half my fries (not flies).
No one was around, so I moved up under the bridge to protect myself from the rain. The fish were stacked right in front of the waterfall – so I tossed in a double mysis and had a fat 18 incher in no time. I proceeded to hook fish after fish after fish (about 12 in a row) all ranging from 15 inches (I got only one that was 12 inches) to 22 inches long (3 fish were over 20 inches and fat as hell!!). It seemed like as soon as it started raining the fish just went nuts and they were chewing on everything. I seriously couldn’t get them in fast enough – the flies were getting chewed up and I was going through them like crazy. The water was getting pretty clouded up from the water pouring off the bridge above me, so the fish probably weren’t being as picky. As the rain let up so did the bites. One of the last fish I caught was a lunker – he held his ground on the other side of the run for a few minutes – hardly interested in being netted. Finally I pulled him into the shallows and netted him – he was easily 22 inches long and nice and fat. I hooked two more fish (a 12 incher, and a 15 incher). The smaller fish fought the best, while the larger ones just sat on the bottom. Over the course of the day I had about 20 hits that I lost – I think I need to get better at detecting hits, but I still had a good day.
Saturday, July 24, 2004 – Blue River by Dillon below the dam
50 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds early and then hail/rain slightly by early afternoon
Caught 12 fish – 1 brown and 11 rainbows – (2) 6 inchers and the rest were between 16 and 20 inches - 88.5 cfs below the dam – clear as a bell
I fished today with Nate and Chuck (his step dad). It was raining in Denver and I was in no mood to get up at 5:30 and make the long drive alone – but I did. Dillon however had beautiful weather with the exception of one low hanging cloud that covered the whole town. Got there at 7 am and jumped into the asbestos alley hole and hooked a couple on size 20 mysis shrimp. It fished well until about 10 am and then got slow. We all moved up river and surprisingly there were no fish the closer you get to the dam. All the fish were between asbestos alley and the outlets foot bridge. Just after the I70 bridge I fished up and down with mysis and small midges in sizes 22. I hooked several fish – almost all rainbows. The fish were getting foul hooked a lot – there is a lot of pressure in that area with about 50 anglers per day hitting that stretch – these poor fish must be pooped. Nate caught a monster (supposedly) 24 incher. He caught about 14 for the whole day (less of course the 7 fish he lost). Chuck caught only 4 fish – which is too bad because I wanted him to get the whole experience. I think Nate and Chuck are believers in the mysis shrimp – without it you might as well not go to the Blue! I was home by 4 pm.
Saturday, July 31, 2004 – Arapahoe Creek and Colorado River by Byers Canyon
60 degrees in the morning – almost 85 by mid-day – a few clouds
Caught 4 fish – 2 brookies at Arapahoe Creek (3 inches and 2 inches) – 1 rainbow (14 inches) and 1 brown (11 inches)
Arapahoe Creek ?? cfs – Colorado River 72 cfs – both clear as a bell
I fished with Tom Shyrock from the flyfisherman.com website chat group. We met at Walmart and decided to head to Arapahoe Creek which is the river that connects Monarch Lake and Granby Lake just outside of Granby. The creek was actually flowing pretty well and was absolutely amazing. Tom had had success on the creek two weeks before catching several 10-14 inch brookies. But, today we were not as lucky. We were skunked with the exception of some tiny brookies – a 2 incher and a 3 incher – not kidding. We decided to try my site – the Colorado River near Byers Canyon. We fished it from about 1 pm to 4 pm – with again no luck. I did hook a brown in the deep bend pool – it was a 10 incher, but nothing special. I did see quite a few fish in that pool that were larger. I hook a couple of small browns in the run that leads to that pool, but landed neither. I did however see a buck about 20 feet away from – he moved up on the bank and just hung out.
We moved to the riffles right after the bridge – here I hooked a 14 inch rainbow – but I foul hooked him in the fin – so this one doesn’t really count. We had a beautiful day – but no fish. I was very surprised because I tried everything and nothing worked.
Sunday, August 22nd - North Fork of the South Platte River & Clear Creek (rest area close to Golden)
70 degrees, sunny, cfs on North Fork around 95 cfs, flows on Clear Creek 75 cfs.
Wanted to fish Deckers and maybe even the Canyon - first time out in a while. The river was a mess - I guess the Cheesman Reservoir had overflowed over the damn and lots of junk was in the water. The water was flowing at around 175 cfs - Dick Jr. at Flies N Lies told me that the water was up around 800 earlier in the week with 500 cfs going through the dam and another 300 over the top. I decided to fish the North Fork at the north end of the Deckers Road. This area looks amazing, but there is never any fish there. I fished the stretch right before it dumps into the South Platte at the old South Platte Hotel. It looked beautiful and was clear as a bell. I fished multiple deep holes and walked about 3/4 of a mile up the river - with no luck. I decided to head to Clear Creek. I cut up 285 and then through Evergreen. It started raining so the mucked up the water. I decided to head down Rt 6 in the canyon towards Golden. I found a nice looking spot I had fished before. I fished it for about an hour without any luck. I had one very small fish on, but that was it.
Sunday, August 29th - Colorado River - Byers Canyon
75 degrees, sunny, mid day, cfs around 60 water was clear.
Jennifer and I went to Grand Lake for the day and on the way home I fished the Colorado River for about an hour. I tried nymphing and then moved on to a size 20 BWo with no luck. I fished the riffle right after the bridge. No fish were caught.
Saturday, September 4th – Arkansas River, Stockyard Bridge and Jesus Saves Rock, Salida
50 degrees in the early morning and 75 mid morning, cloudy, 300 cfs
The Ark was flowing nice and clear. I accidentally found my way to the Stockyard Bridge without even knowing it. I parked and found my way over the bridge and down to the water. The river was flowing nicely under the bridge where it is very deep. Unfortunately the bridge is so low that it offers no opportunity to cast under it. So, I worked the end of the riffle - with no luck. I was unsure of the areas that were public, so I was cautious and only moved down river slightly. There was barb wired fence and no trespassing signs everywhere - so I wasn't going to push my fishing experience - the water was beautiful right where I was. Of course Cabo was not to happy with having to stay out of the water and being quiet. I had to move relatively quickly because she decided to swim out to me while I was standing in the middle of the river up to my waste. I moved down to a waste deep stretch next to the bank where a rock hung out just enough to allow good casts. I hooked two fish in this stretch - 2 browns about 11 inches each. Both fish were caught on prince nymphs.
I moved a little further east towards Jesus Saves Rock. I stumbled upon this stretch because it had a nice plunge pool and no one was in the hole. I moved to the pool and realized that the water was moving way to fast to fish the pool and the riffle was guarded by a huge bolder that I couldn't avoid. I moved to the other side of the rock to a perfect reverse eddy that was just adjacent to the riffle where the water spun back in a foamy cauldron. I knew that there would be some fish just outside the riffle sitting in the eddy and I cast to the bottom of it.
I hooked 2 nice 12 inch browns that were quite feisty. I moved above the riffle to water that was prime for fish - in this stretch I hooked about 8 more fish - mostly in the 11 to 12 inch range - all were browns. The best fish of all was about 16 inches and he was hooked, fought and lost as he went dead weight on me and started to go over some rapids
towards the rough riffles. The fish must have been a brown as he basically thrashed his head but wouldn't move from the bottom. This was a great stretch and Cabo got to paw at several fish as I "handed" them to her. She would quite often continue to "look" for them long after they hit the water and scooted away. I can ask her at anytime where
the fishy is and she will look blindly into the water - searching for a moving object in the waste deep (for her) water. She is quite inept at finding sticks on the bottom with her feet and foraging them out with her mouth. She "saves" on average about 20 sticks per trip, but loses twice that many as her attention span is nil.
I moved a hundred yards north to a nice stretch of waste deep current at the end of a riffle. I landed 1 more brown about 12 inches long – then called it a day. Cabo was cold, a little cranky and wanted to swim and play. I chucked a few sticks and then we headed back to the cabin around 11 am.
I made a feeble attempt to fish the small stream rolling around our cabin. The stream, although large enough to hold fish only held fish in the deepest of areas. I saw a 13 inch fish right next to our neighbors house in a beaver pond, but could catch him. The wind was horrible. I got myself and Cabo trapped in several different snarls of prickers and
burrs and finally turned around and found another route. I made my way onto National Forest land walking up stream fishing every single stretch. The water was beautiful but offered no casting areas and hard to read currents. The fish were skittish and the water contained hundreds of sticks. After switching flies at least 50 times I did manage to get a fish the size of my little finger to take a hit at a huge elk hair caddis. The damn thing wouldn't fit in his mouth and that was the closest I came to catching anything. The 1/2 mile walk home up the dirt road involved me picking endless burrs out of my fleece and
out of Cabo's collar. Back at the cabin I spent 25 minutes "feeling Cabo up" removing another 25 or so burrs.
Sunday, September 5th – Arkansas River, Chaffee/Fremont County lines, just west of Wellsville
40 degrees in the early morning and 70 mid morning, mostly cloudy, 300 cfs
Looking for a nice spot I head a little farther west this time. About 3 miles further out along Rt 50 I saw some nice water that was below some cliffs. Cabo and I descended some tough cliffs and were sitting pretty on a nice patch of water. The water was super clear and rolling. I fished for about two hours with no luck. Gradually I made my way up river fishing a beautiful section of water that narrowed and spun down some shallows like a rolling horizontal waterfall. I spun my nymphs around this section several times with no luck. The river above this area was flat and very shallow - less than ankle deep. I was easy walking, but extremely cold. I moved up to a cliff area that had a plunge pool in front of it and a bolder at the end of the pool. I threw to the bolder with no luck, then fished the pool - nothing.
I moved up even farther and finally snagged a 11 inch brown in a nice hole. I could see fish but couldn't catch a thing. I moved again to the public camping area and fished a nice looking stretch. I caught one, a 9 inch brown, but nothing else. I started fishing a the far side of the river, but Cabo was freezing and she had cut her paw slightly on
something - although I have no clue on what or where on her paw she was cut. The end of the day was when she was stranded on a rock and shaking badly from the cold and 30 mile per hour wind that was making it ten times colder. I hooked my flies, mounted my rod to my chest and picked her up against my chest and carried her back across the river. She was more than happy to accept the ride as she always is. She was soaked, and made me cold, but I could tell she was soaking up my heat. We exited a little earlier than I would have liked at about 10:45 am.
That night around 6pm Jennifer let me fish a new section of the river. This section was located just below the Big Bend campground on a state lease of private property. Taking CR 160 off of 285 then CR 165 to CR 164 we found a turn off with a couple of cars in it. This turn out was located on farm property directly opposite a large farm/ranch. A small
dock walked you through some wetland and Jennifer set up chair and book in the setting sun. The most beautiful stretch of water was laid out before me. To my left was a waist deep riffle stretch that was perfect. I fished it with no avail. Directly in front of me was a plug pool created by another horizontal waterfall - this stretch looked tough to fish and it was. I caught nothing. To my right was large boulders the size of ottomans with great stretches of fast water and eddies sliding behind the rocks. Of course I was not "on" tonight so I again went fishless. I again called it a day and we left just after the last few
rays of sun had left us. The temperature dropped quickly and Jennifer was happy to leave. Cabo was also happy as this was a 16 hour day for her that included, swimming, swimming, playing ball, swimming and playing ball.
Monday, September 6th – Arkansas River, Big Bend Lease Rec. area, west of Smeltertown
32 degrees (frost) in the early morning and 70 mid morning, y, 250 cfs
My last day, I had better make this good! After scoping out some more sections I decided to hit the stretch I had the following night. Right below Big Bend camp ground offered beautiful scenery - with a clear river under me and mountain ranges and farm houses as far as eyes could see. I saw three bucks and 2 bald eagles (I think) while there. I was the first on the river at 7 am. This was the earliest I could convince myself out of my truck - since it took 15 minutes to warm it up and get the frost off the windshield, then another 10 minutes at the gas station filling up and getting a Gatorade and apple pie for breakfast. Cabo was not as sluggish. She wanted to play ball first thing, which I did while I let the truck warm up. We sat about the last 5 minutes inside the truck as it warmed up though - I couldn't bare the cold.
I was going to keep moving this morning, I hit several run stretches down river from where I fished the previous day. My fish stretch produces a vicious hit, but I didn't land him. After moving down again I hooked 3 fish in a row all browns - the first was 14 inches the latter two were 11 or 12 inch browns. Feisty as always they were fun. I
missed two others in that stretch. I moved down to another perfect stretch - I had seen a guy pull a good sized fish out of here last night as we were headed out. On my third cast I was on - getting pulled all over the place. Although the fish was not big he fought big. When he was finally landed it was a 13 inch rainbow - my first non-brown. That stretch was dead as Cabo decided to "help" me land the fish. She made quite a commotion, but I didn't care. I worked a little farther down and then worked back up towards the truck. I landed another brown and finally in a big rock pool close to my exit I hooked another 12 inch rainbow that was full of energy. Rainbows seemed to take anything - especially on your first cast. I caught most of my fish on a red copper john or prince nymph. Also, green bead head zebra's worked in smaller sizes (size 20). It was a fun day and I was glad I caught fish. Cabo swam it up in that rock hole for quite a while. Often treading water for a minute with shallow water 6 inches to her left or right - I think she was showing off. My day ended at 11 am and I looked over to find Cabo perched on a rock in the middle of the river, watching my every move. She was laying down, her face looking directly at me - I couldn't see much of her facial featured except her patient eyes. She was intent (kind of) on just watch about 25 feet away - as I worked every hole throwing my arm around yet catching nothing. I anchored my flies on my rod loop and called to her she slid into the current and worked her way to her left, finding ground, sloshing out, then losing bottom to a doggy paddle - then finding bottom again, then sloshing out of the river to a vigorous shake. She was pretty tired. Time to go home, way home.
Sunday, September 12, 2004 – Blue River by Dillon and Blue River above Dillon Res.
65 degrees in the morning – almost 85 by mid-day – few clouds early and then sunny
Caught 1 fish – 11 inch rainbow - 25 cfs above Dillon and 37.5 below the dam – clear as a bell
I fished with Steffan Knapp from work. I had been bragging to him about the huge fish in the Asbestos Hole – boy was I wrong this time. The river has completely changed – due to the huge flows over the Labor Day weekend. Basically all the sandy deep stretches are now all gravel and all 15 inches deep. Which means there are much fewer fish in that hole and in the area. We saw a few fish in the hole, large ones, but they knew we were there and wouldn’t bite for anything. I moved below the lower bridge and had a strike right off, but lost it. I tried to move Steffan to the spot, but we couldn’t raise another fish. The hole further down (behind the outlets) was filled in with gravel too! Soon we decided to head out and hit the river as it dumps into Dillon. We fish the length, but it was clear as gin and the fish saw us. I managed to hook a 10 inch rainbow at the bottom in the flats – the fish barely fought. We walked down to the reservoir and then decided to leave. Skunked!
Friday, September 23, 2004 – South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon
45 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – mostly sunny – then storm clouds, then sunny again
Caught 4 fish – 1 brown and 3 rainbows – 181 cfs flows - water was pretty clear
Took the day off work for a change and fished the Canyon. The hike in is still a pain in the ass. Took Cabo and had fun, although rain clouds came in around 3 pm and looked scary – sprinkled, but was over in 40 minutes or so. Fishing was ok, I hooked an 18 inch brown that was skinny as hell on a gold wire nymph in size 22. I watched him take the fly, so that was pretty cool. Had no luck the rest of the morning, although I wasn’t trying very hard. Around 2:30 pm I started getting into fish. I was in my normal spot – right by the rock the river swirls around – and hooked a pig – a 20-inch rainbow that fought pretty well. I caught him on a silver beadhead, silver wire with purple flask emerging – size 20 or 18. I caught him in the first run by the rock. The second rainbow was a 17 inch bow that I caught on the same fly in the next hole up. The final fish was a 20 or 21-inch rainbow on the far side of the rock. Because of the water being so much higher the water ran on the far side of the rock. I caught this pig on a size 20 grey zebra midge with a gold beadhead.
I lost 4 other fish – 1 on a dry fly – there was a great red/tan quill hatch going on earlier in the day. The others were on nymphs that just popped out. One of the fishes was huge though. Fun day, but I really wasn’t in the mood to fish. I’m doing the Clear Creek clean-up through Cutthroat Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
Sunday, October 2, 2004 – Blue River (between Green Mountain Reservoir and Silverthorne)
40 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – mostly cloudy with some sun
Caught 5 fish – 4 koke’s and 1 rainbow – 70+ cfs flows - water was pretty clear
Fished with Bill (our neighbor) and Cabo. It was a cold day up there and it looked like it was going to snow at any time. A very cold breeze was blowing for most of the day. We started out right above Green Mountain Reservoir – it was a beautiful area, but there were no fish at all around. We moved up to another area up about a mile. The area looked nice with large boulders, but again, no fish anywhere. We moved up again – right by the gravel pit. This area was pretty flat, but it had a nice run in it. Bill noticed right off that there were some huge fish sitting next to the bank and they were red with bluish heads. They were definitely salmon and they had definitely come up from Green Mountain some 8 miles down river! Bill tried hooking them and snagged one but it got off. I moved up to the perfect riffle and started fishing – I saw a fish jump and to my astonishment it was red! Well then I started looking and the whole bottom of the riffle was red – there were hundreds of salmon in the riffle. I hooked one right away on a size 22 black zebra midge. I landed it and it was a 14-inch kokanee! My first salmon! I soon caught another 14-incher and then hooked up on an 18-incher that I let Bill land. A little later I hooked another pig in the 18-inch range. I noticed that these fish were really cool looking, with teeth like things on their lips and they were very slimy – not to mention they stunk. The last fish I caught actually had some growth or mold growing on its side fins. What a great fish – a really cool day. I kept at it, switching sides of the riffle and hooked into a huge fish – which I knew wasn’t a salmon because it was much browner in color. I fought him and he was a huge rainbow, but I foul hooked him and when I tried to net him he popped off. He was easily 18 inches long. We noticed that we were on private property (by only a couple of feet) so we decided to leave. We headed to the 70 over pass. Of course this area was packed. Cabo was starting to get grumpy and cold, so we called it a day.
Sunday, October 10, 2004 – Williams Fork & Colorado River by Byers Canyon
50 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 6 fish – 4 browns and 2 rainbows – largest was a rainbow and brown at 14 inches
Williams Fork 176 cfs flows water was clear, Colorado 96 cfs clear
I fished with Nate and his buddy Dave today. Dave drove and decided to show us some new water. The Williams Fork River just down from Williams Fork Reservoir. The river was absolutely beautiful! It is only about a mile further than the Colorado at Byers Canyon. You park and walk in about a mile down a dirt road, into a valley full of aspens that were in full bloom. The river sits in the bottom of the valley and was beautiful today. Cfs were 176 – so that must be pretty good, during the summer I know that the water gets down to 10 cfs and it is scary warm. There was a ton of people there today, so we moved almost all the way up to the dam – which can’t be more than ¾ of a mile up from the first access. Nate jumped in and Dave and I moved up, I crossed over and fished just below a waterfall. It looked nice, but there wasn’t any fish anywhere, so I moved up to an area that was more creek than river with large boulders in the middle. I fished every little stretch, hooking a 2.5 inch fish and an 8 inch brown. I moved up some more and saw a slight eddy next to a fast current. A few tosses later I had a fish on and he was moving quickly in the current and dove under a rock. I managed to get him up – a nice 14 inch brown.
We didn’t have any luck for a while and we decided to leave and try the Colorado – which is right down the street. The hike out was tiring. We tried a spot up the Colorado a bit after the Byers Canyon bridge – with no luck. We then headed to the end of Byers Canyon. I jumped right in just above the washed out bridge and hooked a 12 inch rainbow. I moved down to my fallen tree spot and hooked a fat 14 inch rainbow and then a small 10 inch brown. I decided to head back to the truck (since Dave was driving) and we left. Good day, nice new water!
Saturday, November 20, 2004 – South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon
30 degrees in the morning and all day – snow, snow and more snow – but only about 4 inches
Caught 4 fish all rainbows - 108 cfs flows - water was clear
I fished with Matt Landers from Protiviti today. It was a snowy and cold day – but that made it even better. We left the BK at 8 am – which is late. The roads were crappy and we were on the river close to 10 am. We moved up to Nate’s hole – and I hooked two fish in the first 15 minutes on small (size 20) silver bullet midges. One was 18 inches and the other was 19 inches. I hooked another hog about 30 minutes after that and let Matt try to land him – but the pug popped off the hook after a short fight – he was at least 20 inches long. I moved down towards the large rock, not catching anything. I tried for one fish eating dry flies on the surface – slowly sipping the huge parachutes (really size 20) green duns off the water. Between the snowflakes I could see the little sailboats sail into range and then get pulled under in a split half second. All I had was a size 18 Adam’s and that got ignored every time. I moved down again with no luck – finally at the rock, I tried the right side and let it slip next to the rock. I slammed a huge rainbow – about 19 inches who jumped 4 times – the 3rd time he jumped he hit his head on the drift wood next to the rock! I had to land him in the next pool down as he slid down the waterfall. I had another fish on in the same pool, which was at least 22 inches (the typical fish I always catch in that hole) spit the hook, and kept thrashing long after the fly was off. Weird how they always do that.
Matt caught a 14 inch rainbow – the fish was in his net and then flopped out – he was very disappointed. He kept saying how he had a good time, but I know he would have had a much better time had he caught fish. The fishing was good for a snowy day – the hike was a pain in the ass though.
Friday, November 26, 2004 – Big Thompson River in Estes Park
40 degrees in the morning – almost 45 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny – some snow off and on
Caught 4 fish – all rainbows – all were about 9-12 inches
Big T was 33 cfs clear as a bell
I fished with Matt again, we decided to head up to the Big T because of the low flows. 33 cfs is too low. The day was cold with off and on snow flurries and sun. We fished right up by the dam – small fish were around. I lost about a dozen. I had a few on zebra’s size 20. The bend pool had some fish hitting dries – I had one on an 18 adam’s, but he dove deep and popped off. No fish were larger than 12 inches. We moved down river down the highway – the wind was so brutal we called it quits at 2pm. Matt caught the biggest of the day – a 14 inch bright red rainbow.
Saturday, March 13, 2004 – South Platte River by Deckers
45 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 7 fish – 3 browns and 4 rainbows – all were about 12-14 inches
36+ cfs flows water was fair to dirty clarity
Cabo and I went fishing today and had a great day. We spent about 5 hours fishing and managed a few fish. The weather was great, but the water was mucked up a bit. The water was pretty low – earlier in the week it was at 90 cfs and then 60 cfs and then finally down to 36 cfs. We fished in the Trumbull area – just up the road from the fire station in my favorite spot. Not more than a few seconds of watching the river and we noticed that a fish was slurping PMD’s off the surface in the large pool directly behind the large rock. The fish was hitting bugs a foot or so off the bank, which was unusual. I tied on a size 20 PMD and on my 8th cast landed a nice 13 or 14 inch brown (around 8am). He was a good size, but not overly fat. I showed the fish to Cabo and she was interested as usual, kind of looking at it funny and then wondering where it disappeared to! I switched to nymphs and fished up and back down the bank for about 100 yards – without any luck. I returned to the pool and found two fish slurping bugs again, so I tied on a PMD with no luck, switched to a white tiny dry fly, but still no luck – the fish would come right up to the fly, but not take. I could see a few PMDs but saw a few bugs that were dead laying on the water with their wings out, so I switched to a spinner size 18 and nailed the fish with my 1st cast. The fish was a beautiful rainbow – full coloration about the same size 13 inches (10am). Again, I showed the fish to Cabo and she was playful, but wouldn’t touch it. I plopped in into the water and she wanted to see where it went! She proceeded to try to “feel” around for it with her paws in the water and then stick her face into the water to see if she could “see” it – with no luck – but it was funny. I saw a bald eagle fly over – pretty amazing. A guy came down to talk to me as I was throwing a stick into the water for Cabo. He basically asked me about the river.
We moved down the road towards Deckers about a ¼ mile – this is the last bend before you can see the Fly Shop and there is a U shaped turn on the right. I liked this area because there are some big bolders and pocket water – and I’ve see people catch a lot of fish here. Cabo and I hit the first fast riffle we saw that was about a foot deep. A few casts in I had one on – a nice fight from a 12 inch brown – that was caught on a dual nymph rig of a beadhead purple flash and black body on top and a beadhead and red body with silver wire ribbing on bottom – I caught my next 5 fish on this same red nymph!
I moved down a bit to where there is a fallen log on the far bank and the water rushes past a rock and along the log. The fast current made this an ideal spot. About 6 casts in I got one heck of a tug and thought I had on a monster!! He gave a good fight, but when he came to net he was another 12 inch brown. These fish were not afraid to shake their heads and try to throw the hook. I again moved down to the last large pool right before the bridge (second bridge from the Fly Shop). This pool always looks nice but it was full of mud on the road side, so you have to stand almost in the middle and cast to the fast area on the far bank. My 5 or 6th cast hooked another fish that gave a great fight – a 12 inch rainbow that had beautiful coloring. I caught him right at the end of the pool and didn’t even know I had him on! A few more casts to the middle of the pool produced another 12 inch rainbow. And finally my last fish was at the head of the pool – where my fly barely hit the water and my line was racing up stream. This fish was the best fight of all – when I landed him after a 2 minutes fight it was another 12 or 13 inch rainbow - this one was the prettiest of all. I had caught the last five fish on the same rig – and all 5 fish on the same fly – the red emerging nymph with silver wire ribbing – about size 18.
I lost both flies in a hang up just after that – which was fine because the wind started picking up and Cabo started shaking – all signs that it is time to go home!
Saturday, March 20, 2004 – South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny – windy late in the day
Caught 4 fish – 3 browns (12, 14 and 16 inches) and 1 rainbow (20 inches)
40+ cfs flows water was clear as a bell in the Canyon but horribly dirty down in Deckers
Nate and I hit the canyon for the first time this year. Great morning – expecting 70 degrees. We set up in our normal holes. Fish were far back in mine – sitting in the shallow water in front of the two huge rocks at the end of the pool. Landed a 14 inch brown on the same red nymph emerger as last week – the trick this time was NO ADDED WEIGHT! He fought some, tried to dive bomb the rocks, but I pulled him out. I slammed another brown (only 12 inches) a few minutes later between those two huge rocks – same fly and still no added weight. It was about 9 or 9:30 am. I fished my normal spot at the top of the pool next with no luck – I didn’t even see much and there were not any top feeding trout yet – there was some sporadic hatches of PMDs, but nothing to get the fish rising. I moved into Nate’s pool and saw tons of huge fish just laying around – eating, but not eating much – the water was so slow in that pool that they could be very picky. I moved down to just blow my pool and tried to fish the riffles coming out of my pool into this one. No luck – too shallow and too slow. I leaned back towards the shore and threw a fly between the two huge rocks that are at the end of my pool (but this time I was down stream from them). I could see a fish taking from the surface and since I have no added weight I figured I’d tried. I landed a 16 inch brown on my first cast. Same nymph same result – wow are they hitting the red beadhead!
At that very moment Nate was hollering because he had a lunker on. He was fishing the “Rock” – which is a 15 foot high bolder that the river flows around – it’s about 2 holes below mine and 3 below Nate’s. We fish this stretch a lot because right before the Rock is a bunch of fast riffles that hold lots of fish. This area is where the fish gather to spawn – and there was some lunkers spawning today. Including two 22 inch probably 6 pound fish that were getting it on. Brightly colored and full or energy they moved up and down a 8 inch deep 30 foot long stretch of river splashing and making lots of noise. Well, as I said Nate was pulling this fish out and by the time I reached him he was already netted – a huge rainbow about 20 inches and easily the fattest fish I’ve seen in those parts. We got snap shots and a measurement and back in he went. Nate said that he landed it on the same red nymph. That rock is easy to fish – the fish sit under there and stack up – you throw a San Juan worm and a small nymph and they’ll take the nymph every time. It was about 11:30 now – so we rested and then Nate headed back down river to the entrance to try some dry fly fishing.
No luck for me in that stretch – plenty of fish but they were all spawning. I moved down past Nate to the stretch of narrow water just below the flats – just below a small falls. There are always fish in the riffles but I have had luck on dry flies here. I watched the water and could see PMDs coming off occasionally and I could see a smaller fish taking them occasionally in the riffles. So I tied one on and started throwing into the middle. In slow motion I say this huge mouth come up and take my fly. I landed a 20 or 19 inch rainbow on a size 20 PMD – we got a couple of pictures and then plopped him back in. Awesome fish, not very fat but super colorful – that was at about 1 pm. We decided to head to the Deckers bridge and try our luck – we tried but the water was too dirty. I had a little guy in by the log – but I was on the far bank and he wiggled his way off. We left soon after.
Saturday, April 17, 2004 – South Platte River in Waterton Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – 80 by mid-day – sunny – windy late in the day
Caught 5 fish – 3 brookies (all 8 inches or less) and 2 rainbows (both 14 inches)
20 cfs flows water was murky closer to the dam – clear towards the road
I fished Waterton Canyon on Saturday with Nate. Wanted to do some fishing but close to home. We biked all the way to the dam at around 8ish. With jelly legs I stumbled down the embankment and fished the section right under the dam - no luck there. Moved down about 300 yards to a nice steady spot. Saw a few fish taking PMD off the surface - but I must have spooked them. Ended up catching 4 fish in that hole all on a zebra midge with a white puff emerger behind the bead head (size 18). The four fish were nice - two tiny 8 inch brookies and 2 14 inch rainbows. The first bow came in without a fight, looked lethargic actually, but was colorful with a huge jaw. I caught him in 6 inches of water right IN a riffle. The second rainbow was much fiestier - but not as colorful. Nice fish for this section of the Platte - I am surprised that they are there - but am happy about it.
We tried a couple more spots - but didn't see anything.
Sunday, May 2, 2004 – South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – 80 by mid-day – sunny and hot
Caught 3 fish – 1 brown (13 inches) and 2 rainbows (13 inches and 18/19 inches)
Missed three fish – three huge fish!!
40 cfs flows water was clear as a bell in the canyon – mud brown in Deckers
I fished Cheesman again today - had a decent day although it was very crowded. The "new" Gill Trail is open and the old parking areas along the road are closed - so if you are headed to the Canyon you have to park in the old camp ground (Trout Unlimited Cutthroat chapter has paid for the paving and landscaping of the old campground gravel parking lot) and walk about twice as far as the old hike in (which sucked).
Flows were at 40 cfs, which is about 50% higher than last time I went - although you couldn't really tell. The river outside the Canyon was mud brown but the Canyon was crystal clear. I started the day in my normal hole (which I will not give away) and hit a 13 inch brown on my very first cast. It hit on a size 22, black zebra midge with gold wire and a gold beadhead. I fished the hole some more and hooked onto an enormous brown - long and skinny - I would say probably about 21 inches. He fought me hard, but wasn't interested in giving an inch and I couldn't turn his head and he headed for some rocks and I paniced - and tried to hard to turn him and he popped off.
I moved up the river some more and tried a 30 foot stretch of fast water between two very deep rapids. On my first cast I nailed a 13 inch rainbow. He fought pretty good, but had no where to go - so I landed him pretty easily. Beautifull colored rainbow, he hit on the same zebra midge. I fished up river some more but with no luck. I came back to that same hole and hooked into a sweet 19 inch rainbow. He fought like mad, but had no place to go either - I looked like an idiot fumbling over rocks and slipping on weeds and falling into ankle deep water trying my hardest to keep tension on the line. Finally the fish was more tired than me (barely) and I managed to scoop him up just as he became deadweight and started to be carried by the current. What a beautiful fish - killer coloring and fat. Same fly this time too.
It was around 10am when I caught that last one - well, I tried a hundred places and decided to head back to the mouth of the canyon. At around 1:30 at the mouth of the canyon (right before the Wigwam club) there is a small waterfall and a strecth of about 30 yards of knee deep water. I have always had good luck here and this was no exception (kinda). I nymphed my same rig with a large wieght and hooked into a huge rainbow. This fish fought like no other I have ever had on (except maybe some 6 inch brookies that are worth their weight in gold) - he grabbed the fly and charged me!!! He ran 20 feet to the head of the pool, shot to the far shore, shot 50 feet to the base of the pool, shot at me again, then to the head of the pool, then to the far shore again, this time though - he tried to beach himself!!! NO KIDDING!! Half his fins were out of the water and he managed to get the fly stuck on weeds and popped off. What a pretty fish - I could see him the whole time - bright red on his belly.
The very next cast I hooked another rainbow and he did the same thing! He charged me and then headed to the head of the pool and then the far shore where he managed to get under a rock and put reverse tension on the line and popped off. Crazy! I tied on a dry fly next and tried at the 13 to 15 new little months sucking the surface. Some fish were smaller, some were about 16 inches and in the riffles there were some bigger fish. I couldn't get any of these guys to actually hold onto the fly - so I left with a good sunburn and worn out. The walk back nearly killed me. Not a bad day - 3 for 6 - that's .500 right!
My buddy and I think that walk might not be worth the trip anymore - we are considering the Blue or the Colorado river by Kremmling next. Unfortunately the CO river is going to be pretty muddy over the next few months - so the Blue will probably win (or another tailwater).
Sunday, May 9, 2004 – Fraser River in Fraser & Colorado River in Byers Canyon
55 degrees in the morning – almost 80 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 10 fish – 6 browns and 4 rainbows – all were about 10-15 inches
Fraser was 8 cfs clear as a bell – Colorado 50+ cfs flows, water was good to fair clarity
I decided I was fishing this Sunday rain or shine - my buddy decided he had landscaping and church to attend to and bagged on me. This would give me a chance to fish at my own pace and with my chocolate lab. I had been wanting to try the Fraser and of course the Colorado always peeks my interest.
I started out late, but it was a nice day. The whole drive I kept second guessing myself about this 1.5 hour trip - I mean, if the weather is bad, you get a hole in your wader, or you get skunked it would be a bad day - right? Too many opportunities to make this a wasted 3 hour round trip drive - I should turn around and head home - sleep in a little, maybe clean the house, do laundry, etc. Good thing I wasn't shaken - I continued on - made Fraser by 9:00 ish. I had heard great things about the river behind the Safeway, so I tried there first. I knew the flows were low from the chart on the internet - 8 cfs - hardly enough water to be fishable. By I knew I wanted to see this famous river and I was not surprised to see a small creek with not much water. I fished my way around the Safeway, catching only an 8 inch brown. I wanted to try the Tabernash section of the Fraser River next, but knew there was no way that the river would have any water since it was trickling in Fraser. I decided to head to the Colorado only a half hour more down the road.
The Colorado always fishes well as long as the water is somewhat clear. I had talked to Nelson's Fly Shop in Tabernash on Saturday and they confirmed it was clear and at average flows (about 50 cfs). My favorite spot is just outside of Hot Sulphur Springs just west of Byers Canyon. There is a camping area/public access point there and it is a really good spot. Most of this stretch is brilliant during low water, but higher water makes it a bit more difficult, as the fish will move. I arrived around 11am and it was mostly empty (Mother's Day has a positive side for us guys) - I jumped into my first hole, just above the old log bridge at the head of the bend pool. Nothing, not even a snag - sad. I moved down just above the bridge and hit a few right off - always a good spot. I lost 2 or 3 but landed a nice 10 inch brown on a prince nymph size 18 who fought like crazy and didn't want to be landed.
I moved down a couple holes, skipping over another fisherman. The next spot I had no luck in, water was deep, fast and dark - lost my rig and decided to switch to a San Juan Worm in hopes of it being more noticeable in the water. Next spot was amazing, first cast right next to the bottom of the riffles landed me a sweet 12 inch feisty brown on the SJ Worm. My next cast back to the same cast produced the exact same result - 12 inch brown who hit like a ton of bricks and ran up and down - finally coming to net. Unfortunately I'm not very graceful on slippery rocks in waders and basically scared everything in a 100 foot radius as I nearly did a header in 4 inches of water. I moved down again, amazing to see most spots that were gravel were about 6 inches deep now and those spots that were normally very shallow were now prime spots right next to the banks. Standing in the middle of the river - with my lab standing between my legs for balance - I casted to both banks - moving down to get better spots. I found the perfect spot in a 25 foot run the rammed a log and slid to faster water. I hooked 6 fish in this hole - all about 13 inches long - I landed 4 all browns. The two I missed were both rainbows, both were missed due to the fast water causing them to pop off. I could have sworn it was the same rainbow I missed twice - big jaw and fiesty.
Of course I splashed around that hole having some difficulties landing the fiesty ones away from the mostly fast water - I had made enough noise and decided to move on.
I decided to change my rig - so I sat down on the elevated bank with my feet in the water. Cabo - my mutt - poking her nose at me trying to see if I'll play a little "stick" before I tied on a fly - she was right - how do you say know to that face?? Of course, you can't have sticks without swimming and since that hole was already spoiled I threw it in a few times. It was amazing to quickly see that both human and dog could both be the most content they may have ever been. I leaned back on the bank and Cabo chewed her stick peacefully, I watch the clouds and the sky in 75 degree heat, my feet reminding me that I was water logged and my mind wandering to what kind of fish lie around the bend in the perfect looking run.
Right before the big bend (some of you may know which one I'm talking about) I decided to go up and fish the right fork - there is a large pool split in half by a rock and the fish were easily seen darting about. No luck there - actually lost my rig and had to tie back up.
I decided to head back to the truck, or at least to the first spot - which didn't yield anything. Lastly I wanted to move up and fish the large riffle just after the highway bridge. This riffle looks great, but holds a ton of small fish. The lunkers are on the bottom - and they are always there. I rigged up and jump to the base of the riffle. Landed a small rainbow (11 inches or so) right off on a black zebra midge size 20. Next fish was the fish I was looking for - I hooked a 16 inch rainbow and he didn't fight very much - just went into the standard roll at the surface - gorgeous red belly and gills - got him right next to me and he popped off (damn it!!). That was the fish I was after. I kept at it - landing a 12 inch rainbow again. Finally I hooked another, this one didn't fight much, wouldn't come to the surface and I was actually surprised to land a 14 inch cutbow. Pretty fish - no fight - just dead weight.
After peering over and seeing my soak and wet lab whining and shivering I decided it was probably time to go home. The ride home made me realize that I shouldn't have had my doubts about the ride out this morning. The scenery in that part of Colorado is amazing - and it made me realize no matter how "bad" of a day I had (and I do have about 25 leaks in my waders) I was still in one of the prettiest places on earth and it would always be better than most experiences you could have on a Sunday! As I tossed Chex Mix to my fishing buddy in the back seat - with her head propped up on the arm rest between the front seats - I couldn't think of any way it could have been better.
Sunday, May 31, 2004 – South Platte River in Deckers
65 degrees in the morning – almost 80 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 9 fish – 6 rainbows and 3 browns – all were about 12-17 inches
50 cfs flows, water was clear to good clarity
The river has completely changed – gravel has completely taken over for the first mile from Deckers down river. All holes have been completely filled in and it looks like “sand flats”.
I fished today - great day for it again. Went down to the South Platte by Deckers - wanted to catch some decent size fish and have easy access - I brought the mutt with me to keep me company.
What the hell has happened to the Platte by Deckers - it has been flooded by gravel and every hole from the bridge at Deckers to about a mile down has been filled in and turned into a sand flat. Does anyone know what happened? Seriously, this is scary - I mean the spot I fished normally has 10 foot deep holes and they were completely filled in! If anyone knows, please post - because this was not this way only two weeks ago.
Well, I parked at the spot just up river from the Trumbull Fire Dept, jumped into the water and couldn't believe my eyes. I had to find new places to fish, because every hole was filled in. I stood on the exact spot that was about 7 feet deep (right next to the rock the cracked in half and had the pipe put into support in - next to the gauge station). AMAZING. I moved up and tried for some fish in a gravel gully - no luck. I knew the fish were in the deeper spots, but there weren't any. I tried around rocks - 1 rock in particular I took 3 huge fish on consecutive casts, 3 rainbows all about 17 inches and fat. They took a black zebra midge (size 20), a red nymph that I just used tinsel wrapped (size 20) and a green zebra gold beadhead (size 18). These fish fought nice. Close to the same rock I slammed a cute little (15 inches) in the current on the same green zebra. I moved back to the rock and tied on a maroon San Juan worm and a zerba nymph. I hooked the biggest fish of the day - since the water was only 10 inches deep you can see these guys very easily. The fish was another bow and he was easily 19 inches - he shook his head viciously and popped the hook. I hooked another 17 inch bow right after that on the green zebra midge. Awesome spot, but obviously I had caught everything out of that hole, because I kept fishing it for another 1.5 hours with no a lick.
I moved up closer to Deckers, the parking area right before you get to the fly shop, on the bend (just after the cross over bridge). water was very low (I could tell finally because the water looked somewat familiar now). There was still gravel everywhere, but the river looked like its old self. Except on the bend there right where that downed log is - usually the water is 15 inches deep there and there is tons of fish (small ones) - this time it was 6 inches deep and looked like a beach - you could easily see that there were no fish there. I moved down river to the bridge - that was the only deep spots in that stretch. I hook a huge rainbow (for that hole) - 15 inches on a purple crystalline flash nymph (size 18) on the first cast. He shot me down another hole and I landed him barely. I hooked another bow - 15 inches - and he jumped straight up out of the water and almost hit Cabo in the butt - she didn't even notice. I fought to land him and had to finagle around a rock and a log and landed him in an inch of water.
I ducked under the bridge and fished the other side - hooked two fish immediately, but the bolted down stream and I lost both within split seconds. Moved down a bit again, to water that was unrecognizable - I just fished the deep spots. I saw a rainbow and a brown cuddling next to a rock, the bow kept coming out to feed but the brown stayed between two rocks. I hooked the bow twice! But he shook his head and popped off - neither time did it seem to slow him down - he kept feeding. I took off all the weight and hooked the brown - he bolted straight down stream for about 40 yards, jumping three times - I landed him in a calm 6 inch pool - basically he beached himself - thank God. He was 15 inches, skinny, colorful, and full of energy. I hooked him on the black zebra midge (size 20). I hooked another brown who fled about 20 yards down stream again - and a couple jumps - he was about 14 inches and very colorful.
That was my day. I have fly fished for 5 summers now and am finally "getting" it. I can spot fish easily, I know how deep the indicator needs to be, I know how much weight to use, I know what type of drift I need, I know where the fish are - these are all things I am finally getting. I have also learned to keep moving. Fishing in one spot for 4 hours is useless. If you spook a fish you will never catch it. Never fish to a motionless trout - he ain't eating, so you can't catch it! I've learned to keep my eyes open, fish are everywhere and they are always eating. I have learned that clarity and quickness of the water determine the size of the fly you need. If you are fishing in slow crystal clear water, you need size 22 and 24 nymphs. Faster water needs size 20's and 18's. I have also learned to play fish - which is huge. When I first started fishing I would hook a lunker and either lose it after a long fight of basically me running down stream, or lose it immediately when the smart ass fish decided to head for a rock or a stick. I learned how to land huge fish at Boxwood Gulch - where every fish is 18 inches or your money back. A few of these fish today didn't want to be hooked (which is new for that area of the Platte) and wanted to dive towards stuff. Keep you rod tip up (obviously), but lead the fish AWAY from hazards. If he starts charging up stream point your rod tip down stream, force him to tire himself out. If he wants to go right, point you rod tip left. Do this the whole time - it will wear the fish out and you will land fish faster and easier. Remember to get the rod tip up just before netting, this holds the fishes head above water just as you scoop with the net - you aren't going to scoop a fish that is fully submerged - he'll charge under your net (and you will snag that second fly in the net and lose him) and go right between your legs and you'll lose him.
Sunday, June 6, 2004 – Big Thompson River in Estes Park & St. Vrain River in Lyons
70 degrees in the morning – almost 90 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 8 fish – 1 brookie, 5 browns and 2 rainbows – all were about 9-15 inches
Big T was 304 cfs clear as a bell – St. Vrain 70+ cfs flows, water was good clarity
Headed to the Big Thompson - tried to stop in Drake to fish it, but it was at 300 flows. Headed to just below the dam and fished that area caught 7 fish - mostly browns. Landed one sweet 15 inch brown that wouldn't come out of the middle of the river - I dove into a hole about 40 feet from where I hooked him because the current was so damn strong nothing could fight it. I learned that my new hip waders aren't much use when you literally jump into a hole that is about a half inch over them. Leaves you with a wet ass.
Most of the fish were hitting a gold beadhead nymph zebra style with red and purple crystalline flash as a head. I also caught 2 pretty rainbows that were feeding right next to the under cut banks. They were 13 inches and 12 inches and they fought pretty well. I lost tons of fish (about 5), including a lunker that I hooked 2 feet right in front of me, he sat in a hole and I tried to pull him straight up, he managed to get just below the surface and I literally saw the fly pop out of his mouth. Sad.
We were pretty bummed about the flows on the Thompson so we headed down to the St Vrain to give it a look. I have never been there, and have read about it in Gierach's books. What a let down. The river is barely a river, and the section I was in (right before Buttonhole Reservior) was pretty much fishless. I did manage to false hook a 10 inch brookie. The river is a joke, tons of private property and no real good holes to fish. I'm sure if is better above Longmont Reservior, but it was horrible today.
That is my story for this weekend - I look like a raccoon from the sun as I have white eyes and perfect white lines going from my eyes to my ears.
Sunday, June 13, 2004 – South Platte River in Deckers
60 degrees in the morning – almost 90 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught nothing
140 cfs flows, water was fair to poor clarity
I have officially been skunked!! First time this year, the water was just way too high - 140 cfs, and the fish were no where to be found. It was unbelievably hot too - after a cool morning. Tons of fisherman and tons of campers. No fish.
Sunday, June 20, 2004 – South Platte River in Deckers
70 degrees in the morning – almost 80 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 1 fish 13 inch rainbow, netted a 20 inch rainbow.
71.4 cfs flows, water was poor clarity
Water was ugly – like chocolate milk for most of the river, slightly better before Horse Creek (in Deckers) and ok (not great) down the dirt road out of Deckers. I fished the far back area – almost to the Wigwam club – there is a huge rock right next to the road. I caught a 13 or 14 inch rainbow on a pheasant tail size 20. I talked to a guy for about a half an hour about fishing and the condition of the river. We were expecting a dry fly hatch to go off any minute, but nothing came of it. I almost didn’t fish because the water was discolored. I did however scoop up a 20 inch fish with my net. The fish was pretty much just hanging around a sandbar casually eating. I had hooked him for a split second, and even though he popped off he continued to thrash in the water. Cabo (my mutt) went after it and it was funny to see her sticking her head under the water to “find” it! The fish kept coming back to the sandbar, and I would have Cabo go and get the fish – when I say go, basically it means she goes up to it, turns towards me to “check” to see if everything is ok – she’s a wimp. She tried to touch it with her paw a few times and the fish would wiggle away – but again come back to the sandbar. Finally I walked over and scooped it up. This was a very thick fish and he was black as anything on top with a slight pink color. He was beautiful and he thrashed a little in the net. I set him back in the water and Cabo wanted to play with him – but only from a foot away. She would basically just put her feet in the water and act like she was trying to feel for it – then stick her head under and look for it (funny as hell).
That was my day – pretty uneventful. I wish the water had been better. I did see a pair of bald eagles trying to mate in the air – pretty neat. One was screeching while the other was trying to continue to fly away.
Saturday, June 27, 2004 – Blue River by Dillon
65 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds early and then rain by early afternoon
Caught 9 fish – 3 browns and 6 rainbows – the upper Blue fish (which dumps into Dillon) were all about 9-14 inches, the below the dam fish were (2) 15 inchers and (1) 19 incher
25 cfs above Dillon and 37.5 below the dam – clear as a bell
Great day fishing, I had the wife (and mutt) with me and she watched, took pictures and read for the day – then went shopping at the outlets briefly. It was a nice day until right after we left – it started pouring and was nasty rainy weather. I started out on the Blue just above Dillon Reservoir where it dumps into it. This area was still pretty low and had some flat areas. I started with a size 18 brown caddis and landed 2 of the 4 hits I had – both were exactly 10 inch rainbows. I switched to a two-nymph rig and fished my way back to the road/bridge. I hit all the deep holes and flats, slamming a few larger browns – all were about 14 or 15 inches and they fought like mad! The did some acrobatics and were tough to bring to hand. The mutt was on the other bank when I hook a sweet fish who wouldn’t co-operate – well finally I landed it and the mutt decided she needed to come over and examine the fish – so she sloshed right through the hole – for some reason I couldn’t catch any more fish in that hole!!?!! I moved on and hooked a few others. It was nice to catch some hard fighting fish! Throughout the day on the upper Blue there were huge red quills hatching – most were very large in size 10 or 12 – amazing.
This picture says it all – my wife is taking the picture and Cabo is between my legs – there is no greater feeling in this world than to catch fish with your dog between your legs and your wife within speaking distance. I do not have children, but I can imagine that the birth of my first will be just as great, but without the scenery. I’m not much of a free thinker, but as I write this I can not get the dreams of my next fishing trip out of my head – I have a free day on Wednesday, and if I was a betting man I’d say I’ll be on a river somewhere – with Cabo between my legs!
I moved down to right under route 70 between the two bridges. This is one of my favorite spots. The wife headed over to the outlets and the dog and me had 45 minutes to catch as many as possible. I slapped on a mysis shrimp and a gray and silver emerger beadhead. I hooked a 15-inch rainbow and then another – one on the emerger and one on the mysis. I crossed over the river and moved up closer to the waterfall (its not that big). I knew fish liked to sit in the very shallow water and feed, and that was honestly the only spot there was any decent drift. I hook a fish and he wouldn’t move, I would have thought I had hooked bottom, but the fish was only in 8 inches of water and I could see him move slightly. He jetted into the current and stayed there, I tried yanking him off the bottom, but he wouldn’t come up, I tried working him to the bank and he started thrashing. Finally he went dead weight and started going down river – under one of the bridges. I finally netted him and he popped out! I swooped again and hooked him. A fat 19-inch rainbow with a snub nose and plenty of girth. I sat him in the water next to me and he just laid there – I got a quick measure and then slid him into the current. Great fish and a great day!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 – Blue River, Silverthorne – Asbestos Alley
55 degrees in the morning – almost 55 by mid-day – cloudy then rainy/drizzly
Caught 17 fish – 1 browns and 16 rainbows – all but 3 were over 15 inches
50+ cfs flows - water was clear until it started raining
I started off at the Blue towards Breckenridge where it dumps into Dillon Reservoir. The water was a bit higher than Sunday but still clear. I fished all the holes but couldn’t find anything. I finally hooked a 10-inch brown on a huge caddis fly. I moved down to Asbestos Alley under the bridges. I fished the normal stretch and had one on quickly but he got off. I was using a small gray zebra midge and a huge mysis shrimp pattern. I moved under the short bridge and hooked a 16 incher right on the other side. I moved down a bit more and hook a tiny 5 incher – the catch of the day. I actually was trying to recast when I launched the little guy to about the 12 o’clock position where he proceeded to land at my foot. I popped him off and let the dog play with it a bit. I moved back up to between the bridges but someone was fishing my hole. I went up to the big hole (where everyone fishes) to watch a guy land a nice 20 incher. It started raining heavier and I moved down again between the bridges (the guy moved out of it). I hooked 2 quick 16 inch fish in a size 20 mysis pattern.
The rain started getting to me, and my mysis pattern was now bent, so I decided to go to Cutthroat Anglers and get some more mysis – and also stop and get some lunch, and dry out. I had forgotten to bring my rain gear, so I was soaked AND freezing!! Cutthroat is a nice place – kind of small, but the guys are great. I bought 9 Umpqua mysis (3 each of 3 different patterns) all in size 20. I drove back to my spot and ate lunch – and fed the dog half my fries (not flies).
No one was around, so I moved up under the bridge to protect myself from the rain. The fish were stacked right in front of the waterfall – so I tossed in a double mysis and had a fat 18 incher in no time. I proceeded to hook fish after fish after fish (about 12 in a row) all ranging from 15 inches (I got only one that was 12 inches) to 22 inches long (3 fish were over 20 inches and fat as hell!!). It seemed like as soon as it started raining the fish just went nuts and they were chewing on everything. I seriously couldn’t get them in fast enough – the flies were getting chewed up and I was going through them like crazy. The water was getting pretty clouded up from the water pouring off the bridge above me, so the fish probably weren’t being as picky. As the rain let up so did the bites. One of the last fish I caught was a lunker – he held his ground on the other side of the run for a few minutes – hardly interested in being netted. Finally I pulled him into the shallows and netted him – he was easily 22 inches long and nice and fat. I hooked two more fish (a 12 incher, and a 15 incher). The smaller fish fought the best, while the larger ones just sat on the bottom. Over the course of the day I had about 20 hits that I lost – I think I need to get better at detecting hits, but I still had a good day.
Saturday, July 24, 2004 – Blue River by Dillon below the dam
50 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds early and then hail/rain slightly by early afternoon
Caught 12 fish – 1 brown and 11 rainbows – (2) 6 inchers and the rest were between 16 and 20 inches - 88.5 cfs below the dam – clear as a bell
I fished today with Nate and Chuck (his step dad). It was raining in Denver and I was in no mood to get up at 5:30 and make the long drive alone – but I did. Dillon however had beautiful weather with the exception of one low hanging cloud that covered the whole town. Got there at 7 am and jumped into the asbestos alley hole and hooked a couple on size 20 mysis shrimp. It fished well until about 10 am and then got slow. We all moved up river and surprisingly there were no fish the closer you get to the dam. All the fish were between asbestos alley and the outlets foot bridge. Just after the I70 bridge I fished up and down with mysis and small midges in sizes 22. I hooked several fish – almost all rainbows. The fish were getting foul hooked a lot – there is a lot of pressure in that area with about 50 anglers per day hitting that stretch – these poor fish must be pooped. Nate caught a monster (supposedly) 24 incher. He caught about 14 for the whole day (less of course the 7 fish he lost). Chuck caught only 4 fish – which is too bad because I wanted him to get the whole experience. I think Nate and Chuck are believers in the mysis shrimp – without it you might as well not go to the Blue! I was home by 4 pm.
Saturday, July 31, 2004 – Arapahoe Creek and Colorado River by Byers Canyon
60 degrees in the morning – almost 85 by mid-day – a few clouds
Caught 4 fish – 2 brookies at Arapahoe Creek (3 inches and 2 inches) – 1 rainbow (14 inches) and 1 brown (11 inches)
Arapahoe Creek ?? cfs – Colorado River 72 cfs – both clear as a bell
I fished with Tom Shyrock from the flyfisherman.com website chat group. We met at Walmart and decided to head to Arapahoe Creek which is the river that connects Monarch Lake and Granby Lake just outside of Granby. The creek was actually flowing pretty well and was absolutely amazing. Tom had had success on the creek two weeks before catching several 10-14 inch brookies. But, today we were not as lucky. We were skunked with the exception of some tiny brookies – a 2 incher and a 3 incher – not kidding. We decided to try my site – the Colorado River near Byers Canyon. We fished it from about 1 pm to 4 pm – with again no luck. I did hook a brown in the deep bend pool – it was a 10 incher, but nothing special. I did see quite a few fish in that pool that were larger. I hook a couple of small browns in the run that leads to that pool, but landed neither. I did however see a buck about 20 feet away from – he moved up on the bank and just hung out.
We moved to the riffles right after the bridge – here I hooked a 14 inch rainbow – but I foul hooked him in the fin – so this one doesn’t really count. We had a beautiful day – but no fish. I was very surprised because I tried everything and nothing worked.
Sunday, August 22nd - North Fork of the South Platte River & Clear Creek (rest area close to Golden)
70 degrees, sunny, cfs on North Fork around 95 cfs, flows on Clear Creek 75 cfs.
Wanted to fish Deckers and maybe even the Canyon - first time out in a while. The river was a mess - I guess the Cheesman Reservoir had overflowed over the damn and lots of junk was in the water. The water was flowing at around 175 cfs - Dick Jr. at Flies N Lies told me that the water was up around 800 earlier in the week with 500 cfs going through the dam and another 300 over the top. I decided to fish the North Fork at the north end of the Deckers Road. This area looks amazing, but there is never any fish there. I fished the stretch right before it dumps into the South Platte at the old South Platte Hotel. It looked beautiful and was clear as a bell. I fished multiple deep holes and walked about 3/4 of a mile up the river - with no luck. I decided to head to Clear Creek. I cut up 285 and then through Evergreen. It started raining so the mucked up the water. I decided to head down Rt 6 in the canyon towards Golden. I found a nice looking spot I had fished before. I fished it for about an hour without any luck. I had one very small fish on, but that was it.
Sunday, August 29th - Colorado River - Byers Canyon
75 degrees, sunny, mid day, cfs around 60 water was clear.
Jennifer and I went to Grand Lake for the day and on the way home I fished the Colorado River for about an hour. I tried nymphing and then moved on to a size 20 BWo with no luck. I fished the riffle right after the bridge. No fish were caught.
Saturday, September 4th – Arkansas River, Stockyard Bridge and Jesus Saves Rock, Salida
50 degrees in the early morning and 75 mid morning, cloudy, 300 cfs
The Ark was flowing nice and clear. I accidentally found my way to the Stockyard Bridge without even knowing it. I parked and found my way over the bridge and down to the water. The river was flowing nicely under the bridge where it is very deep. Unfortunately the bridge is so low that it offers no opportunity to cast under it. So, I worked the end of the riffle - with no luck. I was unsure of the areas that were public, so I was cautious and only moved down river slightly. There was barb wired fence and no trespassing signs everywhere - so I wasn't going to push my fishing experience - the water was beautiful right where I was. Of course Cabo was not to happy with having to stay out of the water and being quiet. I had to move relatively quickly because she decided to swim out to me while I was standing in the middle of the river up to my waste. I moved down to a waste deep stretch next to the bank where a rock hung out just enough to allow good casts. I hooked two fish in this stretch - 2 browns about 11 inches each. Both fish were caught on prince nymphs.
I moved a little further east towards Jesus Saves Rock. I stumbled upon this stretch because it had a nice plunge pool and no one was in the hole. I moved to the pool and realized that the water was moving way to fast to fish the pool and the riffle was guarded by a huge bolder that I couldn't avoid. I moved to the other side of the rock to a perfect reverse eddy that was just adjacent to the riffle where the water spun back in a foamy cauldron. I knew that there would be some fish just outside the riffle sitting in the eddy and I cast to the bottom of it.
I hooked 2 nice 12 inch browns that were quite feisty. I moved above the riffle to water that was prime for fish - in this stretch I hooked about 8 more fish - mostly in the 11 to 12 inch range - all were browns. The best fish of all was about 16 inches and he was hooked, fought and lost as he went dead weight on me and started to go over some rapids
towards the rough riffles. The fish must have been a brown as he basically thrashed his head but wouldn't move from the bottom. This was a great stretch and Cabo got to paw at several fish as I "handed" them to her. She would quite often continue to "look" for them long after they hit the water and scooted away. I can ask her at anytime where
the fishy is and she will look blindly into the water - searching for a moving object in the waste deep (for her) water. She is quite inept at finding sticks on the bottom with her feet and foraging them out with her mouth. She "saves" on average about 20 sticks per trip, but loses twice that many as her attention span is nil.
I moved a hundred yards north to a nice stretch of waste deep current at the end of a riffle. I landed 1 more brown about 12 inches long – then called it a day. Cabo was cold, a little cranky and wanted to swim and play. I chucked a few sticks and then we headed back to the cabin around 11 am.
I made a feeble attempt to fish the small stream rolling around our cabin. The stream, although large enough to hold fish only held fish in the deepest of areas. I saw a 13 inch fish right next to our neighbors house in a beaver pond, but could catch him. The wind was horrible. I got myself and Cabo trapped in several different snarls of prickers and
burrs and finally turned around and found another route. I made my way onto National Forest land walking up stream fishing every single stretch. The water was beautiful but offered no casting areas and hard to read currents. The fish were skittish and the water contained hundreds of sticks. After switching flies at least 50 times I did manage to get a fish the size of my little finger to take a hit at a huge elk hair caddis. The damn thing wouldn't fit in his mouth and that was the closest I came to catching anything. The 1/2 mile walk home up the dirt road involved me picking endless burrs out of my fleece and
out of Cabo's collar. Back at the cabin I spent 25 minutes "feeling Cabo up" removing another 25 or so burrs.
Sunday, September 5th – Arkansas River, Chaffee/Fremont County lines, just west of Wellsville
40 degrees in the early morning and 70 mid morning, mostly cloudy, 300 cfs
Looking for a nice spot I head a little farther west this time. About 3 miles further out along Rt 50 I saw some nice water that was below some cliffs. Cabo and I descended some tough cliffs and were sitting pretty on a nice patch of water. The water was super clear and rolling. I fished for about two hours with no luck. Gradually I made my way up river fishing a beautiful section of water that narrowed and spun down some shallows like a rolling horizontal waterfall. I spun my nymphs around this section several times with no luck. The river above this area was flat and very shallow - less than ankle deep. I was easy walking, but extremely cold. I moved up to a cliff area that had a plunge pool in front of it and a bolder at the end of the pool. I threw to the bolder with no luck, then fished the pool - nothing.
I moved up even farther and finally snagged a 11 inch brown in a nice hole. I could see fish but couldn't catch a thing. I moved again to the public camping area and fished a nice looking stretch. I caught one, a 9 inch brown, but nothing else. I started fishing a the far side of the river, but Cabo was freezing and she had cut her paw slightly on
something - although I have no clue on what or where on her paw she was cut. The end of the day was when she was stranded on a rock and shaking badly from the cold and 30 mile per hour wind that was making it ten times colder. I hooked my flies, mounted my rod to my chest and picked her up against my chest and carried her back across the river. She was more than happy to accept the ride as she always is. She was soaked, and made me cold, but I could tell she was soaking up my heat. We exited a little earlier than I would have liked at about 10:45 am.
That night around 6pm Jennifer let me fish a new section of the river. This section was located just below the Big Bend campground on a state lease of private property. Taking CR 160 off of 285 then CR 165 to CR 164 we found a turn off with a couple of cars in it. This turn out was located on farm property directly opposite a large farm/ranch. A small
dock walked you through some wetland and Jennifer set up chair and book in the setting sun. The most beautiful stretch of water was laid out before me. To my left was a waist deep riffle stretch that was perfect. I fished it with no avail. Directly in front of me was a plug pool created by another horizontal waterfall - this stretch looked tough to fish and it was. I caught nothing. To my right was large boulders the size of ottomans with great stretches of fast water and eddies sliding behind the rocks. Of course I was not "on" tonight so I again went fishless. I again called it a day and we left just after the last few
rays of sun had left us. The temperature dropped quickly and Jennifer was happy to leave. Cabo was also happy as this was a 16 hour day for her that included, swimming, swimming, playing ball, swimming and playing ball.
Monday, September 6th – Arkansas River, Big Bend Lease Rec. area, west of Smeltertown
32 degrees (frost) in the early morning and 70 mid morning, y, 250 cfs
My last day, I had better make this good! After scoping out some more sections I decided to hit the stretch I had the following night. Right below Big Bend camp ground offered beautiful scenery - with a clear river under me and mountain ranges and farm houses as far as eyes could see. I saw three bucks and 2 bald eagles (I think) while there. I was the first on the river at 7 am. This was the earliest I could convince myself out of my truck - since it took 15 minutes to warm it up and get the frost off the windshield, then another 10 minutes at the gas station filling up and getting a Gatorade and apple pie for breakfast. Cabo was not as sluggish. She wanted to play ball first thing, which I did while I let the truck warm up. We sat about the last 5 minutes inside the truck as it warmed up though - I couldn't bare the cold.
I was going to keep moving this morning, I hit several run stretches down river from where I fished the previous day. My fish stretch produces a vicious hit, but I didn't land him. After moving down again I hooked 3 fish in a row all browns - the first was 14 inches the latter two were 11 or 12 inch browns. Feisty as always they were fun. I
missed two others in that stretch. I moved down to another perfect stretch - I had seen a guy pull a good sized fish out of here last night as we were headed out. On my third cast I was on - getting pulled all over the place. Although the fish was not big he fought big. When he was finally landed it was a 13 inch rainbow - my first non-brown. That stretch was dead as Cabo decided to "help" me land the fish. She made quite a commotion, but I didn't care. I worked a little farther down and then worked back up towards the truck. I landed another brown and finally in a big rock pool close to my exit I hooked another 12 inch rainbow that was full of energy. Rainbows seemed to take anything - especially on your first cast. I caught most of my fish on a red copper john or prince nymph. Also, green bead head zebra's worked in smaller sizes (size 20). It was a fun day and I was glad I caught fish. Cabo swam it up in that rock hole for quite a while. Often treading water for a minute with shallow water 6 inches to her left or right - I think she was showing off. My day ended at 11 am and I looked over to find Cabo perched on a rock in the middle of the river, watching my every move. She was laying down, her face looking directly at me - I couldn't see much of her facial featured except her patient eyes. She was intent (kind of) on just watch about 25 feet away - as I worked every hole throwing my arm around yet catching nothing. I anchored my flies on my rod loop and called to her she slid into the current and worked her way to her left, finding ground, sloshing out, then losing bottom to a doggy paddle - then finding bottom again, then sloshing out of the river to a vigorous shake. She was pretty tired. Time to go home, way home.
Sunday, September 12, 2004 – Blue River by Dillon and Blue River above Dillon Res.
65 degrees in the morning – almost 85 by mid-day – few clouds early and then sunny
Caught 1 fish – 11 inch rainbow - 25 cfs above Dillon and 37.5 below the dam – clear as a bell
I fished with Steffan Knapp from work. I had been bragging to him about the huge fish in the Asbestos Hole – boy was I wrong this time. The river has completely changed – due to the huge flows over the Labor Day weekend. Basically all the sandy deep stretches are now all gravel and all 15 inches deep. Which means there are much fewer fish in that hole and in the area. We saw a few fish in the hole, large ones, but they knew we were there and wouldn’t bite for anything. I moved below the lower bridge and had a strike right off, but lost it. I tried to move Steffan to the spot, but we couldn’t raise another fish. The hole further down (behind the outlets) was filled in with gravel too! Soon we decided to head out and hit the river as it dumps into Dillon. We fish the length, but it was clear as gin and the fish saw us. I managed to hook a 10 inch rainbow at the bottom in the flats – the fish barely fought. We walked down to the reservoir and then decided to leave. Skunked!
Friday, September 23, 2004 – South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon
45 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – mostly sunny – then storm clouds, then sunny again
Caught 4 fish – 1 brown and 3 rainbows – 181 cfs flows - water was pretty clear
Took the day off work for a change and fished the Canyon. The hike in is still a pain in the ass. Took Cabo and had fun, although rain clouds came in around 3 pm and looked scary – sprinkled, but was over in 40 minutes or so. Fishing was ok, I hooked an 18 inch brown that was skinny as hell on a gold wire nymph in size 22. I watched him take the fly, so that was pretty cool. Had no luck the rest of the morning, although I wasn’t trying very hard. Around 2:30 pm I started getting into fish. I was in my normal spot – right by the rock the river swirls around – and hooked a pig – a 20-inch rainbow that fought pretty well. I caught him on a silver beadhead, silver wire with purple flask emerging – size 20 or 18. I caught him in the first run by the rock. The second rainbow was a 17 inch bow that I caught on the same fly in the next hole up. The final fish was a 20 or 21-inch rainbow on the far side of the rock. Because of the water being so much higher the water ran on the far side of the rock. I caught this pig on a size 20 grey zebra midge with a gold beadhead.
I lost 4 other fish – 1 on a dry fly – there was a great red/tan quill hatch going on earlier in the day. The others were on nymphs that just popped out. One of the fishes was huge though. Fun day, but I really wasn’t in the mood to fish. I’m doing the Clear Creek clean-up through Cutthroat Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
Sunday, October 2, 2004 – Blue River (between Green Mountain Reservoir and Silverthorne)
40 degrees in the morning – almost 60 by mid-day – mostly cloudy with some sun
Caught 5 fish – 4 koke’s and 1 rainbow – 70+ cfs flows - water was pretty clear
Fished with Bill (our neighbor) and Cabo. It was a cold day up there and it looked like it was going to snow at any time. A very cold breeze was blowing for most of the day. We started out right above Green Mountain Reservoir – it was a beautiful area, but there were no fish at all around. We moved up to another area up about a mile. The area looked nice with large boulders, but again, no fish anywhere. We moved up again – right by the gravel pit. This area was pretty flat, but it had a nice run in it. Bill noticed right off that there were some huge fish sitting next to the bank and they were red with bluish heads. They were definitely salmon and they had definitely come up from Green Mountain some 8 miles down river! Bill tried hooking them and snagged one but it got off. I moved up to the perfect riffle and started fishing – I saw a fish jump and to my astonishment it was red! Well then I started looking and the whole bottom of the riffle was red – there were hundreds of salmon in the riffle. I hooked one right away on a size 22 black zebra midge. I landed it and it was a 14-inch kokanee! My first salmon! I soon caught another 14-incher and then hooked up on an 18-incher that I let Bill land. A little later I hooked another pig in the 18-inch range. I noticed that these fish were really cool looking, with teeth like things on their lips and they were very slimy – not to mention they stunk. The last fish I caught actually had some growth or mold growing on its side fins. What a great fish – a really cool day. I kept at it, switching sides of the riffle and hooked into a huge fish – which I knew wasn’t a salmon because it was much browner in color. I fought him and he was a huge rainbow, but I foul hooked him and when I tried to net him he popped off. He was easily 18 inches long. We noticed that we were on private property (by only a couple of feet) so we decided to leave. We headed to the 70 over pass. Of course this area was packed. Cabo was starting to get grumpy and cold, so we called it a day.
Sunday, October 10, 2004 – Williams Fork & Colorado River by Byers Canyon
50 degrees in the morning – almost 70 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny
Caught 6 fish – 4 browns and 2 rainbows – largest was a rainbow and brown at 14 inches
Williams Fork 176 cfs flows water was clear, Colorado 96 cfs clear
I fished with Nate and his buddy Dave today. Dave drove and decided to show us some new water. The Williams Fork River just down from Williams Fork Reservoir. The river was absolutely beautiful! It is only about a mile further than the Colorado at Byers Canyon. You park and walk in about a mile down a dirt road, into a valley full of aspens that were in full bloom. The river sits in the bottom of the valley and was beautiful today. Cfs were 176 – so that must be pretty good, during the summer I know that the water gets down to 10 cfs and it is scary warm. There was a ton of people there today, so we moved almost all the way up to the dam – which can’t be more than ¾ of a mile up from the first access. Nate jumped in and Dave and I moved up, I crossed over and fished just below a waterfall. It looked nice, but there wasn’t any fish anywhere, so I moved up to an area that was more creek than river with large boulders in the middle. I fished every little stretch, hooking a 2.5 inch fish and an 8 inch brown. I moved up some more and saw a slight eddy next to a fast current. A few tosses later I had a fish on and he was moving quickly in the current and dove under a rock. I managed to get him up – a nice 14 inch brown.
We didn’t have any luck for a while and we decided to leave and try the Colorado – which is right down the street. The hike out was tiring. We tried a spot up the Colorado a bit after the Byers Canyon bridge – with no luck. We then headed to the end of Byers Canyon. I jumped right in just above the washed out bridge and hooked a 12 inch rainbow. I moved down to my fallen tree spot and hooked a fat 14 inch rainbow and then a small 10 inch brown. I decided to head back to the truck (since Dave was driving) and we left. Good day, nice new water!
Saturday, November 20, 2004 – South Platte River – Cheesman Canyon
30 degrees in the morning and all day – snow, snow and more snow – but only about 4 inches
Caught 4 fish all rainbows - 108 cfs flows - water was clear
I fished with Matt Landers from Protiviti today. It was a snowy and cold day – but that made it even better. We left the BK at 8 am – which is late. The roads were crappy and we were on the river close to 10 am. We moved up to Nate’s hole – and I hooked two fish in the first 15 minutes on small (size 20) silver bullet midges. One was 18 inches and the other was 19 inches. I hooked another hog about 30 minutes after that and let Matt try to land him – but the pug popped off the hook after a short fight – he was at least 20 inches long. I moved down towards the large rock, not catching anything. I tried for one fish eating dry flies on the surface – slowly sipping the huge parachutes (really size 20) green duns off the water. Between the snowflakes I could see the little sailboats sail into range and then get pulled under in a split half second. All I had was a size 18 Adam’s and that got ignored every time. I moved down again with no luck – finally at the rock, I tried the right side and let it slip next to the rock. I slammed a huge rainbow – about 19 inches who jumped 4 times – the 3rd time he jumped he hit his head on the drift wood next to the rock! I had to land him in the next pool down as he slid down the waterfall. I had another fish on in the same pool, which was at least 22 inches (the typical fish I always catch in that hole) spit the hook, and kept thrashing long after the fly was off. Weird how they always do that.
Matt caught a 14 inch rainbow – the fish was in his net and then flopped out – he was very disappointed. He kept saying how he had a good time, but I know he would have had a much better time had he caught fish. The fishing was good for a snowy day – the hike was a pain in the ass though.
Friday, November 26, 2004 – Big Thompson River in Estes Park
40 degrees in the morning – almost 45 by mid-day – few clouds mostly sunny – some snow off and on
Caught 4 fish – all rainbows – all were about 9-12 inches
Big T was 33 cfs clear as a bell
I fished with Matt again, we decided to head up to the Big T because of the low flows. 33 cfs is too low. The day was cold with off and on snow flurries and sun. We fished right up by the dam – small fish were around. I lost about a dozen. I had a few on zebra’s size 20. The bend pool had some fish hitting dries – I had one on an 18 adam’s, but he dove deep and popped off. No fish were larger than 12 inches. We moved down river down the highway – the wind was so brutal we called it quits at 2pm. Matt caught the biggest of the day – a 14 inch bright red rainbow.
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