Saturday, May 12, 2007 - Blue River above Dillon
Flows were about 175cfs and the water was slightly tea colored.
The wife got a massage for mother's day and Cabo, Avelyn and I had to wait out some rain. After the massage the wife dropped the dog and I off at the bridge and went shopping for a couple of hours. We skipped the actual river and jumped in just as it dumps in. The reservoir was pretty low, you had to walk about 100 yards from the delta to the actual reservoir. I saw a few fisherman working the river, so skipping ahead was risky (I thought that maybe the number of rods would triple as I got closer to the inlet), but there was no one actually fishing down by the reservoir area.
The weather was clearing, and not 5 minutes after I hit my destination the sun came out at full force and it started getting warm. It was probably close to 65 degrees when the sun was out, but the big fluffy clouds dropped the weather 5 degrees every time one came by. The water was cold, cold enough to make the dog shiver - which only happens once in a blue moon. The water running down the slopes to the reservoir was fast and shallow - so I headed right to the area where it dumps in and was slightly flatter. The main channel looked nice, but I could see that there was some flats areas where the water was 2 feet deep and then dropped off quickly to 6 foot deep areas. I knew that the fish would be in the deeper areas, usually in schools. Of course the nympher in me wanted to catch them on nymphs, which I did manage to hook two and almost land one (a SDR). The rainbows seemed frisky and small, but that was fine. I switched to my microstreamer pattern reluctantly. I casted into the drop offs and hooked and landed 4 frisky rainbows. qall were maybe 13 inches, not overly fat, and almost completely bleached out and all silver. They all seem to have pouty snouts, smaller than an average rainbow. Their snouts seemed too small for your their faces - it just seemed odd. All fish took the streamer hard. All were offered up to Cabo for a look, she "tried" to bite them all (she's a big wimp - not much of an attempt, she's more afraid of them!), then she looked for them as they plopped in the water and disappeared. She'd look for them underwater for about a minute or two and then give up.
Jen was going to meet me at the boat ramp around 3 - 3:30, so I started walking through the mud over. These flats were all silt and were only about 2 feet or less deep for about 40 yards out. When Jen showed up it was nice and warm so we decided to get the kayak out and give Avi a ride. The kayak takes less than 7 minutes to set up and it is quite stealth on the water. I took her for a ride and then Jen took her for another. Jen took it out by herself. We really need to get that thing out more often. This thing will be awesome for still water fishing - it is stealth and not overly tippy.
That was pretty much my day in a nutshell.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
April 12-15, 2007 - Bighorn River, Ft Smith, MT
April 12-15, 2007 - Bighorn River, Ft Smith, MT
Flows about 1,500 cfs - gin clear.
Thursday, April 12 - Afterbay to 3 Mile
Woke up at 3am - about 30 minutes early, couldn't wait to pick up Chad and Nate and start the drive. Chad was waiting, Nate was sleeping. The plug on Nate's boat wouldn't reach the outlet, so Nate's boat stayed at home. The drive was uneventful, but driving my wife's new 4Runner with only 190 miles on it was pretty sweet - we rode in style.
Stopped at StX to grab Buster's boat - a HUGE thanks to Buster!! Got to Ft. Smith around 1pm, hit Cottonwood, dropped off our crap and then over to Bighorn we went. We were on the water at 1pm. The water was nice and there was no real traffic as we were heading out late. I decided to get some rowing experience in the the soft water right off - but after one cast Chad had a snag or a fish - it ended up being the latter and I quickly learned how to beach the boat and net a fish. Chad hooked a killer 21 inch rainbow that had some really nice heft. What a great start. I think a few dinks were cuaght in the first stretch and we docked just above the Meat Hole. We wanted to make sure we got Nate into some huge fish and so we waited about a half hour for the traffic to move on. We holed up in the Meat Hole and landed some decent fish. Nate work the shelf closest to the bank and hooked a ton, Chad pulled them in steadily as usual, I didn't catch quite as many but did manage a few. PaulM, OB and SemperFish met us there at around 3:30 or so - they fished the hole and then decided to move on. We had seen TPlane and Dad drift by us as well, but we weren't exactly sure that was him - sorry Tim! The flies of the day seemed to be pink soft hackles and pink ray charles.
We moved down past Suck Hole and docked on the right. PaulM/OB/SF stopped at the hole and Paul pulled out some beauties. Nate hooked a few in the flats and I managed a couple small fish. We kept moving, hitting some of the usual spots and trying to get Nate into fish and acquainted with the river. He did well, and we managed some fish. Not much else memorable about the day (my memory is shot too). We were off the river by 7. We hit the cabin, made dinner and I was in bed by 8:30. Chad and Nate tried to tough it out and chat, but they hit the hay soon after.
Friday, April 13th - Afterbay to 3 Mile
We were met by Buster in the morning - about 7:30 am knocking on the door. He was checking to see if we made it. We hit the water closer to 9am. Nate manned the oars for this one (as he had most of the day before). We were thinking about two trips - but we knew we could stretch one trip into 3 Mile. We launched with literally 6 boats within 40 yards of us. We managed to stop above the Meat Hole and wait it out. We moved in on the Hole as a group of guys looked like they were leaving - but they weren't. Bastards all got out of their boat and walked back onto the shelf. Stupid. But Chad wasn't giving in - he stayed put. Eventually Nate and I hit the shelf - Nate worked the far side of the river (not really on the shelf) and had his rod bent consistently. I worked the far right of the shelf and did pretty damn well. Even had a lunker on of over 20 inches that Chad decided was best to flail at and NOT net (thanks Chad). Chad of course caught his limit. We were in the Meat for about 4 hours then moved on.
We didn't fish the Suck Hole for very long, but Nate let me row it. And although Chad was paniced in the front of the boat, Nate said I did very well. The hole isn't that bad, it just throws you at the concrete, but then kind of pulls you back into the calm eye of the hole and then you can back paddle out. We fished our way down past the fallen trees on the right to the next riffle that bends left to right and stopped. This was a great hole last year for browns, and we weren't disappointed. I landed a nice 18 inch brown and Chad landed a FAT brown of over 20 inches. Huge difference in 2 inches of fish - I'd say probably over a pound difference. Nate did real well too - hitting some other spots. We fished down to the cliffs on the left and had even better luck. My first lame cast landed a 20 inch rainbow with a hook jaw. Landed land probably 12 fish right at the boat, and Chad of course walked the entire half mile bank and caught his share. The fish were hitting tiny midges - black with some sparkle. My killers worked well, as did the mercuries and black beauties. I caught a bunch of fish in the stretch and walked all the way down the cliffs with Chad. Nate had to meet us in the boat.
We fished our way to 3 Mile and called it a day at 7:30pm. We hit the cabin, ate dinner, met up with TPlane and Dad, tied some flies and then hit the bed. TPlane admitted he had snuck a white fish and was the clear leader to win the white fish trophy - even if it was only an 8 inch dink! No one else had caught one, and after a day and a half it looked like we might get skunked.
Saturday, April 14th - 3 Mile to Bighorn
No screwing around today, Paul met us at 6:40 - to say the least, none of us were up. We managed to get on the water by about 8am. Before we headed out we met FredYellowEgg in the parking lot - it was nice meeting you! Paul and Chad in his boat and Nate and I in the other. We pulled over about 1/4 mile down on a nice riffle next to the house that everyone overlooked - they were more interested in getting out on the water. It had a nice long sandbar with some nice back channel riffles that Chad hit quickly. I waded to the end where the fast water and slow water connected and hit a nice fat brown about 17 inches on a big 14 pink ray charles.
Nate had some luck in the channel nailing three fish. We moved down again to another great stretch - this time across from the drive in on the far bank. Paul knew this hole and knew the deep sandy bottom often had fish hanging on the edge. Nate hooked 3 fish in the hole, then jumped out, Paul got right in the hole and hooked 3 and then obliged me to try - I hooked 3 nice fish and then it went dead. The guys across from us were hooking some hogs. Next to Pauls boat in the flat stuff there were some fish feeding in the deep stuff - of course there was no way to make the fly look really enough for them to eat it - but the fish were huge - maybe 2 or 3 close to 30 inches! I hooked and landed a 16 inch brown, and Nate had on one of those hogs - but that was it. We moved down to try and find Chad who constantly is like a lost puppy and moves around unstoppable. Chad was scoping out a hole that Paul mentioned and he was determined to get it. That was a very good this too. We hit the hole with an island in the middle - most of the traffic stays far left, but you can hole up in the side channel were it dumps into the main channel that is easilt 15 feet deep. Chad hook moster after monster by just letting the streamer and nymph sink into the deep channel. One brown was easily 20 inches and I saw him catch at least 10 more. Nate was hitting the bottom of the run and hooking fish hand over fish - he's a pro with that low profile eager nymphing pose ready to strike at any time. Paul and I fished the side channel as it dumped in and he caught a ton of fish. I did very very well - landing fish after fish on my double weighted nymph rig that had about 8 or 9 feet of tippet between my indicator and flies. I caught a ton, but every fish I had to wade out of the channel over to Paul in the slow stuff. Since it was over 65 degrees, I had taken off my jacket and only had a box of flies down my pants, forceps clung to my t-shirt and tippet and weights pinned to my shirt. Net and camera and everything else was in the boat. Paul was more than willing to help me net a few and take some pics. Of course BlackOtter and Kyo pulled in just as I was landing a lunker of a fish - this thing wouldn't fight, but was a log - I kind of knew in the back of my mind what it was, a whitie! Of course I got the official ribbing and the picture taken for proof. It was a lot of fun though. I caught some more while the guys shot the shiit.
We moved down, hopping more boats and seeing some beautiful young ladies fishing along the way. It was nice seeing the ladies enjoying the day and fishing as well. We saw a bunch of ladies with hook ups, including one gal that was a pro with a dry fly (and she was hot too!). We moved into some less crowded water - a real flat stretch that was only about 6 feet deep max all the way across, but over a 100 yards wide. Nate headed north, Paul jumped out next to the boat, Chad went running for the riffles and shelves further down - and I just relaxed - watching Nate and Paul and tying on a new rig. Paul has an unorthodexed nymphing motion, slapping the water on his false cast and then he can throw a line a good 80 feet. I'm not kidding - he gets some torque behind the fly and almost flips it 80 feet. I've never seen anyone do this - ever! And he catches fish way the hell out there too! He landed some biggies - a nice rainbow with a hooked jaw that I couldn't quite land, and then a few more fish. I dropped into the hole below him and had 4 fish on in 10 minutes. I moved down again and proceeded to hook about 35 fish and landed about two dowzen in the next two hours. I was in a zone, and every other cast I had a fish on. The hard part was landing them with no net - I dragged them onto the shallows and tried to hand land them. They were all mostly browns, all were at least 17 inches, and all jumped! I landed probably 5 rainbows, not as large (except one), and landed one brown that was 14 inches. One brown was huge, I was out to my waste, and couldn't get back to shore and tried to hand land him and he snapped me off. All the fish were taking the same style fly - Paul Bighorn swap jujubee bead head black and white with a tuft of peacock dubbing behind the bead. After shredding those two they kept hitting tan zebras with bead heads. And occassionally they hit the killer - all in size 18 or 20. Blackotter and Kyo pulled up and hit some fish, but we ended up chatting for a good 45 minutes.
We moved on again, stopping here or there, but we had to make up some time as we were still about 5 miles away from take out. One place we stopped was next to the huge tree that dropped some shade over the bank. The water was fast and Paul was into a fish immediately. Nate and I pulled across the water from them, and hooked a fish in a back eddy - but that was it. Paul nailed about 4 fish in there and then let Chad fish his spot. Chad hooked into a pig and needed Paul's help. Paul got the boat net and tried to help Chad, not before falling in above his chest waders first. He managed to net the fish, but only after Chad pointed out that it was behind him. From the other side of the river, this was pretty entertaining - a comedy of errors - but it had a happy ending. We got out of there and hit the confluence of Soap Creek and fished the seams. I actually put on a streamer and managed 2 small browns while Nate rowed us. Chad was hooking into fish left and right and was slowed down a lot. We hit Bighorn access around 8 pm as it was getting dark. We said good bye to Paul and we headed back to the cabin.
We cooked dinner - and waited for the masses, but only TPlane showed up. He chatted a while, and headed back to his nicer accomodations. We drank a few beers and then hit the sack. Not much of a trophy ceremony, but I got to keep my baby!
Sunday, April 15th
We headed home around 9 am after dropping the boat off at Busters. Not much else to say really. I hate that drive!
I just wanted to thank everyone who we met and had a great time fishing with. I'd like to really thank Buster for hooking us up with the boat - we hope you enjoy your Ice Cold Makers Mark and your T-Shirt! As always, it was a blast. I was sunburned and burnt out when I got home, but it was so worth it. Year 3 went off without a hitch and it was a great trip. Thanks again guys, and I hope you all enjoy your T-Shirts!!
Flows about 1,500 cfs - gin clear.
Thursday, April 12 - Afterbay to 3 Mile
Woke up at 3am - about 30 minutes early, couldn't wait to pick up Chad and Nate and start the drive. Chad was waiting, Nate was sleeping. The plug on Nate's boat wouldn't reach the outlet, so Nate's boat stayed at home. The drive was uneventful, but driving my wife's new 4Runner with only 190 miles on it was pretty sweet - we rode in style.
Stopped at StX to grab Buster's boat - a HUGE thanks to Buster!! Got to Ft. Smith around 1pm, hit Cottonwood, dropped off our crap and then over to Bighorn we went. We were on the water at 1pm. The water was nice and there was no real traffic as we were heading out late. I decided to get some rowing experience in the the soft water right off - but after one cast Chad had a snag or a fish - it ended up being the latter and I quickly learned how to beach the boat and net a fish. Chad hooked a killer 21 inch rainbow that had some really nice heft. What a great start. I think a few dinks were cuaght in the first stretch and we docked just above the Meat Hole. We wanted to make sure we got Nate into some huge fish and so we waited about a half hour for the traffic to move on. We holed up in the Meat Hole and landed some decent fish. Nate work the shelf closest to the bank and hooked a ton, Chad pulled them in steadily as usual, I didn't catch quite as many but did manage a few. PaulM, OB and SemperFish met us there at around 3:30 or so - they fished the hole and then decided to move on. We had seen TPlane and Dad drift by us as well, but we weren't exactly sure that was him - sorry Tim! The flies of the day seemed to be pink soft hackles and pink ray charles.
We moved down past Suck Hole and docked on the right. PaulM/OB/SF stopped at the hole and Paul pulled out some beauties. Nate hooked a few in the flats and I managed a couple small fish. We kept moving, hitting some of the usual spots and trying to get Nate into fish and acquainted with the river. He did well, and we managed some fish. Not much else memorable about the day (my memory is shot too). We were off the river by 7. We hit the cabin, made dinner and I was in bed by 8:30. Chad and Nate tried to tough it out and chat, but they hit the hay soon after.
Friday, April 13th - Afterbay to 3 Mile
We were met by Buster in the morning - about 7:30 am knocking on the door. He was checking to see if we made it. We hit the water closer to 9am. Nate manned the oars for this one (as he had most of the day before). We were thinking about two trips - but we knew we could stretch one trip into 3 Mile. We launched with literally 6 boats within 40 yards of us. We managed to stop above the Meat Hole and wait it out. We moved in on the Hole as a group of guys looked like they were leaving - but they weren't. Bastards all got out of their boat and walked back onto the shelf. Stupid. But Chad wasn't giving in - he stayed put. Eventually Nate and I hit the shelf - Nate worked the far side of the river (not really on the shelf) and had his rod bent consistently. I worked the far right of the shelf and did pretty damn well. Even had a lunker on of over 20 inches that Chad decided was best to flail at and NOT net (thanks Chad). Chad of course caught his limit. We were in the Meat for about 4 hours then moved on.
We didn't fish the Suck Hole for very long, but Nate let me row it. And although Chad was paniced in the front of the boat, Nate said I did very well. The hole isn't that bad, it just throws you at the concrete, but then kind of pulls you back into the calm eye of the hole and then you can back paddle out. We fished our way down past the fallen trees on the right to the next riffle that bends left to right and stopped. This was a great hole last year for browns, and we weren't disappointed. I landed a nice 18 inch brown and Chad landed a FAT brown of over 20 inches. Huge difference in 2 inches of fish - I'd say probably over a pound difference. Nate did real well too - hitting some other spots. We fished down to the cliffs on the left and had even better luck. My first lame cast landed a 20 inch rainbow with a hook jaw. Landed land probably 12 fish right at the boat, and Chad of course walked the entire half mile bank and caught his share. The fish were hitting tiny midges - black with some sparkle. My killers worked well, as did the mercuries and black beauties. I caught a bunch of fish in the stretch and walked all the way down the cliffs with Chad. Nate had to meet us in the boat.
We fished our way to 3 Mile and called it a day at 7:30pm. We hit the cabin, ate dinner, met up with TPlane and Dad, tied some flies and then hit the bed. TPlane admitted he had snuck a white fish and was the clear leader to win the white fish trophy - even if it was only an 8 inch dink! No one else had caught one, and after a day and a half it looked like we might get skunked.
Saturday, April 14th - 3 Mile to Bighorn
No screwing around today, Paul met us at 6:40 - to say the least, none of us were up. We managed to get on the water by about 8am. Before we headed out we met FredYellowEgg in the parking lot - it was nice meeting you! Paul and Chad in his boat and Nate and I in the other. We pulled over about 1/4 mile down on a nice riffle next to the house that everyone overlooked - they were more interested in getting out on the water. It had a nice long sandbar with some nice back channel riffles that Chad hit quickly. I waded to the end where the fast water and slow water connected and hit a nice fat brown about 17 inches on a big 14 pink ray charles.
Nate had some luck in the channel nailing three fish. We moved down again to another great stretch - this time across from the drive in on the far bank. Paul knew this hole and knew the deep sandy bottom often had fish hanging on the edge. Nate hooked 3 fish in the hole, then jumped out, Paul got right in the hole and hooked 3 and then obliged me to try - I hooked 3 nice fish and then it went dead. The guys across from us were hooking some hogs. Next to Pauls boat in the flat stuff there were some fish feeding in the deep stuff - of course there was no way to make the fly look really enough for them to eat it - but the fish were huge - maybe 2 or 3 close to 30 inches! I hooked and landed a 16 inch brown, and Nate had on one of those hogs - but that was it. We moved down to try and find Chad who constantly is like a lost puppy and moves around unstoppable. Chad was scoping out a hole that Paul mentioned and he was determined to get it. That was a very good this too. We hit the hole with an island in the middle - most of the traffic stays far left, but you can hole up in the side channel were it dumps into the main channel that is easilt 15 feet deep. Chad hook moster after monster by just letting the streamer and nymph sink into the deep channel. One brown was easily 20 inches and I saw him catch at least 10 more. Nate was hitting the bottom of the run and hooking fish hand over fish - he's a pro with that low profile eager nymphing pose ready to strike at any time. Paul and I fished the side channel as it dumped in and he caught a ton of fish. I did very very well - landing fish after fish on my double weighted nymph rig that had about 8 or 9 feet of tippet between my indicator and flies. I caught a ton, but every fish I had to wade out of the channel over to Paul in the slow stuff. Since it was over 65 degrees, I had taken off my jacket and only had a box of flies down my pants, forceps clung to my t-shirt and tippet and weights pinned to my shirt. Net and camera and everything else was in the boat. Paul was more than willing to help me net a few and take some pics. Of course BlackOtter and Kyo pulled in just as I was landing a lunker of a fish - this thing wouldn't fight, but was a log - I kind of knew in the back of my mind what it was, a whitie! Of course I got the official ribbing and the picture taken for proof. It was a lot of fun though. I caught some more while the guys shot the shiit.
We moved down, hopping more boats and seeing some beautiful young ladies fishing along the way. It was nice seeing the ladies enjoying the day and fishing as well. We saw a bunch of ladies with hook ups, including one gal that was a pro with a dry fly (and she was hot too!). We moved into some less crowded water - a real flat stretch that was only about 6 feet deep max all the way across, but over a 100 yards wide. Nate headed north, Paul jumped out next to the boat, Chad went running for the riffles and shelves further down - and I just relaxed - watching Nate and Paul and tying on a new rig. Paul has an unorthodexed nymphing motion, slapping the water on his false cast and then he can throw a line a good 80 feet. I'm not kidding - he gets some torque behind the fly and almost flips it 80 feet. I've never seen anyone do this - ever! And he catches fish way the hell out there too! He landed some biggies - a nice rainbow with a hooked jaw that I couldn't quite land, and then a few more fish. I dropped into the hole below him and had 4 fish on in 10 minutes. I moved down again and proceeded to hook about 35 fish and landed about two dowzen in the next two hours. I was in a zone, and every other cast I had a fish on. The hard part was landing them with no net - I dragged them onto the shallows and tried to hand land them. They were all mostly browns, all were at least 17 inches, and all jumped! I landed probably 5 rainbows, not as large (except one), and landed one brown that was 14 inches. One brown was huge, I was out to my waste, and couldn't get back to shore and tried to hand land him and he snapped me off. All the fish were taking the same style fly - Paul Bighorn swap jujubee bead head black and white with a tuft of peacock dubbing behind the bead. After shredding those two they kept hitting tan zebras with bead heads. And occassionally they hit the killer - all in size 18 or 20. Blackotter and Kyo pulled up and hit some fish, but we ended up chatting for a good 45 minutes.
We moved on again, stopping here or there, but we had to make up some time as we were still about 5 miles away from take out. One place we stopped was next to the huge tree that dropped some shade over the bank. The water was fast and Paul was into a fish immediately. Nate and I pulled across the water from them, and hooked a fish in a back eddy - but that was it. Paul nailed about 4 fish in there and then let Chad fish his spot. Chad hooked into a pig and needed Paul's help. Paul got the boat net and tried to help Chad, not before falling in above his chest waders first. He managed to net the fish, but only after Chad pointed out that it was behind him. From the other side of the river, this was pretty entertaining - a comedy of errors - but it had a happy ending. We got out of there and hit the confluence of Soap Creek and fished the seams. I actually put on a streamer and managed 2 small browns while Nate rowed us. Chad was hooking into fish left and right and was slowed down a lot. We hit Bighorn access around 8 pm as it was getting dark. We said good bye to Paul and we headed back to the cabin.
We cooked dinner - and waited for the masses, but only TPlane showed up. He chatted a while, and headed back to his nicer accomodations. We drank a few beers and then hit the sack. Not much of a trophy ceremony, but I got to keep my baby!
Sunday, April 15th
We headed home around 9 am after dropping the boat off at Busters. Not much else to say really. I hate that drive!
I just wanted to thank everyone who we met and had a great time fishing with. I'd like to really thank Buster for hooking us up with the boat - we hope you enjoy your Ice Cold Makers Mark and your T-Shirt! As always, it was a blast. I was sunburned and burnt out when I got home, but it was so worth it. Year 3 went off without a hitch and it was a great trip. Thanks again guys, and I hope you all enjoy your T-Shirts!!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Cheesman Canyon
Sunday, February 18, 2007 – Cheesman
30 degrees in the morning – almost 55 by mid-day. About 100 cfs and clear.
SKUNKED!
Not much else to say - fished with Cabo, Chad and homebru. Didn't see a whole lot of fish. I did help a guy land a fat pig - 20 inch rainbow - took some photos and emailed them to him. That was about it. The dirt road down there and back was crazy deep with sand, water and ruts.
30 degrees in the morning – almost 55 by mid-day. About 100 cfs and clear.
SKUNKED!
Not much else to say - fished with Cabo, Chad and homebru. Didn't see a whole lot of fish. I did help a guy land a fat pig - 20 inch rainbow - took some photos and emailed them to him. That was about it. The dirt road down there and back was crazy deep with sand, water and ruts.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Sunday, February 4, 2007 – South Platte, Deckers
Sunday, February 4, 2007 – South Platte River, Deckers
40 degrees in the morning – almost 50 by mid-day. About 148 cfs (clear) above muddy Creek, and almost 200 cfs (off color) below muddy Creek.
Caught 2 fish, both rainbows, one 13 inches, one 15 inches. Size 20 tan zebra and size 20 red zebra black head.
Fished for three hours with Cabo. Met Chad and Quinn down in Deckers down the dirt road and up and over the hill right before the opening to the mini canyon. Big crowds - which was surprising. Lots of spin rodders and some older guys who looked like they knew what they were doing, but jumped in the nxt hole next to me no further than 40 feet. The water seemed much warmer than usual, even the dog stood in the water quite a bit without shaking. Since it has been easily 5 weeks since the last time I fished, it was good to see fish in the river and feeding, and having the chance to catch them.
The first fish I caught within minutes of starting - in the shallow runs right after the huge rock. The second fish I caught at the little island just before the fast stretch that enters the canyon. I could see the fish and I just had to get in the right spot to hook him. He was hooked quickly and I landed him and showed him to Cabo. She curled up her lip and acted like she wanted to bite him - but she's too chicken too. I put the fish in the water and she face dived under to try and find it.
We moved down to the rest area right down river of the fly shop. The water was really off color - and I didn't catch anything. It was almost 1pm by now, and I told Chad I was out of there. Chad was done too - and we climbed out of there - there was about 3 feet of snow still in some areas. Cabo loved it - playing fetch with pine cones and trying to get my attention the entire time I fished. I needed to get home for the SB - so I headed out.
I forgot to mention that I did see a bald eagle as I was driving down - it was about a 1/4 mile down river from the fly shop - very cool sight.
40 degrees in the morning – almost 50 by mid-day. About 148 cfs (clear) above muddy Creek, and almost 200 cfs (off color) below muddy Creek.
Caught 2 fish, both rainbows, one 13 inches, one 15 inches. Size 20 tan zebra and size 20 red zebra black head.
Fished for three hours with Cabo. Met Chad and Quinn down in Deckers down the dirt road and up and over the hill right before the opening to the mini canyon. Big crowds - which was surprising. Lots of spin rodders and some older guys who looked like they knew what they were doing, but jumped in the nxt hole next to me no further than 40 feet. The water seemed much warmer than usual, even the dog stood in the water quite a bit without shaking. Since it has been easily 5 weeks since the last time I fished, it was good to see fish in the river and feeding, and having the chance to catch them.
The first fish I caught within minutes of starting - in the shallow runs right after the huge rock. The second fish I caught at the little island just before the fast stretch that enters the canyon. I could see the fish and I just had to get in the right spot to hook him. He was hooked quickly and I landed him and showed him to Cabo. She curled up her lip and acted like she wanted to bite him - but she's too chicken too. I put the fish in the water and she face dived under to try and find it.
We moved down to the rest area right down river of the fly shop. The water was really off color - and I didn't catch anything. It was almost 1pm by now, and I told Chad I was out of there. Chad was done too - and we climbed out of there - there was about 3 feet of snow still in some areas. Cabo loved it - playing fetch with pine cones and trying to get my attention the entire time I fished. I needed to get home for the SB - so I headed out.
I forgot to mention that I did see a bald eagle as I was driving down - it was about a 1/4 mile down river from the fly shop - very cool sight.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007 Blue River, Silverthorne
Monday, January 15, 2007 Blue River, Silverthorne
Very cold (-5 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and no real breeze. Water was clear below the dam, about 64 cfs.
Frickin cold!! I asked Chad about 6 times on the way up what the hell we were thinking?!?!?!?
We started right below the dam around 9:30 - fished my way to the bridge, then under the bridge, back to the bridge and headed back to the car around 2 pm. I managed to catch 2 fish - one small 8 inch rainbow up by the outlets on a blue poison tongue size 20 and another, a nice 14 inch rainbow just under the foot bridge on a red juju bee midge size 22. I saw lots of fish - some were huge and some were small, none were very active, and few were actively feeding. I saw two fish that had to be over 24 inches easy - of course they were sitting in the deepest pools at the bottom. Chad managed 5 fish or so and a few got off.
We saw at least 5 accidents on the way up to Dillon. One car in the median, one pick up truck flipped over in the median, one car flipped over a guard rail onto an on-ramp, one car slammed into the guard rail and had gotten itself stuck on the embankment, and a rear ender coming down the big hill out of Evergreen. People seriously need to learn to slow down - accidents don't need to happen if some of those people learned to drive a little better. Sad.
Very cold (-5 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and no real breeze. Water was clear below the dam, about 64 cfs.
Frickin cold!! I asked Chad about 6 times on the way up what the hell we were thinking?!?!?!?
We started right below the dam around 9:30 - fished my way to the bridge, then under the bridge, back to the bridge and headed back to the car around 2 pm. I managed to catch 2 fish - one small 8 inch rainbow up by the outlets on a blue poison tongue size 20 and another, a nice 14 inch rainbow just under the foot bridge on a red juju bee midge size 22. I saw lots of fish - some were huge and some were small, none were very active, and few were actively feeding. I saw two fish that had to be over 24 inches easy - of course they were sitting in the deepest pools at the bottom. Chad managed 5 fish or so and a few got off.
We saw at least 5 accidents on the way up to Dillon. One car in the median, one pick up truck flipped over in the median, one car flipped over a guard rail onto an on-ramp, one car slammed into the guard rail and had gotten itself stuck on the embankment, and a rear ender coming down the big hill out of Evergreen. People seriously need to learn to slow down - accidents don't need to happen if some of those people learned to drive a little better. Sad.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006 Cheesman Canyon
Monday, November 27, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Very cold (19 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad on his birthday (I took the day off). Ice cold morning - took a bit to get the blood flowing. Got to the canyon around 8:30 - in the canyon around 9:15. Tons of fish everywhere. I started out with a bugger and scud combo, but quickly switched to a double scud/czech nymph rig. I surprising hooked an enormous pig right next to a sand bar that ran across the river and popped off - right out of the gate! I hooked a couple smaller trout in the hole directly below the family hole, but had no luck getting them in. I moved up river, seeing lots of fish. I fished the big rock up to the riffles, with no luck. I did manage to hook a small brown and a 13 inch brown above the riffles. Other than that I couldn't catch a thing. Chad had some luck - 6 or 7 fish, mostly browns.
That's about it for the day! I think I'm done fishing for the winter - three times in a row and I haven't caught much.
Very cold (19 degrees) in the morning - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad on his birthday (I took the day off). Ice cold morning - took a bit to get the blood flowing. Got to the canyon around 8:30 - in the canyon around 9:15. Tons of fish everywhere. I started out with a bugger and scud combo, but quickly switched to a double scud/czech nymph rig. I surprising hooked an enormous pig right next to a sand bar that ran across the river and popped off - right out of the gate! I hooked a couple smaller trout in the hole directly below the family hole, but had no luck getting them in. I moved up river, seeing lots of fish. I fished the big rock up to the riffles, with no luck. I did manage to hook a small brown and a 13 inch brown above the riffles. Other than that I couldn't catch a thing. Chad had some luck - 6 or 7 fish, mostly browns.
That's about it for the day! I think I'm done fishing for the winter - three times in a row and I haven't caught much.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Saturday, November 25, 2006 - Winter Park
rday, November 25, 2007 - Winter Park Resort
Traffic was below average, weather was snowing in Denver, blue sky from Idaho Springs to WP
Although not a fishing experience, I had the chance to go snowboarding on Saturday with the wife. My mother in law was in town and she watched Avi for the day. This is the first time Jen and I have been together alone snowboarding in over a year. The weather was crappy in Denver and I think it scared some people away. By the time we hit Idaho Springs the weather was beautiful - sunny skies and it was actually warmer. The lift lines were non-existant - right up Zephyr Express and down the other side - the skiing on the WP side was ok, but the skiing on MJ side was killer! Tons of powder - which actually slows you down - but we did 2 or 3 runs in knee deep powder and it was awesome. We only did about 6 runs before Jen called it quits - we were home by 2:30. Great day!
Traffic was below average, weather was snowing in Denver, blue sky from Idaho Springs to WP
Although not a fishing experience, I had the chance to go snowboarding on Saturday with the wife. My mother in law was in town and she watched Avi for the day. This is the first time Jen and I have been together alone snowboarding in over a year. The weather was crappy in Denver and I think it scared some people away. By the time we hit Idaho Springs the weather was beautiful - sunny skies and it was actually warmer. The lift lines were non-existant - right up Zephyr Express and down the other side - the skiing on the WP side was ok, but the skiing on MJ side was killer! Tons of powder - which actually slows you down - but we did 2 or 3 runs in knee deep powder and it was awesome. We only did about 6 runs before Jen called it quits - we were home by 2:30. Great day!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Friday, Nov 10, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman
Friday, November 10, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Cold in the morning - about 45 degrees - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, slightly off color above Deckers - about 119 cfs.
I fished with Cabo today, and there isn't much to report. The parking lot at 10 am was packed with about 15 cars, tons of anglers. I saw a ton of fish, most of the good holes were taken. I couldn't find out what the fish were eating. I tried everything from scuds that Chad had luck with to tiny midges to no avail. Nice day, but the wind made it very cold. I was out of the canyon by about 2 pm.
This is a picture of the Family Hole in Cheesman, as you can see the river has changed quite a bit and this hole is completely filled in. This hole is usually about 4 to 6 feet in the middle - now it is about 1 foot deep.
I fished above the bridge at Deckers at the bend with no luck either. Caught a 6 inch fish on a red brassie beadhead soft hackle (my first). I also had a fish about 2 feet from me go after my streamer, but then stop just before the strike. I'm not sure why, I guess I need to understand how to make the streamer look and act more real. That was about it for the day.
Cold in the morning - about 45 degrees - but sunny and slightly breezy. Water was clear in the canyon, slightly off color above Deckers - about 119 cfs.
I fished with Cabo today, and there isn't much to report. The parking lot at 10 am was packed with about 15 cars, tons of anglers. I saw a ton of fish, most of the good holes were taken. I couldn't find out what the fish were eating. I tried everything from scuds that Chad had luck with to tiny midges to no avail. Nice day, but the wind made it very cold. I was out of the canyon by about 2 pm.
This is a picture of the Family Hole in Cheesman, as you can see the river has changed quite a bit and this hole is completely filled in. This hole is usually about 4 to 6 feet in the middle - now it is about 1 foot deep.
I fished above the bridge at Deckers at the bend with no luck either. Caught a 6 inch fish on a red brassie beadhead soft hackle (my first). I also had a fish about 2 feet from me go after my streamer, but then stop just before the strike. I'm not sure why, I guess I need to understand how to make the streamer look and act more real. That was about it for the day.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
November 9, 2006 - Fly Tying Clinic - Cherry Creek TU
November 9, 2006 - Fly Tying Clinic - Cherry Creek TU
Hit the Fly Tying Clinic on Thursday with Chad and Brian. Before the show we hit Applebee's for dinner and to shoot the sh!t. Hit the show around 7pm. Wasn't overly crowded at all. Good door prizes and raffles. Chad of course won something.
I hung out at a few tables - Sue Armstrong was tying her woven huge stone flies - unbelievable work, 2 hours per fly or so, crazy! Bill Searles was very cool - he's a member of the RMF board too, ties an amazing crayfish pattern that I just had to buy! He had a cool way to make wings with larger feather - splits it, then over laps the feathers and ties off - pretty good and unique idea. I sat with Frank Prekel and saw his epoxy shad streamer that looked cool. Sat with Al Makkai and he showed me his scud/shrimp pattern. Interesting stuff. The usually suspects had a crowd around tham all night (Garcia, Bartholemew, Dorsey).
Al Makkai's scud patterns.
I gave out a few RockyMtnFly stickers, but not nearly enough. A few people seemed very interested. It was a nice night and went by really quickly. I met two members of this forum that I hadn't know before Bill (flashback) and David (ScruffyFly) - I hope to hang out with these guys and do some fishing!
Hit the Fly Tying Clinic on Thursday with Chad and Brian. Before the show we hit Applebee's for dinner and to shoot the sh!t. Hit the show around 7pm. Wasn't overly crowded at all. Good door prizes and raffles. Chad of course won something.
I hung out at a few tables - Sue Armstrong was tying her woven huge stone flies - unbelievable work, 2 hours per fly or so, crazy! Bill Searles was very cool - he's a member of the RMF board too, ties an amazing crayfish pattern that I just had to buy! He had a cool way to make wings with larger feather - splits it, then over laps the feathers and ties off - pretty good and unique idea. I sat with Frank Prekel and saw his epoxy shad streamer that looked cool. Sat with Al Makkai and he showed me his scud/shrimp pattern. Interesting stuff. The usually suspects had a crowd around tham all night (Garcia, Bartholemew, Dorsey).
Al Makkai's scud patterns.
I gave out a few RockyMtnFly stickers, but not nearly enough. A few people seemed very interested. It was a nice night and went by really quickly. I met two members of this forum that I hadn't know before Bill (flashback) and David (ScruffyFly) - I hope to hang out with these guys and do some fishing!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Saturday, October 21, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Evening fishing - evening was nice around 45 degrees, cooled off into the evening but not too cold. Water was clear - about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad at Cheesman - got there around 5:30 and fished into the canyon. Hard to see any fish with the sun almost down so early and throwing a weird light tint on the water. Nymphed the runs first then moved down to the boulder. I hooked one in the middle boulder to the far bank where they sit in the hole and chill out. The fish was a 18 inch rainbow.
Moved down to the family pool and had no luck - weren't there very long before we called it a night. I wasn't cold, and I could feel my hands the entire night - which is unusual. Good night of fishing. Chad caught one small rainbow, so I out fished him. Miracles do happen!
Evening fishing - evening was nice around 45 degrees, cooled off into the evening but not too cold. Water was clear - about 150 cfs.
Fished with Chad at Cheesman - got there around 5:30 and fished into the canyon. Hard to see any fish with the sun almost down so early and throwing a weird light tint on the water. Nymphed the runs first then moved down to the boulder. I hooked one in the middle boulder to the far bank where they sit in the hole and chill out. The fish was a 18 inch rainbow.
Moved down to the family pool and had no luck - weren't there very long before we called it a night. I wasn't cold, and I could feel my hands the entire night - which is unusual. Good night of fishing. Chad caught one small rainbow, so I out fished him. Miracles do happen!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Saturday, Sept 30, 2006 Colorado River, Gore Canyon
Saturday, Sept 30, 2006 Colorado River, Gore Canyon
Full day of fishing - morning was nice around 55 degrees, afternoon was awesome, no clouds and around 75 degrees. Water was slightly off color - about 680 cfs.
Where should I start, first of all, for a late September day it was probably the best possible day you could ask for. The sun was out the entire day without a cloud in the sky and the temp was around 75 degrees. Of course sun does bad things for fishing.
My buddy Nate and I headed down to Gore Canyon early - got to the canyon slightly after 8 am. We didn't make it very far down the dirt road before I decided I wasn't "in to" 4x4ing and pulled off. We walked the rest of the way - which was ok on the way down, but brutal on the way back. We actually saw quite a few fishermen today - which was different from last year.
First off - the water in Gore Canyon looks amazing - plenty of holes and rocks were you just know the fish are in. Problem is, we just could scare any up. I hooked into a few fish, but most were tiny and when they were being pulled in they twisted and turned until they fell off the hook. I managed to land a small 7 incher and on the next cast landed a fat 17 inch white fish. I was so excited, until I realized it wasn't a trout.
We fished until about 2:30 and hiked our asses out of the canyon. Even Cabo was pooped by the time we made it back to the truck. We decided to head down to the Blue River - where it dumps into Dillon. No one was there this late in the day, so we had the delta access to ourselves. The river wasn't producing so we decided to strip streams on the "flats" where the river delta meets the reservior. Nate hooked into 2 rainbows that were about 14 inches and he called me over. He found a nice little pod of fish and we hook a half dozen or so. That was my first stillwater experience and it was a good one. I learned that stripping streamers blind can be frustrating, but if you find a pod of fish it can be great fun.
We were back in Denver around 6:30. It was a nice day to get out, but the fishing was disappointing.
Full day of fishing - morning was nice around 55 degrees, afternoon was awesome, no clouds and around 75 degrees. Water was slightly off color - about 680 cfs.
Where should I start, first of all, for a late September day it was probably the best possible day you could ask for. The sun was out the entire day without a cloud in the sky and the temp was around 75 degrees. Of course sun does bad things for fishing.
My buddy Nate and I headed down to Gore Canyon early - got to the canyon slightly after 8 am. We didn't make it very far down the dirt road before I decided I wasn't "in to" 4x4ing and pulled off. We walked the rest of the way - which was ok on the way down, but brutal on the way back. We actually saw quite a few fishermen today - which was different from last year.
First off - the water in Gore Canyon looks amazing - plenty of holes and rocks were you just know the fish are in. Problem is, we just could scare any up. I hooked into a few fish, but most were tiny and when they were being pulled in they twisted and turned until they fell off the hook. I managed to land a small 7 incher and on the next cast landed a fat 17 inch white fish. I was so excited, until I realized it wasn't a trout.
We fished until about 2:30 and hiked our asses out of the canyon. Even Cabo was pooped by the time we made it back to the truck. We decided to head down to the Blue River - where it dumps into Dillon. No one was there this late in the day, so we had the delta access to ourselves. The river wasn't producing so we decided to strip streams on the "flats" where the river delta meets the reservior. Nate hooked into 2 rainbows that were about 14 inches and he called me over. He found a nice little pod of fish and we hook a half dozen or so. That was my first stillwater experience and it was a good one. I learned that stripping streamers blind can be frustrating, but if you find a pod of fish it can be great fun.
We were back in Denver around 6:30. It was a nice day to get out, but the fishing was disappointing.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Saturday, September 23, 2006 Clear Creek, Idaho Springs
Saturday, September 23, 2006 Clear Creek, Idaho Springs
Cold afternoon, very overcast - about 50 degrees. Water was slightly off color and flows were over 100 cfs or so.
I watch the daughter today while the wife worked - she got out early so I made a break for some fishing while I had the chance. I took cabo and headed for Clear Creek. Having been here the week before for the clean up, I knew where the fish were stacked up - well, at least I thought.
I tried nymphing, then streamer/SJW rig, then dry/dropper, then streamer, then back to a double nymph rig. I managed to catch 4 browns all about 10 to 12 inches.
Basically I gave up after 2 hours and went home. Nothing to see here, just keep moving!
Cold afternoon, very overcast - about 50 degrees. Water was slightly off color and flows were over 100 cfs or so.
I watch the daughter today while the wife worked - she got out early so I made a break for some fishing while I had the chance. I took cabo and headed for Clear Creek. Having been here the week before for the clean up, I knew where the fish were stacked up - well, at least I thought.
I tried nymphing, then streamer/SJW rig, then dry/dropper, then streamer, then back to a double nymph rig. I managed to catch 4 browns all about 10 to 12 inches.
Basically I gave up after 2 hours and went home. Nothing to see here, just keep moving!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Clear Creek River CleanUp with Trout Unlimited - September 16, 2006
Clear Creek River CleanUp with Trout Unlimited - September 16, 2006
Not much to report here. Kind of sad about the turn out we got - not a whole lot of people and most were up in age. I'm also disappointed by how much trash we picked up - not the fact that we picked it up, but the fact that there was still a lot there.
We cleaned up the same stretch 2 years prior - yes there was a lot of trash then, but that stretch had never had trout fishermen cleaning it up.
The majority of what we cleaned up was McDonald's trash, beer cans, styrafoam coffee cups and cigarette packs. The beer of choice for the littering folk is Budweiser. The two extremes were either Bud or Milwaukee's best. The cigarette of choice was Marlboro (shocker). Needless to say the people doing the littering are inbred Bud drinking, Marlboro smoking losers - yeah that's right I said it - and you know who you are and you should be ashamed of yourselves. The McDonald's trash is due to there being a McD's in Idaho Springs and this must have been the main exit point. But there is still no excuse!
Volunteers also bother me. Not because they are usually an older crowd, but mostly because a bunch of them were there more for the free food, for the socialization or the raffle - rather than being there to pick up trash. For example - I was working Stanley Road as I was instructed and came across three orange bags that were blown into the brush by the wind - here I am carrying a bag full of garbage that weighed close to 40 or 50 lbs - I'm thinking, how can these bags get blown off the road? Well, I pull them open and someone had stuffed them with weeds, tumble weeds to be exact. The bags weighed about 1 lb each and there were three of them! What a damn waste! So, I unpacked them and stashed them in the truck for later.
Another time a couple drove by me in their Lexus, they had said that they had picked up the area below, but when it got to steep and rocky next to the river that they decided to stop. They drove up further (to where I was) and said that it looked like the whole road had been picked and they were all done - they said they were headed back to the park - they were done. I think they were looking for some kind of agreement from me, or some sign that I thought that was ok for them to do. I looked at my watch (10:30 - basically an hour and a half after we started - and an hour and a half before we were supposed to meet back at the park), so I told them "WHATEVER!". Of course, further up the road there was trash all over - so basically their trip was short.
The third thing that happened was also kind of deflating. Greg (the guy I was teamed with) had been told by a guy that he had worked the opposite side of the road from the river all the way up - so Greg and I grabbed the river side and walked about a quarter mile (we met another group that was working still further up) before turning around due to a 50 mpg wind and driving huge rain drops. We tied off our bags and left them next to the road (as instructed) - then we headed back on the far side of the road. We had left this stretch alone because the guy said it was done. Well, Greg and I started walking past some trash, at first we thought he just missed some - nope, finally I said "hey Greg, I have one more bag, I can't keep walking by this stuff" - Greg said "yeah I know, it's killing me too" - so we started picking - and started picking hard - getting behind the trees and picking up at least 120 beer cans and other stuff. We filled a bag between the two of us in the 1/3 mile stretch we had been told was done. Amazing.
Ok, so I'm a sore volunteer. Two years ago there was young teenagers helping us and they pulled a ton of trash on their own. The kids of today (well two years ago) basically were the work horses - but there weren't any volunteering today. So what does that say for the rest of us oldies (or midlifers)? I guess most are just interested in making an attempt, but their main interest is in the ass kissing and free stuff at the end. Sad.
For the record, I ate 1 brat, drank one water, didn't take a free t-shirt, and didn't stick around for the raffle (you had to be there to win). I wasn't there for the people, I was there for the fish/river/trash. I came, I saw, I picked up, I left.
Ok, I'm off my soap box. I hope others had a better experience than I did.
Not much to report here. Kind of sad about the turn out we got - not a whole lot of people and most were up in age. I'm also disappointed by how much trash we picked up - not the fact that we picked it up, but the fact that there was still a lot there.
We cleaned up the same stretch 2 years prior - yes there was a lot of trash then, but that stretch had never had trout fishermen cleaning it up.
The majority of what we cleaned up was McDonald's trash, beer cans, styrafoam coffee cups and cigarette packs. The beer of choice for the littering folk is Budweiser. The two extremes were either Bud or Milwaukee's best. The cigarette of choice was Marlboro (shocker). Needless to say the people doing the littering are inbred Bud drinking, Marlboro smoking losers - yeah that's right I said it - and you know who you are and you should be ashamed of yourselves. The McDonald's trash is due to there being a McD's in Idaho Springs and this must have been the main exit point. But there is still no excuse!
Volunteers also bother me. Not because they are usually an older crowd, but mostly because a bunch of them were there more for the free food, for the socialization or the raffle - rather than being there to pick up trash. For example - I was working Stanley Road as I was instructed and came across three orange bags that were blown into the brush by the wind - here I am carrying a bag full of garbage that weighed close to 40 or 50 lbs - I'm thinking, how can these bags get blown off the road? Well, I pull them open and someone had stuffed them with weeds, tumble weeds to be exact. The bags weighed about 1 lb each and there were three of them! What a damn waste! So, I unpacked them and stashed them in the truck for later.
Another time a couple drove by me in their Lexus, they had said that they had picked up the area below, but when it got to steep and rocky next to the river that they decided to stop. They drove up further (to where I was) and said that it looked like the whole road had been picked and they were all done - they said they were headed back to the park - they were done. I think they were looking for some kind of agreement from me, or some sign that I thought that was ok for them to do. I looked at my watch (10:30 - basically an hour and a half after we started - and an hour and a half before we were supposed to meet back at the park), so I told them "WHATEVER!". Of course, further up the road there was trash all over - so basically their trip was short.
The third thing that happened was also kind of deflating. Greg (the guy I was teamed with) had been told by a guy that he had worked the opposite side of the road from the river all the way up - so Greg and I grabbed the river side and walked about a quarter mile (we met another group that was working still further up) before turning around due to a 50 mpg wind and driving huge rain drops. We tied off our bags and left them next to the road (as instructed) - then we headed back on the far side of the road. We had left this stretch alone because the guy said it was done. Well, Greg and I started walking past some trash, at first we thought he just missed some - nope, finally I said "hey Greg, I have one more bag, I can't keep walking by this stuff" - Greg said "yeah I know, it's killing me too" - so we started picking - and started picking hard - getting behind the trees and picking up at least 120 beer cans and other stuff. We filled a bag between the two of us in the 1/3 mile stretch we had been told was done. Amazing.
Ok, so I'm a sore volunteer. Two years ago there was young teenagers helping us and they pulled a ton of trash on their own. The kids of today (well two years ago) basically were the work horses - but there weren't any volunteering today. So what does that say for the rest of us oldies (or midlifers)? I guess most are just interested in making an attempt, but their main interest is in the ass kissing and free stuff at the end. Sad.
For the record, I ate 1 brat, drank one water, didn't take a free t-shirt, and didn't stick around for the raffle (you had to be there to win). I wasn't there for the people, I was there for the fish/river/trash. I came, I saw, I picked up, I left.
Ok, I'm off my soap box. I hope others had a better experience than I did.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Monday, September 4, 2006 South Platte River, Dream Stream/11 Mile Canyon
Monday, September 4, 2006 South Platte River, Dream Stream/11 Mile Canyon
Beautiful day, hot and sunny around 75 degrees and NO wind! Water was slightly off color and flows were 143 cfs or so.
Fished with Chad and Nate (fishboy) - we were dying for some big fish - but none were had. Started at the Dream at 8am. Fished the bridge section just above the bend run and worked my way back to the bridge. I caught one cuttbow (about 14 inches) at the bend run on a microbugger in black. I had a couple of earlier hits by smaller fish. I walked the rest of the way back to towards 11 Mile Res looking for Chad and Nate - I didn't see a single fish the entire way. Nate hadn't much luck either - we both were blindly casting to great looking stretches with no luck.
We decided to head to the 11 Mile Canyon stretch. The canyon was packed on a holiday weekend with cut off jean short and wife beater wearing, cigarette hanging out of their mouth, budweiser bottle in one hand, spinner rod in the other fishermen. Scary the congregation of rednecks.
The canyon is what it is, beautiful water, and tons of small fish. The big ones wouldn't move for anything and wouldn't eat a fly if it was on a platter. I caught a few dinks - but as the afternoon got later, the fishing shut off. It was a long ride home on a holiday weekend.
Beautiful day, hot and sunny around 75 degrees and NO wind! Water was slightly off color and flows were 143 cfs or so.
Fished with Chad and Nate (fishboy) - we were dying for some big fish - but none were had. Started at the Dream at 8am. Fished the bridge section just above the bend run and worked my way back to the bridge. I caught one cuttbow (about 14 inches) at the bend run on a microbugger in black. I had a couple of earlier hits by smaller fish. I walked the rest of the way back to towards 11 Mile Res looking for Chad and Nate - I didn't see a single fish the entire way. Nate hadn't much luck either - we both were blindly casting to great looking stretches with no luck.
We decided to head to the 11 Mile Canyon stretch. The canyon was packed on a holiday weekend with cut off jean short and wife beater wearing, cigarette hanging out of their mouth, budweiser bottle in one hand, spinner rod in the other fishermen. Scary the congregation of rednecks.
The canyon is what it is, beautiful water, and tons of small fish. The big ones wouldn't move for anything and wouldn't eat a fly if it was on a platter. I caught a few dinks - but as the afternoon got later, the fishing shut off. It was a long ride home on a holiday weekend.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Saturday, August 19, 2006 Blue River, Palmer Gulch
Saturday, August 19, 2006 Blue River, Palmer Gulch
Heavy overcast - rain in the morning, storms in the afternoon around 60 degrees. Water was gin clear and flows were 276 cfs or so.
Fished with Chad, his father in law and my buddy Robert from work. We headed out early and got to Palmer Gulch around 8:30. Jumped down into the hole and started fishing - the morning went really well - hooking lots of small fish on a micro bugger in black. The first three fish I hooked were a brown, rainbow and a brookie. The brookie had grey coloring with orange fins and white on the tips.
I continued fishing and hooking fish, just not large fish. I hooked probably about 15 fish all day and 10 were under 13 inches. The afternoon brought thunder clouds and we decided to get off the lower stretch and head for the dam area. The tailwater was same as it ever is - clear and the fish spooky.
I fished my way to about half way to the dam - didn't catch anything, then we headed home. The ride home was scary - where the rain came down so hard that Rt 70 was a river in some stretches.
It was a nice day - I used Chad's 4 piece Clearwater rod for the first time.
Heavy overcast - rain in the morning, storms in the afternoon around 60 degrees. Water was gin clear and flows were 276 cfs or so.
Fished with Chad, his father in law and my buddy Robert from work. We headed out early and got to Palmer Gulch around 8:30. Jumped down into the hole and started fishing - the morning went really well - hooking lots of small fish on a micro bugger in black. The first three fish I hooked were a brown, rainbow and a brookie. The brookie had grey coloring with orange fins and white on the tips.
I continued fishing and hooking fish, just not large fish. I hooked probably about 15 fish all day and 10 were under 13 inches. The afternoon brought thunder clouds and we decided to get off the lower stretch and head for the dam area. The tailwater was same as it ever is - clear and the fish spooky.
I fished my way to about half way to the dam - didn't catch anything, then we headed home. The ride home was scary - where the rain came down so hard that Rt 70 was a river in some stretches.
It was a nice day - I used Chad's 4 piece Clearwater rod for the first time.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006 Blue River, Silverthorne
Sunday, August 13, 2006 Blue River, Silverthorne
Beautiful morning, nice and sunny maybe 75 degrees. Water was gin clear and flows were 172 cfs.
Fished during the day with Chad while the girls and kids went to the outlets. Gave us 3 hours to fool around. Typical Blue adventure - sunny and slow fishing. Saw tons of fish. Hooked and landed two - one on my second cast, a small rainbow that hammered the new streamers I tied. Green was the color of choice. I moved up to a deeper pool and saw a beautifully colored rainbow that had a neon sign across its side - the coloring was amazing. I hooked a 12 inch brown in that hole on the dorsal fin on a mysis shrimp. The last hour or so was uneventful. I could see them and tried every pattern I had in size 24, but to no avail. It was nice to get out, but 3 hours was way too short.
Beautiful morning, nice and sunny maybe 75 degrees. Water was gin clear and flows were 172 cfs.
Fished during the day with Chad while the girls and kids went to the outlets. Gave us 3 hours to fool around. Typical Blue adventure - sunny and slow fishing. Saw tons of fish. Hooked and landed two - one on my second cast, a small rainbow that hammered the new streamers I tied. Green was the color of choice. I moved up to a deeper pool and saw a beautifully colored rainbow that had a neon sign across its side - the coloring was amazing. I hooked a 12 inch brown in that hole on the dorsal fin on a mysis shrimp. The last hour or so was uneventful. I could see them and tried every pattern I had in size 24, but to no avail. It was nice to get out, but 3 hours was way too short.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Friday, August 4, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Friday, August 4, 2006 South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon
Night fishing - evening was nice and clear around 75 degrees. Water was clear - about 275 cfs.
My buddy Nate and I decided to fish Cheesman at night. He had heard about Chad and I fishing there and wanted to try it. We headed out late (6:30 pm) and didn't get to the parking lot until about 8 pm or so. Luckily it stays light out there. We hiked in and dropped straight into the family pool. The water was clear, but pretty high - higher than I had seen it in a while. The fish were taking off the top, but they were small.
We went right to chucking streamers. The night was uneventful, but we managed to catch 4 fish each. The largest was a skinny assed rainbow that was 18 inches, but skinny as hell.
I caught a nice brown on a smaller streamer that Nate's step-dad had tied. The small streamers seem to be the only thing that was working all night. We left around 11pm and were home by 12:30am. Not a bad night - I just wish we had more success.
Night fishing - evening was nice and clear around 75 degrees. Water was clear - about 275 cfs.
My buddy Nate and I decided to fish Cheesman at night. He had heard about Chad and I fishing there and wanted to try it. We headed out late (6:30 pm) and didn't get to the parking lot until about 8 pm or so. Luckily it stays light out there. We hiked in and dropped straight into the family pool. The water was clear, but pretty high - higher than I had seen it in a while. The fish were taking off the top, but they were small.
We went right to chucking streamers. The night was uneventful, but we managed to catch 4 fish each. The largest was a skinny assed rainbow that was 18 inches, but skinny as hell.
I caught a nice brown on a smaller streamer that Nate's step-dad had tied. The small streamers seem to be the only thing that was working all night. We left around 11pm and were home by 12:30am. Not a bad night - I just wish we had more success.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Blue River, Silverthorne
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Blue River, Silverthorne
Night fishing - evening started out rainy, but cleared up - overcast around 65 degrees. Water was off color due to heavy drainage up by the outlets - above outlets it was clear and cfs about 75 cfs of so.
Ok, I'll make this short and sweet since this was over two weeks ago. Chad and I hit the Blue - we were going to try the Palmer Gulch area, but the drive was rainy and we were anxious to get on the river - so we hit a section just south of there (by the pull out that loops behind the hills).
The area looked great, but the water was slightly off color (from all the rain we had just got) - we could see fish taking off the top along the shorelines. We started out fishing a deep pool and then working our ways up and back. I couldn't find anything. I tried everything too - from dries to nymphs. The water looked great with lots of fishable areas. I managed to hook one 4 inch fish before heading down river to see what Chad was doing.
He had just hooked into a huge fish that had run him down some rapids - he hooked him on a huge dry fly that he was flipping under a waterfall. Chad said he caught only 4 fish through this section.
It started getting dark, so we headed up towards the dam - hoping the water would be clearer. It wasn't, it was even more chocolate. I worked from under the bridge to just about half way through the outlets when I realized the cause of the dark water. The small stream that flows between the outlets was dumping about 100 cfs of dirt into the water - I jumped above this mess and found the water was crystal clear. The problem with water this clear is that all the fish can see you. I had no luck the rest of the night. Chad said he hooked 3 pigs down closer to the dam.
We were home by 10:30!
Night fishing - evening started out rainy, but cleared up - overcast around 65 degrees. Water was off color due to heavy drainage up by the outlets - above outlets it was clear and cfs about 75 cfs of so.
Ok, I'll make this short and sweet since this was over two weeks ago. Chad and I hit the Blue - we were going to try the Palmer Gulch area, but the drive was rainy and we were anxious to get on the river - so we hit a section just south of there (by the pull out that loops behind the hills).
The area looked great, but the water was slightly off color (from all the rain we had just got) - we could see fish taking off the top along the shorelines. We started out fishing a deep pool and then working our ways up and back. I couldn't find anything. I tried everything too - from dries to nymphs. The water looked great with lots of fishable areas. I managed to hook one 4 inch fish before heading down river to see what Chad was doing.
He had just hooked into a huge fish that had run him down some rapids - he hooked him on a huge dry fly that he was flipping under a waterfall. Chad said he caught only 4 fish through this section.
It started getting dark, so we headed up towards the dam - hoping the water would be clearer. It wasn't, it was even more chocolate. I worked from under the bridge to just about half way through the outlets when I realized the cause of the dark water. The small stream that flows between the outlets was dumping about 100 cfs of dirt into the water - I jumped above this mess and found the water was crystal clear. The problem with water this clear is that all the fish can see you. I had no luck the rest of the night. Chad said he hooked 3 pigs down closer to the dam.
We were home by 10:30!
Friday, July 07, 2006
Striper Fishing - Narragansett, Rhode Island
Wednesday & Thursday, July 5-6, 2006 - Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
Beautiful weather - clear, about 80 degrees
Wednesday
Wednesday was interesting - we started out by fishing the docks (as the bait shop had suggested) in the morning, but the tide was rolling out and it was the "wrong" tide. I started by chumming the water with huge clam bellies (as the bait shop had suggested). Of course there isn't a whole lot to see - the clams basically drift to the bottom (which you can't see), but I was hoping it was working by drawing the attention of some fish. Soon, the stripers were actually coming within site and taking the clams in fast smacks. I had tried earlier in the week to fly fish for stripers, but there is no "good" places to fish for them unless you have a boat. So, I stuck to bait fishing as it was my best option for catching fish.
We proceeded to tie on some clam necks and drift them down like they were chum. We had several hits and landed a few - none were bigger than 16 inches or so. They were a lot of fun fighting on a big 7 wt fly rod. We decided to head back to the cottage and wait for a higher tide. Later in the day we (my two uncles) returned and we proceeded to catch a few more fish. The largest was about 18 inches - but most were about 14 but very fat.
Thursday
The guys were ready to fish on Thursday and we went to the pier at the perfect time - with an incoming tide. We started chumming again and the fish were present. They seemed to love the structure of the piers that ran right beside the main channel (between a sand bar in the middle and the piers). We had seen a guy anchored on the sand bar fishing the incoming tide and he hooked into and landed a 29.5 inch striper - it was a keeper (28 inches is the limit). To me it looked like a 24 incher, but of course the guy wasn't going to toss that big of a fish back. We went right to work - hooking fish after fish until the tide peeked and started to turn over to slack tide. The fish were fun, all about 16 inches +/- - some smaller like 12 inches but all were fun to land. In all we managed about 2 dozen stripers between 3 people. Not bad for fishing from a pier!
The two weeks were a lot of fun, besides fishing, we went clamming several times, and crabbing a couple of times. We also bought lobsters straight off the dock and cooked them up, had linguine and clam sauce and had an amazing clam/seafood chowder that was the tastiest I have ever had. It was nice to relax for a couple weeks.
Beautiful weather - clear, about 80 degrees
Wednesday
Wednesday was interesting - we started out by fishing the docks (as the bait shop had suggested) in the morning, but the tide was rolling out and it was the "wrong" tide. I started by chumming the water with huge clam bellies (as the bait shop had suggested). Of course there isn't a whole lot to see - the clams basically drift to the bottom (which you can't see), but I was hoping it was working by drawing the attention of some fish. Soon, the stripers were actually coming within site and taking the clams in fast smacks. I had tried earlier in the week to fly fish for stripers, but there is no "good" places to fish for them unless you have a boat. So, I stuck to bait fishing as it was my best option for catching fish.
We proceeded to tie on some clam necks and drift them down like they were chum. We had several hits and landed a few - none were bigger than 16 inches or so. They were a lot of fun fighting on a big 7 wt fly rod. We decided to head back to the cottage and wait for a higher tide. Later in the day we (my two uncles) returned and we proceeded to catch a few more fish. The largest was about 18 inches - but most were about 14 but very fat.
Thursday
The guys were ready to fish on Thursday and we went to the pier at the perfect time - with an incoming tide. We started chumming again and the fish were present. They seemed to love the structure of the piers that ran right beside the main channel (between a sand bar in the middle and the piers). We had seen a guy anchored on the sand bar fishing the incoming tide and he hooked into and landed a 29.5 inch striper - it was a keeper (28 inches is the limit). To me it looked like a 24 incher, but of course the guy wasn't going to toss that big of a fish back. We went right to work - hooking fish after fish until the tide peeked and started to turn over to slack tide. The fish were fun, all about 16 inches +/- - some smaller like 12 inches but all were fun to land. In all we managed about 2 dozen stripers between 3 people. Not bad for fishing from a pier!
The two weeks were a lot of fun, besides fishing, we went clamming several times, and crabbing a couple of times. We also bought lobsters straight off the dock and cooked them up, had linguine and clam sauce and had an amazing clam/seafood chowder that was the tastiest I have ever had. It was nice to relax for a couple weeks.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Friday - June 23, 2006 - Cheesman Canyon
Friday, June 23, 2006 - South Platte River, Cheesman
Beautiful weather - clear, water clear, flows 235 cfs
If you are looking for a good fish story you will be disappointed. But, this was still the best fishing day of my life. Obviously not because of the fish - but because of something else.
Chad and I were out in the Gill Trail parking lot around 5:15 pm - ready to do some night fishing. After a hot hike in, we dropped down to the Family Pool and decided to work our way up the canyon about 1/4 mile and then meet back at the Family Pool at about 8 - 8:30 pm for some streamer fishing. I headed straight to my favorite strecth - with this much flows, the rainbows would be all over the large rock and that stretch. I tried the normal small thread midges, jujubees, black beauties, a pt, a chartuese midge, nothign was working. Chad of course whizzed by catching some nice pigs on a streamer dropper rig.
About 6 pm or so I heard some little peeping noises coming from the bank. I was trying to hook a fish that was right next to the bank and these two little duckings were coming down river hugging the bank and swam right over my fish. They noticed me and made a beeline back up river. I pointed them out to Chad. As I moved out to the middle of the river, the ducklings (not more than a week or two old I would guess) got a little braver and headed back down river past me, peeping all the way. I knew that was odd, since ducklings aren't usually left alone by their mothers. As always, I felt a bit sad to see them float by, thinking they wouldn't last long - especially since night fall was only a couple hours away.
The fishing continued to suck - and Chad kept catching fish ahead of me. I tried everything, even switching to a dry caddis because I saw one fish hit one as it floated by. It was getting closer to 8 pm and almost time to head down to the Family Pool, I started to cross over and decided to hit the long riffle one last time. There is a huge rock at the end of the riffle run that the water was high enough to flow around - well barely. I was starting to head back to the Family Pool and was walking behind the rock when I saw the two ducklings again, this time headed up river against the flow. We surprised each other behind the rock and they jetted around the front of it through the tougher current. I thought it was odd they were still searching for their mother, and now I felt even more like sh!t. I fished the back end of the pool for about 5 minutes and then guilt came over me. Somehow I had to help those ducklings, but how? They were probably 50 yards up by now.
I decided to give chase, I put my rod down and started stepping out into the current to see if I could see them. I couldn't, but I started sloshing ahead as I knew they'd be 3 inches from the bank. I moved up about 40 feet and there they were - tucked into the side of the bank swimming, they hopped up on a rock and went up and over. I jumped out of the water and headed on land after them. Not realizing how fast they could swim, I hopped back in the water and they were still up ahead of me. I started thiking to myself - I haven't seen a bird all day, where the hell would a mother duck be? Just then I looked at the island directly across some of the swiftest parts of the river and there was the mother duck, no kidding, with 4 other ducklings. She had heard the ducklings cries, and was standing alert, but wasn't making a sound. I think she was afraid that I would hear her and then come after her.
The ducklings didn't see or hear their mother and kept swimming ahead. I decided I'd try and scare them across - maybe when they got to the other side they'd see mom. So I jumped out of the water again and ran ahead, this time I was ahead of them and crashed down into the water - they saw me and made a break for the middle, got about 3 feet out and turned back to the bank and started down river. I jumped out of the water again, and ran down river to get behind them. I got behind them and tried again, again they made a break for the middle, but again, the current was too swift and they came back to the edge - this time heading back up stream again. This time I was close to them - maybe 20 feet, so I started charging them. The edge of the river was tough, as it narrowed the water got faster close to the edges and there were a few waterfalls of a few inches that made their swimming tricky. I got right behind them, they made a break to get up a 6 inch slick waterfall but fell back into the pool 5 or 6 times, I grabbed my net (which is the new measurenet that has smaller holes) and scooped one of them up. The other dove into the grassy edge to get away - he played dead as he hung low in the grass. I wanted to make sure I didn't lose one to catch the other, so I hell the net slightly off the ground, but it didn't matter - the duckling in the net was exhausted and was just as happy to sit there still.
I pinned the little guy into the grass, but had to get him out and into the net. I dropped the net down to the grass and tilted it in his direction. I started trying to move and I think he saw his little brother/sister and I nudged him in - not touching him for fear he'd have my scent on him. I had them both in the net, but now I had to get across the fast water. I was thinking the whole time, great you saved the ducks only to drownd trying to get across the river - nice! The second duckling kept trying to get out - he was stepping on his brother's head and trying to climb up the net. I held my hand over the net and shook him back down - he was exhausted too - and wasn't trying too hard. They were all poofy and their feathers were all puffed out - they were a black and light yellow color, mixed with brown and they had feet about one third the size of their bodies (which is huge).
I got into the faster water and it was deep - right up to my waist waders - and I was sure it was going to get deeper - but it didn't. I crossed over to the island and headed down to the lower part to where I had seen the mother. I sloshed down to the end and just as I came around there was the mother about 20 ft away and she was pissed!! I started getting a bit nervous and got about 10 ft closer to a rock that blocked me from her, leaned over it and dropped the two ducklings gently into the water in front of her. They booked it right for her, but made a slight detour to the right and went up on the island and jumped in with the other ducklings ahead of her. The whole time mom was yacking at them - I'm sure she was giving them an ear full for straying too far out into the current.
I crossed back over, hit the shoreline and got up on the hill side and looked for them. Mother and 6 ducklings were swimming together in the slow water and headed for the far shore (which was shallow and very slow). I found my rod and headed back to the Family Pool. Man, did I feel good. I hadn't caught a fish, but it didn't seem to matter.
I sat at the Family Pool for about 10 minutes, Chad came up from lower down the river and met me - I told him the story. We tied on streamers and started chucking. I managed two fish, a large rainbow and a good sized brown. We left at 10:15 or so and I was home by 11:45. I know this story seems a little sappy, but honestly it was one of the greatest feelings in the world.
Beautiful weather - clear, water clear, flows 235 cfs
If you are looking for a good fish story you will be disappointed. But, this was still the best fishing day of my life. Obviously not because of the fish - but because of something else.
Chad and I were out in the Gill Trail parking lot around 5:15 pm - ready to do some night fishing. After a hot hike in, we dropped down to the Family Pool and decided to work our way up the canyon about 1/4 mile and then meet back at the Family Pool at about 8 - 8:30 pm for some streamer fishing. I headed straight to my favorite strecth - with this much flows, the rainbows would be all over the large rock and that stretch. I tried the normal small thread midges, jujubees, black beauties, a pt, a chartuese midge, nothign was working. Chad of course whizzed by catching some nice pigs on a streamer dropper rig.
About 6 pm or so I heard some little peeping noises coming from the bank. I was trying to hook a fish that was right next to the bank and these two little duckings were coming down river hugging the bank and swam right over my fish. They noticed me and made a beeline back up river. I pointed them out to Chad. As I moved out to the middle of the river, the ducklings (not more than a week or two old I would guess) got a little braver and headed back down river past me, peeping all the way. I knew that was odd, since ducklings aren't usually left alone by their mothers. As always, I felt a bit sad to see them float by, thinking they wouldn't last long - especially since night fall was only a couple hours away.
The fishing continued to suck - and Chad kept catching fish ahead of me. I tried everything, even switching to a dry caddis because I saw one fish hit one as it floated by. It was getting closer to 8 pm and almost time to head down to the Family Pool, I started to cross over and decided to hit the long riffle one last time. There is a huge rock at the end of the riffle run that the water was high enough to flow around - well barely. I was starting to head back to the Family Pool and was walking behind the rock when I saw the two ducklings again, this time headed up river against the flow. We surprised each other behind the rock and they jetted around the front of it through the tougher current. I thought it was odd they were still searching for their mother, and now I felt even more like sh!t. I fished the back end of the pool for about 5 minutes and then guilt came over me. Somehow I had to help those ducklings, but how? They were probably 50 yards up by now.
I decided to give chase, I put my rod down and started stepping out into the current to see if I could see them. I couldn't, but I started sloshing ahead as I knew they'd be 3 inches from the bank. I moved up about 40 feet and there they were - tucked into the side of the bank swimming, they hopped up on a rock and went up and over. I jumped out of the water and headed on land after them. Not realizing how fast they could swim, I hopped back in the water and they were still up ahead of me. I started thiking to myself - I haven't seen a bird all day, where the hell would a mother duck be? Just then I looked at the island directly across some of the swiftest parts of the river and there was the mother duck, no kidding, with 4 other ducklings. She had heard the ducklings cries, and was standing alert, but wasn't making a sound. I think she was afraid that I would hear her and then come after her.
The ducklings didn't see or hear their mother and kept swimming ahead. I decided I'd try and scare them across - maybe when they got to the other side they'd see mom. So I jumped out of the water again and ran ahead, this time I was ahead of them and crashed down into the water - they saw me and made a break for the middle, got about 3 feet out and turned back to the bank and started down river. I jumped out of the water again, and ran down river to get behind them. I got behind them and tried again, again they made a break for the middle, but again, the current was too swift and they came back to the edge - this time heading back up stream again. This time I was close to them - maybe 20 feet, so I started charging them. The edge of the river was tough, as it narrowed the water got faster close to the edges and there were a few waterfalls of a few inches that made their swimming tricky. I got right behind them, they made a break to get up a 6 inch slick waterfall but fell back into the pool 5 or 6 times, I grabbed my net (which is the new measurenet that has smaller holes) and scooped one of them up. The other dove into the grassy edge to get away - he played dead as he hung low in the grass. I wanted to make sure I didn't lose one to catch the other, so I hell the net slightly off the ground, but it didn't matter - the duckling in the net was exhausted and was just as happy to sit there still.
I pinned the little guy into the grass, but had to get him out and into the net. I dropped the net down to the grass and tilted it in his direction. I started trying to move and I think he saw his little brother/sister and I nudged him in - not touching him for fear he'd have my scent on him. I had them both in the net, but now I had to get across the fast water. I was thinking the whole time, great you saved the ducks only to drownd trying to get across the river - nice! The second duckling kept trying to get out - he was stepping on his brother's head and trying to climb up the net. I held my hand over the net and shook him back down - he was exhausted too - and wasn't trying too hard. They were all poofy and their feathers were all puffed out - they were a black and light yellow color, mixed with brown and they had feet about one third the size of their bodies (which is huge).
I got into the faster water and it was deep - right up to my waist waders - and I was sure it was going to get deeper - but it didn't. I crossed over to the island and headed down to the lower part to where I had seen the mother. I sloshed down to the end and just as I came around there was the mother about 20 ft away and she was pissed!! I started getting a bit nervous and got about 10 ft closer to a rock that blocked me from her, leaned over it and dropped the two ducklings gently into the water in front of her. They booked it right for her, but made a slight detour to the right and went up on the island and jumped in with the other ducklings ahead of her. The whole time mom was yacking at them - I'm sure she was giving them an ear full for straying too far out into the current.
I crossed back over, hit the shoreline and got up on the hill side and looked for them. Mother and 6 ducklings were swimming together in the slow water and headed for the far shore (which was shallow and very slow). I found my rod and headed back to the Family Pool. Man, did I feel good. I hadn't caught a fish, but it didn't seem to matter.
I sat at the Family Pool for about 10 minutes, Chad came up from lower down the river and met me - I told him the story. We tied on streamers and started chucking. I managed two fish, a large rainbow and a good sized brown. We left at 10:15 or so and I was home by 11:45. I know this story seems a little sappy, but honestly it was one of the greatest feelings in the world.
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