The big flies are coming, the big flies are coming

Ten days….and counting, like the launch of a space ship. Ten days until one of the most famed bugs in the fish world descend or really ascend out of the water and turn every trout around into a shark like feeding frenzy. Right now both the anglers and salmon fly nymphs are starting to stir…both are hanging around the banks of the river and waiting. Friday I floated the black canyon of the Gunnison and got a great primer as to what lies ahead. The canyon is an amazing place…we hiked all our gear down including our raft on our backs and enjoyed one of the few sunny days lately running whitewater and fishing big flies for big hungry browns. Yes excitement is in the air for what the dry fly season holds for us out here near Pleasure Park.  The last two weeks I haven’t had the chance to to do much of anything other than work and try to figure out the ranch fish before our clients show up. So jumping on the net to blog has been near impossible. Right now about the only thing in shape is our six ponds, but they are hit and miss with the weather and water clarity. The Smith Fork is clearing but still has too much flow, and Gunnison is still high and a little to green for good fishing. However we had our first fish clients yesterday….and we got a little lucky all the way around a good way to start the season.

News Flash!!

Trout Mentality is a mere 30 minutes away from launch time and hitting the road for the summer….Updates, reports and most anything posted on the blog will be from outside the town of Crawford, CO on the banks of the Gunnison River!

Beginings and Ends….

What a crazy crazy month…

Ive been trying to get the time to really write more than a “hey here’s a fish report” blog post. But in the last month I been trying (key word there) to fish, make the FF Film Tour night here in FC, deal with work, put in my two week notice, fill out and return all the paperwork for accepting my new gig, get my gear ready for the season, plan an overnight fish trip to the Green, try to keep up with my girlfriend, and make her happy on her birthday.  Now I’m not complaining and trying to not make to many excuses but I’ve either been too dog tired to type or to worked up from one thing or another to really post without stepping up on my soap box.

So where to begin this one? Well how about the ending of my current employment… I have just one day left painting roads with the city, like I mentioned I put in my two weeks awhile ago. I wonder how everything is going to work out leaving a pretty decent seasonal job to continue my endeavor into guiding. I know I’ve got to start somewhere, but the first jump in anything is always a little nerve racking, especially at a time like this. I know I’ve got great potential thought and look forward to growing over the season and getting where I need to go. Work with the city though reminds me that I really do feel a little disconnected unless I’m on the the water a lot. I know work is work and play is play but I also believe everyone has a fit or is best a something and I think its just taken me longer to find out where my “fit” is.

I haven’t been able to fish much in the last month, go figure. So that leaves me with a head full of thoughts and an old 70’s era glass rod crying in the corner. Heck I haven’t even been able to tye much, even though for the time being I have access to a TON of materials…I think I have every shade of dubbing at my fingers right now.

Lately Ive been trying to spend my free time with my girlfriend while I can. I leave on the 18th for the west slope and wont be home until the end of August. On top of that she has landed a job that makes her really happy coordinating an youth organization in the mountains. So we aren’t really sure how many times we will see each other over the summer, but we both are hoping our schedules line up so we can see each other as much as possible. Yesterday she had her birthday party and I got to play bbq do the man thing and run the grill. We had a great time with some friends and brews, good food and some funny party games.

One of her birthday gifts was a weekend trip to the green river in Dutch John, UT for some hiking, camping, and of course to get her into some fish. We took of Thursday night and got into DJ around 1am and not falling asleep until 0130…still in the car just pulled over. Friday we got all our paperwork in order and left a message for some folks from a great FFF club back in Santa Cruz before we hit the trail to hike into our camp on the river. We decided to lug a full cooler and our two packs in for a two day stay, just a little ambitious. We had camp set up and relaxed early in the afternoon, just in time to string the rods and wonder the bank eyeballing the wilderness that surrounded us. She struck out Friday and I managed to hook a few, but only putting one to net. I knew it was going to be a test seeing a ton of olives come off and not one nose break the water taking adults. Saturday was better, we walked our whole beat and she put her first fish to the rod, a very exciting moment with a solid green river brown in some fast deep water. She also got  to see how easy 6x broke, but I almost did the same on the only fish I brought to hand for the day. Again bugs were flying all day but no one was looking up just yet. The day was anything but slow though, we watched some osprey or some sort of large predator bird work the river, young beavers and river otters play, and just the life of the river in all making the most of a great day of weather. Saturday night we hiked out back to Dutch John to have dinner and catch up with some friends from back home in Santa Cruz. We found the gang gathered around the dinner table and we all got caught up on lost time and the up coming season as what looked to be a never ending line of french fries and onion rings hit the table. After words we took in the sun set and enjoyed our night hike back to camp for the last night on the river. We broke camp Sunday getting back to DJ in time to hike down the A section pointing at fish stacked everywhere. We sat and just took in the scenery for a while and then noticed a great looking boat hanging out in the river and some guilty looking characters starting there day. So we hung out and watched the John and Pat from the club drift first run, and when the ran around the corner we started our climb out of the canyon. We got back to Fort Co Sunday evening and had a great trip, one we will surely make again (and again I hope).

Anyways just wanted to through up and up date before I lose some thoughts. The Film Tour has given me thoughts, as has the closer for salmon season out in CA, and just state of most things in general. I however will save that soap box for another when I am not so tired and haven’t already written a saga of a post. Maybe when I get settled in on the SF and read a little.

It was great to see everyone out in Dutch John!!!

Filling the boxes

Here I thought spring had finally pushed into Colorado this last week…fair weather, water temps ticking up, and the hope of running into a few nice toms while hunting turkeys in Nebraska this last weekend. Well mother nature threw a nice change up, the weather came in, the temps dropped and running to chase turkeys got scratched. The one bright spot? I just picked up a new simms guide pack and after finally organizing my fly boxes I found I needed to sit down at the vice and fill some gaps. A few dozen flies later it looks like I’m back up to snuff and ran out the river for a quick check.  The farther I ran up the canyon the better the weather got until I found sunny skies and lots of midges coming off.  Had a great day and ran into two browns around the 20″ mark that liked what I had. Can’t wait to get down to the Gunnison and test out some caddis pupa I’ve been working on, and fish the Taylor for a shot at some pigs. Only three weeks left in Fort Collins and I’m itching to get the season underway!

Been a while, but ya can’t beat good news!

Holy crap I didn’t think it had been this long since I posted something. So what better than to complain that I’m not getting enough time on the water…just kidding. Well I work has me wrapped up for four days a week, and the weather has been all over the place. That coupled with a weekend snow camping trip and yeah someone might be able to make a case for missed time with the fish. I however have been out, and have a some solid dry fly fishing which right now is a great boost to the game plan. Speaking of plans, like I mentioned this last weekend I was at just over 10,000 feet on a snow shoe trip. Without a super heated laser line to slice through the ice, I enjoyed my time with new friends and put some thought to where the upcoming season will lead me. Well low and behold I get home and check the old email and find a few messages from possible destinations, wanting me to check them out. So instead of complaining about not getting out I am overly excited to say that I have decided (baring some long shot) that I will get to enjoy the salmon flies on the Gunnison and guide throughout the summer there and on the Smith Fork. I guess now I have an excuse to fish more as I need be on my game when I get there. Oh and it also gives me the chance to sport some new gear. Thanks to all that helped me out over the last year!

Looking forward to a season filled of these!

weather, bugs, and fish

This last Monday found me out on the water…the rod screamed my name all day until the wind layed down just enough to entice me to look at a new piece of river. Getting there I found the first real solid hatch of BWOs Ive seen this year. With fish rising and not a soul to be found I enjoyed taking the time to slide my pair of waders on and string up my rod. I felt like I was cheating the weather, forcasted for gusty winds and snow from Fort Collins up to Cheyenne, this stretch of river seemed a little more protected and loaded with the first mayflies of the year. I ended the afternoon out with a solid number of browns coming to net, the biggest pushing 16 inches, all jumping, tail walking, and streaking around like mad. However yesterday mother nature got us fly chuckers back with over a foot of snow on the ground in a day. Blowing snow and icy, snow packed roads made for a long commute and I’m sure those mayflies were definitely not coming out of the water. A some what sunny day finished out the week, but the daily high temps for the weekend still say iced guides. Not too sure if anything swimming is going to be eating much over the next few days. The time off this weekend will help to fill the fly boxes if I don’t make it out on the water.

Carpe diem

Sunny and sixty five degrees, the river is starting to pick up some flow, and BWOs are getting more and more frequent (even with the nice weather). So with the national weather service calling a winter storm warning in the Wyoming/Colorado boarder and the forecast for snow and wind Monday, I figured I’d take advantage of the good weather and throw some loops. After working over the Poudre canyon Saturday and finding a whole lot more people than trout, I decided to hit the flats and stalk some over looked game. Pulling into the parking area for North Shields Pond there wasn’t a person in sight. I took a quick walk around the pond for a little recon and to formulate a game plan on where to intercept some fins that looked close to 20 pounds. By the time I geared up and walked half the pond again the lot had a few more cars, nothing but dog walkers and trail runners so no need to claim a beat. I quickly caught up with my prey daisy chaining in water three feet deep. easing in to the water and trying to keep a low profile (you know just like the guys you see fishing bones in the Keys). I worked into position, eyeing the pod of eight fish, all longer than the length of my arm. Taking the brown girdle bug off my lowest guide and stripping off enough line to reach the fish I started to wonder if the five weight I had in my hands would turn any of the fish I had seen. shooting my first cast right at my target instead of just above it, the fly hit the water too hard and the closest three fish spooked. With the whole pod of fish scattered after one fish it was time to get out of the water and walk more bank in hopes of finding more opportunities. Fifty yards down the bank the scenario unfolded again. this time my cast landed softly, a little too much lead, but the fish held course until it was just two feet in front of him. One short strip was all it took for the fish to see this brown leggy thing moving along the bottom and suck it up like candy. Coming set I quickly found I was way under gunned and more along for the rid than I thought I would be. Twenty minutes later I was cradling a fish that went 15lbs if it went an once. He had made several long runs, working me plenty into my backing twice and making me work every rod angle to bring him to hand. Having the fish tailed and unhooked came to apparent again that I need to fish with someone or at least get batteries in the camera to start taking pictures out here.  I released this pond patroler and replayed this spot and stalk game three other times, tailing two more fish before the breeze became to stiff to sight fish effectively. Not a bad way to spend the day, sunny, warm, a pond to myself, and active, hungry carp. Yep carp, the fish that gets the bad rap. They can be tailing, just like bones in Florida, and more picky than spring creek trout at times. I think the smallest one I have ever seen was a solid six to eight pounds, and they always put your gear to the test. Yet most really give a wierd look and sometimes a step back when I tell them what I’m chasing. However something tells me the these freshwater flats fish will be off the bite with the cold and snow projected to fly. Just another great way to cap off a weekend and ward off going insane from trying to thread the eye on a size 22 thread midge.

Poudre Canyon Hatch

Thursday driving up the poudre canyon the weather on the radio called for cloudy skys a high of 38 and the possibility of snow flurries. I was looking for a turn out below the north fork, if it had some flow the main river below would be a little warmer and the fish a little more agreeable. I worked my way up the river, through gateway park and was fortunate to run into a few fish rolling a brassie and blood midge. As I followed the north fork up to the damn I could see blue wings and midges coming off. I soon found out that I didn’t have the box I needed and I wasn’t about to walk the mile back to the truck to look. So I did what any good intentioned fly flinger would do and put down pod after pod of rising fish trying to find something they might like, mutilating a few flys in the process. I couldn’t even get a so much as a follow from anything I tried. I like to nymph upstream, and with the dam in sight it was time to turn around and work my way back to the truck. I am a big streamer junkie so down and across was my intended way of getting back to the truck. Olive, brown, green, black, white, pink….they were all turning heads, however I saw nothing but tails headed down river. I did manage to roll one big sucker twitching a green bugger on the bottom,  but something tells me it might have been an accidental force feed with the hook on the outside of his face. All in all the weather was great for a late winter midge and bwo hatch, cold and overcast. The fish weren’t to interested in the olives yet but I cant wait the few weeks until they will be more consistent, fishing two size twenty midges makes for a long day.

Now today a flat tire on my mountain bike put me out of commission of scouting some new water in town by my house. So instead I knocked out a few more streamers, and got caught up on the hunt for big fish episodes and caught a show that highlighted the watuga river back east, a great brownie factory. Tomorrow might find me scouting some local lakes, the thought of walleye on the fly sounds intriguing

Caution Stops For Trout

Getting out of town this morning I happened to end up staring the back end of a state trout truck. I figured this was a good omen, even if I was leaving before the sun filled the Big Thompson canyon. I thought about yesterday as I drove up the canyon, looking at tree tops and expecting puffs of snow to blow across the road. Surprise surprise the morning was dead calm, even on the water. The temps dropped last night and as I got out of the pickup at a run that held fish yesterday I noticed a nice sheet of ice. I was out of luck trying to get a jump on fish I had marked in the canyon from yesterday. Not wanting to waste time I ran up to Estes Park with expectations of thoroughly working over the trout I found in yesterdays hurricane. I figured I could get the job done with some super small PTs and Hairs ears figuring the blow from yesterday would have confused fish, I know it left me in a daze. All I got were looks, follows, and knee buckling rejections, I figured I need to change up so I called lunch and scrambled for a fly box I prayed was in the truck. After lunch I walked down the river, had a little chat with a guy packing three rods, and found a run that looked like the trout truck had stopped at. Lucky me I found my midge box at lunch and with the wind still a no show shook hands with a number of trout. Rainbow warriors, blood midges and anything else in the hot and now gotta have them department got rejected, in fact fish would get out of the way. It was a black and blue day, both for midges and trout gums. The breeze eventually showed up, but not after I got to stretch some 6x and tail some fish. All in all a good day, and driving down the canyon a lot of the ice is gone until the next cold spell. Tomorrow I’m going to hang in up on the tail water and chase down some free stone browns. Oh and find out how to put some fish porn on this thing.

Trying to buck the weather

Yesterday I received a great phone call from my new found employer until the season rolls around. So today I decided to take advantage of my last full week of freedom and finally get out to really explore some water. Itching to get out on the Big Thompson, I took a look at the weather last night and really didn’t expect the wind prediction to hold…we’ve had some great weather lately and I had full intentions of putting the hurt to some trout via a midge hatch. Well low and behold I woke up this morning to find a few inches of snow on the ground and cold temps, alright I take it slow and let the day warm up I thought. The fly shop was on the way so I figured I would stop in and let the sun get a good head start while I took a look at some gear. Getting into the upper canyon around noon I stepped out of the truck to get blasted by blowing snow and a stiff wind…how many time a year does your weather man get something right? Low clear water makes me happy, I like to sight fish and late winter/early spring is prime time for hunting with a fly rod. However the stand and wait for five minutes, fish for two, and wait for five minutes for the next blast to blow by made the day a little more mentally challenged. Small pheasant tails and midges were the ticket today, more the midges but I did move fish with both. I worked my way up the canyon to Estes Park where I stopped for lunch and hoped the wind would die…at least I got to warm up. The wind got rougher and rougher as the day went on. I found out that if you got up wind of your target in gail winds, all you have to do is lift your rod tip, shake appropriate amount of  line out, lower the rod tip and you have made a very accurate cast. Mending however was almost impossible however. All in all I ended the day with five fish to net, missed close to the same, and froze ten digits and a nose. The rest of the week looks a little better, hopefully lighter winds and maybe a midge hatch…..