Winter Fishing

Well some days it works and some it don't.  Today it didn't!  Only 2 o'clock and I am already home warm and feed writing this post.  What a short day on the water.  The poudre was so iced over there were hardly any open spots.  So I went down into town to catch some open water.  In town by the bike trail the bends in the river were open.  Second cast was a hit and landed fish.  But I found that getting to the fish was a challenge as the ice was on for the first 5 feet and had to break it through to get to the hooked fish.  After that somewhat suspicious start I couldn't' do anything right.  Every cast seemed to send a fly on or under some ice.  and ice just grabs fly's like nothing else.  Lost 3 in less than 10 minutes and now I know why fly fishers wait till spring or hit a tail water.

An unknow spot

Tonight I had a wonderful hike and about half hour of fishing.  Found one of those little creeks that is just big enough to have some 8 inchers.  The little stream in the fall was idealic in that it was almost over.  thirty days from now it will be a frozen dry prairie with wind making even the short hike a bit too much. 

What was interesting about this place is that nobody else was around.  Less than 40 minutes from my house I was almost totally alone.  Its not everyday that one gets to run out and find the quite area your looking for, and today it was just right.

Float Trip Grey Reef

So last weekend I did a last minute booking of a float trip in WY.  Overall was not a good idea.  It is a very expensive trip to pay for by oneself.  Also the reef I was told did not fish very well.  I was looking for big fish in the 20 inch range and only was getting some smaller rainbows.  The slow fishing was like a normal day on a river and not the spectacular day I was hoping for.  Maybe my expectations were just a little too high for the day.

On the upside I stayed in one of the weirdest hotels ever.  It was the Virginian in Medicine Bow, WY.  They had sleeping rooms on the second floor of the building.  The room was decorated in very old style and was quite unique.  All the rooms had a certain strange oldness to them.  Wallpaper and wooden furniture that was right out of the 40's.  There was shared bathrooms on each floor that were modern so it wasn't all old school.  The bar was super loud below me until just after midnight, as the locals all seemed to want to stay up and party.  It was a Friday night so I guess the third floor might have been a better bet.

A couple of weeks of poudre river fishing

Well the exerperienced hands at fly fishing all said that fall was the best time to go fishing on the poudre.  The water is low and I was truly surprized at the amount of surface activity going on.  Throwing double dry rigs caught fish consistantly for several weekend trips.

One particularly good hole produced an afternoon of fun.  Was casting from a tall rock in the middle of the pool that I dunked my waders to get to.  With only a little water having made it in I was determined to get the sippers on the other side.  In one hour I caught 5 fish ranging from tiny to quite nice ones.  The funny part about this spot was I kept hearing load music echoing off the rock wall.  After a fellow fisher waited not so patiently below me for half an hour I packed it in.  As I was leaving up the canyon I found Mishawaka amphitheater around the next bend.  the source of the load music and probably why the fish were not as hard hit in that hole.

There was a nice mix of browns and rainbows from the last couple of weeks.  But man those browns sure are pretty.  Looking forward to floating the reef soon.

Betrayal by Facebook

An interesting world that modern convenience has brought has changed the behavior of all people.  The way in which people interact is fundamentally changing, good or bad depending on your perspective.  I was a fairly firm believer in the positives of online communication until a recent event. 

A few months ago I took several family members to a lake fishing area where we hit several.  These spots were on loan to me from a friend.  Somehow my friend managed to communicate to me without words that "his" fishing spots were somewhat off limits to broader dissemination by electronic communication.  So when enacting my own ethics of others fishing spots I communicated to my family that these were not "my" spots but a friends. 

A few days ago aforementioned family member posts pictures of the spots and detailed descriptions of where I had shown him on Facebook.  This betrayal of the basic understanding of a code between fishing partners was a total let down.  An individuals moral code no longer can be given a benefit of the doubt, but can only be trusted after time and shared experience can evaluate.  This is a strange side effect of all the instant electronic communication we have these days.  I find myself withdrawing further and further from the desire to post incessantly about what I am doing.  As I was never a strong poster at anytime this has not been a difficult transition.  But maybe some people around me need a little re-evaluation of the true value of continual posting on Facebook has.

Sunday Afternoon on the Poudre

Somehow fishing has been getting put off till Sunday afternoon each weekend frequently.  But as always facing a Monday of work without engaging in some relaxing effort to get some fish always sends me loading up to hit some water.  This Sunday was awesome on the upper poudre.  Caught some nice brown trout on green copper johns above the poudre chapel.  Still haven't seen to much rising to the surface, but they were coming on strong with the nymphs.  Oddly they were ignoring the normal colors of tan and brown nymphs that usually work.

So every once in a while fate says You Win!

When purchasing a new vehicle there is always the fun of shopping and testing and negotiating, etc....  But then there are the dreaded used car questions of;
does it start?
been wrecked?
How many owners, miles, kids..?


And my personal favorite right know
does it pass emissions?

Nobody cares if it pollutes or is in good running order, only that it will pass the minimum requiremments to pass a layer of human bureaucracy.  This question is more pronounced in importance as the price of the vehicle your shopping for goes down.

Anyway I was at the DMV earlier after my successful purchase of a new ride.  Well upon using my wonderful researchy interweb skills I found that I got screwed on my last car.  Since they(DMV) had me do an emissions test for my car.

Well the figure below clearly indicates my residence (8806) is at the green arrow above the gasoline and diesel emissions zone and since I drive gas cars I don't require the test.  Bo-Yah to the man!

When presented with this picture when getting plates there was some consternation as to the my bluntness as to being exempt.  Also the poor guy the owns one house south of me (20ft) is not exempt?  what is up with that?  It is as if we live in a society that is run by arbitrary rules and regulations.  At least this time i came out on the upside.

Rocky Mountain National Park

last Saturday went up to RMNP and got skunked.  The parking lots before fern lake were all super paked and unable to get a spot.  Tried some warm up in Morainne Park, but that is just super sparse and very unsatisfying.  Found a good spot on the way to Sprauge lake where I could see the fish feeding. 

After two hours of every dry fly I had(at least it seemed that way) with only refusals it is easy to loose the nerve and call it.  Funny thing was that since I was standing on an overhang after the hours of my weight sitting there some collapsed in and a huge monster slunk up the stream.  Just watching this thing move up the river it was obvious that he ate the fish that I was looking to get.  Color was almost a blue in the water and he sure didn't move fast.

Weekend fishing Trip Update

On Saturday I went to Douglas Reservoir which is close enough to Wellington to be a frequent one for.  was skunked on catching any fish, but I was able to see several large fish that got quite close to me.  Trying streamers was fun, but the fish didn't seem to do the last bit and hit them only follow them all the way in.

The Poudre is clear and fishing nice today.  I went a very short way up to by the ouzel campground and was taking in a lot of rainbows.  I also snagged some nice brown trout.

This fish was my first nice catch of the day.  In only 5 hours I caught 10 fish, with a lot being small rainbows, but when they keep bitting you can't help but be happy and focused on being on the river.  There was a lot of other people around today and Quite a few regular fisherman.

On my last spot at the double dip in a nice long riffle/run area I caught the best fish of the day.

Looking very nice!!

This weekend of short trips was just what I needed to relax and spend some time on fun.

Golf with Dad and Jesse

Played golf at city park nine and got worked by both my Dad and Jesse.  It was fun to play on a nice Sunday afternoon.  Course was super slow though somebody was taking their time.

Fishing Disasters Happen

So double update for the day.  Finished the fly fishing school on Sunday afternoon with St. Pete's.  While the first day was very informative and fully eye opening the 'on the river' day was a total disappointment.  Most of the information was good, but the actual instruction was boring.  Most of the stuff I had already figured out with trial and error.  also they acted like we were getting a guided service, when in reality the instructors definitely didn't want to get us into any fish.  short time and new people usually means limited chances, but I imagined a bit better day for us.  On the up side I tried out some nice waders and am totally convinced that they are worth it.

disaster two was fishing on the poudre river tonight.  Took the wife and the boxer dogs.  Was not a good idea.  Grabbed some sandwiches and at the first location the water was very high and fast.  Good drifting practice, but no takes.  At Indian Meadows the Mosquitoes came out.  Within half an hour we were all covered in swarming bugs.  So the dogs started barking little wimpy chirps in distress and the wife was doing a little anti mosquito dance.  So sometimes fishing in the mid week is not a good idea.

First day of Fly fishing School!!

Just finished my first of two days with fly fishing school with St. Pete's fly shop in the fort.  Kyle did a very good job of taking us through the basics of fly fishing.  Best part was learning a new knot that ties so much quicker than what I was using.  Also there was just enough information on mayflies, caddis, stoneflys, and midges so that I didn't totally zone out.  Just what the beginer ordered.  After some talking we spent about an hour flinging lines at library park.  This was supper helpful to have a example person who looked good throwing line around to model after.

I am supper stoked to go tomorrow for our day on the poudre with some practical instructions.

Golf at Link-n-Greens

This was my first game of golf with my father ever.  Kind of a unique time for us both were we could appreciate the two hours walking around outside together.  The highlight was probally the kits that were on hole 7 or 8 by the barns. 

They were 5 or 6 little ones that were lounging around waiting for mom to come home with dinner I think.  This barn is really a quite unique building for not having been real close to it before.  dad beat me by 4 strokes at double bogie golf for me.

First trip to Chambers Lake area

On Saturday the penultimate weekend warrior fishing day I planned and executed a trip with a couple of college buddies.  As I am not the most the social fisher guy around due to a novice's unwillingness to show ineptitude and lack of time on the water it sounded like a good time.  Unfortunately one buddy was unable to show due to illness, but thankfully Jeff was able to make it.  We altered the planned trip to red feather in order for Jeff to show me his favorite Colorado lake places.  The three lakes are about ten miles shy of the top of Cameron pass were quite wonderful.  The lakes were a long hour and a half up the poudre river and taunted me with some quite fishable water along the way.  I saw the hatchery for the first time in years.  Somehow the taunt of a fish hatchery made me imagine that there were giant fish in the water around there.  But this itch was to be scratched another time.

Upon arrival we stopped at the first of three lakes a small reservoir that Jeff didn't name.  we hiked a little ways around to by a damn.  Jeff set up his lure spinning rod an I proceed with a dry fly indicator with a small wormy thing second.  we both started pulling in 6-9 inch rainbows in minutes.  After about an hour of load fishing we had attracted all of the families and other fisher people that we hiked by earlier with our enthusiastic catches.  So feeling a bit crowded we headed to lost lake and chambers.  Lost lake was again fairly crowded and nobody was catching anything so we headed to the inlet of chambers lake.  With strong threatening clouds we set up our lines for fishing in some current.  After Jeff reeled in a couple of nice lake trout the weather broke and we hoofed it back to the car.  The altitude and rain made for a very cold walk to round out what was a very interesting day for me.  The three lakes are firmly within driving distance of the fort and will offer me a couple more weeks of lake fishing while the rivers are all swolen monstrosities from the spring melt. 

Of note is that next week I am looking forward to taking the St. Pete's fly shop of Fort Collins fly fishing school next weekend.  I am looking in particular for some direction on casting more than 30 ft of line and on keeping a few more of my fly's as I seem to be losing them at a quite an alarming pace.  It will also be a fun time to potentially expand my fishing network.

"Prospecting for Trout" Book Review and Fishing Story

Tom Rosenbauer is the author of this wonderful book I just finished.  The book covers in ~200 pages all the technical elements of fly fishing for trout.  There is unique writing that glides through a jungle of information, opinion, and challenges without lessening the adventure for a novice.  Many techniques presented were just beyond me in understanding let alone executing.  The book also contained a set of light instructions that the author wants me to take and develop into my own expertise.  His enthusiasm for fishing trout is contagious and makes a sense of need and desire for standing in a river seem like a perfectly normal activity for anyone. 

I particularly liked Tom's explanation of finding your own space in the fly fishing world.  for example, some people want to carry a fly for every possible situation, while others want a dozen of proven trusty's and that is it.  This choice rested on the variety of locations fished, type of fly fishing, and the individual fisher.  This ability to choose within the bound of success for fishing was very encouraging for a new fly fisher. 

And because it's a fishing post!!

I caught this fish on my first ever dry fly only rig at Redfeather lakes.  Lake Parvin was good to me with 3 lake trout and numerous strikes for the three hours I was there.  There is just nothing like taking a rising fish on a good cast with just a dry fly.   As a new fisherman the interesting thing was how focused I was on willing the fly, fish, and line all into the right place for the take.  Thankfully it was a great day were the fish were eating everything.  The lake was quite crowded that day(Saturday), but I found that quite a comfort, for when I was there later that week in the evening it was kinda spooky to be all by myself at dusk on a lake side.  somehow it is so comforting to be a part of the fishing group without having to interact with anyone else too much.

First!!!

I was finally first! Hehe

I am currently writing this blog since I along with many others feel the need to share with a larger audience about myself and my activities.  I have grown dissatisfied with Facebook as the in-personal nature of friending got weird when creeping became the primary activity.  Althouth I am writting to record some of my activites in a way that can be shared the end result may be a record for myself of what I was doing and focused on at the time.