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.