My Spring Fly Fishing Video - Colorado Front Range

For those of you that have been following along with my posts this spring, I have finally pulled together an edit of footage from my spring time on the water.  Runoff is in full swing on these Colorado Front Range creeks, which is why I had time to put my edit together.

 

I hope you enjoy and are getting some chores done around the house while runoff turns our creeks into chocolate milk.  With a little one on the way, I am trying to get as many jobs done as I can, so I will be able to hit the water a few times again after runoff and before she shows up.  Have a good week everyone.

Appreciate What You Got

There are times when we all take something for granted.  Last week, we were in the Caribbean.  The same island as our honeymoon.  We went swimming every day because we love it and we don't have oceans in Colorado.  When we asked our bartender friends about the ocean, they told us they never go to the beach and never go swimming, because it was nothing special to them.  It seemed like they had totally taken it for granted and the exchange made me wonder what I take for granted around home.  Our back deck has a view of Mount Evans (a 14,000-plus-foot peak).  I look at it every day.  I started to wonder whether I had started to take our mountains and my humble little creeks for granted. 

So, the day after we got back from our trip, it was time to go fishing with the specific goal of really appreciating what my Front Range backyard has to offer.  

The day started overcast and cool with no hatches or rises.  I decided to try a few different nymphs first.  The first fish of the day came on a red zebra midge, which did well for me last year at this time. 

I was then able to enjoy the full progression of the day from nymphing and subsurface feeding, to catching fish on emergers (sparkle dun patterns), then on dries (adams, parachute adams and extended body mayfly patterns).  It was truly a pleasure to watch the insect and fish activity change throughout my time on the water and made for an interesting puzzle as the fish targeted the different stages of insect life at different times of the day.

It turned out to be a beautiful day on a beautiful creek that I love.  I stopped fishing after losing count, which is always a nice feeling.  While I hadn't taken this creek for granted, it was good to be reminded to really appreciate and enjoy what you have.  

Another Spring Weekend

I had the opportunity to hit the creek again for a few hours on Easter Sunday.  Stream flows were higher this week than last and the visibility had dropped. I don't think runoff is starting, but it is right around the corner.  The small brown trout were still targeting emergers and I think I found something they liked (a grey sparkle dun, as suggested after my last day on the water).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fishing was a little tough (seemed technical) and I did not have much success, but it was great to get out on the water and enjoy the afternoon.  For the first time in a long time, I felt at home on one of my favorite stretches of water.  Its a good feeling.  If there is a creek you want to visit  before runoff, you better do it soon.  In a few more weeks, we will all be wondering how to avoid the blown out rivers.  Have a great time on the water if you make it out.

Birthday / Spring Fishing

It has been a long, although mild, winter for me and I am ready for some fishing.  Over the past few months, I hit a tail water once and hit a local stream once with limited success.  But Spring is starting to get some momentum here on the Front Range of Colorado.  In our yard, the grape hyacinths and periwinkle (some of our earliest spring flowers) are blooming.  I had faith that the longer, sunny days would soon warm our streams, the insects would start to hatch and the fish would return to more confident and consistent feeding.

This past weekend was my birthday weekend and I had the opportunity find out.

On Friday, I visited a Front Range creek that I have had success on and was excited to fish again.  The incredibly blue skies and warm weather along with a bump in flows due to the sunny day seemed to keep the fish interested in things other than my flies.  All I caught was a buzz and a sunburn, but what a gorgeous day.  I did check out some new water that looks like some fun pocket water for later in the summer.

Saturday started overcast and I was hopeful the change in weather and incoming cold front would have a positive impact on the fishing.  I also chose a different Front Range creek at a lower altitude.  Both the insects and the fish were more active.  Midges and blue winged olives hatched and danced along the surface of the water, as trout made splashy rises.

It took more fly changes than I would have liked, but I was able to land fish on a pheasant's tail (size 18), a red zebra midge (size 20), an adams (size 20) and an extended body mayfly (Size 18).  The dries did not work until there were a few mayflies on the surface.  It seemed like the trout were targeting emergers and I was unable to figure out the pattern.  I had changed to the dries just to see if they wanted them and they worked as the naturals were present on the water.

The fish in this creek are typically not very big, but they can sometimes be very picky and give a fairly nice fight for their size and the size of the creek.  Fishing this creek is definitely satisfying when you are able to figure it out.

It seems to me that fishing has been a little slower to get going this year compared to last year.  However, it also seems like the fishing is just starting to get going, so I guess I haven't missed anything so far.  And no one else has either.  I look forward to getting out again.  It is time to start thinking about getting out to your favorite streams.  Have a great day on the water when you can!



Fighting Cutthroats 2013

It is cold outside and there is snow on the ground.  My favorite streams are frozen and the warm summer sun seems so far away.  I take this time to relax, eat good food, drink some good beers, refill my fly box at the vise and revisit my footage from the previous summer and fall.  For a fourth year in a row, I have created an edit of my footage chasing cutthroat trout though the Colorado mountains.

I hope this edit helps you get through these cold winter months as much as making it has helped me.  We will be back on the streams before we know it, but in the meantime, enjoy. 

Fighting Cutthroats 2013

Day of the Brookie 2013 / What I'm Thankful For

Turkey Day is tomorrow.  It's a time when you remember what you are thankful for.  I am thankful for a lot of things including family and good health.  But I am also thankful for a small group of fishing friends that have gotten together each summer for the last four years to spend a weekend together in the Colorado mountains.  The weekend is basically a competition, but the winner is really the person that has the most fun, not who catches the most fish. 

 

 

Each year, I put together a video to relive the weekend and I have a lot of fun doing so.  I hope you can appreciate the good times with good friends.  Enjoy your turkey and pumpkin pie tomorrow and everything you are thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Gotta Have Faith

The last few weeks have been good to me.  After a few bad calls by the umps and great pitching performances by the Cardinals, the Red Sox prevailed and won their third championship in under ten years. I had faith.  As mentioned, I thought the fishing season was just about over after my last cold, raining day outing, but it continues.  I didn't have faith, but was glad to be proven wrong.

 

The weather has been a lot nicer than expected over the past few weeks and I have even had some really nice late season dry fly action on one of my favorite, small front range creeks due to the sun and higher temperatures.  Nymphing has done well earlier in the days, with a bead head hare's ear reliably producing numerous small brown trout.  

Other than the nice weather over the last few weekends, the only other surprise has been the couple of rainbows I have caught.  The State does stock rainbows in this creek, but it is my understanding that they do not naturally reproduce.  The brown trout are a sustaining population and typically significantly out-populate the rainbows.  Cutbows have also been stocked in this creek, but I have only seen them caught by other anglers.

A simple adams dry fly produced several fish which was a nice change from nymphing.  I love watching a dry fly float along the surface waiting for the boil of a strike and setting the hook to feel the weight and pull of a fish that has just taken the fly.

 

I found my fall afternoons on the river in the sunshine to be totally relaxing and made a point to take a few moments to enjoy my surroundings.  I know that the inevitable cold snap is right around the corner which will all but end our season.  But until that time, we all have to have some faith.  Throw your gear in your car, drive to your favorite water and give it another go.  Yes, one day will be the day you get skunked and hang up your gear for a few months.   Until then.....get after it while you can. 

Enjoy it and I'll see you soon.