Hiking and Fishing a High Country Lake - Shelf Lake, Colorado - Edit

The recent spring storm that dropped 14 inches here south of Denver has me thinking of spring and summer and returning for a hike to one of my favorite high country lakes for some fishing.  The hike in is just tough enough at about 3 miles and 1,900 feet of elevation gain to be a fun challenge with a few steeper sections.  The lake holds cutthroat trout and sits at an elevation of approximately 12,000 feet.

Working through the footage from last summer is a good way to get excited about the upcoming season.  Putting together this edit has me dreaming of blue skies, wildflowers and colorful cutthroat trout.  Below is a quick edit that shows why I love hiking to and fishing this lake.

The treadmill running and fly tying have already started in anticipation of this hike.  I bet you have some fishing plans and dreams for this summer as well.  Now is as good a time as ever to get ready before the season is upon us.  Happy spring everyone.

Fly Tying - Zen of the RS2

Walking into the local fly shop recently, the customer paying at the register looked familiar.

It was Rim Chung, inventor of the RS2, picking up some odds and ends, talking about TMC 101's and tying 100 RS2's without messing up a single tail.

I still remember tying my first RS2's.  They were terrible as I messed up the tails and just about everything else.  Bulky, misshapen bodies.  I didn't have any microfibbets so that was substituted for something else.  No CDC either.  Plain and simple, they were poor imitations of a classic South Platte fly.

After those early attempts, I knew for the time being I would be buying my RS2's.

But the fly has done well for me and I was already planning to try and tie some of these versatile patterns again.  This chance encounter with the fly's inventor spurred my motivation.  It started with the purchase of 25 Size 20 TMC 101 hooks, a package of microfibbets, some CDC puffs and some finer thread.

Much better than my initial attempts years ago, I quickly realized that these deceptively simple flies will still require close attention to detail and that I will need more practice to be consistent.

I started with the size 20's in both grey and black then, after the initial practice, downsized to some size 22's.

The RS2 can definitely be a fun, quick fly to tie, but the simplicity requires focus.  Tying this fly is a good reminder how important it is to perform each step of a fly as properly as possible before moving on to the next.  It reminds me of some Zen lesson I read in a book about Zen guitar years ago about focusing on the immediate task at hand and performing that task, purposefully, to the best of your ability.  Apparently, I am still learning that lesson.

If there is a Zen lesson to be learned from tying an RS2, then Rim Chung is the Zen master.  Watching him tie, he effortlessly creates his masterpieces focusing on the importance of applying each material just right.  I will try to focus on all aspects of the next set of flies I tie, but I've got a lot to learn and need a lot of practice to be as smooth as this fly tying (or Zen, if you prefer) master.

I wish you good luck in your fly tying efforts and am looking forward to using my flies out on the water the next chance I get.
 

Tying Resolution Update

January is already more than half done.  But, I have been making good progress on tying new flies for the empty fly box.

The new year started with expansion of the copper john collection with some size 16's in both red and gold.

And continued with the addition of some size 14 and 16 barr hare coppers.  These should help me be ready to imitate some of the lighter colored nymphs I see throughout the year.  The barr hare coppers use light hare's mask where the copper johns use the darker peacock.

The copper johns have started a nice shiny little family in the corner of the fly box.

I figured it was time to tackle some of my caddis patterns.  Before getting into the green rockworm patterns as planned, I tied up some mercury cased caddis in Size 16 and 18 from Pat Dorsey's tailwater book (some good flies in there).

Looking through my supplies, I realized I had everything I needed to tie up a few guide's choice hare's ear flies in size 16.  These were my first soft hackles and, although the hackle was a bit long, I was still pretty happy with how these came out.  I will definitely tie up a few more for the box.

There is still a lot of empty space even on this one side on the new box, so I will have to keep finding the time to get on the vise to get all the flies in need in there.

I hope your resolutions are holding up.  So far so good for me.  One day (or is it, one fly?) at a time.

Resolution Time - Happy New Years!

In 2016, I resolve that my fly fishing will be completely home-tied supported.

That's right I resolve to only fish flies that I have tied or flies that are given to me. 

The challenge to complete this resolution will be identifying now, in the cold, freezing days of this Denver winter, the patterns that will be needed for the warmer spring, summer and fall months and then tying them all.

As you can see, I have a decent start with one almost full fly box.  But as you can also see, I have the motivation of an almost completely empty fly box as well.

So far, I have completed various versions of xcaddis, adams, purple haze, humpy, griffith's gnat, midge, pheasant tail, hares ear, copper john and prince nymph patterns.

My winter ambition is to fill in as many patterns and sizes as possible starting with at least some elk hair caddis, green rockworm, rs-2 and wet fly patterns while expanding on the copper john and xcaddis patterns.

I am sure that others already do this and the suggestion that fishing only your own flies is a challenge or something to resolve to may not seem that significant, but I challenge myself for two reasons, 1) to prove to myself that I am crafty enough and dedicated enough to tie everything I will need and 2) to force myself to use my own flies as I will usually use a store bought fly before my home-tied flies because I don't want to lose them after my hard efforts.

So for now, it's back to the vise to fill that empty fly box space while thinking of this year's fishing.

Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions whether they be fishing related or not.

High Country Fly Fishing Time-lapse

Finding old footage of fishing a favorite lake is like reliving a forgotten memory.

Please enjoy this quick time-lapse from Shelf Lake, Colorado.  And Happy Fall.

A couple of fish from previous trips.

Fly Tying - Purple Haze with Beer Pairing

I will always be a fan of the purple haze fly after a day fishing for cutthroat trout at a favorite high country lake in the Colorado mountains.  On this particular day, the slowly cruising cutthroat were more interested in the purple bodied fly than anything else in my fly box.  A friend had given me the single purple fly the weekend before and I am glad he did as it was the fly of the day and many days after.

As the warm summer days start giving way to cooler autumn afternoons and evenings, I decided to tie up a few of these favorites flies to remind me of a few of those Colorado summer mountain memories centered around blue skies, wildflowers and colorful cutthroat trout.  It will be nice to have these in the fly box for the next high country lake trip.

 

For me, fall days and a nice, darker beer seem to go together perfectly.  So, to help wrap up this set of size 16 dry flies, I decided to pair my tying with a Graham Cracker Porter from the Denver Beer Co. The porter was true to its advertised chocolate-vanilla flavoring with a biscuit/cracker aftertaste. While certainly not a session beer, it was a nice change of pace, just like the change of seasons, and a perfect beer for a nice mellow break from life and responsibility finishing up another set of flies for the fly box.

 

Purple Haze Fly Recipe

Hook: Standard dry fly of your choice (I used Size 16 TMC100's)
Tail: Moose Body Hair
Body: Purple Thread
Post: Calf Body Hair
Wing: Grizzly and Brown Hackle

High Country Cutty's

The morning started ominously with a stalled out subaru in the driveway.  Restarting with fingers crossed and a newly illuminated check engine light, I was on my way with a feeling that the day's plans were hanging by the tenuous string of an older, well-loved vehicle that is starting to show its age.

The car didn't end up having any other problems and performed admirably on the rougher-than-remembered dirt roads to the trailhead of my favorite Colorado Rocky Mountain hike.  A hike leading to a high country lake full of pretty cutthroat trout at just over 12,000 feet in elevation.

All packed up and ready to give the "recently-reconfirmed-as-reliable" outback a rest, I was ready to hit the trail.

The wildflowers are just starting to bloom along the trail and the next few weeks up here should be beautiful.  

A little over 3 miles, 2,000 vertical feet and 2 and a half hours later, I reached the lake.  The trail starts steeply before climbing steadily though a lush alpine valley and steepening again at the end.  The hike is fairly strenuous as it is uphill the entire way to the lake.  The beauty of the mountains and the potential for some pretty, high country cutthroat kept me motivated.

Fishing success depends so much on the weather and, although it was a very nice day for hiking, it wasn't the best conditions for fishing.  The lake, above treeline, can be subjected to some high winds and, this day, my 5-weight was having trouble punching through the heavier gusts.  I was able to take advantage of the calmer periods to get a few flies in the right place at the right time to fool a few hungry cutthroat.

The fly of the day was one of my home-tied purple bodied x-caddis in size 18, fooling the majority of my catches.  A small elk hair caddis in size 20 also worked.  The fish were definitely cruising and feeding on the surface, but it was hard to tell what they were targeting.

The wind and clouds increased through mid-day until it looked like it would rain.  The wind was the real limiting factor.  The gear starting going back in the pack as soon as white caps started on the lake. 

There was just enough time to refuel with a celebratory donut at the lake.

The hike down was quicker than expected at a little over an hour.  It only sprinkled for about fifteen minutes so the rain jacket didn't even come out of the pack.   It looked like the clouds remained over the higher peaks so the winds probably continued as well. 

This hike is one of the highlights of my fishing season, even when it is only a quick trip, and it has become somewhat of a tradition, so it was time to celebrate what I considered to be a successful visit.

If you know a place you love that you would be disappointed to miss, get out there and pay that place a visit.  I was glad to visit this favorite place and will be looking forward to my next opportunity to get there.  Have fun.