Daughter's First Trout

I've been trying to figure out the right timing to fly fish for trout with the kids. I tried last year and it went great until about 20min in my son fell in the river. He wasn't swept away by the current but he did go in face first and got soaked. This time instead of taking both I decided to try just going with my daughter. The weather seemed to cooperate and I knew a stream had just been stocked. My mother was able to come along and things were adding up to make a great fishing trip. We got to the river and only one other car was in the parking lot. I rigged up our gear as fast as I could and my mother talked to a gentleman who was recently fishing. He said he didn't think it was stocked at all. My heart kind of sank when I heard that but I was skeptical and decided to check for myself. I looked in a location I knew always had fish and sure enough there were 4 or 5 just hanging in the calm water.

 Fish were here and I knew a run where they stack up after stocking. I put my daughter in position and watched her cast upstream. I tried to explain how to watch the drift and keep an eye on the indicator. On her third cast the indicator dipped. She lifted the rod late and felt the tug of a fish and instantly had that smile you get when you hook a fish. "I felt it fighting!" she said. The next several casts she had several strikes and her timing was just a bit off from setting the hook. I figured this is how it would go most of the day then all of sudden she shrieked "I GOT ONE, I GOT ONE" and I saw a shimmer in the water. Before I could say anything she hauled the fish out of the water and brought it over to the bank. I ran over and put the fish in the net and I told my daughter "try not to slam the fish on the bank but that was awesome!"

I was still amazed at how fast she caught a fish. I knew she'd probably catch one but not in the first 10min of fishing.

We were both a little giddy. I thought it was beginner's luck but a few casts later she had another fish. Then while I was helping my mother untangle her line I heard behind me "I got another one!" 

She caught another fish shortly after and then asked if she could take a break.

I explained that fishing isn't always like this and some days you don't catch anything. She knew that and wanted to take a break to check out the flowers and do some other projects. She proceeded to start building something using the river rocks. I thought about talking to her about how those are a home for other animals and some of the consequences of doing that but just left her to her fun. 

I love that she enjoyed just being outside and it wasn't about how many fish she caught. She learned this a lot faster than I did. It was an amazing day for everyone and the best part is that I could share it with family.

We all caught fish and the weather couldn't have cooperated better. I can only hope the future trips we have will be half as successful.

The Dumbest Brook Trout in CO

Before Yellowstone I visited my brother in law in Denver. It was my first time there and I found it hard to believe that a decent trout stream would be anywhere near a large metropolitan city. To my amazement there is a ton of trout water with in forty minutes of downtown Denver. You can have it all small stealth stream fishing, trophy monster hunting, and everything in between. I fished a canyon that had some of the most beautiful water I had ever seen. 

Plunge pools for days, bugs fluttering here, and there with fish jumping in the distance. 

You could literally see the fish in the water at times and I ignorantly expected to catch a fish on my first first few casts. A hundred casts later I realized my expectations may have been a little off. 

None of the fish even sniffed my fly but there was a brook trout sipping bugs off the surface right at my feet. I would leave the fish alone for ten minutes then send another cast its way. Each attempt I tried a different fly and the fish came up sipped the fly off the surface to only have me pull it out of its mouth. What fish hits a fly multiple times and feeds 3ft from the bank? 

This fish apparently. Fell for an elk hair caddis. 

It was a gorgeous fish even if it was the dumbest brook trout in CO.

Deep Pools and Bridges

There's something alluring about bridges. I always expect to find a monster fish lurking in the shadows of a bridge. I guess it's from reading books like Billy Goats Gruff as a kid. Sometimes my expectations are right but even when I can't seem to find any sign of a big fish I still believe they are there. Hiding in the submerged debris just waiting to ambush unsuspecting prey. 

This river had several bridges with deep pools that teased my imagination. The pools were full of fish but on this day they seemed educated. Stocked fish that have learned that danger lurks in unusual things hitting the water are fun and frustrating at the same time. Many times the fish will come with in a millimeter of your fly to either nip at a strand of marabou or turn around as quickly as they approached. 

This river is heavily stocked and the trick seems to be trailing a traditional fly behind an attractor pattern. I like to try something bright pink like an egg or squirmy wormy. You'll have fish hit the attractor fly but more often than not they will hit the dropper. I have so much confidence in my soft hackle flies I find it hard to use much else as a dropper. When I have success like this it makes it even harder for me to switch things up.

Soft hackles almost always work and if they don't it's usually a matter of fishing the wrong depth. If you see fish in a pool and they don't seem to be hitting. Try adding weight instead of switching flies. 

Personal Best Brown

The weather was overcast and the water was higher than normal with a little stain. I had just gotten in and after my 10th cast with a streamer I hooked this guy. It used the current and put up a great fight. I was using a 3/4wt 10ft rod and it gave it all it could handle. Landing the fish was a total cluster you know what. When I went to net the fish it wouldn't fit in the net. I decided to ditch the rod and try to grab the trout. That's when a hilarious scenario ensued. I had to have a friend help me net it. I had already gone through many bouts of having the fish in my hands to only have it slip free. This is the largest trout I have caught. 

Upping My Trout Game

Here's a video from the trip last weekend. 

Educated Trout

I got out Saturday and tried my luck with some educated trout. The fish don't hit the usual flies like egg patterns, San Juan worms and big bead head flies. It's times like these when the best fly is usually something out of the norm. A fly that you wouldn't normally throw for trout. I went with a copper and green kreelex fly. I was getting many misses that I could tell were reaction strikes. Eventually I caught a few.

I'm really enjoying this Anglers Roost and Piscifun Reel setup. The rod handles well whether I'm nymphing or throwing streamers. A good 14" fish will give you quite a tussle on the 3/4wt. There were a few fish that stripped line several times and I didn't have the upper hand where I could move them wherever I wanted. It makes catching the larger fish much more fun and challenging.

Putting the 3wt to Work

I worked on my nymphing with the new 3wt Anglers Roost Rod. It performed perfectly and I had a really great day. 

Is it Winter?

This has been the warmest winter in memory. Christmas Eve I was fishing in my shorts for gills using poppers.

Over the weekend it was so warm I was able to wet wade a brookie stream. It felt strange to not have to break out my waders in late December.

The water was high but the fish were very active. 

I can't recall ever seeing rainbows with such pretty red stripes on them. All of the bows over 6inches had this. The coloring was beautiful and the picture doesn't do the color justice. The high water made the fish move to calmer pools. One pool in particular had a brookie hanging out in about 4inches of water. This wild brookie was the largest I had seen in quite some time. I thought maybe something was wrong with the fish because of how out in the open it was. I cast my nymph behind and to the right. I went to pull the flies up to make another cast and the fish turned and chased the flies almost hitting them as they came out of the water. I thought maybe I missed my chance, I cast near the fish again. I didn't see the take but I knew where my flies were and saw the fish make a slash. I set the hook and my line instantly wrapped around a downed limb. I was using 6x and tried to free the line without snapping it. I was able to untangle the line by taking the limb out of the water. 

The fish wasn't that colorful but it was really good size for this stream. These fish must be really confused usually the sides of this stream are lined with ice around now. 

Trout and Good Luck

Last weekend was my first trout trip of fall. With the high barely reaching 60 it didn't feel like fall. I caught several fish mostly on soft hackles. The Piscifun reel worked great.

While fishing I dropped my camera in the water and didn't pull up my sleeve far enough when I tried to retrieve it. My sleeve was soaked and even after several attempts to squeeze the water out it stayed wet. I tried to block that arm from the wind the best I could but after about an hour I couldn't take it anymore, I was freezing. I got back to the car all I could think about is getting inside and starting the heater and drying off. The reel was hard to unseat with my cold hands. It finally gave way and popped off the rod. As I saw it fall I didn't want it to hit the ground so I put my boot under it. The reel bounced off the boot and slid under the car. It was just out of reach and I figured I would get it after I removed my waders. Nature called once my gear was off and after relieving myself I totally forgot about the reel. I didn't notice the reel was gone until I got home. I sent an email to a friend that lives near the river I fished letting him know about the reel. The odds of him finding it were pretty slim. Then I got this message the next day.

"You must be living right. Went right over after reading your message and found the reel!"

Fun, Friends and Fish

Between family, work obligations and weather mishaps, as I get older I appreciate it when a fishing trip comes together. This last trip started out how most do. There has to be some sort of drama before hand. Usually it's a injury, family illness or the usual rainstorm which blows out all the rivers. The night before we were about to leave we had one of the worst thunderstorms I've seen since living in North Carolina. No matter which direction you looked there were strobes from lightning. We got about 3 inches of rain in 2hrs. I was still going on this trip no matter what. The clouds in the distance on the drive up looked ominous. They slowly subsided as we got closer to the property. The group rented a house with it's own private stretch of trout water. It was hard to know what to expect with the price we paid for the place. The water looked good at first glance.

We wanted to jump in and fish right away but we needed to check out the house first. In my head imagined an older house with wallpaper and decorations that came right out of a 70's Sears Catalog. 

This place was awesome and included all the comforts of home even WiFi. We found ourselves constantly being surprised and yelling to each other "Hey, there's this too!" After all the oohing and ahhing we headed to the river. It was high and muddy from the recent rain. The area hadn't received the same amount that hit my home. We all figured with the fish seeing less pressure they'd be easy to catch. Our assumptions were wrong and the fish hit very subtlety. 

When the fishing was over we ate dinner sat on the balcony and admired the view.

The next day the group decided to try our luck on a close stocked stream. The water had cleared and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

I love this river. It has some of the prettiest scenery in the state. If variety is your game this is the place for you. The creek runs the gamut of all types of trout water. Plunge pools, riffley runs, fast and slow water. Then there's post card pools like this.

It's hard to fish with a frown in a place like this. We hit this river two days in a row and this dog managed to find me both days even on different sections of the river.

This dog cracked me up. He wanted to be my fishing buddy more than a canine companion. At first I wan't sure how friendly he was and I kept my distance. Then I noticed he'd follow me to every section of the river and eventually walked a head of me leading me to the next spot. He knew some pretty good ones too.

When the day was over I was more unhappy to leave his company than he was. He just sauntered off like he was eager to find the next fisherman to guide.

The fishing trip was as good as it gets. With long fishing days, good food, campfire stories and adult beverages. I can't wait until the next one.

Nice Way To Start Fall

Hit a DH with my mother today and had a great time. I caught the usual average stocked trout.

It was fitting that my mom caught the biggest fish of the day.

I'm Changing

My philosophy towards trout fishing is starting to change. Gone are the notions that trout are fragile almost timid creatures that shy away at the nearest vibration from the bank. These thoughts have been replaced by predators with the capacity to overcome prey with fierce speed and ferocious annihilation. There's two types of trout. Those that stay in the main water column and eat what they can. The others hide in the darkness and out of reach places. They eat what they want when they want. Usually they've been caught once or twice and their years of wisdom have made them leery about anything out of the ordinary. It's these fish that I've started to target and my enjoyment of fly fishing has increased tenfold. The small size 20flies and 7x tippet no longer exist in my fly box. 3x is the standard and as an added bonus you rarely lose flies. Big fish indeed want big flies and it usually takes something larger than 3inches to entice them. Even when you do the most you can expect is a follow. I have finally learned the difference between a curious follow and a chase. Then there is the ambush which is an unexpected flash that usually ends as quickly as it starts. Since I've started fishing this way I have seen more big trout this year than in all 10yrs of fly fishing combined. The method works and the fish aren't any easier to catch. The technique allows you to get a glimpse of the fish but doesn't guarantee anything. The game becomes about a well placed cast, proper retrieve and fast reflexes. The fish wins 99% of the time and the challenge just makes it more fun. For me just the sight of a 20inch fish trailing my fly is exciting enough. The visual part is what I love and I'm addicted to seeing more.

The Thaw

It's that time of year again. A warm front has moved in giving us the first feeling of spring. I took advantage and headed to the mtns. It's the same every year. I fight with trees the first 20min. There's time spent figuring out my cast again and learning how to properly nymph. It's only been a few months since I fished for trout but my casting and drifts were horrible. My hooksets were abysmal. The first few fish literally swam away with my fly before I even noticed they were on. There were several foul hook sets which usually is a result of poor timing. It took me a while to finally hook a fish in its mouth. It might take a few months to forget the tug of a trout but only 2 seconds to remember the joy of catching one.

Just like the weather was figuring itself out I was doing the same. Eventually my cast, timing and drift came together. I started to realize what the fish wanted and got into a rhythm. The sun was intense and the bugs were taking advantage. I've never seen this many mayflies on this stretch of river. The ground has been snow covered for over a week and the scenery still has the look of winter.

My buddy had me try his secret fly and it was doing well. Eventually I had to try my soft hackles. The current made me play around with different depths. Once the flies were on the bottom the fish started to come. It was a great day and I'm glad to know my soft hackles are still working. It seemed the color of the bead made a difference. The fish preferred the gold bead as apposed to copper.

Improving My Nymphing

By far this year my most productive fly has been a beadhead softhackle. I've tied the body of mine using dubbing from Singlebarbed.biz. It gives the fly a more beefy look. I'm not sure if that's what is making the difference or if it's the extended hackle on the flies. The flies have worked each time I have gone out. The other color combo that is working is a red body. The flies work so well I haven't had a chance to experiment much with other color combinations.

Yesterday I used these flies almost exclusively. I also worked on nymphing without using an indicator. This was difficult for me to try at first. I love indicators especially the thingamabobber style ones. Without an indicator you do have more control over the depth of your flies. If you have a high visible color line the takes are somewhat obvious. The main thing is having no slack line in the water. After missing a few hook sets I started to dial in what I was doing. It didn't take long before I had a trout slam.

If you've never heard of this term it is when you catch a brown, brookie and rainbow all on the same river the same day. It doesn't happen as often as you'd think even on multiple fish days.

The brookie had striking colors compared to the other fish. I'm guessing this was a male.

When I'm fishing softhackles I usually look for the same kind of water. Ideal water is a fast run that turns into a riffle then settles down into a deep pool. I find most of my fish are where the riffle and deep pool meet. I caught the majority of my fish in a section like this and the highlight was hooking a really nice brookie.

The picture doesn't do the fish justice but if you compare it to the brookie above which was around 14"-15" you can get an idea of the size of this fish. I couldn't put my hands around it to release it. I did a really klutzy release. I'm sure the fish was fine it was just a little embarrassing.

It's Worth It

Many fishing trips have a lot of uncertainty. There's always concern about other anglers getting to the water before you. Will the weather hold? Are the conditions going to be right? Usually there's a long drive involved and you just don't know how things are going to be until you get there.

Even after you get there and things seem right there are still doubts about the fishing.

I cast into each pool with hope that a fish will be there.

More often than not nothing happens.

Every once in awhile you get lucky.

In between fishing spots you fight moving rocks and spider webs so thick they should be called spiders ropes.

Even with all the effort and trouble. It's worth it.