07/06/12 Roaring Fork River Carbondale to West Bank

07/06/12
Roaring Fork River
12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Flows 640

This was a "business" trip!  A client from Chicago called and asked if I wanted to fish with him and another vendor while he was in Aspen for the week!  Of course, I wasn't going to say no...but I upped the ante and said, "Why don't we float it?"  I had just floated the Colorado on Thursday, so floating was still on my mind when I met them at 10:30 at the Taylor Creek Fly Shop.  We loaded up on some flies, grabbed some sandwiches and drinks and proceeded to unload the boat and run shuttle. 

Before we even stepped foot in the boat, Shaun said that we couldn't leave the put in without catching at least one fish!  I managed to take the honor of the 1st fish, a nice 16 in brownie that took an iron sally.

After a quick bout of paper, rock, scissor, Shaun lost and had to man the oars first.  Karl, our client took the front of the boat while I took the rear.

Fishing initially was great!  Karl was taking brownies left and right on an iron sally and a golden stone.  Even though he managed to lose his set up 3 times, I luckily had a few different patterns of golden stones that all seemed to work.  Of course, nothing was "photo worthy", but Karl managed to catch quite a few in the 10-14 inch range for most of the upper stretch.

I on the other hand, managed to hook into lots of fish, but proceeded to lose them promptly...maybe it was fatigue, or the excitement, but I didn't land another fish for the rest of the day...lots of hook ups, just none to the net. 

About halfway through the float, we couldn't out run the rain clouds and we got a little damp...nothing too crazy, just a little rain and wind...this might have turned the fish off since we weren't getting as many bites as we were on the upper stretch.

But not to worry, Shaun knew of a great little stretch where a deep run is feed by a confluence of water just behind an island.  The shallow bank allowed great wading access so we ran our rigs through this deep stretch many times.  Shaun managed to land 3, I managed to hook up with 3 and loose them all after a great fight.  This was the only stretch that we managed to catch any rainbows.

About the time we got back in the boat, the skies opened up again.  Nothing major, just some slight sprinkles again.  We decided to hoof it to the take out since the clouds behind us looked like they help more rain.

Just as we got to the takeout, the skies opened up.  It was a monsoon!  2 other boats made it to the takeout just after us so we all hurried to get our boats on our trailers and out of the rain.

Fishing was just ok on the Fork today...maybe it was the fishing pressure since we counted over 20 cars at the takeout, our maybe the weather turned the fish off.  Either way, it was still a fun float, but it would have been better if we caught some of the legendary big fish said to inhabit this piece of water!

Hot flies for this trip were all varieties of golden stones.  Size 12-18.  We tried some dries and saw a few rises, but didn't manage any on dries or other patterns.  An especially effective pattern was a wire wrapped stone.

I was pretty surprised to see it so busy for a Friday, but again, it was a holiday week so lots of people probably took Thursday/Friday off.  This was my 1st float on the Fork and I had a wonderful time!  Lots of easy water to row and besides the skinny water, it was a good float.  I think if we hit it when the water is a bit higher, the fishing could be epic.  If the water is at 800 or above, I'm sure the fish will have more cover and will be more willing to feed!

02/14/12 Truckee River at Mustang

02/14/12
Truckee River
Air Temp 56
Water Flow 390 CFS
1:30 - 3:30 PM

My trip to Lake Tahoe afforded me a few hours to get on the river! I stopped by a shop and was surprised to hear that the Little Truckee was snowed in. Access by foot only as the road has too much snow to drive past Boca. I didn't have much time and since I had to head to the airport anyways I decided to give the Truckee a try east of Reno at Mustang.

The river is flowing low for this time of year, but for me it looked perfect. Water was clear and you could easily pick out good runs and holes to try. But that doesn't mean that the fishing was easy.

I rigged up at the truck with a size 10 golden stonefly and a size 16 bead head flashback pheasant tail. No weight since the stonefly had a tungsten bead.

My first couple of casts into promising looking water yielded nothing...I contemplated changing my flies but I was told at the fly shop in Tahoe that golden stones are the standard, year round since they have a 3 year cycle and all stages and sizes were in the water. I haven't fished stonefly patterns very much so I had little confidence in it. However, the Truckee doesn't fish like your typical winter tailwater.

After moving around a bit, I found a line of riffles beneath some overhanging brush. I cast upstream and at the dead center of my drift I had a vicious hit! This felt like a huge fish! But after a few head shakes, he was off...

I tried again, moving upstream and again another hit! This time the fish took off upstream and wrapped me up around a log breaking me off immediately. Dang these fish are smart!

I re-rigged again and let the water rest. I finally found a honey hole, but I was running out of time! I had to get back to North Shore for work but I didn't want a skunk hanging over me for the day.

I cast again moving back downstream, following my indicator, looking for any sign of a bite. I watched it stop, and was just about to give it a tug thinking it was snagged when the indicator shot upstream!

Another fish on and man she was a beauty. After a couple runs and some acrobatics, I finally landed the fish with my hand. (I thought it was a good idea to leave my net at home to save space.)



I couldn't measure her, but she was a nice sized fish. Bigger than most on the Ark in Pueblo with tons of energy. She took the golden stone and it felt great to end the day without a skunk!

As I drove to the North Shore, I contemplated my experience on the Truckee. A river that's got a reputation as a tough river, and I managed to have a decent day. 3 fish on, and 1 landed isn't a bad day when I only had a few hours to fish.

I guess I'm too used to fishing "easy" waters, and the Truckee really humbled me. But I'm looking forward to April, when I'll be back again!