04/13/12 Inlet at Green Mountain

04/13/12
Inlet at Green Mountain
2:00 - 3:00 PM

Before heading to Vail, I noticed that nobody was fishing the inlet at GM, so I pulled over and made the hike down to the inlet.  The water was stained and rising, and it didn't look promising...

I decided not to change up my rig from fishing below GM and lazily made a cast into a seam behind some rocks.  Immediately after my indicator made a swirl in a whirlpool, it dove under water and shot upstream!  Fish on!

What a surprise!  A nice little chunk of a rainbow.  Not too long, but it had plenty of fight.  Another cast into the same spot and a little longer drift yielded another, and another!

The fishing was hot!  Even though the water was dirty, the fish are stacked at the inlet and feeding heavily.

No monsters, but consistent action with hard fighting rainbows is always fun!  I did have to change up my flies as there are quite a few snags in this section, but fish were eating everything.  Large beadhead flies as a lead, and drop an egg, san juan, or a smaller attractor nymph and all flies would catch fish.  An orange bead egg was also an extremely effective pattern.
All fish were rainbows, and all gave a great fight.  If you can get a long cast out, you can systematically fish the seams and bubble lines without standing in the water, but with the way the water is moving, getting a good drift is a little tough.  Luckily these fish were very forgiving to poor presentations! 

Since GM is filling slowly, access at the inlet will remain good for a couple more weeks, but as the water warms up, these fish are going to make their way into deeper water and the wade ability of this stretch will diminish greatly, so get out there while it's good!

03/26/12 Eagle River

03/26/12
Eagle River
10:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Flow 77

After sending my brother to the airport, I decided to fish the Eagle above Wolcott for a little.  Around this time last year, just before run off, the fishing was phenomenal.

Unfortunately, it wasn't "on fire".  The fishing was good, but nothing to write home about.  But it was good fishing in a river again after a day at the toilet bowl on Pan.

The river was a bit stained, with visibility limited.  Run off has been going on with the warmer temps so all the rivers in the mountains are starting to get stained.  I don't think we will have a huge run off like last year with our snow pack only at 60% vs. last year.  This is good news since we will be able to get back out there sooner than later!  Last year I wasn't able to float until July, this year I hope to be floating in just a month or two.

Another 1st for me on this trip was catching some mountain whitefish.  I most have found a pod of them because I ended up catching 4 of them.

These chunks put up a good fight but I was surprised that I caught them since I didn't know they were in the Eagle. 

Catching these guys are also a challenge since they have such little mouths.  I was pulling flies out of their mouths on every hook set since I would set the hook the minute my indicator would move and I eventually got frustrated that I wasn't hooking them well...so I ended up letting them take the flies a little longer.  After the initial tick on the indicator, I would wait for the indicator to move drastically before setting the hook.  \

After moving up river to another spot just below I-70, I was able to get into a few rainbows as well.

These guys were hanging out in riffles actively feeding.  There was a bwo hatch going on, but I only saw an occasional rise.  No need to tie on any dries...the fish were still actively feeding on nymphs.

Flies for the day were a dark prince that the whitefish loved, and the bows were taken on a tungsten micro san juan in red.

So if you're up in the mountains and the skiing conditions are a bit too warm...go get on the water!  The fishing is good and it's a much more enjoyable day avoiding the crowds and slushy conditions on the slopes!

03/04/12 S. Platte Dream Stream

03/04/12
Dream Stream
7:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Flows at 107 from 53

With the jump in flows, I thought it would be a great time to hit the Dream Stream. I was coming back from the mountains so a quick jaunt through Fairplay and Hartsel led me to the Dream Stream.

Flows have been at the seasonal low around 50 and the bump on Saturday, there was a good chance that some big fish were going to be making their way up from Eleven Mile.

Unfortunately, I hit it a little too early. There certainly were a lot of fish around, but nothing of size.

Since I didn't have much time, I decided to stick to the lower section thinking that I would find some big fish downstream closer to the inlet of Eleven Mile. I was the second car in the lot at 7:00 am so I thought I would get into some fish quickly at the gauging station.



I certainly did get into some fish but nothing of size...lots and lots of 10-12 inchers.





After catching a ton of these little guys, I decided to move downstream and see if I could sight fish before the parking lot filled up.

I worked my way downstream and picked up a fish or two in the usual spots. Fence hole, bend hole, and the long run just before the outlet to Eleven Mile. Lots of "regular" fish and no big lake run or even the bigger resident fish were present just yet. I suspect that some of the bigger fish moved upstream with the bump in flows.

Fish weren't too picky, I was running a 3 fly rig, bead egg, dark prince, and a rojo midge and I took fish on all 3. I also used some zebra midges, regular prince nymphs and a nuke egg and those were all taking fish as well.

The wind wasn't too bad. There were a few gusts that blew through, but overall not a bad day in South Park.

The crowds did show up bright and early. There were 5 cars in the lot by 8:00 and when I left at noon, the lot was full. Lots of people on the water but everybody was relatively respectful of your space and the run you were fishing. It was funny to see people come running and trying to fish around you when you did catch a fish, but it certainly wasn't as bad as it could be.

I did snap a pic of this guy fishing from the bridge...I should have said something and told him that there's plenty of good spots, but I'm not one to interject my opinion... Besides, he seemed to enjoy not catching any fish.



:)

01/18/12 Frying Pan River

01/18/12
6:30 AM - 1:00 PM

The wind was howling in Vail. I set my alarm for 5:00 AM and tried to get some sleep. I could hear the wind all through the night and it wasn't looking good for my plans to run up to the Pan.

I didn't even wait for my alarm to go off, I was out the door by 4:30. The gusts on I-70 were getting bad, 70 mph winds. I stopped to get gas and coffee in Avon and almost turned around to go home. But I thought, "I already made it this far...".

It's dark, and quiet. No cars in the parking lot of course, but plenty of tire tracks. Looks like the Pan was fished pretty hard yesterday.

I get out of my car to put on my waders, what happened to the wind? There were no gusts, no rustling in the trees.



It was calm, very calm...very unlike the Pan.

I get back in the car and start re-rigging my rod. I put on a 4x leader with a bead egg up top and a size 16 Craven's Mysis. A few more sips of coffee and I can see light trying to break through the clouds.

I can't wait any longer...I hop out and head to the flats. I can see an occasional swirl and a few splashes in the distance, the fish are feeding!





A few smaller browns, a rainbow or two, but nothing of size...looks like the bigger fish were chased off the flats.

It's light out now, but no sun in sight. The clouds are thick, but still no wind...

I want to feel a big bend in my rod, so I head over to the toilet bowl.

The bead egg worked well on the flats, so I decided to keep my rig the same and see what I could come up with. Plenty of brownies! But no football rainbows! I'm not complaining...the fishing was good, but I think the pressure from previous days has really turned off some of the bigger fish.







I was contemplating changing up my rig, most of the browns hit the bead egg and I was wondering if I rigged up a mysis/midge combo, I might be able to coax out a big bow. But before I do that...one more drift...



This skinny beast of a brownie took my bead egg hard! This skinny thing measured out to 20 inches...I thought all the fish in the Pan were supposed to be fat!?!?

I re-rigged, Mysis on top and a thread midge on the bottom.

1st fish on the midge, and wouldn't you know it...a bow.



It's looking good! Not a football, but still a nice fish. A size 20 black thread midge with a copper wire wrap was on the menu. I managed a few more browns and bows, with fish taking both the mysis and midge.

It's almost 10:30 now, and people are showing up. Fishing conditions have been great all morning, no wind, slightly overcast skies. 2 guys show up and I see them walking down towards me. They set up at the riffles and respect the fact that I'm fishing the bowl. An older gentleman shows up and doesn't show me the same courtesy...he stands behind with 2 rods in hand waiting...he gets impatient and tries to fish downstream a little. He snags a rock, breaks off his rig and trudges back up behind me to tie on again. I can feel him staring me down as he continues to try to fish downstream of the bowl without catching a single fish...eventually he leaves, but not without mumbling under his breath something about how I should let others fish the bowl...great idea!

I call the two guys over and say you are welcome to come fish the tail end if they would like. One of the guys says, "are you sure? I don't want to encroach." I say it's no problem. Besides, I had to leave soon, so they might as well stake the hole. After talking to them for a bit, I learned they were from Fort Collins and that one of them was studying fisheries biology at CSU. A fellow Rammie!

They each start hooking up with some fish and I continue to do well. The bite did die off around noon, but a change in flies brought more fish to the net.





I was worried that the weather on I-70 was going to get worse, so I decided to take a few more casts and then head home.

On my last cast, I caught this beauty. I haven't caught a lot of Cutthroats, so I was super excited to catch such a pretty one. A diet of mysis will do this I guess!



Overall, another great trip to the Pan. I didn't get into the big legendary rainbows of the pan, but plenty of good fish made it a worthwhile day. And best of all! No wind! I guess you just can't trust the weatherman...

Flies that did well this trip were bead eggs, mysis patterns (cravens and epoxy), midge patterns and even chocolate emergers in a size 20. As I was leaving the two guys from Fort Collins mentioned that they were here a couple of weeks ago and the streamer bite was great...next time I come up, I'll definitely have to stick around at dusk to strip some streamers through the bowl.

01/17/12 Blue River in Silverthorne

01/17/12
12:00 - 3:00 PM
Air Temp around 30, blowing snow and very windy

Another trip up the hill means another chance for me to get some fishing in! New snow came to the mountains the day before dropping a couple of inches, but after the snow left, the wind stayed.

High wind warnings along the front range and in the foothills was on the news all morning. I was planning on going to the Pan on Wednesday, but those plans might be derailed due to high winds. The Pan tends to catch a lot of wind being in a canyon and blowing snow + freezing temps makes for miserable fishing, even if it is on the legendary Pan.

As I pulled into the parking lot behind the Silverthorne Outlets, I didn't see anybody fishing...and when the wind gust flung my door open, I knew why.

New snow and windy conditions kept a lot of people off the water. Which was great for me! I only had a few hours to fish before I had to make it up to Vail for a meeting.

Even with the wind howling, I still managed to get a few good drifts and catch some fish! Cable hole was the place to be, the fish were stacked and it was easy to sight fish to all the beautifully colored bows sitting in this run. It still wasn't easy, these fish are pressured pretty hard, but if you drift a midge or a mysis by their face with a drag free drift, they would reward you with a flash of white and a run that had your reel screaming.



This beauty took a Craven's Mysis in a size 18 that I had cut the tail a little shorter on.

A couple casts later and I landed this monster, again on the mysis pattern.



You can even see the mysis in his mouth...a couple more years and diet of mysis will turn this fish stick into a Blue River brute!

I continue fishing, changing up my midge pattern to see if I could get a bite on some new colors that I had tied up, and I picked up a few smaller fish. I guess the smaller guys like the more colorful patterns, while the smarter and bigger fish look for more natural patterns.

With the wind stinging my face, and making it hard to cast, I decided to give it a couple more casts and call it a day...

I was at the head end of the pool mending my line when all of a sudden my indicator dropped and started running across the river. After a great little fight, another 18 incher was landed and I decided to call it a day.



It's always satisfying ending the day on a good fish! So for fishing 3 hours, and catching 6 fish, it was a fun pit stop on my way to Vail.

Flies to use on the Blue this time of the year are definetly midges and mysis. Stick to a size 18 mysis dropped with a midge like a black beauty, poison tung, any thread midge with or without a beadhead. If you have to use weight, use a very small drop shot, the flows are low and you want your rig to be just off the bottom, not getting hung up by the split shot getting caught in the riverbed. You want a drag free drift and with the clarity of the water and lower flows, you don't even need an indicator.

Be sure to work the water methodically. Cast to fish you can see and let your flies drift down the lane before picking up your line to recast. There are lots of fish sitting in rows behind each other and they won't move very far to get a bite to eat. View the run as lanes and work it from the closest lane to the farthest, that way you aren't spooking fish with your line. If you aren't getting bites or flashes, change up your fly or rig. A great indication of if you have the right flies, or set up is if you see fish moving out of the way, they know that your rig is not food. Change it up. Use less weight, or no weight at all, change the color or size of your indicator, or take it off, switch to smaller or different color flies.

Winter fly fishing is very technical, and a small change can make a miserable day of standing in knee deep freezing water an awesome day of a catching some real hogs!