10/27/12 Little Pigeon River

10/27/12
Little Pigeon River
Flows ?
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

A business trip to Gatlinburg, TN allowed me a chance to fish in the Smokey Mountains!  But...I spent all my time fishing in town!

I had originally intended to fish in town on Friday and spend Saturday in the park, but I missed a connecting flight in Houston, so Friday was shot.

I stopped by the local fly shop and asked for some advice.  The first words out of his mouth was earthworms and powerbait.  I was pretty surprised to hear that since I was in a fly shop!!!

After I told him I was fly fishing, he got a little more friendly and opened up about the park, and fishing through town.  He circled a few spots on a map and recommended that I start around the aquarium.

I couldn't find any parking close, so I drove a little ways through town and I figured I would fish my way to the aquarium.

I parked next to the parking structure and started fishing at one of the bridges.  Right away I was able to get into some fish!

I had a 3 fly rig with a price nymph, hare's ear, and a san juan.

He hit the san juan hard!  The water was very clear and flowing very slowly so sight fishing was key.  You could see the fish either take an interest in your flies, or get out of the way.

I ended up changing my flies to an orange stimulator, a red san juan and an orange egg after I had quite a few fish come up and hit my thingamabobber.

The stimulator was a great choice!  I had lots of hits on it with many fish too small to take it, but quite a few that were big enough.

I made my way down to the aquarium and the fish size dropped...

Lots of these little guys were taking the san juan.

As I made my way back to my car, I bumped into quite a few people fishing conventional tackle with spinners and bait.  I also noticed that EVERYBODY was keeping fish!  I completely forgot that this is a put and take fishery.  Hence, the many takes on the egg and the san juan! 

The town actually closes down the river to fishing on Thursday and stocks it!  By Saturday however, most of the fish have been taken and you need to move away from the stocking areas and upstream to get into the fish.

Lots of beautiful water that did hold fish!

Even though they were all stockers, it still was a nice chance to wet a line and get into some fish!  Hot flies were stimulators, san juans, and egg patterns.  I tried different egg colors and stimulator colors and it didn't matter...

I don't think you can go wrong fishing in town on a Friday or a Saturday!

I was a fun trip and I look foward to fishing in the park next time!

03/25/12 Frying Pan

03/25/12
Frying Pan
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Flows 91

My brother was in town to ski and after a terrible day at Vail on Saturday, he decided he wanted to do some fishing!

Since we were already up in the mountains, what better place to head to than the Frying Pan for him to get into some big fish.

My buddy Josh was also tagging along, as well as the wives and kiddos so our day didn't start out as planned.

We were up at 4:00 AM getting ready to leave so that we could be the 1st ones there.  The idea was to plop my brother and wife at the toilet bowl while Josh and I worked the flats and bend hole.

Unfortunately as it goes with babies, we didn't get out the door until 5:30, and even then we had to make a stop at Walmart for supplies.

We ended up on the water at 8:00 AM and of course there was already a group of guys at the toilet bowl.

But lucky for us, they said that they weren't staying long and left at around 10:00 AM.

So I got my brother and his wife rigged up, Josh was already slaying the fish on the flats, so I was excited to see my brother get into some big fish.

I rigged up an egg and mysis for them and my brother's 1st fish of the day was a nice brownie.

Since they seemed to getting into the fish, I decided to meet Josh out on the flats and see if I could get into some out there. 

I picked up a few browns and spotted lots of big bows on their redds.  No need to fish to the redds, there were plenty of fish all over the flats that are eager to eat!

I decided to check back with my brother at the toilet bowl to see how he was doing.  He caught a few more and decided to let my wife give it a shot.

She ended up picking up this beautiful brownie, her biggest for the day.

In between helping them untangle their lines and tie on new flies, I was able to get into a few fish as well.  Although it would have been fun stalking more fish on the flats, I had a great time watching everybody pick up fish in the toilet bowl.

Fishing was pretty much good all day long.  The toilet bowl is consistent with fish taking mysis and egg patterns eagerly.

I ended the day losing a huge rainbow that wouldn't fit into my net so with 1 more cast I caught another bow...much smaller but it's at least a decent fish.

Forgive the blatant stiff arming in the picture...he ended up being a good 20 incher.

After that fish, I decided to go find Josh and let him know that the rest of the fam was getting hungry and ready to leave.  I found him at the Bend hole fishing with his new best friend.  Andy Kim was fishing there with 2 of his buddies.  If you don't know who Andy Kim is, then you've probably never fished the San Juan.  Here's his website. http://www.fly-fish.com/  If you are heading down there, check him out.  An overall great guy who loves getting people on fish.  His flies are unique and just catch fish.  I've used the Yong Special numerous times to fool picky fish.  Andy and his buddies were catching fish left and right above the bend hole...no doubt using his "secret" flies.

Josh was doing great on dries in the bend hole with a size 22 parachute adams.  Lots of risers and fish were very active.

I wish I spent more time fishing the flats and the bend hole, but it was still a very fun day.  Lots of fish, and some big guys that impressed the family.  It's a long drive, and it was a long day, but everybody had a good time.

03/11/12 S. Platte Dream Stream

03/11/12
S. Platte Dream Stream
7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Flows at 112

I didn't want to go...I knew it was going to be crowded...I knew it was going to be windy...

A friend talked me into it. At the last minute, we decided to get up early and head to the Dream Stream. I'm by no means a fair weather fisherman, but considering the nice weather and the anticipation of the rainbow spawn, I knew it was going to be a busy day on the water...After my last trip down, I was hoping that some of the bigger fish had made their way up. Unfortunately, they are still taking their sweet time making their move.

Lots of these...


A little brownie...


More little guys...


A few coloring up and getting ready for the spawn...


The fishing was good and relatively consistent. Lots of 8-14 inchers in just about every bend. Unfortunately there were also fisherman in almost every bend. We were the 6th car in the lot at 7:30, and we could see that the lot was full by 9:00.

Fish were taking egg patterns, baetis patterns, and san juan worms. Red is the key. The water is slightly stained, but visibility is still very good. Fish an eggs and bacon set up and you will catch fish.

We fished our way down to the outlet, but it was so crowded that we decided to head back since we couldn't find a spot to fish. We were within sight of the outlet, and it looked like people were lined shoulder to shoulder. We didn't see a lot of catching going on, and we only spotted a few fish, but nothing of size. At the end of the day, we did hear from some other fisherman that there was a group of guys that were hole hogging the outlet that caught quite a few fish over 20 in. In a way I'm glad we didn't make it all the way down...those guys were in that hole all day long, so we wouldn't have had a chance to fish it, but it would have been cool to see where the fish are staging getting ready for their move up the river.

Towards the end of the day, we decided to goof around and fish the gauging hole and the bridge hole. We could see numerous fish and the lots of spin fishing guys chucking gear and not getting any bites. I saw a few risers so I tied on an eric's midge and managed to land 3 little bows. It was fun catching fish on dries again!

After a while, the hardware chuckers left so we put our eggs and bacon rigs through there and managed a few more fish.

My trophy for the day was this nice 17 in. brown.


So...would I go again? Well...yes. The fishing is good, but I would get there early. Unless they bump the flows again, the big guys are still going to stick around the outlet without moving up. They need the higher flows to feel more protected on their journey upstream to spawn.

I would also try to go on a weekday. The weekends are brutal and the pressure keeps the big fish weary.

02/29/12 Yampa Below Stagecoach

02/29/12
Yampa Below Stagecoach
10:00 AM - 3:30 PM

A client of mine called me up and said he was going to be in Steamboat and was wondering where to fish...

I jumped at the chance to show him around!

The drive up from Denver was a bit hairy, and after stopping in Silverthorne to fish the Blue in a snowstorm, I was excited to get to Steamboat. That day, about 12 inches fell and another 6 inches was forecasted to fall that night, but we had a window of clear weather on Wednesday.

With all the recent snowfall, County Road 18 is no longer driveable. You have to walk in from Stagecoach Res, which is about a 45 min hike. The snow from last night made it a tough hike, and the road didn't get plowed until after we trudged our way in.



Once we got to the river, the guys got set up, and I helped them select flies for the day. These guys were from Chicago, so their experience with tailwater fishing was pretty limited. I spent a majority of the day helping re-tie flies since they aren't used to fishing with 6x tippet.

Playing guide all day long cut into my fishing a little, but it was fun watching these guys catch fish and they couldn't stop talking about how good the fishing was in the middle of winter.

Here's Karl and his 1st fish of the day. I assured him he would catch much bigger ones...



And he did! He ended up with quite a few big fish, and lost many more. Fishing with little flies takes practice to play and hook up with fish, something these guys aren't used to.

Here's Blaze and his 1st fish of the day.


A nice 19 incher.

Between helping the guys tie on their flies and putting them on the fish, I was able to get into some fish myself!







Most fish caught were between 14-18, with quite a few bigger fish hooked, but with limited experience and small tippet, the guys lost more fish than they landed.

My fishing buddies have a few more pictures on their camera that I'll be posting as soon as they send them to me. I did catch a nice 20 incher which was the biggest fish landed for the day, and I can't wait to see it. I hope it turned out well.

We fished midges all day long. WD40's, zebra midges (copper, silver, chartreuse wraps) red hots, jujubee midges, blue poison tungs, RS2's and egg patterns all worked. I ended up using just about every pattern of midges in my box since the guys were breaking off and losing so many fish but at least I learned that all my patterns were effective! Fish were keyed in on midges and took eggs on occasion. We didn't try scuds since they didn't work last time.

Fish were rising around noon, but mostly they were sipping in the film. We could have tried to fish some dries or an rs2 in the film, but we had a constant bite on midges so we didn't try anything else.

At around noon, 2 other fisherman made their way in. We didn't see anybody else the entire time.

Even though we had a great day fishing, the guys weren't looking forward to the long hike out. Thankfully, the road was plowed so we weren't trail busting like we were on our way in.

The road opens again April 1...considering the great fishing, expect crowds once the road opens. If you can make it before then, you just might have it all to yourself...

Ark Below Pueblo 12/04/11 and 12/11/11

Sorry for condensing 2 reports into 1, it's been super busy with ski season in full swing now, I've had a super busy early December!

But that doesn't stop me from getting on the water! I made two trips down to Pueblo this month, and it worked out perfectly with my wife visiting family down there.

12/04/11
Cold is the word of the day. The forecast was a high of 20 with blowing snow. I had a friend join me on this trip and we decided to start a little later to see if it would warm up a bit. No reason to stand in freezing water with blowing snow in your face and no fish!

We got on the water at 10:00 at the Nature Center. There was nobody else was on the water, except for a "guide" gearing up. We headed upstream, and he headed downstream. We tried fishing the hole right under the nature center deck with no hits and so we moved upstream more and fished the riffles. We picked up a few fish on egg patterns with my friend using beads.





After picking up a few more fish that hit nymph patterns and san juans along "the wall", we worked our way back downstream and decided to hit the water treatment plant to see if we could find some risers. The weather was warming up nicely and with just a hint of cloud cover, we figured there might be a good BWO or midge hatch making easy pickings at the bridge hole there. As we left, we saw the "guide" again who claims he hit his 20 fish over 18 in. for the day and he was done...funny thing was we never even saw him playing a fish let along bring one to his net...oh well, not gonna call him a liar, but the proof is in the pudding!

At the water treatment plant, there still wasn't a hatch, but we managed a few fishing the downstream at the rock pile. We saw a few risers but we didn't see any bugs on the surface so we figured emergers...a RS2 and foam back emerger fished in the film got a few fish to the net, but nothing of size of course...





With the day starting to come to an end, we decided to head over to the dam to see if we could manage a smallie or coax a bigger fish out of the depths at the base of the dam...after picking up a few in the tailings of the runs, we managed some bigger guys lurking in the plunge pools closer to the dam.

What a great way to finish out the day! My biggest of the day took a flashwing prince size 18 and my buddies beautiful hen took a bead egg.





12/11/11

Another weekend down in Pueblo afforded me time on the ark again! This time a work friend joined me after spending the night in Salida. He said the fishing wasn't as good...no ice, but no fish until around 3:00 when the bite turned on for him.

He didn't get down to Pueblo until about 11:00 so I fished the dam by myself. I arrived with no cars in the lot at 8:30 AM and managed quite a few fish between cable hole and up to the dam. Most were taking a size 18 rainbow warrior with a few taking a new czech nymph I tied up with less weight. I got no hits on eggs, wierd since they were really keyed in on eggs the weekend before. My buddy called, so as I was taking off, I noticed how busy it all of a sudden got. There were 3 guys lined up at the cable hole and somebody in just about every hole on the way to the bridge and guys fishing every riffle on the way to the big bend after the bridge. The nice weather really brought people out, unlike last weekend!

When my buddy arrived, we decided to meet at the water treatment plant since he could park there for free. Fishing was good with fish taking eric's midges and a glass back baetis pattern. I stuck to nymphing with a czech, lightning bug and rainbow warrior. I was easily outfished by my buddy who was sticking to dries...

We ended up fishing at the water treatment plant until about 3:00 and then we decided to hoof it over to the dam to see if the crowds had lightened up and to see if there were any big guys up there. Unfortunately, it was still pretty busy with some bait chuckers fishing some of the good holes. We fished it for about a half hour before deciding that it these spots have been fished out with so much pressure all day long...my buddy did however have a big fish break him off in the big pool with the "observation deck" over it. He was pretty bummed but realized that he should have been using 6x for big guys like that!

Overall, a good day. Not as many fish for me, since I stuck with fishing nymphs all day. My buddy had a much better day fishing dries. The warm weather was key in having hatches all day long but the weather also made the river super busy. Next time, I think I'll try fishing around Valco. Although that parking lot had a few cars in it, it didn't look as busy as the dam. The Frost Bite Fish Off is coming up in Jan, so I need to get some practice in on the beats that the tournament will be held...I will need to force myself to stay away from the water treatment plant and fish some new water!

10/01/11 Clear Creek/Lake Georgetown

10/01/11
Clear Creek and Georgetown Inlet
Flows: 49
Time: 9:00 AM - 11:30

Falll is great fishing and great scenery! Get out of town and check out the leaves in the high country and get on some browns! Although Lake Georgetown isn't that far out of town, it's still a decent drive with some cool scenery that is close to Denver.

The key to fishing here is to try something different. When I arrived at 9:00 AM, I saw 5 cars already parked near the foot bridge and 5 more closer to the inlet. By the time I left, a few more people had showed up making it the busiest I've seen for the past few weekends.

So how do you fish differently than everybody there? Egg patterns are the go to during the fall spawning runs, but don't limit yourself to eggs. Throwing an omelet rig (2 or 3 egg patterns) can produce, but not in the numbers that you would think. Use bigger, or smaller patterns, and different colors. Try some pink, red or cerise eggs instead of the fl. orange or idaho cheese. Move up to a larger egg size, or milking egg patterns. An egg pattern that produced very well for me was a smaller sized otter's egg. These fish have had size 12 egg patterns thrown in their face all day long, so trying something different will entice a bite.

Don't forget that these fish are also still eating their regular diets. Nymphs and midges are the mainstay of their diets so don't forget your prince nymphs, copper johns, etc...My biggest brown came on a size 20 wire midge.

The most important thing to keep an eye on is your indicator.  These fish are smart and have seen it all so when they take, it can be very subtle and they quickly spit out flies.  The minute your indicator pauses, wiggles, or dips, set that hook.  There aren't that many snags here so 9 times out of 10, it's a fish.  Also, try a large hopper as an indicator.  You'd be surprised how often a fish will come out of the blue and just slam your hopper! 

Fishing heavily pressured water is a challenge, but can be a lot of fun when you figure out what the fish are taking...just because everybody is using it, doesn't mean it's catching fish. Also remember that fisherman lie! When someone says he's caught a few, it usually means he's caught 1. Stay away from the busy areas and move around! The bait dunkers will stick around the inlet and the foot bridge where these fish have seen it all. Move upstream or the left side of the inlet.

The fishing is great right now, fish are stacked and sight fishing is great. Just remember that these browns are naturally reproducing in this fishery, so try to avoid taking them. There are plenty of stocker bows to take home for dinner if you feel so inclined. Also, stay off the redds. With the flows low and clear, there is plenty of area to walk and fish without the need to get in or stay in the water.

I think we are just at the peak here with lots of fish making the move to spawn, and of course, with it comes lots of fisherman.  Respect others, there's trash cans there for used up leaders and tippet and smile as you pull fish after fish out of the very same hole another fisherman just vacated because he couldn't catch anything!