Working up here in the mountains all winter sure has had me curious about the area around us and the more it all melts, the more I wonder what lies out in those areas I have never been to, but now see everyday. It reminds me of one of my favorite times of the year, spring. And spring is a wonderful time to get out and go exploring for new spots. The goal when exploring in the spring is to ultimatley find more spots that you can spend more time at in the future, like the summer.
I do however take a rod with me when I explore and the idea for me is to 'just see what's out there'. I like to throw on a general attractor nymph or dry, or even a specific pattern that you just know is common for the season, and just see what happens. Often, you can entice a strike, but not a bite. This is not a complete loss though, as this tells you that you are in a fertile spot indeed. Sometimes I will move on to the next stream when this happens, because I am only exploring, and sometimes I will fish it out. Often, the fishing can be slow (or non-existent). And if so, were just exploring anyways. But other times you find that you don't need much time to receive the benefits of a new location. And if the fishing is on, it's usually a pleasant surprise. Such was the case yesterday.
We had a crazy storm come through; rain, hail, wind and even enough lightning to shut the mountain down for a little bit. Definitely a typical top of the rockies spring storm. A little bit of everything. So my plans for afternoon fishing were done, I thought. With the weather the way it was, I decided exploring was the way to go.
So faced with an early afternoon off from work, I set off down the hill and instead of going straight home, I turned west at the bottom of the hill and followed the middle branch of the Boulder Creek up towards Hessie. Not but a mile or two up was a bridge with a great drop in spot. I had to wait for the storm to pass, especially the lightning and rain.
I geared up and having not much time to spare, I left the waders in the truck and fished the shore. There was plenty of pockets and really only about 1 or 2 big holes in the stretch I fished. I was throwing a PT and Z combo; a killer in the spring time in just about any creek in Colorado.
After about an hour or so of fishing and moving up stream very slowly, making sure to work all the pockets to the max, I got a strike. I set the hook and out of habit used enough force to lift the little guy out of the water about a foot. I got the line over and discovered it to be my first brookie of the year. A pleasant surprise indeed. I had been fishing lower on the creek looking for a brookie, but I suppose with the early high temps and melt off that they have already made their way up to cooler waters.
I headed down the hill with a huge smile on my face. The first brookie marks a whole new season for me. The high altitude season when brookies and cutthroats dominate the catch list. My favorite season for sure.
An afternote: I went to the same spot the next day and the weather was great. I had more time and so I put on the waders. Spent probably double the time fishing and got exactly 0 bites. It goes to show that sometimes spring exploring is just that. Exploring. Don't always get hooked into one spot. The weather changes quickly in the spring and so does a fish's diet habits. Perhaps I would have been better off going further upstream and 'exploring' for even another spot. One can never say.
Tip of the day: Just get out there! Sometimes it only takes a few minutes to stop somewhere and throw your line in. You don't always need waders, but you do need creativity in where and what you fish.
Find a spot. Tie it on and throw it in. See what happens. Repeat.
Enjoy your spring exploring and hopefully it becomes summer catching.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Boulder Creek warming up!
Boulder Creek is happening right now! I got out on a full day trip for the first time in a while and it was worth the wait. The day started with someone pulling into my hole at the bottom of the canyon. Really? On a weekday, with at least 30 other pullouts open? This is a growing trend that I do not understand, nor care for. This is the second time in a week this has happened now. All I'm saying is when the WHOLE river is open, go find your own hole! Especially if you see me putting my waders on; as I clearly was. I don't get it.
Anyways, onto the fishing...You just know when it's gonna be a day. And I knew it was going to be a day. First cast I let my black zebra midge (Z) (sz. 18) and Pheasant Tail (PT) (sz. 20) drift to the bottom of the hole above me and it was fish on immediately. This continued for the next hour or so as I had already released a dozen browns before noon. At around 1:00, they really turned off. So I headed up the canyon in hopes of that first brook of the season.
Drove up to Roger's Park at the lower parking lot and found the water to just be too low in this section to fish right now. You could fish it, but there was hardly any trout and they were easily spooked. I sure do love this section of water and it looks like with the recent addition of some downed timber, it really oughta be hoppin' this year, post run-off.
Finally, I ended up at Castle Rock. Slow as could be as there weren't even any climbers around. Switched up to a black blue BH wire Prince (BHWP), and also a wine San Juan worm (SJW) but no go. Went back to the Z/PT setup and ended up pulling 1 out of this section as well. Little guy, and it seemed like they were quiet and holding deep, although I posted a surface temp of 52 degrees at about 3:30 p.m.
Will definitely be tying some more PT's later on. I have been really focusing on the quality of them lately as it really pays off with just a beautiful, buggy quality. And there sure is something to be said about that brown head too. It just looks sharp. I love the pure 'naturalness' of this fly, and apparently so do the trout in Boulder.
Get out there!
Tip of the day:
1-Loon Aquel seems to be a better consistency than Gink. Possibly won't freeze as easily in the colder season.
2-There's a whole river, find your own hole. That isn't enjoyable for everyone and just isn't necessary on such a slow day with such ample space. And if all else fails, ask me if I'm done here. Even if I'm not, you may come to find out that maybe I'm throwing streamers and possibly working downstream.
Not the right date, but....definitely a hole crasher! Avoid this guy!!!
Anyways, onto the fishing...You just know when it's gonna be a day. And I knew it was going to be a day. First cast I let my black zebra midge (Z) (sz. 18) and Pheasant Tail (PT) (sz. 20) drift to the bottom of the hole above me and it was fish on immediately. This continued for the next hour or so as I had already released a dozen browns before noon. At around 1:00, they really turned off. So I headed up the canyon in hopes of that first brook of the season.
Drove up to Roger's Park at the lower parking lot and found the water to just be too low in this section to fish right now. You could fish it, but there was hardly any trout and they were easily spooked. I sure do love this section of water and it looks like with the recent addition of some downed timber, it really oughta be hoppin' this year, post run-off.
Finally, I ended up at Castle Rock. Slow as could be as there weren't even any climbers around. Switched up to a black blue BH wire Prince (BHWP), and also a wine San Juan worm (SJW) but no go. Went back to the Z/PT setup and ended up pulling 1 out of this section as well. Little guy, and it seemed like they were quiet and holding deep, although I posted a surface temp of 52 degrees at about 3:30 p.m.
Will definitely be tying some more PT's later on. I have been really focusing on the quality of them lately as it really pays off with just a beautiful, buggy quality. And there sure is something to be said about that brown head too. It just looks sharp. I love the pure 'naturalness' of this fly, and apparently so do the trout in Boulder.
Get out there!
Tip of the day:
1-Loon Aquel seems to be a better consistency than Gink. Possibly won't freeze as easily in the colder season.
2-There's a whole river, find your own hole. That isn't enjoyable for everyone and just isn't necessary on such a slow day with such ample space. And if all else fails, ask me if I'm done here. Even if I'm not, you may come to find out that maybe I'm throwing streamers and possibly working downstream.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
1,2,3...Blog Start!
1,2,3...Blog Start!
Well, here we are. The unofficial start of the new season is upon us as we are barely into April and the weather is showing signs of the season. The snow is melting rapidly here at Eldora but the riding is great! Out behind the lodge, there is a stream (of melt-off, in the middle of the road) almost wide enough to fish. Well actually, I did fish a 6" x 6" hole one day to my assistant managers request, but no luck. And the word amongst the locals is that if you take the lift up the mountain, ski down to another lift, go up that lift, walk the ridge over to the top, ride down the side, and then look in the right spot you will see that the lake over there is almost completely melted already. At around 10,000', that is pretty early for a melt off. If you don't know which lake this is you ought to just go get lost! I plan on going soon...
Guide season starts soon for myself and I am looking forward to the Inaugural season. First trip is next week. From the looks on all the faces at the guide meeting, everyone is excited. I know I am.
As for the streams, they are picking up both in volume and fishability. Pulled out a couple of fish along both the upper and lower stretches of Boulder Canyon in the last few weeks; all on midges and streamers. Think small and act like a ninja! But, sometimes you have to coerce them this time of year so if all else fails throw a streamer. Might be best to just stay lower this time of year.
It's already going but the brunt of run off will be here sooner than later and a long summer of dry fly fishing is anxiously awaiting us all! So make sure you renew the licenses, dust off the waders (or buy new ones like I did, luckily), clean the fly lines, tie some flies and get out there cause it's about to be full on for the rest of the summer. Tight Lines >
Well, here we are. The unofficial start of the new season is upon us as we are barely into April and the weather is showing signs of the season. The snow is melting rapidly here at Eldora but the riding is great! Out behind the lodge, there is a stream (of melt-off, in the middle of the road) almost wide enough to fish. Well actually, I did fish a 6" x 6" hole one day to my assistant managers request, but no luck. And the word amongst the locals is that if you take the lift up the mountain, ski down to another lift, go up that lift, walk the ridge over to the top, ride down the side, and then look in the right spot you will see that the lake over there is almost completely melted already. At around 10,000', that is pretty early for a melt off. If you don't know which lake this is you ought to just go get lost! I plan on going soon...
Guide season starts soon for myself and I am looking forward to the Inaugural season. First trip is next week. From the looks on all the faces at the guide meeting, everyone is excited. I know I am.
As for the streams, they are picking up both in volume and fishability. Pulled out a couple of fish along both the upper and lower stretches of Boulder Canyon in the last few weeks; all on midges and streamers. Think small and act like a ninja! But, sometimes you have to coerce them this time of year so if all else fails throw a streamer. Might be best to just stay lower this time of year.
It's already going but the brunt of run off will be here sooner than later and a long summer of dry fly fishing is anxiously awaiting us all! So make sure you renew the licenses, dust off the waders (or buy new ones like I did, luckily), clean the fly lines, tie some flies and get out there cause it's about to be full on for the rest of the summer. Tight Lines >
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