Here we go again...season 7 & Big T with the boys of RMA 3-3-18

Got that big first trip out of the way and now it's time for us to get it on.... a group trip?!?!?!?

Alright. I mean they're great and all, and it's not managing 40 monkeys for a living but it's...it's just nothing Chris-just shut the hell up! I do like me some group trip, I just prefer the solo a little more, that's all. But it is always great to hang out with the shop rats a little and this trip happened to be with some beer distributors from Missouri that won a contest with Avery Brewing and got to go fishing (with us) and drink beer for free (with us) so I'm not sure what I'm bitching about really. I think I just need some bread n' butter. (???) Mmmmmm, bread n' butter.

So here's my quick report for the day.

BEER REPORT:
Avery IPA- Solid beer. Had 3 of them. Real solid, in my top 10 all time IPA's. That's not an easy list to crack around these parts good sir. What you think of when you think IPA, hoppy, a little bitter, great taste. Pretty session-able. One of the first things I'll reach for if the Elephant Rider is out. (See O'Dell if unclear, silly).

Raja (spelling?)-Really good IPA. Haven't had one in a while. really good. Starting to creep up there in the ABV. Had 1.

Look at the hook jaw on this guy. This was my 4th or 5th hook up all day. 

Maha Raja (spelling?)-Really good Imperial Double IPA. Pretty juicy my man. Splendid if I say so myself. Had 1. Pretty high ABV's. Decided to probably slow down the alcohol consumption. Might have had a little whiskey on the way up too. Hey, it's a group trip, we have to bond as guides and I didn't drive. And I don't work at a ski resort anymore SO LET ME HAVE SOME FUN DAMNIT!!!

A look at my best catch of the day. The one that really made me think...maybe I'm catching too many? Tasty. Get some!

After the Maha maha, I went back to the IPA and then had a Crank Yanker on the way down. I was feeling alright I do say. I provided ample entertainment on the way home as well for my co-guides.

FISHING:
The tailwater was slammed so we went to the canyon first. Only had 3 miles to play with as the canyon is still closed (still?). I told Tony and Justin that we oughta hit up Whispering Pines cause the access was minimal with construction. They doubted me. I didn't.

$$$$

Low water for sure but we made it happen. I actually threw my newly tyed "Black and Tan" midge and it was pretty money. Tossed on some midges the rest of the day, mostly subsurface, and a few baetis below as well. Pretty good day all in all so I apologize about bitching earlier, and for the record.....it's more like 38 monkeys cause there's three I really like(d). But now it's 0 monkeys and I still get to see three of my favorite people ever. So again, a win-win for Chris. Seems to be the early theme for the season for me. I dig win-win.

Bugs:Top Secret midges, Disco midges, black beauty, the usual suspects and more.

Free Beer, great clients, great clients drinking free beer, great guides drinking free beer, lots of trout, no monkeys. Win-win.

Dig?

Tight Lines-

Let's change it up....big time. Life's too short not to. Blue River 2-24-18

Sometimes you just got to toss it up, mix it up, stir it up, and change it and just get out right crazy in life, right? I've been managing people in the food and beverage industry for the last 20 years (at a ski resort for the last 7 years) in one regard or another and I really can't take much more. If you've never done it, you may no tget it. If you have, you most certainly will. You're success depends on the will, skill, and talent of others. I'm 40 years old & I think I'm going through a midlife crisis. I work (ed-you'll see) about 60 to 70 hours per week and I'm lucky if I have one day off every week. I got to thinking about everything, kind of took a look from the outside (the outsiders outside) and realized that I'm not living the life that I want to. Although the winter time job does seem to pay the bills and provide health insurance, it's just not the way I want to be living. No fun no more. No fun, no more. I did a lot of contemplating, especially after getting some pressure from the boss, and being told it was going to be his way or the highway.

Long story short, I've committed to guiding full-time. I've done this the last six seasons summer time and being the lead guy, they keep me pretty busy. Now I'm at the point where I've got to keep myself busy for 4 months in between the slow seasons.I'll cross that bridge when I get there, and hopefully there's a fly rod in my hand when I do. Without putting in too much effort in just a short time, I've already gotten a couple great (out of state winter time guiding) leads and ideas from some of the other guides. So, we'll see. I just know I'm not looking back. Not for the short haul anyways. I would like to explore my options and book a ton of trips, sell a lot of flies, and live for a little bit in the mean time. Life's too short. It's time to enjoy it a little.

That said, I knew that getting in my first trip of the season would be a great day for me. The shop called two weeks before I had committed to quitting and so I knew that I had a trip coming up anyways and was already really looking forward to it. I'm sure it didn't hurt the decision making process knowing in my head that if I did quit my job the day that I actually did, I'd have a trip the next day. I knew we'd be headed to the Blue come hell or coldest water ever. But either way it would be a great day out. Couldn't wait.

After doing the formals, we left the shop around 9:30;  a little later than I like for going to the Blue. I told the client this but they didn't want to get to the shop quite too early because of the snow that had come in the night before. On our way out to Golden it looked like I had driven back up to the ski resort (unnamed) that I just quit the day before.

Not a ski resort. The beginning of something new. Something fishy, something better. A new road, a new adventure. We'll get there. You just have to take the right road and have some patience. (Highway 93-closed right after we passed through due to blowing snow and drifting. It WAS pretty crazy, and I have a Jeepster) 

Normally this might put me in a little moody mood but today I just smiled (large smiles) and knew that it was the beginning of a whole new start for myself. The start of a guide season. No need to rush, right?

After making our way through Antarctica on Highway 93 we made it to Golden. I found out later that they closed 93 that day and it must have been right after we got through there. I-70 was clear sailing as far as snow although the traffic was still a little heavy from the snowboarders and skiers going up that day.

It ended up being around noon by the time we got on the water. It was super cold about, 7 degrees and I told my client that it wouldn't get much warmer so they oughta bundle up. The client's wife decided to just stick around in the truck all day and never did ended up fishing at all because it was so cold. So it was just the dead, son and myself.

We started right below I-70 and within about a half an hour one client was into a smaller brown trout on the hole above. With it being slightly windy and so cold I knew that it would be a semi slow day, especially with the late start.

We ended up not seeing too many bugs and only two risers all day and sure enough it was pretty slow all day. I think we missed three or four on a nymph rig from setting the hook a little too late but beyond that, pretty slow. Threw just about everything in the box too. We caught the one on a Mysis shrimp and had midges and annelids and baetis and all kinds of good stuff on for the rest of the day and still pretty slow. Flows were down and that didn't help much either.

A look towards the dam from the Big Blue. Thanks B, a great start to the season. 

All in all though it was a great day spent on the water with a couple of great clients and it wasn't managing 40 people in the food and beverage industry so a real win-win for Chris.

Got another trip coming up next weekend, group trip probably headed up to Big Thompson...we'll keep you posted and I'll see you out there a little more often from now on, I promise (myself).

Quick note...Clear Creek open (about 80-90%) from Loveland to Silver Plume. Things that make you go hmmm. Cutties before April?

Tight lines-

Jan-Mar 2017 Spring Fishing the locals Boulder, St. Vrain and River CLaP

Early fishing has been wonderful this season with plenty of opportunities to get out and catch trout. I've personally been out to several different places this spring/late winter and have found that the fishing has been nothing short of wonderful. I've gotten out to the St.vrain River and also Boulder Creek, not to mention the Poudre. Early-season temperatures allowed for most of the rivers to remain relatively hat free since late February. This has allowed for some of the bug life to start popping up a little bit earlier than we see in most seasons. That always makes it good for the fisherman but there's a little worry as far as late summer and fall fishing. As I speak right now I'm looking out my window at a snowstorm which is much needed and should help with River bases. That being said we're looking forward to more warm weather the next couple of weeks coming into April. April? Did somebody say April? That must mean it's almost time to go check out the Ark in Salida and Pueblo...stay tuned for a report.

Below is a report of some of the local waters in Northern Colorado.

Boulder Creek: Boulder Creek has been fishing really well as of late. I've gotten out about 5 or 6 times in the last three or four weeks; mostly late afternoon trips in the canyon. I can say all sections; the lower, middle, and upper are all fishing well. It seems that the closest you get to town the better the fishing is with more prominent hatches being seen. Look for stoneflies, Caddis midges and your occasional blue winged olive on select days. I've been throwing mostly blue poison tongues size 18, bead head Prince Nymph size 16, and various attractors and naturals on top including chubby Chernobyl's and stimulators, Blue wing olives and a couple of Caddis. Haven't thrown any midges on top but I'm sure that they would all work. I tend to keep my offerings a little on the simple side... dry dropper typically 12 to 18 inches below the dry. I recommend giving a PMX on the smaller size a try, as well as a FOD, aka Fly of Destiny. All of the aforementioned flies are for sale on the site. If you don't see it, call.




St Vrain River:
The Saint Vrain was more or less my late-winter staple as I fished it from January into February and even a little bit into March. This is an old friend of mine that I haven't fished in quite some time like I used to when I first started fly fishing. I have found that a lot of my holes that were devastated by the flood from 2013 are now starting to take shape again as they once were or finding that the new riverbed channel is starting to carve out new holes; and you're starting to see the bug life really come back now. I've been spending a lot of time within the town of Lyons which may not be the most scenic location but when you're catching 18 to 20 inch fish with relative ease in the same hole over and over what are you supposed to do right? It's good to see that the trout are healthy again as I've seen a bunch of torpedoes in there over the last several years. 


Definitely means that the bugs are coming back and fish are healthy. As for bugs that I've been using on the St Vrain; I''ve been using mostly a chubby Chernobyl as an indicator and a bead head Prince Nymph with a San Juan warm trailing that has been working efficiently. As I have not been up there in a couple of weeks, I cannot speak to conditions as of late but I can only imagine that the dry fly fishing is starting to heat up. I will be fishing the South Saint Vrain here in the next week or two and I will post a report as soon as I do.  That being said, I expect that flows are up a little bit more right now. If you plan on getting out there refer to the resources section on the right hand tab for up-to-date flow chart reading.

River CLaP:  River CLaP appears to be fishing wonderful right now. I've only been up there once as of late. I decided to fish a couple of lesser-known sections especially closer to the town of town FC. The river seems to be fishing wonderful. Flows actually seemed a little bit better there than everywhere else. I've experienced catching beautiful trout in the 16 to 20-plus inch range and having a fun time doing it. Got some action on top with a chubby when I was up there about 2 weeks ago. They seem to be really keying in on stoneflies, prince nymphs and and smaller midges especially poison tungs. I love this river; it seems to be never-ending in its offerings to The Angler. I plan on spending most my days off up there especially in the summer with the family and even more so this fall and early winter this year. I'll have more time to do some personal fishing this year (you just got warned trout of Colorado).

Well I hope you get a chance to get out there and hope that this report has provided you with some inspiration to do just that, and if you were already inspired I hope it's helped you pick out a location or what bug to tie on to the end of your tippit, which I would recommend still being in that 5x-6x range with most of our local streams, considering that we're still coming into Spring a little bit; not quite to summer yet. As I stated I'm looking at a snow storm out my window right now. Well good luck if you get out there.

Remember if you would like to book a trip with me... you can call me directly at 303-523-3136, or you can call the shop directly at 303-447-2400. Just tell them you want to book a trip with Chris Hull. And if you don't need to book a trip because you're not a beginner, maybe you'd just like to up your game and maybe even learn a new technique such as  Tenkara or Czech nymphing. Go ahead give us a call. There's not too many things we can't get you set up on (besides bait).

And if you don't need a lesson at all, then maybe I'll just run into you at the Fly Shop or out there on the river. Stay out of my damn hole though, but please wave!

Tight lines!