St. Vrain Angler News & Muse October 18, 2005

Greetings!

I hope this finds you well, thriving in life and enjoying this lovely day, regardless of where you are reading. Look outside. Take a deep breath. The sky is blue and clear today in Longmont, Colorado. It has been lovely here for several days with warm temperatures, clear skies and lots of snow on the mountains to the west. Our trees are colorful and giving us one last show before dropping their leaves for the winter that's coming.

Beautiful.

People are fishing, as you'll see from the pictures included in today's missive. I want to remind you of how much I appreciate all of you who read this weekly News & Muse, and for the comments you make to me either in person or via email. If I receive your email I'll always write back, so drop me a line at angler@peakpeak.com and we can have a chat.

There's going to be plenty of info in today's missive, including some new tying instructions, fishing tips and so on. I hope you enjoy reading! Here's what we have.

The theme is probably Fishing Trips with a sub-theme of Dads & Sons, and Fishing Friends! I like all three and hope you'll enjoy the info included here, as well as the pictures of each session.

The first is from our friend Bob, who lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His son is a Sophomore at CU in Boulder and both of them are pretty happy about that. Chris loves to ski and go 4-wheeling and is learning to fly fish. His dad is really glad about that as he's been avidly afflicted for the past six years. Somehow we found each other - I think it was over the internet and from the web site, interesting enough - and we've stayed in touch since Chris started at CU. Bob's taken several trips with us and Chris said he'd like to learn more about where to go, what to use and how to do it.

I was pleased to find that Chris was doing very well with his casting. That's a start. He didn't really have much of an idea about how to fish.

I warned both of them that if they went out with me they'd learn lots about fly fishing and how to do it, but probably wouldn't hook many fish. (I've always been accused by saltwater guides as being the best fly fisher they've seen with the worst luck; I guess it carries over to when I guide, too. Oh well.) We had fish take the fly and even hooked a few, but none came to hand or net. Oh well; I gave them good notice. On the other hand, we learned lots, had a fine time and watched Chris take a swim in the river. It always amazes me when someone can fall in chin deep in calf-deep water. Oh well.

Here's Bob's note and a few pictures from their day with Frank in the Park.

On Saturday we had a call from our friend Sandy, who'd taken a casting class and 1st Adventure Class earlier in the year. Two of her friends were in town and wanted to know if they could rent some gear to go fishing. Of course, was our answer, and so they did. Sandy shared these pictures of their outing and said a fine time was had by all. They even hooked fish!

Girls fishing together is wonderful! We have quite a group of ladies who are getting into fly fishing and I'll bet a few of you would like someone to fish with. Am I right? If so, please drop me a line and let me know, and let's see if we can put you with a new friend so you can spend great time on the water!

What did St. Vrain Angler do for these friends? We provided great gear that worked, and a short yet precise casting lesson in the shop to help them know what to do on the water. We also made sure the gear was ready and that waders and boots fit properly. When asked about flies we reasonably selected the flies that would work for the angling skills our friends possessed at this time.

What did they do? They went fishing together! They had a good time! They hooked fish! They spent time outdoors, enjoying the loveliness of the day and each other's company. I'll bet they never forget this outing and wonder of hooking trout on flies.

Guess what? We'll help you, too!

Dale,

My son and I had another great fall day at Sylvan Dale Ranch. Here are a couple of fish pictures and one I really like of some horses with the moon rising above the ridge - that was our view to the east at the end of a wonderful day.

Steve

As it turns out, all of our above friends hit the water with great weather for people, and they hooked fish in spite of clear, blue skies. Oh well; that's why the best time to go fishing is as soon as you can.

On the other hand, we had some friends visit the Bighorn. I guess the pictures they shared say all that needs said.

Fog.

Snow.

Brown TROUT!

The key to hooking fish is getting a fly to where fish are feeding. It begins with the cast. It continues with fishing. What does all of this mean? Let's talk, shall we?

The cast is about getting the fly, flies, split shot, strike detector and whatever else might be attached to the leader/tippet to the right spot in the water.

Fishing is about getting all of the stuff to move into the right spot after everything else is on the water so the fish will eat it. It's also about hooking fish that are feeding.

Both require proper rigging. Start with the basics: fly line to leader butt; leader butt to leader; leader to tippet; tippet to fly.

The water on streams is going to be lower than the day before, or week before. Fish will be more spooky than they have been. Approach with stealth and remember that scared fish don't eat. Here are a few other tips:

1. Scared Fish Don't Eat: use stealth when approaching the water. Falling in, making splashy casts close to feeding positions and so on will put fish off the feed.

2. Remember that fish want to eat and get fat. Non-scared fish want to eat so that's a plus for the angler.

3. Trout know their environs and how to survive. We'll not be able to bribe or persuade them to take our offering. It's all about presentation and trickery!

4. Adjust fly size and presentation according to the conditions at hand: don't be afraid to make adjustments in order to FISH rather than practice casting.

5. In streams allow the current to do its work.

6. Mend line to keep as much as possible above the fly as it drifts downstream.

7. Point the tip of the rod at the fly.

8. Never allow the fly line inside the circumference created by the tip of the fly rod. If the line comes inside cast again; the fishing is over as the angler is out of control.

That's what I have for now. It's getting late and I've been on the phone with one thing or another all day. Sorry..

Tying Tips are here for your perusal. Please follow the link and enjoy!

Classes! Our next Fly Tying Class is forming and will begin on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 at 7:00PM. Please join the fun! Call the shop at 303-651-6061 to register and to secure your spot.

Swaps! There have been several folks interested in our upcoming swaps. Please check the list and decide which one you'd like to join. Even if you live outside of the area we'll put you down for one and ship you the goodies. These swaps provide tremendous value to our fly tying friends! Enjoy. Swaps.

St. Vrain Angler's Chapter of Trout Unlimited! The next scheduled meeting of the club will be this Thursday, October 20, 2005 at 6:30PM at the VFW Hall on South Main Street in Longmont. WE meet in the back, so drive there - plenty of parking!

A Social time begins at 6:30PM - there's an open bar - and a short business meeting will occur at 7:00PM with the meeting beginning at 7:15PM.

The program this month is about fishing the Arkansas River, which is a great trout fishing gem in Colorado!

There's also sure to be excellent info about the latest Stream Survey, which was completed on Saturday of last week. What I heard was that the session went great, got done quickly and effectively and was fun for those involved.

Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this informative, enjoyable evening with other like-minded fly fishing folks! Everyone is welcome to attend; there's no cost, an open bar and a fine time will be had by all!

Well, that's what I have for today. I hope you enjoy reading this and that you'll get out fishing soon.

Let me present two very subtle comments:

I'm about done reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin for the umteenth time. What a great book. I was a thinin 'a righten thisahear misve a bit difrent than I's a dun it, but shucks, Ah jist cain't figure that there language them fella's is a speakin.

Hope you are well. Enjoy the day, and thrive.