St. Vrain Angler News & Muse March 22, 2005

Greetings!

I'm afraid I'm going to be full of it this morning. I hope you are well, that all is going well for you this fine day and that fishing and living life is in your plans.

Last week was very busy and active. So many wonderful things happened. Thanks to all the folks who participated in it by attending clinics, classes, programs, stream surveys, fishing trips and so on. Wow!

The picture at left shows a small rainbow caught during our Lake Fishing Mini-Camp of Sunday and Monday. The fish was probably only about 19" or so. We returned late last night; it was difficult to leave the lake. As it turned out we caught very few fish under twenty inches, which seemed to be as big as fish that size got. I'm not bragging, but I probably caught more small fish than anyone else, which takes advanced skill levels. I'm also going to say that I caught more large fish than I ever have in two days of fishing. I admit; it was fun.

Last Wednesday evening I had the privilege to present my Spring Fly Fishing program to the Evergreen Chapter of Trout Unlimited. I appreciate the invite and look forward to seeing folks up that way again. We tied a few flies, ate pizza and talked fly fishing for a couple of hours.

On Thursday I did a repeat performance in Longmont for our own St. Vrain Anglers chapter of TU. We had a good turnout and lots of enthusiasm for the St. Vrain River Project Survey. A small group from the Board did lots of work to pull this together, and from what I heard Saturday afternoon there was a fabulous turnout and a fine time was had by all. The folks I talked with were amazed at how many bugs were in the stream, and how little water to support aquatic life of any sort.

This will be an ongoing project. The club has gotten tremendous support from the City of Longmont, Boulder County and members. Several schools and lots of students participated in the Survey last Saturday. Everyone we saw after it was complete was full of grins and talk of good times.

St. Vrain River Cleanup!

Please mark your calendar for either Saturday, April 9 at 8:00AM. The City of Longmont is hosting a River Walk cleanup. People will meet at the Isaac Walton Clubhouse on South Sunset street at 8:00AM to form into groups. Lots of folks will turn out to clean up along the stream and river walk, but few folks will be there to climb into the water to pick up trash and mark spots that need special attention.

That's where we come in. Anglers have waders, and we need to have a great show of support for this effort. We'll walk in the stream, picking up trash and so on. It will last for about 3-4 hours and be fun, useful and full of insight on the condition of the St. Vrain River through Longmont. Please join this effort! THANKS.

Will you help? If so, please complete and send me this form.

Thanks!

What's that? You're interested in what's going on on the St. Vrain, but you want to hear a fishing story? That's good, because have I got a story for you!

Five of us left Longmont at about 4:30PM on Saturday. Jay and I from the shop and Joe, Leonard and Dave piled into the cars - we took Joe's truck and my Subaru - and headed south on I-25 towards Walsenburg. Traffic was light and we made good time. Along the way, Dave, Leonard and I solved a few more world issues. Our host at Lake Marie, Rich, told me about a good restaurant in town, so we took the second Walsenburg exit, headed west to town and found the place. The menu was in chalk on a board, and everything sounded good to hungry travelers, anticipating good fishing the next day. We loaded up on steak, chicken cacciatore and other goodies, paid the bill and headed to the lake.

Lake Marie is east of town and is on a large ranch owned by several folks who wanted a retreat that would also be a working ranch. They built a lodge for fishing guests and charge a rod fee in order to generate dough to pay taxes and plant fish.

As it turns out, the lake has ancient water rights and usually has water in it. When full it covers 250 acres. There are rip rap dikes at two ends and shoreline and water between. The water gets very warm during summer months, and has problems with Ph balance. The group plants small trout once or twice a year and even though the conditions don't seem to merit such a thing, fingerlings grow at alarming rates. As I mentioned, we didn't really catch many fish under 20-inches, and we caught lots of fish!

We learned much of this info from Rich when we arrived at the lovely large log lodge. (Can you say that five times in a row quickly and accurately? I can't.) It was dark and we couldn't see the lake. After we stowed our gear and Rich finished warning us about how good the fishing would be we all sat down at the table and began talking. Soon, a poker game broke out. I was tired from the long week of classes and presentations and wanted to lose. I made bad bets, and started winning. I loaned chips to others and they kept losing them back to me. It was awful; I just wanted to read a book. Put real money on the table and things would be different, of course, but for this night Darling was king of cards. I hit inside straights, an ace on the last card for two pair and so on, over and over again. Oh well.

It was windy outside. Rich said the lake fished best with chop on the water, so we were optimistic. What the heck - what's a little wind on the plains of Colorado?

About midnight someone had the brilliant idea to stop poker and start sleep. We agreed. Someone loaded two coffee makers with coffee and water; the lights were put out; snoring began. Then, the sun started rising and someone started brewing the coffee. Soon, everyone was up - even Jay opened his eyes for coffee, two bananas and a few other munchies. I cooked oats and started browning onions and meat in a skillet for crock pot chili. Dave cut the onion and peppers. Jay disappeared with his fly rod and wasn't seen for several hours.

After we ate, we cleaned up and organized our gear. Rich stopped to let us know Jay was located, was catching trout and was wondering what was holding us up. Joe and Dave headed out. Leonard and I talked about casting and how we'd approach the fish and the water. He was after his first trout on a fly rod, which he'd built in the shop last fall.

We headed to the north dike, found the others and got set to fish. Rich and his friend were fishing, too, and sharing flies, fishing tips and so on with the guys. Jay's eyes were beginning - or continuing, as the case might have been - to glaze over. His nose was getting red from wind and sun. He seemed to be shivering either from the effects of the cold wind or with delight. It was hard to tell.

The wind was blowing. Joe was east of us, fishing alone from the dam face. Jay was wandering around with bliss, tripping and casting; tripping and casting; hooking fish now and again, and giggling with delight or some form of demented Ohio humor. While we didn't dismiss Jay out of hand, we pretty much had to leave him to his own form of delusions. He's a kid. It's forgivable.

Casting was difficult for everyone, but particularly for Leonard and Dave, so I began by explaining the value of a good roll cast. They started to catch on, then Dave hooked a fish! On the drive down, during dinner and the poker game the night before and over oats and coffee that morning we'd discussed the things folks wanted to learn. One of them was how to fight and land big fish.

I coached Dave; he fought the fish - keeping even tension on the line and the rod tip up -  and then landed the fish.

"I've never caught a trout this big!" he said when the fish was safely in the net.

It was a big male with a hooked jaw. Dave was a bit out of sorts from all of the excitement, but we caught a few good pictures of the event, saving them for posterity.

He said, "This whole trip is worth it after this fish. Wow!"

I hope the memories of that fish, on that day, at that place will linger forever.

I hadn't fished yet, instead coaching and helping. Dave's fish was quite a specimen, as you can see here, and I decided that regardless of my  I may not catch many but at least they're all small credo, It was time to give the lake a go. After all, in light of all these big trout, what was a mere human to do?

I tied on a 9' 3X leader and decided to put on 4X tippet. For some reason I tend to fish lighter stuff. Even though the word on the dike, verified with Dave's fine fish, was that these were big fish and not leader shy, for some reason 4X was the tippet of choice. I looked through the fly box assembled for this trip, which was full of nymphs, bead head flies and streamer patterns, and selected a cone head pattern with spun deer hair and marabou and other stuff, tied it on and started to cast.

It was getting more windy all the time, blowing into the front right portion of my head. That's about the worst position wind can be for a right handed caster, so I turned around and made my forward cast over the dike and my back cast the presentation cast. In this case, all we were trying to do was get the fly in the water and move it in hopes of attracting a strike from a cruising trout.

The strike was violent and heavy, separating fly from tippet in one jarring motion. Ah yes: I'll switch to 3X tippet. I did.

Leonard hooked a few fish, but didn't land any, and Dave continued to plug away as well. The wind was really beginning to howl, forming white caps on the lake. The casting was getting more difficult. After dispensing a few more tips, Rich and his friend packed up to return to their home near Denver; we were on our own.

I decided to make sure Dave and Leonard were doing well, then walked down the dike to see how the other kids were doing. Well, it really was silly. Joe and Jay had grins that wouldn't quit. When they looked at you the visions of big trout verily leapt from their glazed-over eyeballs. Really. I worked with Joe on casting tips a bit, made a couple casts myself and hooked a couple of fish that were very nice indeed. A few minutes later Dave made his way down to this side of the lake, where the brunt of the wind was blowing straight into our faces.

Joe and I decided that the better part of valor was lunch and something cold to drink. We stopped to see how Leonard was doing and he decided to join us. Dave and Jay stayed put. Jay was in a fish-catching coma and Dave was having a tough time deciding which ear-to-ear grin to wear.

After lunch, we returned to the water. By this time Dave and Jay were out of control. Leonard hooked a few more, but didn't land any, and Joe joined the the other two in the foray with vigor that was supplemented by a full belly full of sandwich, chips, cookies and jalapeño peppers filled with peanut butter. After more coaching and encouraging I decided that the chili probably needed stirred and Leonard and I returned to the lodge. Then, I decided I needed to check my eyelids for leaks, which was refreshing work indeed. As far as I could tell, there were none.

After the nap Leonard and I discussed casting. He was getting some of it, but the wind really was terrible, making it difficult to execute good casts. He was happy with hooking a few fish, but I wondered if it was tough for him since the other guys had been hooking fish. We didn't talk about that. I stirred the chili again, and we waited. Leonard decided he'd head back out, and did. I read. The wind continued. Jay and Dave hadn't been in for a drink of water or a bite to eat.

As the sun moved to the west, allowing dusk to settle in, the anglers returned. They were full of fish tails due to their hands being full of fish tales. It was silly, really it was.  Leonard hooked a few more but still hadn't landed one; Dave couldn't believe a person could land this many big trout at one time; Joe was giggling with glee and Jay was trance-like in demeanor and ravaged with hunger. I made him wait a few minutes for chili, as we decided we should tie flies.

We set up the table with lights, vises and materials and sat down to wrap fakes, sharing the flies we'd used that day while tying with hope for the next. Jay got his journal and tried to write in it.

"Aren't you going to tie?" I asked.

"My hands are shaking so bad I can't even write," he said. "It will take awhile until I thaw out." There was more to it than that, of course, but he's just a kid so I let it go.

After spirited conversation about flies, the fishing, the place, the day, what we wanted to learn tomorrow and so on I decided to check on the chili. A bowl of it followed me back to the tying desk. It had tortilla chips crushed up in it and cheese spread on top. Jay went to check and came back with a similar bowl, followed by Leonard and Joe. Dave was pretty intent on tying. When he walked out to the kitchen for a fresh beverage, a bowl of food followed him out as well.

"This is really good!" said Jay, "but it's really hot."

"Are you referring to physical or spicy hotness?" I asked.

"Spicy."

Of course his lips were so dry and sunburned a cold orange would have been spicy at that point. Everyone else chuckled and went back to the kitchen to see if another bowl full of chili would follow them back to the tying venue. For some reason a discussion of Patrick McManus began. Jay was giggling about the story concerning pigs in the back of Pat's neighbor's station wagon and it just so happened that I had the book along. I read two stories and Pat's words filled us with glee.

The tying session fell apart. I guess enough flies were tied.

Jay didn't pick up a hook. "I've got enough of what worked today to keep me busy tomorrow."

After cleaning up the dishes from our chili supper Leonard was reading a book at the head of the tying table. Everyone else moved about the lodge, quietly selecting a magazine and settling into a couch or chair. Jay fell asleep on his chair, journal in hand. I should have taken a picture, but didn't. Dave wanted to talk more about casting and we did. Joe shared a McManus article he just finished reading in a copy of Outdoor Life magazine and Leonard decided enough was enough. It was time to sleep, and didn't take long for everyone to agree to that suggestion. It was still very windy out. I don't know, but suspect that visions of big fish filled everyone's head that night.

The thought was confirmed in the morning when, during coffee everyone agreed that fishing should take place immediately. We'd all stop for breakfast about 10:30. After a morning of fishing we actually ate by about noon, then returned to the water.

It was breezy, but not windy. And, it was overcast. While the day before was clear, revealing the beautiful snowcapped peaks of the Rockies, today the mountains were covered in clouds. What we could see had a light blanket of fresh snow.

It was cold.

Before I got to the water Leonard hooked and lost a fish. Then, he landed the lovely rainbow shown at the right! Dave broke one off, then hooked and landed another. Jay and Joe were at the other side of the dike, and everyone seemed set.

On this day everyone would hook, land and release plenty of big trout. We wondered where else one could do such a thing with good friends and decided that once in a while this would be a good place to come. The guys all wondered how often we could get booked into the lodge and spend two or three days fishing for these lovely trout.

I'm going to set two or three more dates to fish here during April and May. The lake closes due to warm temperatures from June through mid-October, and we'll schedule a couple of trips then as well.

This is a unique opportunity for St. Vrain Angler and her friends. The next few trips will probably be done in float tubes, fishing for cruising and rising trout. We'll work on casting, fly tying, rigging and fighting and landing large trout. A fine time will be had by all. The pictures below should tell quite a story for one an all.

I'm sorry to report, in light of all of these delightful pictures of huge, dripping trout, that one sordid event did take place. I'd be remiss not to share it with you for fear of finding others repeating the offense.

Let's just say that one young man along for the trip had just purchased a new Sage 690-4XP fly rod, a Sage reel and Rio fly line, and that he writes books and works in the shop. No names or anything, just a hint that it might be Jay.

Along the dike were various warrens and dens. Living in them were young, fluffy bunnies. The bunnies were friendly, fearlessly nibbling grass in close proximity to anglers. We all got a kick out of their furry little beings hopping about and running along the dike with a neighbor bunny.

You know. Bunnies are cute.

Well, the afore unmentioned person named Jay decided to pester one of the friendly bunnies by tickling it with the tip of his fly rod. I guess he'd caught enough fish for the time being, or had gone off the deep end of the dike, in a figurative sort of manner. At any rate, he was manifesting his dereliction by pestering the bunny rabbit. (Mark was probably glad to be back in the fly shop.)

It seems the bunny didn't like the tickling all that much, but, exercising more control than the tormentor, the tormented continued to sit tight, wiggling its cute little bunny nose.

The tormentor persisted, however, and relayed the story as follows:

"I don't know what happened. I'd been tickling the rabbit with the tip of my rod to no effect, then tried hooking it with my woolly bugger. The rabbit never offered to attack or anything. It just sat there, looking at me. Then, out of nowhere and without much more encouragement, the rabbit bit my new fly line.

Jay, who really doesn't need to be mentioned in the same sentence or in conjunction with this terrible interplay between angler and rabbit, couldn't believe the rabbit would bite his new fly line.

I guess rabbits and fly fishing don't go together all that well. Unless you are tying hare's ears, that is. If our rabbits had been aware of that possibility, I wonder if they would have displayed such control. Perhaps more fly lines would have been nibbled or outright bitten in half.

I guess we'll never really know.

Jay's nose is terribly sunburned.

The darndest things happen when you go fishing.

Well, that's it for today. A fishing story, told with words and pictures, a bit of philosophy and humor added to spice it up.

We have classes coming; the free tying clinic on Saturday from 10-Noon, which may include a very special treat from about 11am until 1PM - I'll let you know later in the week - and lots of good stuff, good stories, good flies and other good things which await the pleasure of your presence. Schedule.

I hope this finds you well. Mark and I are doing pretty well, and Jay seems to be a mess. I wonder if his eyes are still glazed? I guess we'll see later today.

All three of us look forward to seeing you soon, and wish you good fishing in 2005!

Thanks for reading.