St. Vrain Angler News & Muse May 24, 2005

Greetings!

Welcome once again to the weekly missive! Thanks to all of my weekly readers. I hope you find this entertaining and informative. I'm going to take you to fly fishing Valhalla once again today. Thanks for joining me.

Does anyone know what has happened to May - 1973? When our folks and grandfolks told us time flies, they knew something. If only we'd spend more time with flies - tying and fishing. I don't suppose anyone would hold it against us one way or another.

Last week I included this picture of my old, ugly puss. Each time I use it folks ask me about the fish. I made a link to the story, so just hit the picture with your clicker - be very careful about how you use your clicker, by the way - and you'll find the story to read at your leisure. Thanks! As you'll see, sometimes fly fishing dreams do come true, then linger as memory. Try it; you'll like it. Building your own memories, that is.

Last week was eventful with loads of classes - two First Adventure in Fly Fishing, one Introduction to Fly Casting, one Line Control Casting Class and one Intro to Fly Tying Class, as well as the TU Auction and the arrival of lots of new stuff in the shop - and this week promises to be similar. We're hosting a meeting and get together for our guides, doing guided trips like crazy, teaching fly tying, doing programs and much more. Whew. I guess that's where May went, huh?

A great BIG THANKS! to everyone who attended the St. Vrain Angler's TU Fundraiser on Friday evening. It was an overwhelming success regardless of a bit of controversy, and the club is off and running at a great clip.

THANKS! Please stay in touch for future TU notices.

I'm presenting a program on Fishing the Big Thompson and Rocky Mountain National Park tonight at the flagship REI store in Denver. I appreciate the Wild Trout Chapter of Trout Unlimited for inviting me to their monthly meeting. I'll tie flies from 6-7PM, which will be followed by a short business meeting and my presentation. I'll be taking copies of my Solution Booklets and will have them on sale for those who would like a set. Please join the fun! There's plenty of parking, and a fine time will be had by all who attend.

This weekend is Memorial Day. It's been one of my favorites for many years. As a college student I always hosted a cookout and so on at my parent's house in Wadsworth, Ohio. We had some land, a lake and lots of room to roam. Some fishing would break out, as well as massive Frisbee contests, swimming and diving displays and so on. Sunburns were usually earned and complained of with glee.

I also have mostly kept in mind the purpose of this holiday, taking time to mourn and praise those lost in battles through U.S. history. I'm thankful for the friends that served in Vietnam, for example, even though they were treated horribly at their return. Today we have many young men and women in harm's way around the planet. They are doing their duty, which is a fine thing.

While we enjoy a picnic, time with family, graduations and the inevitable parties and some fishing and camping, let's all stop for a moment to reflect on the wonder of people who do their duty for life.

I hope all of you who read this have a day or two of rest, relaxation and reflection. Take a nap. Read a book. Cast a fly. Hook a fish. Play with a kid. Enjoy.

Fly Box Organization Special. Try as I might to host a class on organizing our fly boxes, it has not worked. However, lots of folks would like better organized fly boxes - I'm sure of that! Now, I'm pleased to say, that I have the answer for you! Here it is.

Scientific Anglers has built a fly box system that will make organizing your fly boxes very easy and useful. It is called the SystemX. Here's how it works, and what St. Vrain Angler is going to do for you!

The box comes with a swing leaf with two sides of foam slots to hold flies. The slotted swing leaf is removable and additional inserts are available.

There are three different configurations for various fly sizes and types: Blue for streamers, bass bugs and saltwater flies; Yellow for dries, and Green, which is the standard size.

How to organize them? SA has also developed and produced a Suitcase that holds four inserts. The suitcase and fly boxes are waterproof and float - a good thing.

The Fly Boxes are $19.95 each. Inserts are $9.95 each, and the suitcase is $24.95.

Here's the deal: We'll put together 2 Fly boxes, 4 Inserts and the Suitcase for $99.00. When you purchase this outfit from us - the solution to your fly box woes - we'll also give you 10% off all of your fly purchases for the rest of this year!

Thanks a good deal; wait - it's a GREAT DEAL!

There's more! I'm putting together a complete system of flies, as well. I'll load up a box and the inserts with your choice of the following:

Each box will offer a variety of flies that will work. And each side of each insert will include a color printed and laminated chart - also waterproof, we hope - that has a picture of each fly, it's name and the basics of how to use it. On the other side of the sheet of paper is information on the fly types, rigging and fishing tips for these particular fly types.

Cool beans, huh? I haven't determined a price on this yet, but once again you will receive 10% off on all fly purchases.

I'll also offer one of each fly and the printed insert to my fly tying friends who would like the samples and fishing info, as well as the box to fill with flies they tied!

Interested? I'd like to know. Please fill out this form with your thoughts. We'll have the boxes in both shops, available with or without the flies and inserts.

Fishing Report: The water in many streams is rising. Areas that are higher in elevation may be running hard, and the water may be cold, but often the water will be clear. Lower areas could be muddy to just slightly off color, or clear, depending on how the flow is and whether it is coming from a dam or not. Often, as water levels rise, the river cleans itself of debris, which is a good thing. So, high, cloudy water is a sign of good river health and portends good fishing for the future!

Keep in mind that lakes will fish well, including local warm water ponds for bass, bluegill and other species. (That's our fly tying friend Scott's dad with his first ever largemouth bass!) We're still getting good reports from high plains lakes such as Delaney Buttes, Honholtz and Spinney. I'll bet there are other good spots, too. Find one of your own.

On the lake front, we have several Fat Cat float tubes, lots of fins - including the wonderful Force Fins - and flies that will work in your favorite lake!

Fishing Tip: When the water is high and off-color, how do you approach and fish? I keep several things in mind. One, fish are greedy and want to get fat. To get fat they have to eat. Trout in streams that are eating stuff will take flies, as well. To take a fly they have to see the fly. When the water is murky, a large, dark fly is most visible. Fish large, dark flies.

As the water gets higher it often pushes trout to the edges of the stream, which offers them protection from current. They find a good spot in a depression along the bottom, behind a rock or some such thing and hang there, waiting for their environment to feed them.

In the Line Control Class I taught on Sunday on the Big Thompson, we found the water to be slightly high and slightly tinted. It was not muddy, but was carrying some debris. We could see through the water to the bottom if the water was less than 2' deep, I'd say. The water temperature was about 55 degrees, which was a bit of a surprise. At that temperature, trout have to eat about two bellies full of food each day, which means they are eating all that they can, plus several bites.

In this class, I tried to point out the areas that fish would be holding and perhaps feeding. We did not see much bug activity, although we found lots of bugs on rocks, including green drake and pale morning dun nymphs, as well as lots of caddis, sow bug, midge and stonefly nymphs. It was neat.

I use a small seine to catch bugs, then look at them to see what's living in that water. First, I like to check near the surface to see if any bugs are emerging. I look for empty shucks, full shucks, emerging bugs or adult insects, including beetles, ants and hoppers - which were all along the banks of the river.

People are often surprised when we locate and identify a golden stonefly nymph, which is large! One of our members replied, "It would take a lot of midges to equal one bite of stonefly!"

This golden in this man's hand gives a decent size perspective, I think. You know how big a wedding band is.

I wanted to show folks how to use a large dry. We didn't see any bugs like that, but I tied on one of my foam stimi's, which is a chunk of foam tied on the hook and hanging off the back, a wing of calf tail or elk and hackle around the front; easy to tie, and visible.

We hooked one nice fish on it - in very shallow water, which surprised most folks - and moved another one in a similar spot. I tried fishing it in heavier, higher water but no one took it. It was time to dredge a bit, and I wanted to show the class how to fish nymphs without lead or strike indicators.

I rigged up with 4X tippet and tied on a fly; then tied on another length of 4X to the bend of that hook and another nymph to that piece of tippet.

As you can see from the picture here, the class members were standing at my right hand, and I'm a right handed caster. So, I made the casts over my left shoulder - a good tip, by the way. We are facing into the current. In this spot the water was about chin deep on me, which is about 2' or so of depth. It was riffle-like, so the water was broken and moving pretty fast. There were larger rocks under the surface, but not any pockets, as there is at my left hand in this shot. What I did was cast the fly line in a straight line upstream allowing the flies and line to land at the same time in one current lane. As the flies/leader/line drifted back I pulled the line through my index finger at the same speed the current was moving. We watched the tip of the fly line and down the leader as far as we could.

Since the trout are facing into the current waiting for food to drift by the fly would float into their feeding position. When they took the fly, the leader, then fly line would jump forward and the fish almost set the hook themselves. I helped by gently lifting the tip of the rod.

This is a good technique, and works well. Try it. You'll hook a few this way.

That's all I have today. It is late, and I have to prepare for this evening's program.

I hope you are well, and that you will enjoy this Memorial Day
Weekend. We'll be open normal hours at St. Vrain Angler - today through Friday from 9:30-6:00. Saturday we'll be open from 9AM until about 3PM, when we'll close for our weekend off. We'll be closed on Monday. 303-651-6061

Estes Angler will be open each day from 9:00-5:00, except Sunday when we'll close at 3:00 for our guide cookout. 970-586-2110.

If we can help you prepare for your fishing this weekend, and into the future, please allow us to do so. I genuinely appreciate all of you who trust us for instruction, gear and trips.

Thanks.

We'll see you soon. I'm going to leave you with two pictures from a guided trip on Monday. Who do you like for friends?

As always, thanks for reading. I'll talk with you again next Tuesday.

Best Wishes for fishes!