St. Vrain Angler News & Muse May 31, 2005

Greetings!

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone once again. We had constant rain on Sunday and Monday, which is not the first time that's ever happened this time of year. Still, we had lots of guided trips out over the weekend and folks had a great time, hooking fish, learning about fly fishing skills and experiencing a great rocky mountain tradition: fly fishing.

On Friday of last week, I had the privilege of taking three men on a private day of fly fishing at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch. We had a good time. Two of the fellows work together and the other is their client. They all love fly fishing. Bret, Dave and Bob all, by their own admission, work too often and don't fish enough. Bob, the client in this case, is learning fly fishing and has been pursuing trout for about 4 years or so. Bret and Dave started as kids and often dream of time on the water. The deal was that they wanted to get on the water together and share something special apart from the day-in, day-out business grind.

We met for breakfast and I told them they'd have to forego the "W" word - work - for the "F" word - fish. Or, fun. They agreed. After a hearty breakfast and lots of hot coffee - I still can't believe Bret ate the whole thing - we walked over to the shop, picked up a few flies, loaded the trucks and drove for 20 minutes to the ranch. We rigged up, blew up the float tubes and generally gawked at the loveliness that surrounded us. Geese families cruised the south shore, wary of our arrival.

I'm always amazed at how isolated I feel on trout water, even when it is close to town. Here we were, ten minutes from a large town, in the middle of a couple of hogbacks, fly fishing in a beautiful lake for very large trout. Cool.

Bret and Dave launched their boats, and Bob and I started walking the lake's edges, looking for cruising fish. They were there. As soon as Bret got into his tube and cast his fly into the water he had a hookup. That worries me - too much, too soon.  (There have been several times when I've hooked a trout on the first cast with a new fly rod. I've always wondered what that means in the mystical world of fly fishing. After hooking a second, third, fourth - well, you get the idea.) The fish got off, thus defining part of what the day would bring. Dave kicked around, hooked a couple that also escaped, and then Bret landed a lovely rainbow, revived and released it. The smile on his face tells the story.

Bob and I worked on casting, line control and stripping techniques and made numerous casts to cruisers. Several slapped at the fly, grabbed and immediately spit out the fly and so on. He had a good one on for quite some time, but it threw the hook on a surprisingly fast run late in the battle. Bad old trout.

There were a few damsels swimming to shore to emerge and the fish were hunting them. Bob and I watched as one emerged from its shuck. It was a struggle for life, and I think the bug won this one.

Damsel nymphs swim to the edge of a lake, climb out on whatever is available to climb on, kind of like a four year old child, and sit there until their shuck begins to dry. Then they climb out of the shuck, allow their wings to mature fully so they can fly off, find a mate, mate and lay eggs. We saw all of the processes along the way. I like observing bugs in the process. It teaches me something about how to tie and fish them, which is such a wonderful part of fly fishing fun. It also reminds me of both the delicacy and efficacy of life, which is a good thing.

Unfortunately for us it was a bright, hot day with no clouds and little wind. The full moon of the night before allowed the fish to feed all night and they were picky and pretty full, all in all. When we walked the banks they would move off or turn at our presence. A few would turn to the fly, take a look, then swim off with their noses in the air saying, you think I'm going to fall for that? Ha. Ha. Ha!

Bad old trout. We did hook a few - and they were all nice ones, by the way. Smiles abounded as each of us allowed the bright sun to burn our faces and the clean air to fill our lungs. No one complained. There was lots of laughing, and oohing and ahhing about the birds - we saw an Osprey fly by, hunting lunch. There was one particular red winged black bird that had the most vivid red coverlets on its wings I lost my breath the first time I saw it. One bird hovered over the edge of the lake like a huge hummingbird - I don't know what this bird was - then plunged into the water beak first to get supper. That was way cool.

Bret and Dave were standing by the edge of the lake watching a cruising trout when they noticed a large minnow darting about. They both thought there would be no way the big fish could catch the little one, and they were both amazed when the large fish turned and inhaled the minnow. I know at that moment there were no thoughts other than those involving the wonder of nature. On the drive home Bret would not stop talking about how that big rainbow ate that little minnow, which was at least three inches long.

A muskrat or two worked the water as the sun dipped behind the western hogback. The lake was calm and they left a wake swimming from one side of the lake to the other, hauling chow to their nests. We wondered why they had to swim the lake to get grass when the grass was everywhere. That's one of the things that happens to you when you go fly fishing with friends, and take the time to observe the wonders of nature and her beauty. Thoughts turn from the tyranny of the immediate to what is real; life.

Bret, Dave and Bob all promised they'd fish again soon. I hope they join one another for a day on the water. They are all great guys, working hard most days to support their families and be community good guys.

Each one of you reading this missive have my permission to go fishing.

Please go soon. Refresh. Re Create. You are allowed.

Most of the time when I write, I talk about fishing streams and rivers. It's my bent; what can I say? I grew up near Akron, Ohio and remember the leading news story being that the Cuyahoga River was on fire. Again. When there were streams in the area they were usually muddy, filthy or so polluted you were not allowed to have contact with them. The rubber factories went full bore all day, every day and the smokestacks spewed black smoke into the air. I fished in lakes.

When Shan and I decided I'd work on a Doctorate at CU in Boulder, my heart turned to fly fishing clear mountain streams. They won, and we stayed here to raise our family and make Longmont our home. It turned into fly shops. Hmmm.

I prefer fishing in streams, and most of you know that. I prefer fishing in streams with dry flies, and most of you know that, too. I prefer fishing dry flies in streams with bamboo rods, too. Did you know that? Who cares?

Runoff is upon us, and that is a good thing. It is spring housecleaning for streams, and it forces me to fish lakes a bit, which I find I still really enjoy. The trip of last Friday reminded me again how enjoyable - and challenging - fishing lakes can be. Here are a few tips.

Know thy lake. If there are large fish, rig appropriately. I start with at least 3X leaders and tippet material and larger flies, if I think they'll work. Big fish often do eat big bites - that's how they keep that lovely figure we all want to hold - and can be aggressive.

I like to start on the shoreline and see what's going on. If fish are cruising the edges hunting food I try to see what is either on or in the water, or along the banks of the lake. Often, small minnows will hide along banks and big fish find and eat them. At other times, ants, beetles and other terrestrials will fall into the water and become trout food. As we saw Friday, damsels and callabeatis will often be emerging and when they do, trout eat them as well.

If the fish are not along the bank, I like to turn to a float tube to get on the water. I'll cast towards the shore if there are drop offs and structure that I could not reach from shore, or go deep, dredging the bottom for large trout that hang in deeper water. The deeper I fish, the darker the fly I use. I think the fish can see it better. Use a sinking line to get down and stay down. When using sinking lines, be sure to use shorter leaders so the fly gets to the same depth as the line does.

Vary strips from very slow - almost crawling along - to very quick. The lengths of the strips should vary, as well. Observe little minnows darting along the edges of the lake and imitate that motion with your line movement.

There are usually crawdads in lakes, and the fish eat them. I'd encourage you to carry one or two just in case. Damsel nymphs are required this time of year, as are scuds, callabeatis, ants, beetles and so on. Most lakes have midges that are active throughout the year. Various styles and sizes of streamers are a must.

For more info, please drop by the shop or let me know how I can help.

Last week I introduced our Fly Box Organization idea and program. I've had lots of responses, which means more of you are interested. To read last week's offer, which will continue this week, too, please follow this link: Organize your Fly Box.

Today, I have an Attractor Box ready to go. It has various fly patterns and the cards that describe the flies and fishing tips. The folks who've seen this in the shop really like it, and I'm sure you will, too.

Here's an example of one page of the Attractor Flies Insert. These are the dries, and are placed next to the flies to identify them.

The other side of the page has info on how to rig, cast and fish these flies.

In this case, I've also written a Solutions Booklet on fishing and tying Attractor flies, which would be a good thing to have along with the fly box and flies.

My goal with the boxes, which are called Solutions Fly Boxes, is to help my angling friends.

For the beginner, you'll learn the names of flies that work. For folks who tie their own, you'll know what to tie and how to tie them. For intermediate and advanced anglers who don't tie, you can get a box full of flies that will work on the streams and lakes you enjoy fishing most.

The next box, which will be done this week, will have Rocky Mountain National Park flies! They will work on the St. Vrain, Big Thompson, Poudre and most of the streams and high lakes in the Park. This is one that our out-of-town friends should get to prepare for their trip to the Rockies, and that our local friends should get as a refresher and to update fly patterns.

We collected the list of flies during our Guide Cookout on Sunday and decided if we all had one fly box, these flies would be in it.

This is the Rocky Mountain Fly Box Solution.

Here are the offers I'm making available.

I'll be posting additional details on the web page later today and over the next few days. I'm very excited about this as it combines my love of teaching, tying and helping folks enjoy time on the water, hooking more fish.

We're doing our Annual Kid's Fishing Day on Saturday, June 4, 2005 at Golden Ponds in Longmont from 9AM until 12:30PM. We'll provide rods, reels, lines, help, hot dogs, drinks and chips. It will be fun.

Please bring a kid and join the fun. St. Vrain Angler's Chapter of Trout Unlimited is handling most of the work on this and they are looking forward to it.

For more information, please call the shop at 303-651-6061. If you'd like to help, please be at Golden Ponds #1 - the first lake - at 8AM to help set up and get ready for kids. Bring an old rod if you have one, a few flies and tippet material and hemo's to remove all barbs. Nippers are useful, as well. Wear sunscreen and a hat!

Thanks.

Thanks to all of the fine folks who attended the TU meeting at REI last Tuesday. I had a great time presenting a fly tying demo and the program on Fishing the Big Thompson and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Thanks for reading and for stopping in the shop. Fishing is good. Check stream flows to be sure of the water conditions where you plan to fish. If it's time to get a new float tube, we have them along with the flies and so on that will work.

That's all I have for this fine day, other than best wishes for good fishing. Remember, this weekend - the 4th and 5th of June - are free fishing days in Colorado. A friend does not need a license, so get out there and go fishing. Try it; you'll like it.

Dale Darling