St. Vrain Angler News & Muse July 12, 2005

Greetings!

I'm back. As always, thanks for reading this weekly missive and for the kind comments so many of you make to Ryan, Rachel, Bob and myself. Thanks to all of our new readers who signed up over the past week - welcome aboard!

Last week was the first week I've missed in about one year. So it goes. My wife, Shan, and I visited Ohio to see our parents and for a Darling family reunion - the first ever for us. We got to see Shan's folks, my mom and a delightful group of her relatives, then the folks who visited the reunion on the 4th. It was great seeing folks, many who I had not seen in over thirty years.

We flew to Ohio, then drove back to Colorado. We took back roads through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, then got on I-80 for the trip across Nebraska and into Wyoming. The back road deal was fun. It took a little more time, but was very relaxing driving. We stopped to eat in small towns at a local diner and enjoyed the scenery along the way. It was interesting, too. In one town the homes would be worn down and seem old and used up. In the next town, which might be as little as six or seven miles further west, the houses were redone, lovely and seemed alive. Curious.

The Midwest folks were very friendly and engaging. It was beautiful the first few days we were there, and then it got humid. Normal.

Since I've been gone I've had to rely on reports and pictures folks have sent concerning the local fishing of late. Sounds like it has been great. When I'm done with the newsletter today, I'm heading up to fish for the rest of the day. I want to see a trout rise to a mayfly adult.

It sounds like many mayflies are emerging, along with lots of stones and caddis during low light. I'll bet hoppers and beetles and ants - oh my! - are starting to work, too. I know they were along the stream banks before I left for Ohio.

Before I left I was out with Frank and Tom. Frank turned a rock and noted a Green Drake nymph, which suddenly changed. It was emerging! We caught the images and I'll share them with you, along with a couple of pictures of flies that will imitate this bug. Enjoy.

I thought this was very interesting when the adult climbed on and over our adult fake.

When Green Drakes are out of the shuck they swim and tumble to the surface. Their arrival is interesting as I notice them rolling along the surface of the water as full adults. That was always curious to me until I figured out that the bug emerges on the bottom and gets to the surface as a mature adult.

Fishing a large soft hackle in faster water, which is where these clinger nymphs live, is a good idea. Stand upstream and across from where you want to fish. Tie on the wet pattern and cast it across the stream, then pull it under the water. Don't hold the fly line in your line hand, just let the current swing the fly down and across through the riffle being fished. When the fish take the fly you'll feel a quick tug, then a slow pull of line. When the slow pull begins, pull back similarly lifting the rod and allowing fly line to move out of the reel. When the hook is set, which the pressure of the fish and current pulling will do on its own, begin fighting the fish.

I like to fish a wet through an area I've just fished with a dry. Often I'm surprised when a trout takes the wet after I'd just cast a dry over it. Hmm. Silly fish.

When there are a few adults around it is time to fish with a dry fly, plain and simple. The fish are looking up and want to eat these munchy, tasty bugs. The lovely brown, shown above, was caught last week on the Big Thompson with a Green Drake Fake. Beautiful.

Use long enough and heavy enough tippet to get a good drift and cast. If the tippet is too light it will twist up - that's called helicoptering, by the way - and instead of fishing you'll be untying tangles. I'd use at lease 3 feet of 4X tippet when fishing Drake Adults. Maybe longer.

That's ten dozen Green Drake adults, tied by our friend Byron for your fun on the water. The flies are in Estes at the shop and I hope you'll get at least three and give them a try both in and out of the park.

We often receive calls from families who would like to go fly fishing. What a great idea. There are many groups that come to mind. Recently Mike and Sean had the opportunity to take this fine group on the water. They had a good time, but I don't suppose you can tell that from the smiles.

Isn't it interesting how all of the pictures we have show smiling anglers with fish or in lovely places? How many folks are smiling while driving I-25? A smile is good thing. Share it. Maybe it is time to go fishing to remember how good it feels to smile, feel clean air and hear the delightful symphony of the babbling brook, singing birds and rustling leaves which accompany the flight of the hummingbird.

Ready? Call us for a guided trip. Mention this note and you'll get a discount on the flies you buy and free rental gear for your trip. 800-586-2110 will get you a friendly person who will set you up for a trip.

It will be fun. As you group up into two folks per guide it will probably be a good time to stop, take a shot and relish the surrounding at hand.

And then, it's time for fishing. Mike got this young lade in the right spot with the right fly and she hooked her first trout on a fly with a fly rod! Do you suppose that will be a memory that lasts from this vacation? I wonder.

On my gosh! She's smiling! That's a lovely spot, too boot.

I don't know, but I can imagine some discussion about the spot, the water, the fly and the fish. When I was young and my dad told me there were probably trout in a small stream we crossed in Northern Michigan I couldn't imagine that a fish could possibly live in a spot like that. I wonder if this gal wondered that? Then - pow! - she hooked a wild trout!

Cool beans, if you ask me.

And she wasn't the only one on this outing. I don't know, but assume, this is her brother (if it isn't and these folks are reading, I'm sorry about that...dangerous ground for an old tall fat guy).

Anyway, he got a lovely trout of his own, too. As hard as he's trying to be a cool teenage boy, you can see that smile trying to burst through like so many mayflies emerging on the water. I'll bet it is in there somewhere.

I'm never quite sure how excited the fish are to be part of the shot. This picture in particular seems to have the fish saying, "Please, let me go; let me go!" We did. All of our trips are catch and release - no exceptions.

Of course one of the senior members of the team had to get involved. After getting in the right spot and putting the fly in the right spot, what do you suppose? Success!

Sweet, sweet success. A hooked fish, and stories to tell for everyone back home about fly fishing in the Rockies with those friendly guides from the Estes Angler.

Cool.

You can book a trip on line to send us your info by following this link. Register Online

Or, call us at 1-800-586-2110

We'll do all we can to help you have fun, build memories and smile.

Rachel and Bob don't actually try to dress alike, but it happened one day and a picture was taken. Cool, huh?

They are in the Estes Angler most days and ready to help you fulfill fly fishing dreams. And they always smile.

Stop by the shop, ask questions, get a few flies and a new outfit to go with them.

I love my daughter. She's a fine young woman and does lots of great things for folks visiting Estes Park and the Estes Angler. She's learned so much about fly fishing - much of it on her own and with our guides - and genuinely loves being outdoors. After two years of college at UNC in Greeley, she said, "Daddy, I miss my mountains. I need to go somewhere else." And she transferred to Ft. Lewis in Durango, where she's been for the past two years.

What a girl.

The other day she called and said, "You know dad, people like the Rocky Mountain Solution Fly Box, but I think it might be too expensive for some people. Let's make one that sells for less money."

I asked her to put together what she thought would work, and told her I'd make adjustments to the printed inserts. She did, and I will. Here's what the new box will have in it:

Three each of these flies. Caddis, Royal Wulffs, Sprouts, Para Adams, Hoppers, Ants, Pheasant Tails and Copper Johns. That's 21 flies, which would usually be $42.00. In addition we'll include the inserts, which are $2.00 each, and an SA SystemsX Fly Box, which is $ 19.95.

Rachel insists this package sell for $49.95! That's a great deal, as you can see unless you learned with old math.

This week we're offering two specials. If they fill the bill for you, please let us know and we'll get you set up. Thanks.

1. Purchase any Redington CPS Fly rod for $249.95 and we'll give you a spot in one of our scheduled Fly Casting Classes FREE! Stop in, cast one of these high performance, low priced rods and you'll be sold on this deal.

2. Make any purchase over $150.00 this week and we'll give you one dozen trout flies of your choice free! Just mention this note when you make your purchase in either shops. This is a great deal if you're signing up for a First Adventure Class - $160.00 - or a Guided Trip.           Back To Top

Classes continue to be fun and informative for our angling friends. It's time for you to take a Casting Class and 1st Adventure in Fly Fishing Class. You'll be glad you did. Call either shop at 303-651-6061 for Longmont, or 800-586-2110 for Estes to register. Or, register on-line by following the link below.

The sessions will help you solve fly fishing problems and open up a whole new world of fly fishing fun. Learning basic skills and reviewing them often is a good idea. Here's what we have this week:

There's always more to say. At least for me. I have the gift of gab - or the curse, as some would see it. I just spoke with Rachel in Estes a bit ago and she said several folks had been in who commented on the newsletter and how much they enjoy reading it. I need that sort of thing, being slightly insecure about this sort of thing. I love writing, and sharing about fly fishing and life.

I'm in an interesting mode right now. After the trip to Ohio, which I tried to talk myself out of, you see, I want to slow down a bit; take more time to observe and mentor people. I'm doing lots of writing right now. In addition to this missive I'm writing several articles a month for Colorado Fishing And Hunting News. I'm so grateful to the folks in Seattle for allowing me to write, and I hope to do more. Each week I'm going to take a couple of days to collect info and write about it. I'm enjoying taking pictures, too - of fish, bugs, flies and anglers. It's fun doing it digitally because I get instant feedback on whether or not the picture looks right. Cool.

I'm also going to start doing some video work to try to make short DVD's to share along with the Solution Books and Fly Boxes. I'm going to write more booklets, too. Lake fishing, Warmwater fishing. Flats fishing and Summer Mayflies are on the board now.

The bass fishing in local ponds is still very good. Our friend and fly tier extraordinaire Scott has been hooking bass like crazy during the early hours of the day. He's shared lots of pictures, and this big bass is his latest.

Going fishing is a good thing, and a good way to slow down. Fish will not be manipulated, but they can be fooled into eating fakes as long as we approach them from their perspective and on their terms. Maybe that's part of fly fishing - and fishing's - charm. We try to fool something that has the brain that's the size of our thumbnail, but the instincts embedded by nature to survive.

When we hook a fish, we are connected with wildness, and when we land and release one we sit with a smile and sense of awe. My friend Tom sat on the bank after an outing we shared before the Ohio trip, and after hooking a nice rainbow on one of his flies. The picture says lots - although I'm not sure about the red shorts and green hip waders. Some people's kids.

I guess that's about all I have for today, other than to wish all of you the very best today and all of this week. I hope fishing is in your plans. Please remember, if you need anything please give us a chance to fill your fly fishing needs. I just received word  that yet another fly shop went out of business during the past week or so. They continue to drop like - flies. Sad day.

Good fishing! Thanks for reading! Hope to see you soon.