St. Vrain Angler News & Muse July 19, 2005

Greetings!

Here we go again!

It's another lovely day in Colorado. No clouds; blue sky; cool air this am and loveliness galore.

I hope you are well this fine day and thriving in life, in relationships and in your passions. I'm always wishing all of you the very best.

Please welcome all of our new readers with a great big Huzza! There are now 3850 of you receiving this on a weekly basis. I don't know how many read it, but I do appreciate all of you who do. I spend lots of time thinking and preparing to write, and it keeps me going.

Here's what's in store for today. I hope you enjoy what is here, and that you will let me know if there's ever anything else I can write that will help you. Chances are pretty good that if you need it, someone else does too.

At this time, and not to be a complete smart aleck, although I am just that - go anywhere you like. Water levels in most spots are down and the fishing is pretty darned good. We're getting reports of folks hooking fish all over the state, and in Wyoming and other areas as well. Bugs are emerging, terrestrials are falling into the water and becoming lunch, and fish are eating and getting fat. It is time for fishing; NOW!

 For specific stream flows please go to StreamFlows. There are specific spots we monitor in the shop as well as a general site where you can check the area you'd like to fish.

Within a one hour drive of Longmont there are hundreds of miles of streams to fish, including Park streams, the St. Vrain River - all three forks - the Big Thompson - two forks - and smaller streams such as Left Hand and Boulder Creek. If that's not enough, there are high lakes in the Park and Indian Peaks Wilderness area.

Add an hour to the drive and you can reach the west side of the Park and the headwaters and tributaries of the Colorado, the Poudre all the way to Cameron Pass, the Blue below Silverthorne, Clear Creek, the South Platte in Waterton and Cheesman Canyon and the Laramie Plains Lakes or Honholtz Lakes.

With another hour of driving and contemplation we'll find ourselves on the North Platte near the Wyoming border, Delaney Buttes Lakes, the Colorado near Parshall, the Arkansas, the Dream Stream of the South Platte, 11-Mile Canyon or the Lakes of South Park.

These shots of kids are recent pictures taken by friends and family members, sharing time with kids on water.

I wonder if they'll remember this? Building memories is part of the fun, that's for sure.

Local warm water impoundments, which are full of fat, sassy bass and bluegill, are also still fishing very well.

Is it possible that the only thing keeping us from going is our own greed and sense of duty, or something like that? More on this later. TopOfPage

What do we take? This is often the question of the day, although nothing like the soup of the day.

First of all, as demonstrated by Jake, it is important to dress properly and have waders that fit. In order to stay dry and comfortable, and therefore on the water for longer periods of time, we have to have the proper clothing.

Jake let his dad use the waders to go fishing with me over the weekend, and Uncle Tom came along for good luck. As it turned out, Papa Scott had a technical snafu with the waders, which was actually user error. I'm not sure why, but he seemed to forget that there was a great big leak near the top - well, at the top - of each wader, and that sitting down in the water in hippers was not quite as comfy as sitting down when wearing chest waders.

I guess it was a good thing that the air was warm, and that it rained pretty hard a short time later, making dryness a moot point after all. However, you'll note in this shot that while trying to stay dry the big leak was sprung. If Scott had turned and I'd taken a shot of his better side (?) you'd note darkness on the other side of his shorts, as this shot was taken as he was beginning to stand up, the smile instigated by the fish, of course, but enhanced by the coolness of river water running into his boots and down his naked legs.

Oh well. Did I mention that the attempt at dryness was moot? Scott fell in several times after this shot was taken, caution thrown to the wind and dryness to a dream.

The pretty brown trout took a dry fly.

At this time of year basic gear is all one needs to haul along. I took this picture of the pile of stuff I had on when fishing on Saturday evening, Sunday and Monday. At left is a William & Joseph Coastal pack. Scott's wearing one above, too. There are two big pockets in front that will hold a fly box or two each, and a tippet dispenser is built it for easy access to fresh mono, when required. There are several zingers built in to hold nippers and a knot tool, and small pockets for floatant, hemo's and a Ketchum Release Tool - a requirement for me. Scott has his rigged with a water system, which I forgot to carry to my chagrin. There's a good spot for a net, and I tote a bug net and light rain jacket in the back of mine, just in case a bug needs to be caught and kept dry.

Hat. Sunglasses. Waders and socks - drying in this case, after I fell in on Sunday; what a face splat that was! Light rod balanced with a reel and line. I carry 4-and 5X tippet this time of year, and that's it. Both Aqel and Dry Shake are along to keep flies floating. (We tried using the dry shake on Scott so he'd stay afloat next time he fell in; it did not work.)

I carried three boxes of flies with a variety of dry flies and attractor dries. I didn't fish any nymphs; it didn't seem necessary as the fish would take something off the surface when forced to. It's about tempting them. Perhaps we are evil anglers. Of course the fish give in to the temptation of getting fat, as well. More things to think about; I have a cluttered mind, as you can see.  TopOfPage

As it turns out, our Attractor Solutions Box ($64.95), Rocky Mountain Fly Box Solution ($89.95) or Rachel's Econo Fly Box ($49.95) all had the flies that would work, and did work. Want one? Please follow the link to Solutions and send us a note from that page, or call the shop at 303-651-6061 or 800-586-2110 or drop me a line at angler@peakpeak.com

It's time to read Terrestrial, Attractor and Caddis Solution Books. Please place your order. We'll mail them or hold them in one of the shop for you to use. These useful and to-the-point booklets are designed to solve fly fishing problems - that's where the name comes from: Solutions.

I finally got out for some fishing over the weekend. I've been saying that was the plan for several weeks, but have not taken my own advise to go fishing soon, then again. And this has made me sad in my heart for a variety of reasons. One: I really love being on a trout stream. Two: I love being with the folks I fish with. Three: I love seeing a fish rise to a dry fly. Four: I love the bugs I see out there, and the fish that eat them.

Scott and I headed to the mountains on Saturday evening. We met Frank and his sons Tim and Dan. I think everyone caught a few fish or had a few take the fly. Honestly it was pretty slow. Scott took his dip, then swims and then it began to lightening and thunder pretty good and the rain fell for a bit - too short a bit in reality.

We defrocked and headed to the River Forks Inn Restaurant at Drake along the Big Thompson. After a large plate of nachos dinner was served. It was good. We talked, laughed and listened to the live band playing on the stage and had a fine time.

Next morning, Uncle Tom met Scott and I at River Forks for breakfast. He ate a big fat burrito and claimed it was magnificent. Scott and I had standard eggs, meat, potatoes and coffee. We were set to go.

We decided we'd try a new spot, and did. It was not very good catching, but we had a good time together. A few fish were caught, and I'm not bragging or anything, but many were even small. Tom fished with nymphs most of the time, I fished with a dry, and Scott mixed it up. It was interesting in that as soon as we got to the spot I hooked two spunky rainbows on two separate casts. I thought it was going to be great. Tom hooked a nice rainbow in some fast water below, and I figured if he could hook one we really ought to do well. Then some guys stepped into the water just above where we were - it irritated me, but that's how things seem to be and this was not the place for confrontation - so we walked up the hill and around them to begin fishing again upstream.

On the second cast another trout went for and missed the fly. Then things just went dead. Who knows why? I suspect - much is suspected of fly fishing and little known, after all - that the nearly full moon was allowing the fish to feed at night. The bright and breezy day was keeping them down during the day where they could digest their evening's feed and prepare for another as the sun began to set. Oh well; we were there, and we would continue to fish!

I turned several fish while fishing the spot shown above, but they did not take the fly. A few more did the same, not making the commitment to eat the fly, but only one to irritate me and make Tom and Scott chuckle at it all. Shortly after this shot I fell in and was soaked. Oh well; the camera was dry, and a dry camera is a good thing.

After a bit I thought I smelled smoke and looked up. The sky was still pretty clear, but there was definitely a smoky haze moving around up there. I remembered the lightening from the night before, and sure enough when we drove down the canyon there were fire crews out and slurry bombers were covering the hillside with water. The fire got put out.

After we moved a few more fish - Scott missed a couple on a coachman trude and I missed some on several other flies - we decided to move to another spot. In this area the river plunges through a narrow trough and tumbles down a steep incline. The water is moving in here.

Big rocks created big pockets and big pools, and I thought we'd see some good fish in them.

Scott was rigged for fishing deep - a big, fluffy dry on top with two bead head droppers below separated by a couple of feet of tippet.

He drifted his fly through a long pocket similar to the one shown at the left here and hooked a magnificent rainbow. Lovely fish! It escaped, though, which was the story of our day.

It would have been interesting to see Scott fight this fish as the drop below the spot he hooked it was significant. Stumbling around on the rocks was part of the fun, but falling and tumbling tail over teakettle was not in our original plan.

Uncle Tom wasn't into the climbing around on rocks - I'm not sure that I was either, what with my body giving up on me these days - so we left for brighter waters and decided to call it a day. Scott fished a bit longer and hooked a couple more.

Scott and Tom left for supper with their families, and I took a nap. Then Ed, my neighbor in Drake, stopped to see if it was time to go again. We did. Fish were moved and not hooked - again, the same old plight of non-committal trout fooling with anglers who should be committed somewhere, room available.

All of us agreed that a fine time was had by all, and that we'll have to again soon. I think we will, too. Going fishing with friends seems like a good thing to do.

A Bit Of Philosophy, if you please. It is interesting to observe anglers on a trout stream. 9Actually, it is interesting to observe people, our fellow sojourners on the planet, a gift.) I'll bet everyone who heads out hopes to hook a few fish, and tries as they will to prepare for the outing.

Frank shared this with me this week, and I placed it on the St. Vrain Angler/Estes Angler Home Page. It is from Aristotle, and says:

"For the things we have to learn before we can do them,
                   we learn by doing them."

Profound. That Aristotle feller was something else, huh?

On Sunday morning, as Scott and I walked to breakfast, we noticed a couple of folks already on the river. The guy furthest downstream was beginning to cast. The other fellow was tamping his pipe and adjusting his hat, preparing to step into the water.

The downstream fellow appeared relatively young - age is relative anyway, I guess - see the picture of my brother, Don, and his grandson, Carson at right. The other gentleman was a bit older.

They were both rigged out in one fashion or another, and had "the look" as it were. Neither had any sense of how to fish the river, and that made me sad. When the upstream gent stepped into the water he gave me a little wave, and I waved back. On his first attempt at a cast the fly caught in tall grass behind him. After getting it out, the second cast followed. I didn't suspect he really wanted any company at that point, so I left for hot coffee.

Fly fishing is such a wonderful thing to do. As is the case with many hobbies and activities we participate in, there are those who know how, and those who do not. Beginning is a good thing. Learning by doing is continuous - Aristotle's pronouncement succinct, accurate and appropriate.

I also had to wonder when later that day the two young men stepped into the river right above Scott and I when it was obvious - or should have been - that that was where we were headed.

Brittany's friend Janine went out with our friend and guide Chris and his wife Kristi. Both are accomplished anglers, and Janine had never held a fly rod, as far as I know. She just wanted to give it a try.

TopOfPage

Well, that's it for today. It is interesting to see how each week comes out. Sometimes I feel like I'll write a good one - that's how it was this morning at 6AM - and I'm not all that pleased with how things came out. I hope you enjoy this one, and I'll try again next week.

My mind is full, and so is my heart. Many thoughts are going on inside and passions are trying to escape. I hope I have the courage to do the right thing. Courage is character on display. We'll see.

The shops are doing well this week and everyone is looking forward to several weeks of excellent business. We have lots of special stuff for you and would love to help you fulfill your fly fishing desires.

See you soon! Check around the web page for new stuff. I'm adding things all the time, hoping to help.

Thanks.

Dale Darling