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It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood - at least this one in colorful

Colorado. Mark and I hope this finds everyone reading doing well and enjoying being alive. Life is a good thing, and we're glad you are here sharing it with us.

It seems that everything is functioning within acceptable parameters. The sun came up in the East this morning, and gravity is functioning fine because I am sagging all over the place. There are mornings when gravity seems to pull harder, and maybe all of the writing and editing I've been doing is catching up. More on that.

The election is over, but conversations in the shop continue. The other day one broke out and Skip said, "I've had enough of all of this for this year, I'm leaving."

At least it is settled this year, and regardless of our leanings and preferences perhaps settled is better than in the courts, looking for one more hanging chad. Poor chad. He sure got a bad rap last year. Maybe he'll go fishing.

Is it interesting to you how getting outside and interacting with nature puts a new perspective on the life's happenings? Being out, breathing fresh air, exercising and quietly observing makes some issues seem more profound, and others which may have been feeling grave seem light, as though they will float off into oblivion where they belong. Sometimes forgetting is a good thing.

This is part of the reason St. Vrain Angler encourages fly fishing - the actual doing

of it - or fly tying at the least. Getting one's mind off the tyranny of the immediate is important, and - as the election double-talk as presented by the media proved once again - the tyranny of the immediate always finds a way to slap us in the face, demanding our attention to itself rather than doing the right thing. Sometimes the right thing is getting out and going fishing.

I wonder if it takes more discipline to throw discipline to the wind and get out and play than it does to stay where we are. Hmm.

In my case, I've been writing and editing for hours every day, working on a business plan and trying to keep the business functioning and going and so on. I have several booklets and one book going right now, and have edited much of the web page. (Did you notice the new navigation bar? What do you think? angler@peakpeak.com )

Last week, my friend Chris, who recently bought a Red Setter pup, which is the hunting version of the now show-dogged Irish Setter, asked if I wanted to buy a few

pheasants and take the dogs - he also has a black lab named Porter, and I have Max, the Golden Retriever chowderhead - to our friend Gary's to shoot some clay pigeons, see how the dogs would do and then set a bird or two and see if the dogs would find them. I really wanted to do this. As Larry knows, I've been talking about getting into some bird hunting, or at least some shooting, for some time.

I hemmed and hawed about this all week, thinking I should stay home and keep working on the books, the editing, the business plans and the fly shops. When it finally came down to it, I decided to go. I asked Jess, my fifteen-year-old daughter who's never shot a gun in her life, if she wanted to go along, and she said yes. Chris bought a few birds and we loaded up shotguns, dogs, a teenage girl and some sodas and drove out past Akron, Colorado. The day was beautiful and clear, and the dogs were excited. Jess wanted to take a nap along the way, but she didn't want to share the back seat of the truck with the birds, to she was stuck talking with us about gun safety and how guns worked.

When we arrived, Gary had everything set up in front of the ranch house. We let the dogs have a bit of a run around the area, then called them in so Chris could hold them while I shot one of the guns. I had no idea how M

ax would respond. We figured since Radar was a hunting dog by breed he'd be okay, and Porter had been around shooting before. He's nine. Gary launched a pigeon and I shot it - can't remember if I hit it or not with the little over/under .20 gauge Coop gave me. Max came running over, ears perked up and tail wagging, wondering when the next shot would happen. When Gary launched another clay pigeon, Max chased it across the field, I fired a blast over his head at the bird and hit that one, and he came running back anxious for the next shot.

The short version was that the dogs had a blast chasing birds that were clay and

living. Jess really liked shooting the .22 rifle at clay pigeons on the ground and the .38 pistol at a box. The shotguns were fun, too, but they hurt her shoulder a little bit. My shoulder is still sore, but I'm going again next week.

For me, the shooting and the dogs were a foil to the writing and shop work I do all of the time.

Music is interesting because it is high and low, loud and soft, slow and fast and so on. If it was monosyllabic we wouldn't listen to it. At least for very long. Yet long, monosyllabic areas of music are exciting when punctuated by another sound, timbre, attack or change.

I love fly fishing most, by the way. Still, I've got to say that the wonder of watching Max in a field sniffing out birds - he really did great at this, and loved it - was invigorating for all of us. Maybe it's the newness of it for me. I haven't hunted or shot guns in over 30 years, and doing something that is completely new is a good thing.

For many of my readers, fly fishing is that. Perhaps you read this each week i

hopes that you'll be able to tie a few flies or get out on the water in the near future. Go ahead. You're allowed. I even have a permission to go fishing certificate suitable for framing available. See?

Everything we do via this newsletter and on the web page, and in the shops is aimed at helping you get going and get better. Please keep reading for more tips and info. I hope you didn't mind my the diversion to hunting for a few minutes. I know lots of you hunt birds and big game. I'm going to stick to scaring a few birds and blowing holes in the sky, while I watch the dog do what he's made to do.

Maybe there's another analogy in that. Max was bred for hunting birds, and he knew it the instant he was out there. People speculate that the hunter/gatherer emotion still exists in people today, but it is squelched by technology, and often by phony cleanliness of some sort or another. While as a society we eat billions of burgers a year, it is rare that someone is actually involved in the killing of the food.

Fly fishing is a delightful way to hunt and capture without the kill. Even though the

entire thing is brutal and violent for the fish we hook and release - after all, they expect to die, if they have expectations - we feel justified in the act. And we should.

Fishing is fun. It takes us to beautiful places. It refreshes our mind and restores our spirit.

Mark just returned from two days on the Mile and Gray Reef. He reports great weather, good times with his brother and Greg, and wonderful fishing. According to Mark Winter fishing conditions are kicking in. The fish are keying on midges, although they hooked a few smaller fish on midge adults, and a few larger fish on streamers. The fly dujour, though, was a midge larva. A black one with a silver wire rib in a size 20-22 worked best. If it had a diamond glass bead, the fly worked all the better.

Mark, Lee and Greg left Longmont on Saturday afternoon and drove to Sloan's General Store at Alcova. This family has built several very nice cabins and a small store with, according to Mark, a great ice cream parlor! That's a reason to go and fish there, isn't it? The cabins rent for less than $100.00 per night and will comfortably sleep four people. A gas grill, satellite TV, stove, fridge, microwave, pots and pans and everything you need to cook is there. The Sunshine Bar and Grill is available if you don't want to cook. Sloan's offers a great sack lunch for $6.00, as well as shuttle service if you want to float a boat, which they also rent. Guides are available.

The water was low and a bit off color, but the large fish, such as the rainbow Greg is holding, were keying on the black midge larva. That tells us all we need to know about a fish's ability to see, doesn't it?

For more information, give Mark a call at the shop at 303-651-6061. This is a spot you want to get to when you can. A two-day trip is worthwhile - our rule of thumb is that as long as you fish longer than it took to drive there and back, it is worth the trip. From Longmont to Sloan's takes about 4-hours. Some guys do it in one day, but they are nuts.

What am I saying? We're all nuts!

For tying tips, please see Tips and follow a link that interests you!

This is sort of embarrassing, but it's a question that must be asked and answered. The question: "Have you ever gotten a fly stuck in part of your anatomy and been unable to remove it?" (Did you ask yourself, "Is that how that feels?")

A week or so ago, a fine young man, upright and outstanding in his family and community called the shop to ask, "How does one get a fly out of one's ear?"

Wondering if this was a practical of rhetorical

question, I found out that said fine young man had a midge caught in his ear and could not get it out. I asked him to come right in and I'd show him how to get it out.

He said he had to go to his daughter's parade, first. A fine young man, as I might have said.

It can happen to anyone. A gust of wind, a tailing loop, and too-quick change of direction and Whap! there's a fly in one's ear. In this particular case, the fly was small but the barb was still attached - tich, tich, tich; that's a no-no on small flies, friends - and it was sunk in up to the bend of the hook. I don't know how fast a fly is moving when cast, but it is traveling along at a pretty nice pace. When the hook hits, it sticks. Or at least hurts.

So, how do we get it out? It's really quite easy, and not at all painful for the person

doing the hook removal.

As you can see from the shot at the left, I've take a section fly line - it is strong and smooth - and wrapped it around the bend of the hook so it nestles into the back of the bend and against where the hook is in - in this case - the ear.

Next, I put my right thumb on the eye of the hook and gently pushed down towards this fine young man's head. While keeping even pressure on the eye of the hook with the right hand, I gave a very quick tug on the fly line parallel to his head. The hook came right out, leaving a very small hole and very little blood.

What happens is this: by pulling the hook out while pushing the eye down, the hook comes out on the same path in which it went in. Align everything as the hook is sitting naturally. If you can see the hook in the flesh, make sure to align it properly, depending on how much you happen to like or dislike the person you are unhooking.

Hezekiah, the fine young man's name, which has been changed to protect the innocent, said it didn't hurt much at all. Since we had some rubbing alcohol in the shop, which we use for various and sundry fly fishing things in the old fly shop, I put a bit on a tissue and wiped it on the spot several times. You know, to cause more pain and as a reminder to REMOVE YOUR BARBS!

This technique will work on any size hook, with what I assume would be accompanied by ever-increasing amounts of pain and suffering. It might hurt the person hooked, too. Of course the grief given by the unhooker increases with the size and the position of the hook in the anatomy. Suggestions for this type of repartee will have to wait until further notice. Suggestion may be submitted by writing me at angler@peakpeak.com.

Seriously - if that's possible after that! - be careful with hooks. Remove the barbs. Hooks really do come out easier - and hook better - with the barbs off.

We're still doing a few guided trips. If you'd like to learn a few fishing tips for late Fall/early Winter, please call the shop at 303-651-6061 and we'll fill you in. If you are visiting the area and would like to take a 4- or 6-hour trip, let us know and we'll set it up.

Saturday Morning Fly Tying Clinics continue. We meet at 10 until noon and tie flies, tell lies, eat donuts and drink coffee. It's fun and instructive. Join us at 418 Main Street this Saturday for a fine morning with the other riff raff.

Solutions Booklets: Two weeks ago I offered Fish! Bugs! Flies!, and last week Winter Fly Fishing at introductory prices. This week it is Presentation 101. I promise there is lots of very good information in these booklets, and that you will enjoy reading and learning from them. I continue working on these and have plans to make them better and more thorough. As they stand they are valuable. Call the shop at 303-651-6061 or 800-651-1770, or drop me a line at angler@peakpeak.com to get your copy of any of them. This week only, Presentation 101 will be sold for $5.00 plus $1.00 to ship it. Thanks!

Classes: please follow the link for complete listings and schedules. What you should know today is this: we are beginning another Introduction to Fly Tying as well as a Intermediate Fly Tying class next Tuesday, November 16, 2004. There's room in both classes as I write this note.

Intermediate Fly Tying is for folks who are ready to move on. Basic techniques and patterns are practiced and learned; new horizons are ready to be explored.