Scouting Up High

Last weekend I hiked in to Brainard Lake with friends.  The main goal of the trip was just to relax and enjoy some time outside but of course I brought along the camera.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that South St. Vrain Creek was flowing and while the banks were still mostly buried in snow, the stream was definitely fishable.  It won't be long now before runoff really gets started but currently there is a good window to fish the local creeks.  I'm wondering if the fish up high might be hungry after a winter locked under the ice.  Then again, I'm not sure I want to lug gear through the snow drifts to find out when more accessible water is fishing so well...

Nasty Weather Rocks

When short on time, go fishing anyways!!!  Unable to get away until 4:00 pm, I still headed out to fish and set my sights on Rocky Mountain National Park.  On the way up, I noticed that seemingly ALL the elk in the Estes Park vicinity were out feeding.  The fishing prospects were a bit more interesting at this point.  I've noticed that when the wild creatures are all out feeding, the fishing is often a lot better.  Naturally I hoped this would hold true again.

When I got out of the Troutmobile, I found myself longing for the fleece that I had left at home.  My raincoat would have to suffice both to block the impending rain (or would it be snow?) and cold.  The old workhorse 9' 4 weight St. Croix Legend Ultra was put together, and I tied on a Bellyache Minnow. This is one of my favorite streamers for short line streamer fishing with floating lines.  The weight is distributed perfectly so it rides correctly in the water column.

On the very first cast, a really nice brown swirled but missed the hook.  I got excited because I had the whole stream to myself and the fish were hungry!  Continuing downstream and pounding the banks, I had fish regularly chasing the streamer.  The sky warned me that rain was imminent, but I kept working steadily.

Just as the first drops were starting to fall, I finally felt a solid tug on the line.  I quickly got the camera out and snapped a couple of pictures before the rain became too heavy.  The camera was soon back safely in the bag and stayed there until things dried out a bit.

Throughout stream, fish started rising as a hatch got underway.  The fish were taking what appeared to be BWOs although I never caught any and they could have been large midges.  My hands were so cold that changing my rig was not an option so I stuck with the streamer.  Besides, I wanted to catch a big fish!

Slowly the rain grew less and less and then finally just stopped as though the clouds had gotten tired.  The gloom started to lift as the sun showed itself vaguely through the clouds in the west above the mountains.  

My fingers were freezing and after stepping in a puddle (hey its hard to cast, properly swim the fly, and walk all at the same time!) my foot was cold too.  Tempted to give up, I realized that I was almost through the section of stream and kept going.  Fish were still hitting the streamer when I came to Dead Elk Bend.  Well, that's what I call it.  Probably the locals have another name for it.  My name was spontaneous due to the rather fresh but stripped remains of an elk nearby.  

The bend pool nearby had a perfect ambush spot for a nice brown.  My cast lobbed the streamer towards the slack water.  As soon as it splashed down, I was swimming the fly out towards the current. A dark shape rocketed out from under the bank and inhaled the streamer.  The heavy tippet allowed me to land the fish quickly.  I set my camera down on top of my gear bag and snapped a quick picture.

After releasing the fish, my day was completed when I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the mountains.  

I strolled back through the fields to my car, satisfied with another great outing!

Spring Turkeys

One afternoon, while sitting out on the deck while visiting in California, 4-5 turkeys strolled up the driveway with a couple of hens and a couple of toms.  The toms were strutting their stuff, trying to impress the ladies.  I was obviously wondering how many flies I could tie with the feathers...

Not Since 1991...

...have I personally experienced snowfall on or after May 1.  That year I was a youngster and on a month long family tour of the western United States.  Come to think of it, that was probably when I first fell in love with Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains in general.  I'll never forget driving at night into Oklahoma on April 26, 1991 during one of the worst tornado outbreaks the area had or would see for several years.  The lightning was incredible.  The snow in Yellowstone was incredible as well, just in a different way.  The bison were using the roads to get around since there was still 4+ feet of snow everywhere else.  Now, thanks to my new home here in Colorado, I'm experiencing snow on May 1 a full 22 years after my previous encounter with the late-season white stuff.  Oh, and not the stray flurry either, but a lot of snow.  Some places in the mountains of northern Colorado received over 2 feet of snow!!!

Spring?

We continue to experience warm weather with bouts of cold and snow in between here in northern Colorado.  That's just fine with the local fish population, and I can assure you that while I would enjoy warm weather, I'm still not complaining about the ongoing cold and snow.  Winter storm warnings are in effect for the mountains, foothills, and adjacent plains and some Snotel sites up high are already indicating 20 or more inches of snow with this storm.  Summer is looking better and better, it just takes a bit of patience to wait for it...

California Poppies!!!

When You Get Lemons...

We all know the ridiculously overused finished to the above or something similar at least.  However, while visiting California this past weekend, I found something much better to do.  My great Aunt and Uncle have lots of fruit trees including oranges and lemons!  I discovered that guacamole is much better using fresh avocados straight off the tree and fresh squeezed lemon juice from lemons straight off the tree.  Amazing is all I can say!

While out there, I did find a somewhat hidden pond nearby as well as a stream that supposedly has some salmon runs.  If I return with more time on my hands I'll have to take a rod along and do some exploring.

Back home now, I'm ready to start fishing.  I may not get a good chance until closer to the weekend.  The weather guys are suggesting that more snow may be on the way.  Runoff will become a bigger problem very soon but I'll still find some fishable water close by I'm sure...

A road trip may be required soon.  My buddy Juan over at the Hopper Juan is reminding everyone that it is caddis time down on the Arkansas.  That is an event I have yet to experience so this might be the year I head that way...

I'm thinking more and more about the Salmonflies over on the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers so my post-school travels will likely take me to the West Slope.  Yep, the summer lies just ahead and things are looking up!!!

The Sentinels

On a recent hike at Hall Ranch Open Space, I was blessed to find a picture I've been after for a long time.  Some time ago, I tried to get this picture in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains.  Unfortunately the deer ran off before I could position myself for the correct silhouette shot.  Most recently, the deer were much more unconcerned and posed perfectly.

Two Days

Two days make quite a difference in Colorado.  Just this past Monday I was fishing during a heavy snowstorm.  Aside from the stream not being frozen over, it could have been the middle of winter even though in reality it is now late April.  On Wednesday, the last of the snow was melting along Boulder Creek.  I took a picture of the same pool I fished and photographed on Monday.

It looks just a little bit different.  Maybe its just wishful thinking, but I'm guessing that we have seen the last of the snow.  Every time I think spring has arrived, winter laughs in my face so time will only tell if we have finally turned the corner.  

There is a lot (finally!) of snow in the high country ready to melt and head down the hill so my fishing my start trending towards warm water options in the near future.  I'm starting to consider an early summer trip to chase the salmon fly hatch on the other side of the state as well.  School will soon be out so things will be getting more enjoyable for me!!!

Snowy Solitude

One of the rare pleasures of fly fishing, at least for me, is fishing in the snow.  Yes, it can be ridiculously cold, but the quiet and solitude of being outside during a snowstorm is well worth the price of admission.  When the snow started to pile up yesterday, my first thought was to go home and relax.  My evening opened up a bit however and with time to spare, I headed for Boulder Creek.

After finding the lower creek muddy on Sunday, I figured with the cold weather it had to have dropped and cleared.  Wrong.  Entering Boulder Canyon instead of fishing in mud, I was impressed with how quickly the road conditions deteriorated as I left town.

The Trout Mobile has seen better days and the balding front tires suggested an extended adventure deep into the canyon would be foolhardy at best.  So it was that I found myself stopping just above Four Mile.

The stream was a black ribbon through an otherwise white landscape.  Again I wondered if it was wise to fish, but, curious on how the fish would respond to the snowstorm, I quickly rigged up.  In retrospect I should have used gloves, but I didn't plan to fish long so just through on my lucky fishing cap, a fleece, and a rain coat and scrambled down to a nice pool just below a stretch of pocket water.

Not really wanting to move, I started changing patterns, looking for that one that might do the trick.  A Bellyache Minnow produced several soft hits including some from nicer fish.  The cold water had the fish a bit lethargic though, and I failed to connect.  Several other patterns were tried and I even dropped a soft hackle behind a little streamer to no avail.  Miraculously, I could still tie knots, sorta at least.  This is my usual "test" for getting "too" cold.  Opening up the streamer box, I stared for a while.  Finally, I reached for a Girdle Bug but at the last second my fingers veered to a sculpin pattern.  I was now in the zone, making the right choice without even knowing why.

It took only a couple of casts before I had a solid hit and quickly pulled in a beautiful but sluggish brown from the chilly water.  I took a couple of pictures, then started to consider the warmth I had left at home.  Hunger reminded me that it was past supper time and probably time to get out of the canyon before dark.  Pausing, I took another picture of the stream, thankful for the opportunity for an hour of solitude in the snow.