Town ~ I hit the HS football stadium (now marked Scheel's) town section first. There were peeps but it wasn't heavily impacted except at my favorite spot there under the footbridge. The guy didn't move so I moved ahead of him to finish my pass with a few small cutbows. I hit a number of better fish on the nose with mayflies and midges but the bite was not 'on.' Flows seem low, slow, and water a bit warmer in town.
I arose early at the Nest and cleaned quickly in order to fish 11 Mile Canyon as I passed Lk George on the way back to COS. It was a beautiful day with 70°s and little wind. Flows are fishable but a smidge low @ 75cfs. There were 38 cars in the canyon with 29 above the single tunnel alone. NP. I set up at the last bridge and started there for a "normal" pass upstream on my home water. I skipped around teams as I encountered them so left some very good spots alone. I didn't stay but 2 hrs and caught 10 good cutbows. Most were on #20 Destiny's Child mayfly but some were on the #22 red/black PopTop and one on the Perdigon. It was strong action, the spawn is evident & redds are avoided. Though one guy accused me of fishing on the redds when I wasn't ~ I think he was just bummed at my frequent takes. I left him to lament and didn't even finish my pass ~ I went back to the car and on home. Lots of fun on 17"ers - 19"ers on the Rodfather Diamond Blaze 4 wt ~ including one super cutthroat looking one.
Alan and I finally closed a plan for a mini-rip in the FlyBox with beers at our best local brewers. I brought the car and AM brought the card for many of our short pours. We hit: WestFax, Fossil, Cerberus (dinner too), Gunslinger, Goat Patch, and Urban Animal. We met some great patrons, great brewers, and great collaborators. A fine tour with a mini-rip back to Peregrine with my newish mate.
Happy tax day. Letha and I went to hear John Mulaney's latest stuff @ Red Rocks last night. My ticket was really meant for Matt but he comped me his when work & taxes called ~ thx Matt. Mulaney was very funny, as he often is, especially in the 2nd half of his set. Openers Mando and Asian woman (her words) were OK, not great. I picked Letha up at 4pm in Windsor and we headed west straight to Morrison; we arrived 90min early for gates at the bottom of the venue, 1st in line. We just hung out there till gates, getting a little peckish. I forgot we queued at the bottom and not on the ramp at RR. It was fine but the queue didn't fill till 30 min prior and being early didn't help Letha trundle up the ramps and steps slowly (from hip issue) in the rush, so we were not first at the ticket takers up-stadium. NP. I went ahead up the steps and found spots for us in the 1st row of GA in the center. And we had stadium seats! I usually pay the premium for reserved seats and closer viewing/listening but it's Matt & Letha so again NP. We still watched the big monitors mostly and the sound was great for voice, but we could see he was there. There are queues and wait-times all over Red Rocks; I went to get our dinner at the burger places and it took 30 min! I was back at my seat in time for. 7:30pm showtime but the openers started 20 min late ~ kindof bad form IMO. Nonetheless Mulaney was good from analysis of devil films, to Vietnamese families, to hating his dryer. You'll probably see it soon on NetFlix. The only downside to the show itself was a wild and loud cackling guy right behind us who laughed at everything, even brief non-funny lines. It got chilly this night ~ we had our layers and I even double-hatted with a stocking cap and put on gloves. Traffic was especially horrible toward Morison at rush hour and worse leaving RR ~ arriving early penalizes you on departure. FINO, first in - never out.
John was on his 143rd show of this tour; he travels with his family, which is nice. He's a big deal and one of the biggest comedians around. Imagine 150 dates, $120/seat gate, 5000 seats/date for gross tour gate of $90M. The $ are broken out somewhat like this:
It was a windy forecast and flows are only 85cfs below Pueblo Rez on the Ark. Still, I headed down to fish and at 9am the mayflies began to hatch. It was an ok one as it was partly cloudy, the spawn was over with the cutbows hungry, and the wind wasn't too strong. My #18 MHFBPT worked great and even scored a 20"er, others were 18", and one small one. Most took the PT on the PT, heh heh, but #22 Destiny's Child fooled 'em too. I'm seeing 2 sizes of BWOs on this section right now, along with midges. I was only there for the AM and fishing was decent and the weather great. I did run into a pod of suckers too and landed too many; one was fat 19"; they seemed to like the Perdigon most.
We've long sought a solution to our slippery staircases at the Nest; Kala found it! Bona Traffic HD Anti-Slip was widely and well reviewed so we thought we'd try it. We needed something that 'fixed' the slips but still looked great ~ septuagenarians want it all. This weekend we installed the 2-part material and both objectives were well met. We followed this process:
We'll now observe how long it lasts. I did buy a gallon bottle for $180 from AMZ, and only used ~10% on each stair set so there's plenty left for a reapplication. Just don't mix too much initially as the mixed material is waste after just 4 hrs. This material is low VoC, easy to mix and apply, sticks well atop existing finishes (if abraded), and most importantly looks and works great. I was dubious it'd be sufficient non-slip but it is! Highly recommended.
Kala and I headed to Boulder to see Tom & Les and celebrate Leslie's 76th bday. We pre-gamed with tastes of wine and opened Leslie's gift, a bottle of serialized CO bourbon:New Rift single cask. We then headed downtown to a fancy Italian place called Stella's; you'd not know it was a restaurant from the facade & door, you just need to be in-th-know. The spot was more Manhattan than Boulder and the food was good ~ but it's the old gang of four vibes that bring us in. Good time with great friends. Kala and I are headed to Summit tomorrow to check on things and feel the "ahhh and wonder."
