Freshies In Summit 28Dec13

I finally got to Summit for some skiing over the holidays. Only fair snow overall but Sunday was good. I headed to Keystone Outback and hiked & skied North & South Bowls in the new stuff. It was fun... Keystone gives good tree. Kala came and we caught up with Matt and Ortons for at least some nice dinners at Tuscato and Hearthstone. He skied WP and Breck with his friends so hopefully got a good shot of gravity before needing to head back to paradise.

Christmas Tree Fishing 26Dec13

The crowds on the PT were significant. Here's a shot of nine guys over 1/4 mile. The weather was gorgeous (not even a coat) and some midges were coming off but the big ones were deep and the holes were mostly occupied. I caught some fish on the Electric Blue Freak Show but smaller 14 inchers; the guy doing best was the distant orange-coated bait-slinger who was killing his catch; he landed three decent ones from a deep run that I saw. I came home early to fish on our Christmas tree and had better luck and better vibe.

Merry Christmas - Electric Blue Freak Show 25Dec13

With respect for the Blue and Arkansas tailwaters in winter I crafted the Electric Blue Freak Show midge last year. It works in Silverthorne and Pueblo. This is a flashy blue-green emerger midge in #22 and #24. This year's variant incorporates quick descent metal dubbing in a mix of teal + purple rather than the previously used superfine. I "always" dub the thorax about the same size as the bead. The rest is the same: black glass bead head on #2488 hook, black thread, blue-green mirrored mylar, xs copper wire overwrap, small sparse antron emerger wing (1/3 of strand). I hope to use it this week again for winter whoppers. I'm gettin' a little better with the macro lens setup too. Merry Christmas fishermen.

Days of Beer & Fishes 16Dec13

As we imbibed in copious bombers, ate well on kale & tuna, shared secrets from Gierach & Engle, viewed fisherman hauling in lifetime bests, we regaled the fine season with great friends and and contemplated plans for 2014.

Sliding Into Winter 14Dec13

The fishing was noticeably slower but still good on the Arki tailwater in the warmer weather respite after the bitter cold snap. Tactics changed to mostly midges and with that I broke out the electric blue freak show emerger which produced some nice fish. I like blue and purple in the winter - seems to match the season nicely. There were quite a few fishermen on the river, including some spin dudes and bait slingers, so I did not get to fish some of the prime lies out of Valco Ponds. The bigger ones are deeper again in the holes and deep runs and the structure is less productive. No BWO hatch for me but I used an attractor BWO  emerger anyway and caught a couple there too. Here I'm releasing a nice one and trying a new picture technique to catch more color - not quite there yet. Also, scored a waterproof camera after sensing the phone cam just wasn't quite cutting it.

Of Bikes and Segments Berkeley 07Dec13

A trip to San Francisco allowed me to visit my cousins and their families for a great time of spirited debates, fine food, good coffee and life affirming decisions. It also afforded a trip to Wrench Science, the bike shop with an effective web presence including correct component weights and a strong staff, who built the ultimate SuperBike. They had a cool space in south Berkeley with good signage and branding accompanied by Patrick my sales guy. Despite being a thousand miles away they knew me on arrival... pretty cool and a surprise to my cousins. While I described having moved my KS dropper remote lever for better access, my cousin Ken chimed in that his iced tea cup holder did still splash and wondered if anything could be done.

A word on Strava segment analysis... whether the key differentiator from MapMyRide or not, it's very cool. Being completely automatic as to recognition and comparative analytics, it's easy to like. Especially when initial rides on the SuperBike after two months of stasis quickly identified multiple PRs at Ute both on climbs and on descents. The bike, Patrick and segments are all game changers.

F3... Fly Fishin' with Friends on the Arki TailH2O 01Dec13

The long and short of it is that I got to fish the PT @ Valco with some great friends again this gorgeous day. Windy AM for sure - which disassembled my casting often but didn't stop me completely from presenting a BWO emerger (black ice, RS2, silver surfer) at the right time of day. I caught some fish. Jim's gettin' there as casts land about in the right place now... I do hope for his fake bugs to be in the water for a greater percentage of the day... attitude and persistence are standouts in the face of tough conditions. Daryle nabbed a nice one up-top during the BWO hatch... bully for goin' dry. These weren't the largest we've seen in Pueblo, nor the best conditions, and I landed an unusual number of fish ~6 inches long among the others. We'll be back but conditions have changed and so must we. We got to race a Mtn Shadows guide home; who knew there was a driver from COS on the PT reading my handbook. No pics but these ducks as they were cool and the others are somehow not right to show.

Maiden Ride @ Ute - The Game Changer 29Nov13

Gorgeous day with just a bit of ice and snow on the trails. Rode Ute Pk on the normal loop in about my normal time - which is freakin' huge given I haven't ridden in 2 months and it's the day after TGiving dinner. Woohoo; the SB95C is a game changer for me... when I mash on the pedals headed uphill, it goes there now. It flies super smooth on the downhills. I am so out of shape. From snow to trail.

Break In The Cold on the PT 27Nov13

With the passing of the cold front I fished the PT today. Bright sunny day was nice on the back at 60 degrees but it did limit the BWO hatch. I parked at the nature center as the only car early and there was still plenty of action despite the sun. Turbidity increased some over my last trip actually - viz probably 18" only. You know what that means - bring on the silver surfer... and he did not let me down. Took most and the 3 largest (dropped the biggest before pic) on the surfer during the BWO hatch @ ~11:30am but stayed productive before and after too. Landed fish on the black ice, olive mojo midge and rainbow warrior. I saw sipping but didn't feel like shifting rigs so stayed sub-surface. Colorado is so cool.

Clear-Low-Steady-Nice Arkansas River Tailwater on Warm-Cloudy-Windy Day -19Nov13

The BWO hatch was "on" with cloudy skies and great river conditions. Flows ~100cfs for 5 days now, temp of 64 degrees, visibility about three feet, water cool but not cold. I arrived late AM and noticed the cool water and cloudy skies but air temp was ok even in the AM. The best bugs were BWOs: tung BH black ice and tung BH olive vinyl #18 , mercury glass head RS2s #20-22 and both parachute and Barr's dry BWOs in #20. I haven't fished dry for a while so that was fun during the hatch... biggest fish were caught beneath though. Cheeseman emerger also worked as very well as did small black red glass head mojo midge emerger and small rainbow warrior. I started with some losses and even rig steals but calmed to catch many fish today floating the rig from riffle into the runs. Wind messed up the PM a bit for 2 hrs but I hung in there and was productive throughout. Quite a few folks out there today but I sense I was doin' more catching. Caught a 20" and 18" as well as a gob of 16-17" rainbows... shown are a sample.

The Final Blow, Err 'Bow, Today on Gr8 Fall Fishing on PT 10Nov13

Greg Lehmann, Jim Yohanan and I fished a gorgeous fall day on the Pueblo Tailwater. There were plenty of fisherman parked at Valco Ponds but it wasn't combat fishing. Jim had a number on and Greg and I did well. I likely led the team with a passel of fish this day. Most were taken on a red glass beadhead black midge wire-wrapped emerger (mojo midge) but plenty took the silver surfer too. Flows were down a smidge to 240 cfs and clarity was improving at ~16". Coolest moments were at the end of day when I landed a nice 19.5" silvery rainbow and feelin' like I was all that I returned to the hole (the 1st one above the fishery put in - I wasn't sure there'd be big fish) and within a cast or two landed a 22" football rainbow after a 15 min fight. I knew he was big and was careful but 10 min in he went and sat between two rocks right at the bottom of the weir and I thought I'd lost him as it felt snagged - I got very close and even tweaked the leader with my hand to test the snag and moments later he went for another run. The big pig here was the eventual reward - sweet.

Dave Is Audezed & Wooed 03Nov13

Others may be skiin' but I returned from PA and installed some new audio gear. I got the HD USB 2 ASIO driver working on the Win 8.1 MS Surface Pro II after some work. The Surface runs JRiver Media Center in "theater view" and pull songs from the music drive array on a server and spits the stream out the USB to the integrated DAC and tube amp from Woo Audio called WA7 Fireflies. The new Audeze LCD-2 cans are game changers, especially when paired with the tube amp. The JRMC has a crossfade adjustment and dynamically pulls images of the band playing and displays a changing montage... cool, plus no fatigue listening to this setup... sweet.

About The Ones That Got Away On The PT 28Oct13

Greg Lehmann and I took a quick jaunt to Pueblo before the weather will change later this week. It was super nice in the AM but gradually got colder through the day. We had an amazing morning as we were instantly into big fish. My story is a bit sad however as I was attempting new recording techniques with the kid's GoPro. Multiple times I was futzing with that setup while I let a fish get off; at least on one occasion the fish was huge... he stripped line wildly but finally settled behind a big rock - as I was readying the netcam, in one mighty twitch, the line broke off at the first fly. Such events continued some. I was only 6/10 in the AM but then 6/6 in the PM after having run out of camera battery and not filming any more. The videos were not even exciting... still work to do. My best producers were olive and black red glass bead Mojo Midge emergers but silver surfer took its share too. Shown are just some of the fish via netcam frame grabs... plus Greg on a nice fall day. Check the fish release image - I almost lost my keys! I guess I'll have to move the GoPro wireless remote to a jacket zinger rather than my key chain.

Beasty 'Bows on Fall Day @ PT 21Oct13

Shredded the Valco Ponds area of Arki tailwater on a pretty 67 degree day. Stood 8 of 10 on the 4 hrs of fishing but landed two huge fish... one 19-20" and one >22". The latter was so heavy it was amazing - I could not hold it in two hands. I caught him right next to the car in some structure... on a black ice mayfly tung beadhead nymph. Big fight to net but no one around to get the hero shot so all I have is the pole measured beast. Visibility is still marginal so I again reached for sliver. The rest of the fish were on silver surfer or flash wing mercury RS2. Shown are just the two big ones. Great day again on this fine water.

OMG - NEW 7'9" #3 GLX Whisper Creek! 17Oct13

I came home today and G.Loomis had "repaired" my 12 year old 7' #3 GLX (thoughtfully given me by my lovely wife). Recall I biffed down a waterfall in RMNP and busted the tip. The repair was that they sent a brand new Whisper Creek rod, $635 value; it's their latest ultra-light design derived from GLX StreamDance Presentation rods. It's gorgeous and exactly what I'd have replaced my other #3 with if I'd had to so do. Awesome burl reel seat insert, brown anodized seat, cool olive color and the finest tips in the industry for ultra casting precision and delicacy (ok, don't start). OMG... I checked it out with the venerable Bauer M1 (yes I like reels fine without click) and its well balanced. The new rod is even more versatile than my last as I've mentioned... 9" longer for better mends without losing tight quarters manipulation or adding too much weight, and it's medium-fast action which is perfect at this weight. I'm really stoked for the small creeks (Grape, Beaver) and backcountry (Willow, Mohawk) now - too bad they are snowed in soon... I was always grabbing the Winston #4 recently for the alpine lakes in order to get the length... now I won't.

Windy Day on the PT 14Oct13

Got to the Valco Ponds Parking lot about 9:30am. Wind was gusting to 30mph. The worst I have ever attempted fishing in. So decided to head East toward the Nature Center. to try to find a spot in the trees. I tried the structure on the way out and didnt do much good. I caught a couple on the walk between spots just drifting a flashy holographic Nicks BWO Emerger (based on the Coffin intel) in about a foot of water as I walked. The off color water allowed drifting near the bank and the wind prevented much casting.  Fish seemed to be holding near the bank instead of in the structure at least in the am. There was a decent mayfly hatch coming off as they smacked me in the face due to the gale force winds. Casting more than 2-3 ft upstream was near impossible. Morning action died off about 11:30 so headed back to the car for lunch. After lunch the wind picked up even more( I only saw a couple other guys who braved the conditions.). Walked up toward the dam and hit the usual spots without much action. Wind died down about 2:30 and the action picked up as I picked up several nice ones and lost about as many. One monster Bow snapped me off in the rocks at the big V. All Fat 'Bows, caught one fish all day on a black midge the rest were on some shiny BWO emerger (Nick's BWO emerger, flashy RS2 or a Top Secret). Afternoon they seemed to be hanging in the tailwater behind the structure feeding, all but one pulled out of deep hole seemed to be taken in about a ft of water. There seemed to be a decent afternoon caddis hatch.

Great Day on the PT 13Oct13

An old friend (Sage Z-Axis) did most of the damage on the Pueblo Tailwater @ Nature Center today after I busted the tip of my Sage One landing a nice 19"er. During the morning I was only 1 for 4 and a bit frustrated with only 18" of visibility - I couldn't see the fish at all really and had to judge potential lies from just topwater and hydrodynamics. Then I hooked and landed a decent fish without a tip about 11:30a! After dining in nice sunshine back at the car I re-rigged with the Z-Axis and headed back out. The afternoon was much nicer both in temperature and bug hatches. A strong afternoon BWO hatch yielded a number of great fish. I was more effective with more silvery imitations (going to them as a result of recalling techniques in muddy water in PA). All rainbows and all my best silvery/flashy mayfly nymphs worked (I was subsurface all day and saw very little top action)... black ice, rainbow warrior, silver surfer and the venerable mercury head flash wing RS2. It seems like the PT is coming back some after high flows and then weird turbidity.

Scored @ AC Guide Sale 12Oct13

I arrived at Angler's Covey a smidge early and most guides were already set up. There was a lot of stuff I didn't need/want but I quickly focused on Rick's flies - he was selling 4 full boxes including the boxes. Two were lake boxes which I did not purchase but I did buy the "Tailwater" (11 Mile, PT, Blue, etc.) and the "Freestone" (Arki in BHSC or Colorado). I got a thousand flies plus two $50 waterproof boxes just like those I use for just $250 all in. I tie most all my flies but I'm not proud and really liked picking up all this stuff for cheap. Sweet... I've already tried the BWO nymphs and caught some nice fish.

Nice Fall day on the Ark 11Oct13

BHSC was in spectacular fall colors as Daryle and I hit the Ark.  Flows were high for the fall but perfectly wadeable at near 400cfs with crystal clear water. After a couple stops for Java and sammys, we spent time working our way up the canyon from spot to spot. Spike Buck, Pinnacle Rock and Lone Pine were our stops. We each struggled to do much with a handful of Browns taken in the 10in range. Trying most every nymph in the arsenal.  The below fish taken at Lone Pine on a red and flash emerger was the only picture worthy fish of the day. Still better than being at work.

New Life In Simm's G3 Fishing Boots... Resoled/Refelted/Restuded 29Sep13

Cobblers and fly shops would not help me... Simms sent them back saying "it'll cost too much..." So I did it myself for cheap. I dove on the net to find the best refelting practices and also found the felt materials, waterproof contact cement and studs for ~$30 all in. Use Barge cement and find pre-cut (but cheap) nylon felt soles, and use hex head sheet metal screws as studs. Rip off the old stuff, rough belt sand the soles, stuff the boots with paper or rags tight, prep the felt with one generous coat of Barge's and allow to dry (since the felt soaks it up), hours later apply good cement coats to boots and felt and allow to dry 30min, use wax paper between felt and boot to position (the nano-second they touch, they stick), then remove wax paper to stick felt to boot sole, hammer the snot out of the felt with heavy hammer to assure a bond - especially the edges, duct tape the felt to boot and let dry 2 days (important!), remove tape and trim with sharp knife if needed, insert screws - especially on edges. Voilà... good as new favorite guide boots.

Monsters In Jurassic Park 28Sep13

Awesome fall day on the Blue River... cool and colorful even though it was 18 in Silverthorne when I arose for coffee.

Spent 15 minutes landing the 20+" 6# slab of rainbow in Jurassic Pk. My arm was tired but I was very careful. So strong for so long for this super-fatty; so thick and rosy... fought him downstream 50 yards before netting... thought it would happen many times but he'd jetted away for many runs. Fortunately a guy was nearby to commemorate the event. The monster took my silver surfer (flashy BWO emerger imitation with silver 3D mylar, blue wire wrap and silver ice thorax) trailed from a BH black ice (weight). One of the best fish of the year for me.

I did tell the photographer that while it was embarrassingly confident, I wanted to do it again with him "near." It wasn't so near really as I ran upstream 100 yds with the fish in my net, reviving him well every now and then... glad I didn't biff. So repeat I did from the same hole on the same fly on the next cast! This time it was a gorgeous 20" brown though.

Colorado is so cool.

11 Mile On The Way to Summit 27Sep13

Hit 11 Mile Canyon of the So Platte on the way to Summit Co today. Wind and cold blew up the strong trico and blue wing mating swarms ~9:30am so I couldn't fish the spinner fall. Nevertheless I fought through it and landed some nice rainbows nymphing with an RS2 and lost a big one. Then, after a 471 at Breck Brewery and "moving in" to the condo with Kala... I briefly fished the Blue in Silverthorne, until a snow storm pushed me back inside. Sheesh... so much for my hope for a long fall season in CO. Still, the colors are amazing... Colorado is so cool.

Tailwater Trico Tricycle 14Sep13

I'm taking Outside magazine to heart: after 65, "work hard, fish harder." After narrowly escaping northern Colorado during the foot tall rain and associated flooding I began to contemplate again the lifecycle of the minute and frustrating trico mayfly still hatching on the So Platte and Arki tailwaters around here. Yes I did see house size propane tanks hissing toward me on the Platte (trapped fortunately by a tree 20 feet from me) along with doomed deer fruitlessly swimming the rage and then trapped by the seines as I crossed the So Platte in Greely. Once across it was smooth driving back home to the Springs. All the while the trico mayfly moves with big translucent wings and nary a body. The trico hatch is still going strong in the morning; fish it 6-10am. Imitate the full life cycle as the hatch progresses. Black RS2 emergers in #22 trailed behind a #20 Black Ice is great 'till you see adults. Then, #22 parachute Adams or AKs trico dun with an RS2 dropper is the ticket. The fun/frustration begins as the duns are gone and the swarms overhead leads ultimately to spinners. Use trico spinners and even RS2s in the film then shift to spinners trailed by drowned spinners. Shown here are the spinner, the drowned spinner, the black mercury flashy emerger RS2 and the black ice (aka weight). Enjoy.

L-R: Trico Spinner, Drowned Spinner, Mercury RS2 Flashwing, Tungsten Black Ice

Big T in Moraine Pk 06Sep13

The beauty of Rocky Mtn Natl Pk can not be overstated. For several hours before checkout I fished the Big Thompson right in Moraine Pk and caught a triple of cutthroat, brown and brook. I didn't catch a rainbow for the possible quad in this area. The brookie and cut' were small. I caught mostly 10-12" browns. I threw a double dry of flying ant and caddis and dropped an olive nymph. Most fish rose to the caddis but some to the ant and both received an even greater share of rejections... the nymph took 1/3 of the fish. I spooked a lot of fish but I caught a lot too. The easy getting around this meadow section was needed respite from the prior day's jaunt up to the high alpine.The pic here in Moraine Pk has yesterday's spot in the deep background. It was another nice fall trip to RNMP.

DRC on the Big T in Moraine Pk in RMNP

Browns of Big T in Moraine Pk

True Headwater of Big T 05Sep13

Above "The Pool" on the Big Thompson is a fierce wild spot called "Forest Canyon." Miles of dead fall, plunge pools and the most difficult travel imaginable. I was there today and landed a couple dozen cuts on lime trude, stimi, and  ants up top and my chartreuse & olive tiny BH below. Most fish were 8-12" but I caught two bigger. And I caught a nice brown to start the trek. I climbed all the way into "Raspberry Pk," and in fact ate wild raspberries for lunch. My body paid for the 8 mile experience though as weird cramping is happening again and I'm covered in soot and charcoal marks from a major burn there. I also biffed down a waterfall and broke my GLoomis on the way back down... I guess it was just feelin' left out. Drivin' out i did see a huge elk with 16 point rack and a host of ladies with him. No pics of any of this as the phone died, bummer but Colorado is so cool.

Fishin' Arki Headwaters 31Aug13

Daryle, Greg and I fished the Arkansas "headwaters" at Rincon and the Chaffe Co line before a storm on Sunday blew the river up into chocolate milk. We caught a number of browns and rainbows... shown here are my nicer ones: a 17" brown and 16" rainbow. I did much better after switching the trailing fly to a rainbow warrior but I did get some on my red wire BHPT like thing and some on a mercury RS2. Somehow we avoided the storm Sunday as we went alpine up the Middle Fk of the S Arkansas river in Greg's jeep (masterful driving up a really challenging road). Fishing was only "OK" for beautiful 6-10" Colorado cutthroats in the stream that day... all the action was topside on Adams and terrestrials.

Climb and Fish Pikes Pk & N Catamount 24Aug13

BK and I climbed Pikes Pk from Devil's Playground to commemorate Tom Wilke's final climb of the CO 14ers circuit. We await the infamous book "58 After 50" in which we'll have a part. Wilks brought a pulse oximeter to test our engines - as expected I was mediocre with 88% effective (might be fall allergies) while BK was a 94% converter. After descending and celebrating with my now famous and highly sought 58amoes we headed to North Catamount to fish for a bit. We caught some 13" rainbows on chironomids, silver nymphs and a top water black beetle. No fish pics - forgot to take the phone down to the water.

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