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.