Two Days - Five Rivers - Haine's Visit 31Jul16

Greg, Rob and I took out to Blue River Canyon on Sat AM after scoring some drakes and Subway. The hike in didn't kill Rob but he did need 4 liters of Gatorade at the end. We hiked in ~1 mile and fished back upstream with drakes and drake nymphs taking the most fish. Shown is a nice rainbow from my bounty taken on a sprout drake dry (which seems like the best drake dry for me here). We all caught fish but it wasn't epic and after lunch we chose to go up to the Colorado River at Pumphouse. It was much hotter there and mobbed with river rats and campers. Flows were 1250cfs and wading was doable if one stayed near the edges. We caught and released (remote or from hand) a number of browns and I'd call fishing pretty good here - a new goto spot. Shown is my nicest brown taken on an RS2 but Pat's Rubber Legs worked for me too. I tried caddis at 4:30pm but Greg was the master in finding the right spot and fly (tan foam caddis) for good dry fly fishing from 5-7pm; he caught 20! A good and full day put us at Baker's for Hawaiians and recovery brews at 9pm. Next day Greg rode and Rob & I hit three rivers; we started at Gore Ck at the mouth, dined at Magusto's, then hit the Eagle River then Cross Ck. We caught fish mostly on the #20 black WD40 on the Gore and shown are my rainbow and good brown. Pizza was good at Magusto's though we had to buy bottled beer for quality. The Eagle was marginal and all we caught were tiny browns - though we did only fish directly downstream from town bridge after consulting Minturn Anglers. I was skunked on Cross Ck but Rob got another tiny brown. I still need to figure out the Eagle River. It was great seeing, fishing and partying with Rob after some hiatus.

Mohawkin' Cuts 28Jul16

Kala and I sponsored a hike with Steve & Anne up to the Mohawk Lks. I just happened to take my fly rod and some flies. Depite very gusty winds I was able to deliver some minute Adams and Sprout dries to the cruising trout. I caught a half doz or so in pretty quick stead and enjoyed catching what appeared to be 3 species including Colorado Cutthroat and Greenback Cutthroat.

Again Into Blue River Canyon 22Jul16

Flows were up considerably to 650cfs today and it "put the fish down" some. Still I caught some nice ones - but not as many as hoped - especially on my new green drake flies. I did catch a nice brown on a dry drake but the rest were on subsurface stuff but my nymphs didn't produce. The black ice did, which seems to do well for me here. I just went for the AM as friends are arriving from PHX today. Some good bug activity but not epic hatching. Best time for the drake hatch is a 5-6pm or even later so I've not really been there for the best time this season yet. The best drake hatch is yet to come I think.

Dissatisfaction Drakes 20Jul16

I was somewhat unsatisfied with the performance of our green drake nymphs (beadhead, flashback, gold-ribbed hare's ears) during a recent outing to the Blue River Canyon. Perhaps it was the way I was fishing them I thought (likely not deep enough) after seeing the greater numbers of fish landed by the Czech nymphing short liner; perhaps it was more. I dove on the internet and studied this huge crawler mayfly in western rivers and decided to tie some more realistic green drake nymphs. Pictured are the two variation I tied... pretty awesome if I do so say. I haven't named them yet, nor have I tried them - but I am excited to do that and sense they'll be much more like the drakes in the Blue than the hare's ear.

Left Green Drake Nymph... this is a tail & body of pheasant tail fibers on a 2302 #14 hook. I overwrapped the body with clear tubing in which I had stuffed copper wire. The bead is gunmetal tungsten and the fly is also weighted with 10 wraps of lead. The thorax is a mix of 3 peacock herls (1 red-dyed and the 2 others natural green) which I wove into a a chenille around the thread. The legs are a "V" of partridge tied in in front of the thorax. A large opal mylar provides flashback on top (can't see it) and then I finished the top with UV-activated goo.

Right Green Drake Nymph... this is a tail of olive, tan and brown ostrich herl and the body is of the same but also wraps in a chartreuse wire. I used the same chenille wrapping technique with the wire and herl around the thread before wrapping on the hook, a 2347 #14. The thorax is dubbed Hex UV superfine but also hides a tungsten bead and some wraps of weight - it's topped with olive speckled thinskin. The legs are a "V" of partridge.

We these done I need to tie some emergers now as well as test them of course - but confidence is high.

New Rivers For The Master 17Jul16

After the Brewery Bikery event Saturday, Greg and I stayed in Summit Sunday to introduce this master fisherman to some of my "local" rivers. In the morning we headed north to the "Jurassic Park" section of the Blue River - this effluent of Green Mountain Reservoir was flowing @ near prime ~450cfs levels and was beginning to show green drake signs - the hatching was very sporadic though. Greg caught a number of fish on a BHFB Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear. I changed rigs a number of times but landed fish on a Green Drake dry as well as the Hare's Ear and Reimagined Black Ice. There were many fishermen on the Blue this Sunday and some passed us multiple times making the fishing a bit more challenging IMO - though we did observe a young master short line nymphing a green drake deep and he was very successful - I took a pic for him with a 20" cutbow. We were "cliffed out" during our downstream hike-in at about 2/3 mile but fished several good sections - we could have crossed but did not really need to so do. Plenty of caddis, mayflies, midges and a few drakes are feeding these strong fish right now - we had a great time but left after the AM without mid-day fuel as Subway opened an hour later than we'd anticipated... we headed to Baker's for late lunch during which we discovered I70 & I25 were completely red so we plotted to hit the Gold Medal section of the Gore at the mouth with the Eagle River. Here we again caught fish but not in epic quantities or size. The water is crystal clear but cold and just a bit high. We were mostly alone but a couple was following us upstream a decent distance back. Greg again caught several browns on WD40. I caught one rainbow on olive WD40 and one brown on a dry foam caddis. It's always a good time fishing and riding (when he uses his extra energy lapping us like a dog doing herding) with Greg - thanks.

Summit Brewery Bikery 2016 17Jul16

Summit Brewery Bikery... Seven intrepid biker-drinkers accepted my challenge to bicycle to and drink at each of our six breweries in Summit County in one loop. We succeeded! We rode 38.7 miles and drank 40 pints of beer. The weather was excellent, excepting the headwind we faced independent of our riding direction. The team was Tom Wilke, Bob Riefstahl, Greg Lehmann, Scott Brantley, Bruce Kosbab, Brock Bordelon and me. In order we departed from Dillon Rez (and grabbed Bob on the way) and hit Breckenridge, Broken Compass, Backcountry, Dillon Dam, Baker's and Pug Ryan's. Thanks for coming out guys - it was a blast.

Into The Blue River Canyon 15Jul16

With flows at 540cfs I can hike about a mile into the Blue River Canyon below Green Mtn Rez before being "cliffed-out." So, I hit Jurassic Park today. It was a pretty nice AM and I was hoping for some green drake action and tied that on up top. I got a few rises but no takes and did better on the nymphing rig. I fished 2.5 hrs and caught a half dozen decent fish including one brown and a large gold & red rainbow (unfortunately it was an awkward stance for the pictures and release so not too good an image). He was still kype jawed from the spawn and was probably 18-19" and strong. My best fly was the reimagined black ice but a hare's ear took some too. I did see caddis, PMDs, and a few green drakes coming off. Even tiny mosquitos plagued me a bit. Recon was pretty successful to this fine fishery which was not easily crossed for further downstream hiking (the entire canyon is water is 3 miles). The water is still fast and just a tinge green but is improving daily I imagine. I rarely catch many here - just very good fish.

Down Fremont Pass West 14Jul16

Recon over Fremont Pass into the headwaters of the Arkansas River was decent but super windy. Weird that the summer pattern with afternoon rains is currently broken and we have high and warm winds all day instead. I hit the Hayden Meadows/Ranch access of the Ark headwaters today and fished four hours 10-2pm (with a 45 min lunch/beer break) with the 3 wt Loomis - 7'9"; 3 wt and med flex was too little gun in high winds with big flies but landing was fun with these foot longs.  Flows are still high and cold here but several hatches occurred while I was on the river - caddis, green drakes, PMDs and some tiny gray thing. It was not epic but I caught a doz browns and a couple 'bows by changing rigs. My fave and most productive was a big drake with a BH FB hare's ear dropper (drake nymph) at 28" - this was a solid rig mid-day with both misses and fun hookups. The stimi and yellow sally dries in the AM scared 'em up but failed to hookup save one rainbow. The best fish were within 3' of the bank - freakin' Ark is often this way over the lengths I've fished it. Gorgeous meadow environment in the shadow of Mt Elbert and Mt Massive below Leadville. I did not find public access above Leadville (and before the Lake Ck joins) but it looked nice (and lower) from the road.

Wednesday's A Workday 13Jul16

It's open brush pickup time in Summit so I contributed a few dead trees to the effort (as I'm required to do). I have a chainsaw but who doesn't like a Sawzall? I hosted the asphalt guy (with Kala's considerable persistence to secure a date). He's supposedly the best in Summit and we need some patches over old tree and flower areas no longer wanted as well as other repairs. Now all we need is the job completed. I cleaned and refinished the flagstone entryway. Stone needs a penetrating and breathable sealer and I chose one which also "enhances" after some research. The entry was beat after a winter season so Kala and I thoroughly cleaned it so I could seal it and it could cure before some rowdies show up this weekend. Sweet... check the before and after pic. Though, I had a headache for 4 hrs after applying - was it aversion to work or chemicals?

How I Spent Prime Day 12Jul16

I hit the 11 Mile Canyon tailwaters and the Tomahawk SWA, both on the Middle Fk of South Platte, on my way to Summit County, on Prime day - rather than wait computer-side for a cheap TV on Amazon. 11 Mile flows were up nicely to ~100cfs and the canyon held gorgeous summer conditions... huge mating balls of mayflies struck the window and flew overhead as I arrived about 9:30am. I caught a half doz decent rainbows on my Winston 4 wt above the upper tunnels in just 100 yards of pocket water. Producers were WWSW and olive vinyl KF midge. I left about 12:30pm for lunch and Tomahawk. I got to South Park and it was a smidge crowded where I park so I thought it'd be great. Flows here were just a skosh high and the river was still off color and pretty cold but after lunch I threw everything I could think of in all manner of rig - double dry, hopper-dropper and all nymphs, with very little action. Similar story was reported by others. I brought some nice ones up to look at the dries but the best I got was nose bumps from bigger fish. The best fish are hunkered in the undercut banks. Weird. I did catch a few tiny browns represented as in the pic on my Loomis 3 wt but mostly it was a gorgeous yet windy day in beauteous South Park. Of course I departed early for $2 Tuesdays at Bakers'.