Whoa ~ The PT Is On Fire ~ Big Brown & Beast 'Bow Day 30Apr18

I ventured to the PT to continue springtime pursuit of big cutbows there and was greeted with many big fish. I managed several fish over 20", including a big brown. I think it was the same one caught weeks ago by GL in a hook-shaped weir. I also caught 2 browns in an outing for the first time here. There were plenty of lost opportunities too but two mighty battles landed really big fish successfully. Midge and BWO sign was prevalent and I caught half the fish on merc head FBPT & Destiny's Child and half the fish on Awesome Midge & Olive or Grey KF Flasher Midges. It was not crowded today; another fisherman and I skipped past each other on our way upstream - and then I covered off on some spots on the way back down. 80° with mostly clear skies and 350cfs flows - along with the passel of fish - makes a gr8 day - here I'll show just the six fish 18"-22" fish (I actually had another 19"er but goofed up filming) - holy crap! The big brown and the beast bow who fought epically are in the first 5 images. I hope to turn a movie ultimately - plenty of drama.

Springtime On Williams Fk River 26Apr18

Overnight weather improved to just freezing so I executed the plan to hit Williams Fk and arrived at 44°. The Fork is a short tailwater feeding the Colorado from Williams Fk Rez. We go in spring to catch some bigger rainbows migrating up to spawn from the Colorado River. I was first on the river at a brutally low & technical 42cfs and got to fish the entire length mostly unobstructed - a nice outing as usually there are more fishermen on this short river. I started at the confluence with the CO @ ~10:45am and finished at 2:15pm. I saw a bit of midge bug sign and while a mayfly was my weight I expected work from the trailer midges. #22 Olive KF Flasher and #24 Awesome Midge took the most fish - I didn't see significant BWO hatches this day. I caught a mess of "monster" browns like that shown but was in the river for bigger rainbows. I caught a gob of decent rainbows too 14"-17" like these but it was also a big fish day as I coaxed a big leftover 22+" mama 'bow to net on a Cheeseman Emerger. I saw but spooked much bigger 'bows as well. Great day in Grand County.

How'd I Miss The Wild Reeds 25Apr18

Whoa - great alt-folk/alt-country with very fine harmonies. I think their 1st album dropped in 2015 but these live studio concerts in the best venues are very good. I don't know how I missed this fine LA band earlier - they've not declared the summer schedule in CO so hold tight...

NPR Tiny Desk

KEXP

I highly recommend "The World We Built," their latest album. If you have AMZ Prime it stream free - click thru.

The World We Build by The Wild Reeds

This album includes "Catch & Release."

Jurassic PK Section Of The Blue (& Cory's Beers) 25Apr18

After capital improvements were completed and the sun reached the river I headed downriver into the Jurassic Pk section of the Blue for the first time this year. Expectations were low due to the frigid overnight temps but I did catch fish and this section always has bugs and #26 grey midges and #20 BWOs were coming off during the very wadable 200cfs flows. I did not see many fish however and I caught only 2 (18" & 15" browns) and lost 2 (rainbows I think) on mostly BWOs (producer was Destiny's Child) during my 3 hrs in the canyon. This area is gorgeous and despite the 48° temps on arrival, I was really pleased to be here again.

On the way back I was able to catch happy hour at Baker's and Cory served me tastes of his infusion confusion - Breck gin infused applewood IPA, subtile and a tasty variant of my fav Elated here. I also sampled Red's Gold Duval - a Belgique double (duval = devil) in honor of Red Gerard's gold medal. The later was very good but not being a huge brett fan, I went with gin-laced pours for $3 during HH. WooHoo.

New Master Bath Floor Sealant 25Apr18

It was 19° but sunny as I arose this morning so I needed for the river to warm up before departing to fish. I70 was even closed yesterday with glare black ice and much sliding but I was safe in the Nest. I'd been deferring resealing the master bath stone for a bit so chose this morning to apply AquaMix Stone Enhancer. This is clearly the best stuff and the 2nd time I chose it to seal natural surfaces. See before, during and after as well as my ghetto fan evacuation of the area (which fell twice... heh heh).

Out To Park Co River On The Way To Summit 23Apr18

I fished 11 Mile on a crowded but finally nice spring day. I got there late on the way to Summit (since I didn't catch the Breck closing I still have errands/duties out here). I fished 11:00-2:30 or so in just a couple of spots at the top given the crowds - caught ~3 fish/hr. Still, the Cheeseman Emerger did serious damage even though I saw no real BWO sign. Too though the 2 Wire and the Merc Head PT caught some fish. I was pleased it was a big fish day as I landed a nice 21" CutBow (pic #1 - very cutty) from these sometimes stingy waters. WooHoo. All cutbows today - but varying Snake River content. Here are the better ones - no movies as I failed on some settings.

Here's the movie of catching a couple of nice cutbows with Sarah Shook (PW = GR8F1sh)...

CutBows @ 11 Mile

Movers & Shakers, Betasso Preserve, Degas And Fire 20Apr18

Kala and I came to Boulder for some days with our buddies the Wilkes. We went to Movers & Shakers in support of Denver Art Museum and enjoyed 7 custom cocktails matched to 7 appetizers. Very good and very bad in cases. Winner for me was Hawino made with beet-infused vodka, with Boulder Mango in 2nd... ginger sure must be "a thing" in totties these days; I admit they were tasty.

Wilks & I got out for a ride this morning on a cool trail near Boulder called Betasso Preserve. Fun but a bit chilly preceding the storms. I biffed once pretty humorously - GoPro catches everything - timing was good as a some of the trail had exposure despite its relatively rolling nature.

We hit the Degas exhibit at the DAM - good but there are many more pieces I've seen in France... still worthy. Kala was unimpressed however with the need to take a selfie with him.

Afterward we hit Fire for some good cocktails and dinner with Brian & Lisa.

Tying Destiny's Child (Dave's FOD) 19Apr18

With the BWO hatch in full swing I thought I try my hand at tying instructions for the #1 BWO nymph imitation for me on tailwaters. Destiny's Child is a derivative of the O'Grady's FOD (Fly of Destiny) and differs is several respects - bead, colors and the addition of legs.

The recipe for Destiny's Child is

• #18-#22 2487 hook
• 70 grey-brown UTC UltraThread
• Head: cobalt glass bead
• Tail: 8-10 pheasant tail fibers
• Body: thread ribbed with XS copper wire
• Thorax: mixed ice dub of 2/3 callebeatis, 1/3 olive and a smidge of UV purple
• Wing Casing: pheasant tail fibers pulled over top
• Legs: pheasant tail fibers split and tied in pulled down

Select and prepare ingredients...

pheasant tail feather - use left side w/o brown tips

mixed ice dub with callebaetis & olive

gray-brown 70 denier ultra thread

copper XS ultra wire

cobalt glass beads & TMC 2487 hooks

Here we go...

place bead on hook and into vice

select 8-10 PT fibers - strip perpendicular from rachis/rib
to get even - set length on hook equal to shank

tie in fibers with three wraps near bead -
then tie in wire with several wraps

wrap materials down length of hook to 1/3-1/2 down bend

build thread body wrapping back forward -
keep thin and build slight taper

wrap wire evenly with ~6-8 turns -
bind in and helicopter off remains

pull remaining PT fibers back and tie over them
to make room for a thorax slightly larger than bead

roll a tube of ice dub mix onto thread -
enough for a thorax slightly larger than bead

wrap thorax dubbing - bring PT fiber wing casing
back to just behind bead and tie in with 2 wraps

separate PT fibers in half and pull down lightly on
each side of the hook and hold for tie in with 2 wraps

whip finish and cut of thread with PT fibers still long -
trim fibers to the length of the gap while pull them down

ta-da - Destiny's Child ready to rock