Our Happy Thanksgiving 28Nov19

We had a great Thanksgiving in Summit where we were joined by Matt & Alexa. Kala cooked her buns off with new veggie stuff and other classics, including a great turkey. We enjoyed some nice beers alongside our meal including special barrel fermented sours from Wicked Weed (M&A like that style) and DDH hazies from ORB. We whipped the youngsters at Jumper Joker.

Matt turned us on to an excellent movie, The Internet's Own Boy. Recently released, it's a story about Redit founder Aaron Swartz - inspiring and horrifying all at one. Highly recommended - available for ~$3 on YouTube and Prime.

CutBow's In Lower Flows And Birthday Net 19Nov19

So... viz has improved to 18"-24" and flows are reduced to 80cfs. The winter flows likely will not change much more but the visibility will. I caught a half doz very nice cutbows today out of Valco in the AM. I stopped at Nature Center but found the lots too crowded for my taste. The PT is awesome in winter - but it is also the "only" in winter, so expect crowdation. Some cutbows yielded to RS2s and my Manhattan variant... I really need to ready the boxes and do better with the net as I lost the 20"er at my hand.

So, thanks to Karla and Kevin's birthday gift, and to Matt DeBalski for saying "how do you land anything with that little net Mr. Dave?," I have a new net setup. I chose the medium sized Bodin carbon Pisces. It's bigger with a longer handle, but not gigantic. I also got a guide belt from Umqua which is mostly compatible with my G3 pants. Yet, I can hang the net from my vest as I did my old one given it's very light.

The Summit Club And Streaming Update 14Nov19

Daryle & I got together for some brews and dinner. Of course we went to our fav, Outer Range Brewing, for the hazies. While there we both joined the fairly exclusive (250 members) Summit Club of ORB. For this we get a 4 pack every month of 2020, as well as some swag and 5 pints at the taproom, and an invite to a special party in Aug20. Excluding the swag, the beer alone to be distributed gives us a 20% discount or so, with no time value of money accounted. We had a great outing and very good happy hour foods at Pure Kitchen across the parking lot. The restaurant area next to ORB, which they bought recently, is just storage but plans are for Thai food and a coffee house.

My $.99/mo Hulu is up as of Nov19 and we've never had ESPN+, which isn't a big deal except during spring lacrosse games many of which are carried on that sub-net. Anyway, we are trialing the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle at $13 a month to see if it's watched by us often enough.

Claude Monet's Birthday 14Nov19

Kala and I went to the Monet exhibit today at the Denver Art Museum. It was spectacular - one of the best art exhibits we've gone to together. We've been to plenty too... all over France included. The collection being shown is huge - many from private parties and of Monet's stuff we'd not seen; we've seen a lot. Monet is a wild master who saw the world  and rendered the world differently than anyone else ever. Studies of snow, studies of of water and reflections, studies of haystacks by season, studies of poplars, studies of a plain house 15 years separated and remarkably different and haunting and atmospheric, and of course the lily ponds - which he, as a master gardener, created and then painted. Look closely to all only briefly but step back 10 feet for the awesome views. First we stopped at the always excellent Torchy's Tacos for lunch to celebrate Kala's 66th (actually yesterday) and Claude's birthday today! We didn't eat the cake. Both Torchy's and the Monet exhibit are highly recommended.

Shocking Talk With Strange Fish 12Nov19

It was a pretty cold 30° jumping out of the car at 10am @ the PT today. Weird in the sunshine but snow still blanketed the shadows. I was the first at Nature Center but would not be the last. I've learned to tighten the Danner boots but they are "still" super heavy with super thick soles - they will last forever but have a serious swing weight and challenge my hip flexors. Yet, I am fishing in "winter" in the sunshine so shut up. I caught some decent cutbows including a nice 19"er at the 3rd weir above NC parking. And while I didn't see the state employees I did see evidence - I imagine they were shocking as they had the boat rigs. Maybe that is why I was mostly alone - where can I see that schedule?

Ok, it's just a play on many words. I did "ok" on the PT with a #22 RS2 during a BWO hatch and with my new #22 JuanR Money Midge Tung otherwise... it's nice to have confirmation on a new tie. Flows were 280cfs for 3 days and viz is still a very shitty 12" - when will fall really come to the PT? While the "big" boy didn't escape my net, it took a while to land and guide-man MDB's words rang true - "you landin' stuff with that tiny net Mr. Dave?" - I am; yet, gifting season approaches so I may request an upgrade - a question is whether to stay with the magnetic hang or go to the belt tuck. Hmmm. This is not a question for strangers.

As you all may know I like the data/fact-based analyses of Malcom Gladwell and this moved me to read the new offer called 'Talking To Strangers.' It is well worth the read for anyone wanting to make a bit more sense of the modern age; it is not his best though. I learned a lot about spies and drunkenness and for this alone it's cool. We are sick biassed humans and I am thankful for that.

Departing & Checking In 09Nov19-10Nov19

Kala & I headed to a friend's going away party in Summit Co. We have great friends and neighbors there now but are "losing" Mark & Katy to GJ for solid personal reasons. Here are Dave & Beth, also friends, who threw the party and prepared excellent nosh. Soon four Daves on a sixer cal-de-sac. WTF.

Coming down mountain we caught up with Matt & Alexa for lunch and some brews. We celebrated a new gig in big data back ends and analytics as we gathered Grist, Comrade, and Resolute on M&A's Hops card.

We wrapped the WE in DEN with an awesome meetup with Tom & Leslie at Julianna's Broken Italian in downtown DEN. Good food and friends in a unique family style seating.

Joel's Forecast, Colorado's Radio, Ramirez's Money, Manchester's Blossom & Alien's Head 08Nov19

DD & Yvette and Kala & I hit Frisco for an outing tonight. We enjoyed dining at Silverheels and then partook of good ales at HighSide while we were entertained with Joel Graetz's forecasting update (yep - the OpenSnow founder). The "show" was excellent, addressing long term forecast error, our current snow outlook (meager), climate change and the Keystone Avalanche Dogs. So good among the great crowd and beer at HighSide. We all cheered for the 10 day Euro model showing snow in CO after a drying period appropriate for completing DD's deck.

Who knew we had a decent Colorado Public Radio studio and an associated show OpenAir? I stumbled there seeking boygenious but will attend more often.

Winter tying has begun as the fly boxes are pretty empty. I sought a new winter midge larva and find the easy but accurate Ramirez Money Midge to be compelling. He just dropped the tying vid here... https://vimeo.com/303401295. I tied the #22 with a tiny black tung bead and the #24 with just Sharpie colored thread head. I really like the vinyl stretchy root beer ribbing as it provides notable midge shininess. I find too a key is to buy the right MFC 8/0 Light Brown thread - I have nothing similar in my UTC kit.

Just dropped from Paste in Manhattan - really good Manchester pop from Blossoms. Click through to the video.

I underwent scalp surgery this week to remove a basal cell spot. The repair bandage makes me appear alien (it's been said before even without the bandage so no harm). It'll take several weeks for healing and I am constricted in exercise somewhat. And to avoid the stares - I'm gonna wear a hat.

Jim & Dave Among The Throng On The PT 05Nov19

I was recovering from surgery so could not ride but it was 58° so Jim and I hit the PT. Nature Center parking was very full and the river a little less so. We caught a number of cutbow fry, and I even caught a tiny brown, on our way up from the big weir. I managed a nice 18"er and both Jim & I had seemingly nice remote releases taking rigs. Still low viz through the water with the lake still turning over - flows were bumped to 250cfs. Great BWO sign #20-22 at ~11am with massive mating ball afterward and tiny midges throughout the day. It was very nice weather and the crowdation knew it too; at least I learned how to lace my boots and Jim scored a ride on the Santa Cruz. Jim & I hit Cerberus on the way back to Peregrine.